Dhampirs of Sgiach

6. Kieran

Auron: The client says your job is done, and they are happy with what you found. Your pay has already been deposited.

Kieran looked at the text and was reasonably sure he was seeing things due to lack of sleep. That had to be it. He had spent the entire morning bathing Kage and sheared most of his hair when he failed to get the mats out. Best to let the incubus start over and grow it back out if he wanted to. It wasn’t salon quality, but Kage seemed pleased with it.

Kage had begun to tremble and shake halfway through his bath, and Kieran had to offer his wrist to help ease it. He would need to get some spiked blood crystals as soon as he could.

Cleaned up with his hair cut, Kage looked like a gangly child in one of Kieran’s shirts and a pair of his drawstring shorts. He was currently seated on the floor behind the coffee table, watching the most innocent cartoon Kieran could think of. A plate of pizza rolls and carrots was on the table before him. Mrs. Squawkle was positioned on the table to watch the cartoons as well.

Kieran: Are you serious?

Auron: Yes. They paid you double what they initially offered.

Kieran frowned and brought up his bank account on his phone. He sat down heavily on one of the dining table chairs. Fifty thousand mira had been deposited in his bank account about an hour before dawn. I was in that alley…

A knock at the door caught Kieran’s attention, and he answered it.

“Dad said you might need some help,” Rand said cheerfully, and he and their younger brother Adam, who had his backpack with him, pushed through into the apartment. They also had Kieran’s CGH with them.

“Hello to you too,” Kieran said with a yawn as he followed them.

Kage watched the two werebears cautiously, his hand on the dirty stuffed toy, and his body tensed to run.

“Kage, these are my brothers. Rand and Adam,” Kieran introduced them.

“Why are you lying to me?” Kage asked as his eyes began to glisten with tears.

Confused, the three brothers looked at each other before it finally clicked in all three simultaneously. Adam pulled his laptop out, set it on the coffee table, and opened a file of pictures for Kage. “I know, we don’t smell or look like Kieran, but we are family.”

The incubus watched the slideshow intently. Watching as Kieran went from being the tallest of the three to the shortest. Kage paused the pictures on one of Kieran with his mother kneeling next to him when he was seven as they held a paper between them and smiled at the camera. Auron was kneeling behind them, and Rand was holding Adam.

“What’s that?” Kage asked as he pointed to the paper.

“The adoption papers that made Kieran legally part of our family,” Rand answered. “There was a huge party afterward with cake and fireworks.”

Kieran stole a pizza roll and sat on the couch. “Mom still throws a party yearly for my adoption day,” he commented.

“Yeah. That reminds me, Mom wants to know what kind of cake you want for it this year,” Adam said as he sat on the floor.

“Cake?” Kage asked, suddenly lighting up.

Adam nodded. “Yep,” he answered, showing Kage pictures of cakes as Kieran yawned again.

“Go get some sleep,” Rand told him softly. “We’ll keep an eye on Kage.”

“He needs some spiked blood crystals,” Kieran said, rubbing his face tiredly.

“Do you know what they need to be spiked with?”

“Angel Dust.”

Rand sighed. “Expensive, but at least they’re common enough. You got the money for it?”

“Yeah. Apparently, I did good with the Drake Hardy tail and I’ve already been paid 50K to follow him for four days,” Kieran said softly and stood up, indicating Rand to follow him. “It was deposited when I was dealing with the asshole that tried to stiff Kage,” he added with a whisper to Rand when they were in Kieran’s room.

The werebear frowned as he crossed his arms across his massive chest. “Strange. A Furian dropped your CGH off at the Dancing Pig at about dawn. You think Lucifer was involved in that case?”

Kieran shrugged. “Who knows.” His phone dinged then, and he pulled it out.

Lucifer: Bring the hybrid to the Nephilim Medical Center at 17:00 for a physical evaluation.

“Speak of the devil,” Kieran said softly and yawned again as he glanced at the time. 13:26. He groaned. “He wants us at the medical center in less than four hours.”

“Get a nap, I’ll get the crystals for Kage and some to give you a bit of pep for the day. I’ll also call Dad and see about getting you the night off,” Rand said as he shoved Kieran towards his bed and turned to leave the room.

The loud ringing of his alarm pierced through his mind as Kieran curled tighter around the warm body in his arms. The pleasant scent of soap and cotton candy filled his senses. When he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Kage, curled into a tight ball against him.

Kieran untangled himself from the incubus and got up from the bed as he turned the alarm off. Rand and Adam were both at the table, Adam engrossed in some game on his computer and Rand with one of Kieran’s comic books.

“Why is Kage in my bed?” Kieran asked as he quickly made himself some coffee.

“He said it smelled really good,” Rand answered. “We couldn’t deter him, and he’s so thin we didn’t want to break him.”

Kieran grunted, and soon, they woke Kage up and headed to the medical center.

The reception area looked like any other medical center that Kieran had been to. Uncomfortable chairs, fake plants, shapeless paintings, old magazines, and a TV with the news on. The lady behind the counter smiled pleasantly at the group.

“How may I help you?” she asked. Her silver eyes, with their flecks of royal blue, marked her as Sgiach’rin’Nephilim of the angelic variety.

“Lucifer set up a physical exam for an incubus/dhampir hybrid,” Kieran said and watched as the woman clicked on her keyboard.

“Ah, yes. I’m guessing the young man behind you is Mr. Frostfang?” she asked and eyed Kage, who was huddled behind Kieran. One hand holding Kieran’s shirt hem and the other clutching Mrs. Squawkle.

“Yes.”

“Alright,” she said and handed Kieran a clipboard. “Have him fill this out and the doctor will call you back shortly.”

The group sat in the uncomfortable chairs that were barely big enough to accommodate Rand. Adam was only slightly smaller than his older brother, but at eighteen, he still had time to grow.

Kage only knew his name and s*x and the paper was painfully empty when a nurse came to take him to a back room. The incubus didn’t want to leave Kieran’s side so both of them left the two werebears in the waiting room as they were led to an exam room.