Free Cronin's Key by N.R. Walker

everything.
    Lions were emblazoned on every continent. Every. Single. One. Hell, there were even flags of the British lion in Antarctica.
    “Oh.” Alec swallowed hard as realization settled in. “They’re everywhere.”
    The lion didn’t represent strength and bravery. It was a symbol to warn the evil and to protect the good, and it had been for thousands of years across the globe. Alec snorted in disbelief. “And I thought there was no documentation of vampire lore anywhere.” He shook his head again. “Jesus. It really is everywhere , isn’t it?”
    “I told you it was there. You only had to know what to look for?”
    “But cats?” Alec asked. “Seriously?”
    Cronin smiled. “Where is the biggest, most famous of all?”
    “Oh Jesus,” Alec whispered. “The Sphinx.”
    “Yes.”
    “And they protect?”
    “The symbols are to warn. They hold no protective powers as such.”
    “So if the biggest warning symbol is in Egypt, then it’s fair to assume that’s where the biggest… war will be?”
    Cronin gave a small nod. “Well, that and the fact that the Egyptian covens are moving out, it seems most likely, yes.”
    “Was that sarcasm?” Alec deadpanned. “Were you always such a smartass in your human life or did it take a good twelve hundred years to work on that one?”
    Cronin chuckled. “I see it’s a skill you managed to master in just twenty-nine years.”
    Alec rolled his eyes and sighed. He watched Cronin with Sammy for a moment and shook his head again, still not quite believing what he knew to be true. “Cats?”
    Sammy nudged his head against Cronin’s chest, still purring loudly. Cronin smiled. “Yes, Alec. Cats.”
    “Why not dogs?” Alec asked. “Oh wait, is that because of the whole werewolf thing? Because I’ve seen those lycan movies…” Alec’s eyes went wide. “Shit. Are there such things as werewolves? Who can tear through vampire flesh?”
    Now it was Cronin who rolled his eyes. “Did you not want to collect some personal effects?”
    “Oh,” Alec said, remembering what they’d actually come to his apartment for. He grabbed a duffel bag from his wardrobe and started shoving clothes in it. It occurred to him—like he knew it in his bones—that he’d never be coming back, so he stopped packing clothes and started with photos instead.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    “I need to speak to my father,” Alec said. They’d collected everything he’d wanted from his apartment, including Sammy, without so much as another word between them and leapt back to Cronin’s apartment. Alec ran his hands through his hair and leaned his head against the back of the sofa.
    Alec knew police protocol. He knew his father would have been questioned and in all likelihood was now under surveillance from the NYPD. He would have been told that his son had disappeared and very probably shown CCTV footage of him vanishing into thin air with another man.
    “I understand,” Cronin said quietly.
    “But?”
    “But nothing,” he answered. “I will speak to Eiji and Jodis and hear what they have to say.” His brow furrowed. “Alec, I don’t wish to take anything away from you. If there is a way we can involve your father without causing harm or attention to him, then we should.”
    Alec looked at Cronin for a long moment. “Thank you.”
    Cronin smiled. “Tell me about him. Eiji said he’s a Scot?”
    Alec snorted. “Yes. He was born in Callanish, Scotland but came to the US as a boy. I never knew my mother. She died not long after I was born. My dad and I are close. Well, I mean, we were. Growing up, he was cool with everything. He handled the weird shit right along with me.”
    “What weird shit?”
    “Well, when I was a kid, there were a few times when things didn’t quite add up. Like the time I was about four and I was climbing the bookcase like a ladder. It was six foot high and heavy as hell, and my dad told me a hundred times not to climb it. I did anyway and it fell. I should have