The Claimed by Caridad Piñeiro Page B

energy there was yet another that Christopher had sensed once before.
    Maya
, he thought, and turned, only it was just Ryan approaching, a cocky grin on his face. As his captain came to stand beside him, Christopher confirmed whathad happened with a quick visual inspection of Ryan’s body.
    “I gather it went well with Maya,” Christopher said, but it was impossible not to miss the anger in his voice.
    “It’s not what you think,” Ryan replied defensively, obviously worried.
    “I don’t care if you sleep with her, she’s not my fiancée anymore. But I do care that you fed from her,” Christopher replied, and motioned with the hand that held his glass to Ryan’s wrist.
    As his friend glanced down, his face reddened as he noticed the raised bumps, which, if untreated with pox-free energy, would become weeping pustules.
    “If I had any hesitation about my beliefs, you’ve just eliminated them,” Christopher replied and took a sip of his wine.
    “It just happened. One moment I was showing her how we hunt from nature as we did in the past and the next thing I knew—”
    “You were feeding from each other. I understand, Ryan. The call of Hunter energy is a mighty aphrodisiac,” he confirmed. Christopher understood all too well since he had been tempted more than once that night to sample Victoria’s compelling life force. But until he knew what she was, he couldn’t. If she was a Shadow that would quickly awaken the pox virus in his system. Even if she wasn’t, her energy might still possess enough remnants of the illness to cause a reaction.
    “The Shadows and humans carry the pox virus, Ry. You know that,” he reminded, since up until recently, humans had been inoculated with live smallpox virus in the form of vaccinations to eradicate the disease.
    “I do know and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Ryan said, and Christopher had no doubt about his friend’s contriteness or promise. Rather than continuing to berate him, he said, “You said it went well. Does that mean you found out something useful?”
    Christopher walked to a nearby table and poured another glass of wine. He handed it to his friend as a peace offering.
    With a nod of thanks, Ryan provided his report. “Your father was working with a human who claimed he could provide access to someone with unique powers.”
    Christopher leaned toward his friend. “The Quinchu for whom we are searching?”
    “Possibly. The man was Salvatore Bruno. He has a son named Adam.” Ryan reached into his pants pocket and removed a folded piece of paper. He handed it over and Christopher opened it and read the short bio from the website of a local alternative energies company. Also on the page was a news blurb about an upcoming event.
    “It says here that Adam Bruno is hosting a charity fundraiser tomorrow night,” Christopher said, and Ryan confirmed it with a dip of his head.
    Christopher pulled out his smartphone and visited the website for Bruno’s company—SolTerra. Using the link to the fundraiser, he read through the details, including the fact that Victoria had made a contribution to help raise monies for the group working to protect the local environment.
    Perfect
, he thought. “Good job, Ry. This will give us an opportunity to find out more about Bruno.”
And Victoria
, he thought, but kept it to himself.
    “What about Maya? What do we do about her?” Ryansipped on his wine, his relaxed posture belying the concern that Christopher sensed beneath the surface.
    “We cannot trust her. What I don’t understand is why my father hasn’t gone after Bruno already.”
    Ryan nodded in agreement. “I’m with you, but according to Maya, when Alexander realized that getting Bruno was going to be more difficult than he expected, he lost interest.”
    Christopher sighed with exasperation and shook his head. “Just like my father. Take the easy way out rather than working for what he wants. It’s why the clan’s power is