Chanku Spirit by Kate Douglas

Author:Kate Douglas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2013-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

“You are what you seek?” Stefan stared at the doodles he’d made all over his notebook and shook his head. “Haven’t got a clue.”

Anton stood with his back to the large picture window, watching his closest friend and lover. Then he turned away and stared at the darkness on the other side of the glass. “Me either,” he said. “You are what you seek . . . I am what I seek. But what the fuck do I seek? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, why are you here?”

As if he hadn’t already asked himself Stefan’s question a million times? Anton sighed. “I’m here because of the dreams. I dreamed of Matt and he dreamed of Florida. I wanted to check on the hotel, so it seemed like the perfect time to make the trip.”

“Not true.”

Anton turned as Stefan shoved his chair back and walked across the room to join him at the window. Their images reflected back at them in the glare of light against glass backed by the nighttime sky—two tall, lean men with amber eyes. “What do you mean, not true? Of course it’s . . .”

Stefan grabbed Anton’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re here to find out why so many of our Chanku came from this area. Remember? What is it about Florida that drew them here in the first place. What drew you here?”

Anton shrugged. “I came with the circus. We spent the winters near Tampa.”

“Why? Why not Arizona or maybe New Mexico? There are other places where winters are warm.”

Something flittered through Anton’s thoughts. “But not where the water is life.”

“What’s that mean?”

He shook his head and tried to remember where he’d heard the phrase. “I’m not sure. It’s something the Goddess said when we cooled off in a pool of water after we ran, but I just realized I’ve heard it before.”

“You’re not thinking of the religious reference, are you? The fountain of life, the baptismal waters that . . .”

“No.” Anton spun around and clasped Stefan’s wrist. “Not the fountain of life . . . the fountain of youth. Some legends place it in Florida. The owner of the circus I worked for came here because he dreamed of finding the fountain of youth.” He shook his head. “But to tie that to . . .”

“What do we know of the others?” Stefan counted off on his fingers. “The Quinn family, for instance. Mei and Eve’s mothers. When did they come? Why were they here? What drew Oliver to this place?”

Anton stopped him. “That I can answer. He started out as a stowaway on a cruise ship. Got a job in the kitchen and worked his way from Barbados to Miami.”

“Miami’s a long way from Tampa. How’d he get to your winter headquarters? What drew him?”

Anton turned and stared at Stefan. “The circus. Oliver figured it would be a good place to work. They didn’t look too closely at his lack of proper documents, so . . .”

“Not so. It was more than that.” Stefan cocked his head and stared at Anton.

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