Courts and Cabals 2 by G.S. D'Moore (warren buffett book recommendations TXT) 📗

With them on my mind, it was easy to talk about. My dad liked to tinker. He was good with computers and taught me a thing or two. My Caeli mage friend, Brad, taught me more about the aspects of hacking; but dad taught me the basic mechanics of how things worked.

Mom had a green thumb, and loved to garden; which was the opposite of me. I killed the plants they sent home with us in middle school science, even though I watered them and faced them toward the light like I was supposed to. She always told me to keep on trying.

“And Aveena threatened to kill them,” I had a momentary spike of fear.

“No.” If Aveena was going to retaliate against my friends and family, she would have done it already. I had to assume they were safe for the time being. Anything less was just unacceptable.

“They sound like lovely people,” Venus chewed thoughtfully on a broccoli stem. “They adopted you when you were ten?”

“Eight?” I corrected.

“So, you must not remember your biological parents?” she mused.

I told her what I did remember about my biological mother, but it wasn’t much. I’d lost the picture and pocket watch when running for my life. I asked if the cabal would be able to retrieve them.

“I hired a company to pack up everyone’s stuff from school and store them until this is settled. I’m sure the local police are watching the storage facility, but the only thing they’re going to see is how quick metal rusts in an upstate New York winter.”

I chuckled, and thanked her.

She asked me about my interests; college, sports, art; although, I knew virtually zip about the last. Finally, we settled on history. I loved it, and she knew a lot about it.

“If you don’t mind me asking, when were you born?” I approached the subject delicately. We’d finished our meals and I’d slipped my shoes off under the table.

Venus had tucked her feet under her just like Lilith had this morning, and was sipping her wine. “I don’t mind, but the short answer is I don’t know,” she sighed. “I was born, I know that much, but I don’t remember who my mother and father were; likely some primordial creatures that are long gone,” she waved the wine absentmindedly.

“I’m sorry,” I replied. I knew all about losing parents.

She laughed and placed a hand on my forearm, which sent a zap of static electricity up my arm. “That was so long ago, Cameron, I don’t even think the last glacial period had ended.”

A little bit of wine went down the wrong pipe, and I coughed violently; while trying not to spill the scarlet liquid all over the white tablecloth. She came to the rescue and deftly took the glass from me.

“I’m good,” I took a few deep breaths, and tried to process what she’d just said.

The last glacial shift, or an ice age, had ended over ten thousand years ago. I shuddered to think how her mind handled the passage of time. Decades would seem like minutes to her. It made me look at her in a whole new light, and I was happy she didn’t catch me staring like an idiot.

“Did you like the meal?” she placed the two wine glasses safely on the table, and started to collect the plates.

“Please,” I jumped up. “Let me clean. You did the cooking, and it was delicious.”

“How very gentlemanly of you,” she smiled and stood back with her hands up in surrender.

I grabbed the plates and started taking them to the kitchen. There was a big sink, and whatever she’d used to cook was already cleaned up. I took off my long sleeve shirt to avoid getting it soaked, and got to work.

“I’ll just be in my room. Holler when you’re done,” she yelled, and I heard a door close somewhere in the suite.

“That was nice,” I told myself as I scraped uneaten remnants into a trash can and started to get off the stickier bits with a sponge before loading them into the dishwasher. “I can see what Dani was saying about some winner’s experiences.” I was already formulating questions about her time in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and if she’d traveled to the Far East. “What was the Renaissance like? Did you fight in the Crusades? Did you witness the birth of America?” I wanted to know everything.

Everything had been pleasant. She was easy to talk to, she had control of her natural charms and was able to turn them off so it wasn’t succubus and man, but man and woman talking. The consideration for my adoptive parents was very touching, and I made a mental note to use the fancy new phone to call them the first chance I got.

There was a click of a door opening just as I placed the last dish in the washer. I turned to find Venus had changed. The mom jeans were gone, and replaced with a pair of black shorts. They weren’t too short or too long, but it was impossible to hide her toned legs. She’d switched her cooking shirt for a V-neck T. There was a hint of cleavage that caught my eye for a second longer than was appropriate, but what was out of the ordinary was some belt contraption with a holder on her hip containing a bottle of something.

“Come with me,” she beckoned, and I followed.

She led me to a door and a room that smelled heavily of incense and oils. Candles decorated the furniture, providing the only light, and in the center was a massage table. I stopped only a few feet inside the door, but it was enough for Venus to shut it behind me. I didn’t hear the lock click into place, dooming me, but there was still no getting out.

“You’ve been