The Mark of Cain by A D Seeley Page B

so up and
down? So today he was sweet and sexy Inac? And after they kissed, he’d be back
to the angry and broody Inac?
    “Um…huh?” she asked once she realized that he had
asked her a question. Her mind hadn’t listened past the word “kiss” because
she’d been too busy thinking about just that.
    “Dinner? You know? Food?”
    “You want to take me out to dinner?” she asked,
trying to make sure that she understood.
    He laughed before chucking under her chin with a
finger, sending sizzles throughout her body. “Yeah. I mean, I know you’re
skinny, but you do eat, don’t you?”
    “Yeah…?”
    “So would you like to accompany me to dinner?”
    “Right now?”
    “Yeah.” He was laughing at her, which was in turn
charming her.
    “Sure…. I mean, no. I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    Her brain finally thinking clearly, she said,
“Because I have a lot I have to do. I’ve been trying to do research for a paper
but haven’t been able to turn much up. I have to find something or I’ll
have to change my topic, but I really wanna do it on the Mokolios.”
    His eyes momentarily widened in surprise before he
asked, “You’re doing a paper on the Noseriatif Tremokolios?”
    Now was her turn to be surprised. “You’ve
heard of them?”
    “Yeah. I know a lot about them. More than you’ll
ever find in a book.”
    “But how? They’re super secretive.”
    He threw her a daredevil smile. “Maybe I am one.”
    She pushed his chest lightly—a part of her
registering and beginning to fantasize about how hard it felt under her hand—as
she sarcastically stated, “Yeah. Funny.”
    He shrugged, not even flinching in pain though she’d
accidentally pushed close to his gunshot wound. He must be a good healer. She
didn’t know how long it would take to heal from a gunshot wound, but the fact
that she could still see the outline of his bandage under his T-shirt, as well
as she could see a corner of it taped at his neck, told her he still wasn’t all
the way healed yet.
    “Okay. Let’s just say that my work tends to be with
members of that particular organization,” he told her.
    “Really?” She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
    “Really.”
    “But how would you know that they were even a part
of it? I was told that they really like their privacy. They aren’t even on the Internet .”
    “Well,” he said, rubbing his square jaw, “the
Adamson family has been a part of it since it began. In fact, it was an Adamson
who founded it. Of course, that wasn’t the name back then. It was way before
last names came about. Perhaps you’ve heard of my ancestor? He’s best known as
Sargon of Akkad, or Sargon the Great. He was the first ruler to create a true
empire backed by armies. Or, at least the first to really be known for it.
Really, he took over for an ancestor of his , though history doesn’t tell
you that they were related. That particular king was named Lugal-Zage-Si.” With
a proud grin, he added, “But back to the story. When Sargon the Great took over
for Lugal-Zage-Si, he came up with the brilliant idea of the Mokolios. I have
numerous great warriors in my family tree.”
    She could tell he wasn’t joking. He wasn’t telling
the whole truth, but he was mostly telling the truth.
    “Are you really part of it?”
    His gaze said yes. His mouth said, “If I told you,
I’d have to kill you.” It was obvious that he was using the clichéd line to get
her to laugh and not take him seriously, but his eyes were serious. Your mouth
could lie; but your eyes couldn’t do so as easily.
    “Will you tell me about it?” she asked, unlocking
her door and gesturing inside because she realized that they were still
standing on the stoop.
    “Now that depends.”
    “On what?”
    “On if you’ll let me buy you dinner.”
    “But my paper….”
    “I’ll order take-out.”
    Despite herself, she was intrigued.
    “Okay. And you’ll tell me everything?” she said as
they walked into her apartment,