Blood Trinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love Page B

a common enemy that for once wasn’t
her
.
    Sen glared the room into silence. “The Hindu god, Shiva, contacted our Tribunal a few hours ago to let us know that the Ngak Stone will soon reveal itself in the same area where it was lost. He has no idea when or exactly where. But the time is drawing near, and once the stone is ready to be located it will call a new master.”
    Trey let out a sound of aggravation. “Shiva didn’t say if choosing a new master would involve a Kujoo, did he?”
    “No, but he didn’t say it wouldn’t.”
    Casper slid a glance to Trey. “Wanna lay odds with me? Cause my luck and money says if a Kujoo don’t find it, my favorite song ain’t ‘I Love My Truck.’”
    Trey shook his head.
    Ignoring them, Storm frowned at Sen. “I’m unfamiliar with the Kujoo. But if Shiva’s involved, I take it they’re Indian in nature?”
    Sen inclined his head to him. “The Kujoo were once a race of Hindu humans until eight hundred years ago, when a band of rogue Beladors, drunk on bloodlust, plundered their village and killed their families. Before Macha could punish them for it, Shiva answered the Kujoo’s call for vengeance and granted them supernatural powers so that they could fight back.”
    Adrianna scowled at him. “Why are the Beladors still enemies then after all this time?”
    Sen sighed. “The Kujoo weren’t content to kill the handful who’d wronged them. They declared open warfare on any and all Beladors. It was bloody and brutal. And the Kujoo quickly lost sight of why they’d originally fought. It became a matter of killing off anyone with a trace of Belador blood in them.”
    When he said “a
trace
of Belador blood,” Sen sent a derogatory glance at Evalle before continuing. “Finally, when there were only a few of each left, Macha and Shiva came to an agreement. She would corral and sanction the remaining Beladors, and Shiva would lock his now insane Kujoo beneath Mount Meru—where they continue to live, train and plot the Belador communal deaths. Two years ago, one such plot resulted in a Kujoo warrior escaping Mt. Meru with the Ngak Stone. During the ensuing fight against some of our operatives, he lost the stone in Piedmont Park.”
    Casper sat forward. “Wait … you’re saying that we
knew
where this potential Belador kryptonite has been sitting the whole time but didn’t send a retrieval team to find it and put it in our vault?”
    Sen gave him a duh stare. “Yes, Casper. We purposefully left it there. It made such a great resting place for the pigeons and tourists that we couldn’t bring ourselves to move it.”
    Trey spoke up. “It’s only the size of a goose egg, not a damn boulder. There was one good thing that came from the battle. Macha fixed our eyes. Our powers are no longer linked to our vision.”
    “Speak for yourself,” Evalle muttered. Many of the Beladors, like Trey, had been subject to weakening of powers if their eyes were compromised. After the battle with the Kujoo two years back, Brina had lobbied Macha to fix that, which the goddess had. Be nice if Brina had lobbied Macha on Evalle’s behalf to allow her to walk in sunshine. “
I
still have sensitive eyes.”
    “But it doesn’t affect your powers the way it did ours,” Trey pointed out.
    Sen broke in. “Think you two can save the drivel for your own time?” He addressed the whole room. “The stone becomes invisible until it wants to be found, sometimes for centuries. We could have excavated the entire park and never found that rock. It chooses when and where to be seen or found.”
    Trey let out an elongated breath. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that we have some idea who or what the stone has chosen for a new master.”
    “In the past, it’s always chosen someone with significant powers. Someone with an unknown history. The only clue Shiva could give us is that he believes it’ll select a woman this time.”
    “Well, there goes the neighborhood.” Casper winked at