Dhampirs of Sgiach

32. Kieran

There was a different person at the office desk when Kieran walked in to check out the next morning. An older man with his hair in the same style as Hikaru and the same sapphire eyes. Kieran wondered if Kage would look like the man when he grew older.

“Making sure I leave?” Kieran asked as he leaned on the counter.

“Yes,” the man said as he pulled up the relevant information to check Kieran out.

“Did you get my warning about the wererat?”

“Yes.”

Kieran tapped his bank card on the counter for a moment as he watched the man. “Grizzly Auron Ursine might come through asking about me. Tell him I’m continuing north.”

The man frowned at Kieran. “Why would you want him to know where you are going?”

“He’s my dad, and I’m not hiding from him,” Kieran said as he turned and left the motel.

He found Hikaru and Mika on the outskirts of town. Both had their motorcycles and backpacks. Their bikes were gas-powered versions of Kieran’s, which used a combination of gas and magic. Mika had a high-powered rifle and looked insulted when Kieran held out his hand to inspect it. She relented when Hikaru talked her into it. It was well cared for, and Kieran raised an eyebrow at her. “You couldn’t teach your boyfriend?”

“He said his grandfather taught him,” she responded and glared at Hikaru.

“He did!” Hikaru said defensively.

Kieran shook his head and got back on his bike. He growled softly as he felt a tug more to the northeast with his magic. I guess I do want someone to take care of Kage…

They traveled for another day. His subconscious desire to know Kage would be taken care of had taken him off course. As the sun set, they pulled off the road into the forest and found a cave to stash their bikes before they continued on foot.

Martin and the rest of his wererats had dug themselves into a bunker surrounded by high-powered lights and guns. Kieran growled as he looked at the bunker through his CGH.

“Well, that’s gonna be a b***h to crack,” Mika said softly.

“Agreed,” Hikaru said just as softly.

“f*****g rats,” Kieran growled.

They crept away from the cliff edge and headed back to the cave. Along the way, Kieran managed to bag a few rabbits that Hikaru and Mika gutted and cleaned before roasting over a small fire.

Kieran watched them work as he thought through every option to crack Martin’s bunker. The moons were all going to be full the next night and that meant that the rats would all be at their most powerful.

“We need backup,” Kieran finally said.

“No s**t,” Mika said, and if sarcasm could cut, Kieran would need stitches. “Even if we had a damn Shadow Walker, those lights make it impossible to sneak up on that place. Add in the full moons tomorrow night and three dhampirs don’t stand a chance.”

“What about three dhampirs and a Sleuth of werebears?” Kieran asked.

“Where the hell are we going to find any type of shifter that’s willing to help out dhampirs?”

Kieran smiled and pressed a button on his CGH. It didn’t take long for his father’s voice to answer the distress call.

“Your mother is torn between worry and an overwhelming desire to smack sense into you. Please tell me you found the damn rat.”

“I did. But he’s defended himself well against someone like me,” Kieran said. He paused as he debated telling his father what Dr. Sorcha had told him. Finally, he stood up and walked out of the cave, leaving the openmouthed dhampirs behind so he could speak privately with his father. “There’s only two crystals left.”

“So, you are going through with it. You’ll lose your place as Third Prince,” his father said.

“That was never important to me,” Kieran said softly.

“I know.”

“There’s something else,” Kieran said before he told his father everything Dr. Sorcha said about the sickness and what would happen if he made the transition from Luris to Lurah.

Auron was silent for a long time on the other end before he finally spoke in a calm, quiet voice. The same voice he used when he passed judgment on werebears that had done terrible things. “I can’t keep secrets from your mother.”

“Please Dad,” Kieran begged and hated how his voice cracked and he sounded like a child. “Let me just enjoy whatever time I have left with them. Without them worrying or fussing over me.”

“You’re killing yourself faster with this choice.”

“If I turn Kage and my kid before I die, I know you and Rand will keep them safe. They won’t have to worry about Mallum Sanguinem or some power-hungry shifter trying to make them into slaves. They’ll be free, Dad.” Kieran was trembling as he spoke. Gods, he was so afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid of leaving Kage and Echo and that child alone in a cruel world that didn’t care about the little people at the bottom. Afraid of hurting the strange family he had formed with Kage and Echo.

“Twenty years isn’t enough…” Auron’s voice trailed off and Kieran heard the first crack he had ever heard in his father’s voice. He had always been an unbreakable diamond in the family. When the last Grizzly died and Kieran and his brothers and mother had been blubbering messes, Auron had been their rock. Through every storm and hardship. “…you’re my boy…”

The picture of the day Kieran’s adoption papers had been signed appeared before his eyes. Tears burned in Kieran’s eyes as the snow fell thick and heavy around him as he listened to his father continue.

“From the moment I found you, I knew you were mine, Kieran. This scrawny little dhampir that had so much fight still left in him. That ate as much as any cub and bit just as hard,” Auron chuckled. “Who was so brave to face that man with his chin held high even as he told you that you were nothing to him but a monster.”

“I’m not brave Dad. I’m terrified of dying,” Kieran said in a small voice as he huddled in on himself in the snow.

“But you will continue this path?”

“Yes.”

The silence seemed to stretch into eternity before Auron spoke once more. “We will be there before the sun sets tomorrow. Rand has been following your bank card. He should be there in the morning.”

Kieran stayed outside of the cave for a while as he calmed himself and wiped his eyes. When he was calm, he went back into the cave to the waiting dhampirs.

“How in the hell do you know a Sleuth of werebears?” Mika demanded as he sat down.

“I was adopted by them when I was five,” Kieran said calmly and reached out for one of the rabbits. Hikaru snatched it from him in the same way Kage had snatched the chocolate cupcake from him.

“Nu’uh! Explain first,” Hikaru said with a glare that was very much not like Kage.

Kieran sighed. “My mom died when I was young. Grizzly Auron Ursine found me shortly after on the streets and adopted me when the asshole who knocked my mother up rejected me. Been with the Sleuth ever since.” He held out his hand expectantly for the rabbit, which Hikaru gave to him reluctantly.

“Then why weren’t you with them in the first place on this hunt?” Mika asked.

“I had some s**t I needed to take care of first before I headed out,” Kieran said evasively as he bit into the rabbit. Both Hikaru and Mika, winced as they watched him.

“What kind of s**t?” Hikaru asked.

“Private shit.”

They all ate in silence after that. Hikaru and Mika watched, wide-eyed, as Kieran ate the last red crystal. “Was it always like that?” Hikaru asked when Kieran had stopped shaking.

“Yes,” Kieran answered. He hadn’t gotten up from where he had curled into himself.

“And the purple one will kill you? So you can complete the transition?” Mika asked.

“Yes.”

“Who wants the first watch?” Hikaru asked after a moment.

Kieran closed his eyes and embraced his Shadow Spark. Letting his magic flow out from him with one intent. To hide them from everyone except his family and Sleuth. When he opened his eyes, Hikaru and Mika were rubbing their arms as they cuddled closer to each other. “What was that?” Mika asked.

“A spell to hide us,” Kieran said as he rolled over to fall asleep.

“f**k… He’s a damn Shadow Walker,” Mika said. Hikaru said something in agreement but it was lost to Kieran as he finally let exhaustion lull him into sleep.