Suri eyed his destroyed desk. “I never thought my sister would whore herself out to a vampire. Life often takes unexpected turns.”
Zane’s hands clenched, despite his shredded knuckles. “Stop talking about my mother like that.”
Suri lifted a thick eyebrow. “Or what? You finally going to try to kill me?”
Zane turned and slowly surveyed his uncle. His mind spun and then cleared. “We both know I could.”
Suri scoffed. “Bullshit. I’m twice the fighter you are.” He kicked kindling out of the way. “Besides, if anything happens to me, your mother and brothers will instantly pay the price. I do have my safeguards in place.”
“Where is my mother?” Zane asked quietly. The day was fast approaching when he’d have to torture Suri for the information, but right now too many of Suri’s followers surrounded them.
“Safe for now.” Suri shrugged. “Have you made contact with Janet Kayrs?”
“No. Apparently she’s pissed I’m a demon and won’t enter the dream world.” Zane kept his gaze level as he lied. “Not that I’m surprised.”
Suri smirked. “The vampires hate you because you’re part-demon, the demons despise you because you’re part-vampire, and the Kurjans just want you dead. You’re lucky I’ve provided you shelter all these years.”
“Why have you?” Zane asked, not bothering to react to the truth of the rest of the statement. The reality of his birth had been dealt with long ago.
“Your gifts with the chosen one,” Suri said. “You are about to become very handy.”
Chills cascaded down Zane’s back. “What did you promise the Kurjans?”
“None of your damn business.” Suri reached down to an orphaned desk drawer to grab another laser gun. “Your only concern is keeping your mother alive, and don’t you forget it.”
Zane hadn’t been able to forget that fact since the first day he’d arrived at demon headquarters. “I deserve to know the plan with the Kurjans. Did you promise them Janie? If so, in exchange for what?” He couldn’t get his mind wrapped around that possibility.
Suri shrugged. “It matters little what I promised Kalin, although I did say we’d fetch Janet Kayrs for them. Once I get what I want, all deals are off the table.”
“What do you want?” Zane whispered.
“This whole damn mess to be over, and for the vampires and Kurjans to go back to killing each other off without involving us.” Suri straightened his perfectly pressed uniform. “For decades, even before Janet Kayrs was born, the doom attached to her life hung over our heads. The Seers are never wrong, and they’ve envisioned a destroyed world if she’s allowed to fulfill her destiny.”
Zane reached down to retrieve his knife to sheathe in his boot. “Changed how?”
“Nobody knows, and that’s the crux of the problem. Change for immortals is never good, and there’s a sense of the dystopian to the visions. Can’t you sense the danger?” Suri’s eyes flashed black and hard. “If you were a true demon, a real leader, you would instinctively feel the weight of disaster in the very oxygen around us.”
The spit dried up in Zane’s mouth. “The Seers are wrong, and I don’t want to lead the fucking demons. Stop threatening me, stop threatening my family, and let us be.”
Suri cracked his massive knuckles. “To think I had such high hopes for you.”
Zane shook his head. “I care little for your hopes. What do you want?”
Suri chuckled, and the sound coated the roam with invisible oil. “You’re a killer, plain and simple.The Ghost.So kill.”
Zane’s blood heated until the liquid burned his veins. “My destiny isn’t to kill Janet Kayrs.”
“No?” Suri kicked a mangled piece of desk out of his way. “The choice is, of course, yours.”
“Meaning?” Zane asked softly.
Suri smiled, fangs glinting. “Your mother or your whore. One will die by the end of the week.”
A blade weighed heavily against Zane’s calf, almost pulsing with the need to slice into his uncle. “I’ve expected that ultimatum for a while now. But it does beg the question, if you want me to kill Janie, why make a deal with Kalin and the Kurjans?”
“Plan B.” Suri glanced pointedly down at Zane’s leg. “I’m not entirely sure you won’t sacrifice your mother.”
Zane’s head snapped up, rage heating his breath. He rushed across the desk, grabbed Suri by the shirt, and pummeled him against the wall. Old plaster rained down, covering them both. “I will never sacrifice my mother.” Zane leaned in close, surprised he had to look down a couple of inches. “Besides, as I recall, my mother has kicked your ass more than once.”
