CHARACTERS
KYLE RAINES
Handsome billionaire entrepreneur and husband of Lori Raines. A life-long risk-taker, Kyle has an almost obsessive passion for gambling, horse/car racing and extreme sports, and is well-skilled in various martial arts. He's also an avid collector of books, jewelry, pottery and other relics of the Ancient World. Family is very important to Kyle. After the tragic deaths of his mother and younger sister, Rachel, in separate incidents several years ago, he developed a close bond with his older brother, Peter, a successful New York restaurateur.
BACKGROUND: (spoiler warning)
Born into old money, Kyle's father, Lord Alexander Raines, became Leader of the House of Lords soon after his 45th birthday. It was around that time that he met 34 year old Alita Koutakis, an archeologist he'd hired to consult with him on matters concerning his Raines Foundation for Ancient Studies. The foundation funded archeological digs around the world and supported research into artifact preservation techniques. Alexander and Alita fell in love but an offer she received to take an assistant curator's position at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, caused a rift between the two lovers. He refused to leave England so she went alone, putting an abrupt end to their year-long affair. Love triumphed, however, when Alexander, hopelessly miserable without her, finally decided to join her in Toronto. They soon married and had three children. Peter, then Kyle two years later, followed by Rachel a year after that. Rachel plummeted to her death during a rock-climbing excursion with Kyle while visiting family in Greece when they were teenagers. Years later, while attending Oxford University, Kyle told his best friend, John Griffith, the whole truth about what really happened that horrible day. It was a secret the two men vowed to take with them to the grave. Just before Christmas, in his junior year, Kyle got the news that his mother had finally succumbed to breast cancer at age 58. Devastated by the loss of his wife, Alexander began a slow downward spiral into alcoholism.
Despite the family turmoil, Kyle managed to graduate magna cum laude from Oxford, while brother Peter finished his training to become a chef. Ever the ambitious self-starter, Kyle established a name for himself in Ottawa's high-tech industry before moving to New York City at age 25 to launch new ventures into textiles, medical research and high-tech security/defense. One of these business ventures hit pay-dirt with the invention of C-Menix, a building compound similar to cement that, when hardened, is five times stronger yet half the weight of steel, won't weaken under intense heat or pressure, or disintegrate without the application of a biodegradable, non-toxic spray formula - exclusively manufactured by Raines Inc., of course. This invention revolutionized the construction and security/defense industry, and made Kyle a multi-billionaire by age 27.
It was around this time that Kyle began dating Lori McDonald, the stunningly beautiful 26 year old architect he'd hired to design the Phoenix Building, his soon-to-be new world headquarters and penthouse home on Central Park South. They married six months later in a grand ceremony attended by a who's-who of New York high society and Hollywood celebrities.
LORI RAINES
Lori's career as an architect was just starting to take off when Kyle hired her to design the Phoenix Building, his new 200 storey office building in New York City. Beautiful and brilliant, with a compassionate heart and fondness for the arts, gourmet cooking and world travel, Kyle was smitten from the moment they first met.
SHERAINE McDONALD
Lori's younger sister. A smart and ambitious pre-law student when she first becomes Kyle Raines' sister-in-law.
PETER RAINES
Kyle's gay older brother. Owns a Greek restaurant, called Alita's, in memory of their mother who died of cancer when the boys were in their 20s.
JOHN GRIFFITH
Kyle's roommate during his Oxford days. Charming, cultured and well-educated, John was, until recently, an undercover operative for MI-5. Well-trained in martial arts and the use of various weapons, he can bake a quiche with as much skill and panache as he can disarm a car bomb or neutralize an armed terrorist. Despite the ocean between them, the two former best friends have stayed in touch over the years.
JENNIFER GIBSON / AZULEN
Supreme ruler of the Jin (immortal caretakers of Earth). As the first-born entity created by Zurvan (the primordial essence of the universe and progenitor of space and time), Azulen assumed leadership over the rest of the Jin who came after her. Although technically neither male nor female, the Jin are born from the essence of Earth's plant life and therefore inherit traits specific to the plant from which they were created. Having been born from the chamomile plant, Azulen is even-tempered and sympathetic to the feelings of others, yet makes decisions with a cold, clinical logic which has bred contempt among some of her siblings, most notably with the Shatana, a parasitic sub-group of the Jin who are forced to take corporeal form and feed on the blood of mortals in order to survive.
IBLIS / OBERON
Leader of the Shatana, a parasitic sub-group of the Jin. Although not "evil" by the human definition, Iblis acts out of his obligation as leader to protect the rights and interests of his kind. He is quick-tempered, impulsive and merciless to his enemies but he does have a gentler, more playful side which he often expresses privately with those he holds most dear. Having been born from the sandalwood tree, Iblis is a sensual and passionate being. But because the tree survives by leaching nutrients from surrounding plants he (and others like him) must also consume the blood of mortals in order to maintain his supernatural strength.
DREANNA RAINES
Supernatural spawn of Azulen and Iblis, biological daughter of Kyle and Lori Raines.
