Lion of Fortune (Kinkaid Shifters #5)

Chapter 1

To say the mood in the conference room was tense would be an understatement. Gavin Kinkaid had news to impart, and he knew everyone in the room wasn’t going to take it well, for various reasons.

“My contacts say there’s definitely a price on the head of every one of those hammerhead shark shifters under our care. They’ve all got bounties on their heads now, thanks to Abdul Kettering,” Gavin reported, dropping his first bomb of the day.

Present at the meeting were the Alpha of the Kinkaid Clan, Sam Kinkaid, about five of his lieutenants, and those who ran his various businesses for him, as well as Colt Kinkaid, a lion shifter who had grown up outside of the Clan structure, along with his two older brothers.

All three of them were recently retired from the Special Forces and working odd jobs for Admiral Morrow now and again.

One of those jobs had brought the three brothers back into contact with the Clan, and though it had been hard going at first, a reconciliation had occurred, and the brothers were slowly establishing themselves within the Clan hierarchy.

Shifters of their skill and ability were always welcome under the Kinkaid Clan banner. These three, however, were all also newly mated to highly magical women with deep connections to a coven of witches that had been hiding in plain sight in a coastal Long Island community for centuries.

The Marsh Witches of Sagoponack were an ancient and powerful force for good.

They’d come under fire recently by the evil group that called themselves the Venifucus, whose origins dated back to the first appearance of their Mater Priori, Elspeth.

She wasn’t called the Destroyer of Worlds for nothing.

She’d sucked all the power out of several other realms before turning her hand to the destruction of the mortal realm back during what historians now called the Dark Ages.

The forces of Light had been able to banish her way back then, to some forgotten realm where they hoped she would languish forever, being of immortal fey blood.

Her followers had scattered, and until recently, it was believed that the Venifucus had been completely disbanded.

Unfortunately, recent years and events had shown that they only went underground, working toward freeing their leader and starting the war all over again.

According to some reports, she was back and recovering from her exhausting trip Between.

Nobody was completely certain of that, since she hadn’t made an appearance anywhere herself.

Her minions in the Venifucus, though, had been busy.

Attacks and schemes all over the world had been keeping the forces for good busy.

Just such an attack had taken place on Long Island recently, when Venifucus agents had laid siege to the suburban development where most of the Marsh Witches have been living for decades.

The trio of lost Kinkaid brothers had helped defend the coven, and the eldest had discovered his true mate at the same time.

The middle brother had gone on a mission to safeguard a granddaughter of one of the old ladies and found the love of his life as well.

The youngest, Colt, had been sent after another granddaughter with a unique skill.

Faith Peabody was the first true Demon Slayer born in centuries, and she had never used her talents, though she’d been training with a Priestess for a while in preparation.

Her practice had come in handy when Mrs. Entwistle, a former member of the coven who had turned to the dark side, started summoning demons.

In fact, an entire family of mages located in the Houston area had organized a demon-summoning party to really get the Demon Wars going. Colt and Faith, along with the Clan and its allies, had put the kibosh on that, thankfully, but there was fallout.

Of course. There was always fallout. Hence the meeting Gavin was in right now.

“Luckily, the hammerheads are out at sea most of the time,” Sam Kinkaid said, “and those boys can take care of themselves. We’ll send them a warning, of course.

I do have some concern for Cousin Deirdre, since she mated with the leader of the hammerheads, but as long as they’re forewarned, I think they’ll be okay.

We’ll send some Clan support. I think Edvard can be convinced to take the yacht over there and spend some time getting to know our new shark relatives.

He’s got a small army with him on that ship.

They can help fill any gaps in protection. ”

Everyone around the table agreed that was a good idea, and a few made notes. Then, it was on to the next point Gavin had to report.

“I’ve also been trying to track down Mrs. Entwistle, but every time I get close to finding her trail, one of the Rollinses gets in the way.

They are seriously pissed at us for interfering with their little demon-summoning party.

They are regrouping under new leadership, since the old man was killed during our raid.

Since they’ve become such a thorn in my side, I’m developing deep backgrounds on every member of the family I can find information about. ”

Here, Gavin looked directly at Colt. The Rollins family was a sore subject for Colt and his brothers, since their mother was a runaway Rollins.

The three brothers who had grown up outside of the Clan did so because their parents’ mating was not quite approved of by the elders of the Clan at the time.

Richard Kinkaid had run away with Lily Rollins and had their sons away from both her family and the Clan.

Then, they’d died tragically, leaving the three boys without any real support system.

The eldest, named Richard after their father, had taken care of his teenage brothers until they were all old enough. They’d joined the military and quickly proven their worth as special operators, coming under the auspices of Admiral Morrow.

It had been a long and circuitous route that had brought them back to the Clan, and the ties were still new.

Gavin respected Colt but knew the younger man had a sore spot where the name Rollins was concerned.

Rollins mages were mostly evil. In fact, the late Patriarch of the family had wanted to gain favor with their Venifucus masters by summoning a large number of demons and unleashing them on an unsuspecting world.

He’d died in the process. Gavin didn’t mind that at all, but the man had been Colt’s grandfather, even though they had never met.

Colt had chosen to serve the Light, as had his two older brothers, and publicly rejected the Rollins family, but it still caused a bit of awkwardness for Colt and his brothers.

