Dhampirs of Sgiach

10. Kieran

Kieran barely tasted the food as he shoveled it down with his free hand. Echo sat next to him and held his other tightly. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast and he was starving after spending all afternoon and most of the night in a police interrogation room. Kage was under the table with his head in Kieran’s lap and clinging to his leg. All attempts to get Kage to stop had ended in failure.

They were at the Lodge in the large kitchen. Mr. Arias was actually one of Mr. Yarin’s junior partners. The Sleuth’s normal lawyer was currently on vacation with his family.

“You think Detective Wilson has something to do with what happened to Mr. Henderson?” Mr. Arias asked as he looked over his notes.

Echo tightened her grip on Kieran’s hand and he noticed more tears fall from her eyes. “He has a motive,” Kieran said. “I mugged him after he attempted to stiff a homeless incubus. An incubus that did not enjoy the services that asshole demanded.”

“If we go through with reporting the rape, we can put the heat on Detective Wilson. While rapes of dhampirs tend to go to the bottom of the pile, the chief of police won’t want to anger Lucifer Ebonwings. She’ll put Kage’s case at the top and if Detective Wilson is somehow involved with Mr. Henderson…” Mr. Arias mused.

“Only if Kage is willing. If he doesn’t feel up to it, we don’t bother,” Kieran said around a bite of scrambled eggs.

“Will it help you?” Kage asked in a tiny voice.

Kieran looked down at the incubus who looked up at him with wide crimson-flecked silver eyes. His copper skin had lost the sick pallor and his cheeks didn’t look so gaunt anymore. “It will…”

“Then do it!” Kage interrupted Kieran with a forcefulness and determination in his voice that had never been there before.

Kieran blinked, taken aback for a moment before he smiled and patted Kage’s soft hair. “You heard him,” he said as he turned his attention back to the lawyer, who nodded and rose from his own seat to set everything in motion.

Erin had gone into full mama bear mode and Kieran spent the next couple of days at the lodge with Kage and Echo. The pair followed him about like lost kittens and seemed excited when he mentioned that there would be a large sleepover for the werebear kids in two days.

“We’ll hang out with all of the werebears that are too young to shift while the rest of the Sleuth celebrate the full moon,” Kieran explained as he helped unload cases of soda and juice from Rand’s truck. Kage and Echo each had grocery bags of popcorn and other snacks for the kids.

“There will be snacks and movies,” Rand added as they headed inside.

“And you do this every full moon?” Kage asked Kieran.

“Yep. Since I can’t shift, I get to babysit,” Kieran said with a smile.

“Have you ever thought about turning into a werebear?” Echo asked in a small voice.

Kieran paused and looked at her. “No,” he said slowly as he thought about the question. “No one in the Sleuth has ever really made a big deal about me being a dhampir, so I’ve never really considered it. I am what I am.”

“Would you want to become a werebear?” Kage asked.

“Nah,” Kieran said as he set his load on the kitchen counter.

“Why not?” Rand asked, slightly offended.

“Too slow. I would rather be a cheetah.”

“A cheetah?” Kage asked, at the same time Echo said “Cute!”

Kieran smiled and pulled out his phone to show Kage a picture of a cheetah. “Fastest land animal. I’m always going to be smaller than the rest of the Sleuth, so I might as well be faster than them.”

They all looked towards the door when someone knocked. Rand went to see who it was, as Kieran helped Kage and Echo put everything away. When Rand came back though, it was with the two detectives that had interrogated Kieran.

It wasn’t them that shocked Kieran though, it was Kage. The rail-thin incubus that barely weighed 100lbs, soaking wet, grabbed at Kieran’s arm and attempted to pull him behind him as he flashed his fangs and hissed at the two humans. At about 200lbs of athletic muscle, Kieran mostly stumbled at Kage’s attempt more from shock than any actual strength from the incubus.

Kage trembled like a leaf in a tornado as he faced the two humans. His cotton candy scent was full of determination and terror.

Kieran gently pulled Kage into his arms and patted his head gently. “Calm down. They’re just here to do their job. Hissing at them won’t help them help us.”

“They don’t want to help you, they want to hurt you,” Kage hissed out as he continued to watch the two detectives.

“The sooner they find who killed Steve, the sooner they’ll leave me alone.”

Echo whimpered lightly at the mention of her dead abusive boyfriend and Rand moved to put an arm around her shoulders.

“We only want to ask you and Ms. Luna some questions about that day. If you’re honest with us, you can help cross Kieran off the suspect list,” Detective Reynolds said calmly.