In fact, my father was proving to be unreadable. He could be lying through his teeth and I wouldn’t be able to tell. I sat there for a moment, digesting the knowledge that—if I wanted to—I could fully take my father’s heritage.
The thought scared the hell out of me, and yet…and yet…to not be torn in half? To embrace my nature rather than fear it? I didn’t want to admit it, but a part of me kept thinking how easy it would be to just give in. To feel whole for once.
I pushed my plate away and finally asked, “What are the UnderRealms like?”
Vaurice sighed. “Well, they aren’t all flame and brimstone, like so many humans believe.”
Ezerian ignored him. “We have cities, and countrysides. And there are war torn lands, as well. But things are different there. We have our own variants of technology, and pockets of magic. But the main difference is that in the UnderRealms, life is harder. Less forgiving.”
“Are there humans there?” I asked.
“A few—some slaves, and some who crossed over by choice. They have their place.” Ezerian brought out his wallet and left two twenties on the table as a tip. “I want to meet your team. Since you’re working with us, we have to meet them—formally.”
That was going to be a problem, given we weren’t really working with him. But I couldn’t say anything. And given what he’d said about the Elder Gallara, we were going to have to reconsider our approach and goals in the matter.
“I need to ask you a question,” I said. “Why do you hate vampires so much?”
Ezerian shrugged. “I don’t, but they’re in the way and they don’t fancy working with us. So, they need to either move, or we’ll force our hand. We need to utilize the Underground in order to set up our operations.” He paused, then said, “The mayor agrees with me.”
“The mayor…of…?” It didn’t seem likely that Saturn had made any such agreement.
“Seattle. We tried approaching the Washington State Governance Council, and they weren’t amenable to our presence. However, after presenting the evidence to Mayor Bixby, he understood the greater threat. So, we’re working with him—covertly—because he understands what the future looks like if the Elder Gallara are allowed entrance. We’re also working with other cities, in other countries. Brim Fire is a worldwide organization and so we have to act on a worldwide basis.”
That caught me short. The demons were involved across the world? Either this was the greatest sham they had ever pulled, or the world was in serious danger.
“I’d like to ask you to ease up on the vamps. I know the mayor of Underground Seattle, and he deserves more respect. Trust me, we can bring them around, if you don’t come down so heavy-handed.” If I could buy Saturn some time, we could convince more of the vamps to relocate and possibly prevent a nasty little war right here.
His nostrils flaring, Ezerian shrugged. “If it makes you happy, then I’ll take some of the pressure off. But only if they agree to relocate.”
“I’ll work on it. I do have one other question,” I said.
“And what is that?” Ezerian asked.
“Why did you pick my mother? How did you meet her? She never told me anything about you and I’d like to know how I came to be.” Until now, I’d never expected to find an answer to the question that had haunted me since I was young. My mother had given me the barest of answers, and she died before I could insist. “I thought you might be an incubus, like Vaurice.”
Ezerian shook his head. He stayed quiet for a few moments. I thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he sighed.
“Very well. I can understand your curiosity. I met your mother while I was hunting down a fugitive from our realm. A demon named Kasel murdered my brother. Duels are common, but he didn’t even give Zayel a chance. Kasel stabbed him in the back, like the coward he was. So I avenged Zayel. I traced Kasel to Seattle, and found him in a bar. He was bothering a woman—she was extremely beautiful, and she obviously didn’t want his attention. I waited till she left, but Kasel started to follow her.”
I caught my breath, but said nothing. But, inside, I kept thinking of Jace.
“I followed them, and when they came to a park, he dragged her into the bushes. I dispatched him before he could do more than scare her. She was terrified—rightly so, since she saw me in my truest form and she watched me kill him. Kasel vanished when he died, so she knew she wasn’t dealing with humans.”
“So she knew, from the beginning? That you were a demon?”
He nodded. “I escorted her home. We talked half the night. She suggested I stay with her. And that night, you were conceived. But I couldn’t stay for long. After a couple weeks, I had to return home.”
“Did she want you to go?” I asked, suddenly hungry to everything I could about this man who had won my mother over. I wanted to ask if he had loved her, but I had a feeling that was asking for disappointment.
He shook his head. “No. I offered to take her back to my realm, but I was honest with her. She could never be my wife there—only a concubine. And I was expected to take another wife at some point. Vaurice’s mother had died years before. Erin needed more than that and I understood. So she chose her world, and I returned home to mine.”
I thought about this for a moment. “I think she was afraid that you would find out about me and take me away. She changed her last name and her backstory. She never told me about her relatives, and I think it was because she was afraid you might come back and hurt them. Or, at least, I thought it was because of that.”
He seemed to understand what I was asking, between the lines. “I think she feared for you, more than for herself or her family. Demons aren’t readily accepted. Maybe she wanted to spare you rejection. Perhaps she feared her family would deny you.”
“That could be,” I said, thinking. I had been bullied a lot during school, and while I always knew that I was half demon, she had cautioned me about speaking out about it. Given what I’d remembered about her boyfriend, it made sense. “To be honest, I think she was afraid I’d get angry and hurt someone, if they laughed at me or turned me away. That did happen, you know.”
And just like that, I found myself telling him about the man who tried to kidnap me.