“What have you found?” Sam asked when the silence had dragged on a little too long.

“Well, as we know, they’re not all bad. Most of them have sold their souls to the devil, if you know what I mean, but there are a few here and there who seem uncomfortable with the family’s evil credo,” Gavin said.

“We all know about Florence,” Sam replied, reminding everyone at the table about the woman who had turned on her family to help protect Colt during the showdown at the Rollins mansion.

Florence Rollins was now with Granny Tucker, a powerful mage who lived not far away and was allied with the Kinkaid Clan.

Granny Tucker had taken Florence in, to both protect her and keep an eye on her after the battle.

Florence had admitted that she’d never wanted to summon demons, but would’ve been forced into it by her father, the late Patriarch.

Florence, it seemed, was Lily’s sister and, therefore, Colt’s aunt.

“I actually went to speak with Florence at Granny Tucker’s the other day.

She gave me some of the information, which I have corroborated with independent sources,” Gavin went on.

“Both Florence and Granny Tucker agreed that it was likely the remaining Rollinses were helping Mrs. Entwistle evade detection. Mrs. E, it turns out, was the one who taught everybody how to summon demons. As you might imagine, that sort of knowledge was all but obliterated after the Dark Ages. All the grimoires, all the ancient texts, and whatever other writings were found by our side were thoroughly destroyed.”

“But we didn’t get them all, right?” Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

Gavin nodded. “Obviously, some of that lore survived within families and organizations like the Venifucus. Closely guarded, the knowledge has been doled out sparingly. Mrs. Entwistle seems to be an expert and has been teaching select groups what she knows, probably in order to bring about the prophesied Demon Wars.”

“But to get to Mrs. Entwistle, it looks like you have to go through a bunch of Rollinses,” Colt said, speaking for the first time.

“Exactly,” Gavin confirmed. “I don’t think there’s any way around it.

We’re going to have to take down the Rollins magical empire, once and for all.

We dealt them a strong blow during the melee at the mansion, but they’re still out there causing all kinds of problems. We should really do what we can while they’re still somewhat disorganized.

I just didn’t want to start a war without permission. ”

Gavin gave his Alpha a cunning smile that made a few of the others around the table chuckle. Full-grown lions didn’t usually ask for permission for anything. Even when they had an Alpha as strong as Sam Kinkaid.

“I appreciate your discretion, Gavin,” Sam said, giving the younger man a grin.

“And yes, I think you’re right about needing to clean house where the Rollinses are concerned.

They’ve been a thorn in the side of our Clan time and time again.

For what it’s worth, you have my permission to rumble with the Rollinses.

” The smile ghosted across the Alpha’s lips once more, then disappeared.

“Just be cautious. They’ve lasted this long because they’re both smart and powerful.

They may be a bit disorganized since their Patriarch’s death, but don’t underestimate them. ”

“I won’t,” Gavin promised, glad he had his Alpha’s blessing to wreak mayhem. He’d have done it anyway, but it was always good to have backup ready, should he need it.

“Anything else to report?” Sam asked Gavin before they moved on to others who needed to speak.

“Two more things. First, I have a bit of incomplete intel saying there’s a good chance Mrs. Entwistle is heading back to the Northeast. Possibly back to Long Island. She’s still got a lot of contacts there, even if she’s burned her bridges with the Marsh Witches,” Gavin reported.

“I’ll ask Liam if he can spare a few minutes to look into that,” Sam said, making a note on the legal pad in front of him.

They used pen and paper for operational security and burned the paper once they were done. It was the most secure way they’d found to keep their Top-Secret information secure.

“The second thing was an offer from Granny Tucker. She has a high-level student that she wants to come consult with the Clan. Her name is Claudia, and she’s some sort of metal-working mage.

I’m not really sure what that entails. I met her briefly, and she’s a quiet woman.

Tall. Pretty. Unassuming. But Granny says she packs a wallop magically and might be able to offer us some additional protections and insights.

She’s taken on the role of instructor to the younger novices on Granny Tucker’s behalf, but Granny thinks it’s time for Claudia to take her place in the world and wants us to host her for a bit.

She says Claudia can serve as a magic teacher for Colt and me, or in an advisory role to the Clan, in general.

Granny wants you to call her when you have a minute to discuss it. ”

Sam didn’t look happy about the idea but grumbled his agreement before making a note to call Granny Tucker, then moving on to the next item on the agenda.

Gavin turned his gaze to Colt, who had jumped a little when the teaching of magic was mentioned.

Like Colt, Gavin’s mother had also been a mage, and as a result, both of them had a whole magical legacy they’d never really delved into.

Of course, Colt was now mated to a powerful Demon Slayer who would probably help him discover the extent of his own magical abilities.

Gavin didn’t really have that in his life.

Neither mate nor anyone who could help him further train the magic that lived within his soul.

He knew it was there, and he’d learned what he could from his mother, but he hadn’t developed his talents any further than that.

Not yet. Maybe not ever. He couldn’t know for sure where his path in life might lead.

The meeting went on for a bit longer, but eventually, everything had been said and all reports heard. The group was dismissed with various tasks to perform, but as Gavin was about to leave the room with the others, Sam asked him to wait a bit.

“I’ve got a file in my office that you might need to read,” Sam said as he walked with Gavin out of the conference room.