CHAPTER ONE – MISSING

Jason Kane stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his study at the Riguld Megalopolis. But his eyes did not see the winter sunlight that gleamed and splintered against the buildings’ metal skins. Instead, his gaze was turned inward to the memory of his younger brother Chase. The nineteen-year-old had been missing for over a week now.

Vanished.

 

Lost.

 

Gone.

 

Chase could be dead. He probably is. The Kin may have already drained him dry. His corpse turned to powder, Jason thought and squeezed his eyes shut. Contacting Seren Balthazar is the last act of a desperate man.

 

“Haven’t you gone to the police?” James Richards, his longtime friend, had asked earlier that day. His pale face was lined with worry when Jason had told him that Chase was missing.

 

“Of course! But they’ll do nothing! Nothing!” Jason shouted. He grimaced. Sleepless nights were showing not only in the bags beneath his blue eyes, but also in his lack of emotional control with his friend. He struggled to keep his voice level as he added, “The Kin are involved and suddenly the police are impotent.”

 

“The Kin. I can’t believe it.” James shook his head.

 

“People always said it was a devil’s bargain we struck with them, but only now am I seeing the bad side of it,” Jason said, sickened at his own blindness to what the Kin were doing. “Both of our families have benefited greatly by selling their tech to the populace. We’re complicit in what they’re doing to people.”

 

“No, Jason, that’s foolish talk. You’re just upset and not thinking clearly.” James looked ridiculously hopeful as he offered, “Perhaps our connection to the Kin is not the problem, but the solution! Go to those we have contacts within the Kin Ruling Council. Surely they --”

 

“I already have. But they claim to know nothing,” Jason said and covered his face with his hands. “They’ve taken my brother, James! They’ve taken him and are doing god knows what to him.”

 

“But drinking blood from a human being directly is forbidden!” James blustered. “They are to obtain their sustenance only from the blood banks.”

 

Jason laughed hard. “C’mon! Don’t be so naïve.”

 

“There are rules! Regulations!”

 

“You honestly think that a million rules and regulations mean anything?” Jason asked, incredulous at his friend’s innocence. “The Kin are bigger than us. Stronger. Faster. Hell, they’re even more beautiful than the best of us. A human alone with one of them would have no chance. We’re their food, James. We’re cattle for them. There might be a rule against playing with one’s food, but it's not often followed.”

 

James stared at him with horror as if what Jason was saying had never crossed James’ mind. But isn’t it the first time I’ve thought of it? Jason wondered. God, how blind have we become that we don’t see what’s right in front of our noses?

 

“So -- so what are you doing to find Chase outside of the police?” James asked after he recovered from his shock.

 

Jason crossed his arms over his chest and hugged himself. “Not enough that’s for certain.”

 

“There might be someone I know who can help you,” James began slowly.

 

“Who?” Jason asked, not truly believing the other man would have anyone of value in mind.

 

“Seren Balthasar,” James said simply.

 

Jason blinked in surprise. This was not the name he expected to ever leave James’ lips. “The private detective? I have a dozen private detectives looking into his disappearance now. Bribing, begging – god, even beating people. Why would he be any better?’

 

“If he takes your case, he always succeeds,” James said.

 

“That’s his advertising, but it doesn’t mean it's true!” Jason scoffed.

 

“I’ve seen him in action, Jason. He’s all that he’s talked up to be,” James responded, his eyes dropping from Jason’s as he scuffed the ground.

 

“When did you come into contact with him?”

 

“My parents’ deaths,” James said, going stiff as he said it.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he was involved in that,” Jason said, remembering the murders of James’ parents five years ago. What had at first appeared a robbery had ended up being an inside job. James' parents were slaughtered by two long-time servants. Killed for money. If only money mattered now. I have plenty of it.

 

“Seren let the police take all the credit, but believe me, he was the one to unravel it all,” James said. “If anyone can find and rescue Chase, it's him.”

 

Jason was impressed by the confidence that James had in Seren Balthasar. And suddenly, the need to get Seren on this case seemed vitally important.

 

“So you have a way to contact him?” Jason asked. “Will you give it to me?”

 

“Yes, but reaching him doesn’t mean he’ll take on your case.”

 

“I’ll pay him whatever it takes to get interested in finding Chase,” Jason gritted out.

 

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” James said, running a hand through his short dark hair. “He only takes cases that interest him. The money … it doesn’t matter. His family is an ancient one. Old wealth. Older roots. Brings out strange fruit sometimes. And Seren is that. Strange as hell.”

 

“So he’s human,” Jason said with a sour laugh. “I had hoped that the rumors were true that he’s a Kin and wouldn’t be afraid to go up against them.”

 

James patted Jason’s shoulder. “The fact that the Kin are involved won’t stop him from finding your brother. He has some kind of – affinity for them. Here’s his number. Good luck, Jason. Tell me if there’s anything more I can do.”

 

Jason had called Seren Balthasar’s line immediately and spoken to the man himself. Seren’s voice was unforgettable: smoky, smooth and silky.

 

Yet I don’t know if he made me feel more or less hopeful. He seemed almost uninterested, but he agreed to come after I mentioned Black Heart, Jason thought. A discrete knock on his study’s double doors had him turning.

 

“Come in,” Jason called.

 

His manservant, Thomas, appeared through the open door.

 

“Seren Balthasar, sir,” Thomas announced, standing aside so that another figure dressed all in black could enter the room.

 

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