Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1) by Samantha Young Page A

eighteen. There was a particularly brutal soul eater terrorising downtown Chicago and Noah had been sent after it when a group of Neith had failed to destroy it. Romany, a member of that group, refused to be thrown off the hunt. This soul eater had killed her father and she wanted its blood. So Noah had let her tag along and had discovered she was tough, funny and… hot for him. As soon as the soul eater was taken out, they had started their relationship. It was casual because Noah had never really wanted anything else, and their casual relationship was the longest one Noah had ever had. Romany was straightforward and easy to talk to. But he had the feeling this assignment with Eden was bothering her. She’d never turned up when he was on assignment before. Let alone twice.
    “ Eden’s pulling away again,” he told her quietly. “I haven’t had time to explain to her… well about everything. I need to explain so Cyrus can make his move. But I’m worried that we’re going to be too late.”
    Romany leaned forward, her dark eyes pinning him to his seat with intent. “You need to remember who you are, Noah. What your duty is. If you are too late, and there is a possibility you’ll be too late, you have to do what you were born to do. You have to take her out, and with her the repulsive son of a bitch who sired her. Remember who you are. And remember what she is.”
    Noah glowered and looked down at his feet, searching for the answer.
     
    Boston, Massachusetts 1947
     
    “ Mother, why am I so different?” Noah Valois asked softly, as she tucked him into bed. With a child’s uncanny intuition, even at seven years old Noah felt something within himself - within his parents - that was unlike everyone else. Not to mention the strange friends mother and papa received at the house at least once a week. Or the odd manner his parents would hurriedly arrange a sitter for him before disappearing for entire days at a time. Yes, indeed, the Valois’ were not like other people.
    Emmaline Stewart Valois gazed sombrely at her son. His huge violet eyes stared back, clear and expressive, and brimming with more intelligence and awareness than a seven year old’s should.
    It was time.
    She nodded at him, and then motioned for him to budge over. Lithely, she settled beside him on his bed and tucked him into the side of her body.
    “ Shall I tell you a story, Noah?”
    “ Will it answer my question?” He insisted, and Emma fought hard to keep from smiling. Her Noah was such a precocious little thing. She just knew the older he got the more of a handful he was going to be.
    “ It will,” she promised gravely.
    Seeming satisfied with her answer he flicked his wrist regally, indicating she should go ahead with her tale. A throaty chuckle sounded from the doorway and Emma glanced up to see her husband leaning against the doorframe of their son’s room, his large, intimidating figure a reassuring presence. Alain Valois. Her beloved. A force to be reckoned with. Her dark eyes questioned him. Should I tell him? They asked. Alain nodded.
    “ Papa.” Noah straightened up. “Have you come to listen to mother’s story?”
    “ Non.” Alain shook his head ruefully. “I came to bid my son goodnight.” Like a cat, he sleekly crossed the room and placed a gentle kiss on Noah’s forehead, all the while brushing a loving hand down Emma’s arm.
    “ Bonne nuit, papa,” Noah replied softly, a contentedness entering his voice that was solely for his father.
    Once Alain left, Emma settled Noah back into the crook of her arm. “Alright, where were we?”
    “ We hadn’t started yet.”
    “ Ah, I see. Well let’s begin, shall we. This story begins many years ago, thousands of years ago in the sun-drenched, dry lands of the Egyptian Pharaohs-”
    “ I like this story.”
    Emma shook a little with suppressed laughter. “Good. Now, in the ancient world of Egypt, during the first dynasty of the Pharaoh’s, Pharaoh Djer had a son, Djet,