“Do it.” I stare into the dark pits of his soul without blinking. “Call them. Burn it all.”
It scares me that I mean it.
The demon will protect Lenora. I have no doubt in my mind. And this place will collapse into ashes. The charred ruins of the Usher bloodline. No more deaths. No more chaos. It would all end and I would finally be free.
“You crazy fuck,” he mumbles.
And I’m mildly amused by the apprehension in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? You came all this way to try and find your worthless, murdering nephews, didn’t you? Or are you here for a different reason?”
A thick, purple tongue wiggles across the cracked curve of his bottom lip. A nervous tick I’m not sure he knows he has.
“What are you up to, Usher? I know you’re behind all this.”
I raise a brow. “Prove it.”
Splotches of crimson rise beneath his sour complexion.
I find it almost amusing that I have had nothing to do with any of the murders, yet everyone keeps accusing me of them.
What isn’t amusing is the gun he pulls from inside his coat and aims between my eyes. His hand is remarkably steady.
“Where are August and Berny? You take me to them or so God help me, I will put a hole through your skull before I track down your precious niece and let my men have their fun with her.”
His latter statement has me glancing past the giant, black hole of the gun’s barrel to the man staring down the length of it with steely determination.
He’s not bluffing.
There is rigid fortitude in his veins. The precise certainty of a man willing to burn the world down to get what he wants.
Part of me understands.
I would do the same — more — for Lenora. Hell, aren’t I putting up with a pain in the ass demon for her?
But this is different.
The worry, the fact that he is here — alone…
I tuck it away. I can’t risk getting killed and leaving this asshole alone with Lenora. Demon or not. She needs me and I won’t leave her like this.
“Fine,” I state simply.
The first show of surprise comes in a rapid blink like he hadn’t expected me to comply.
Without waiting for him, I turn on my heels and start down the corridor. My shoes clip on marble in a steady beat that muffles his ambling shuffle over my shoulder.
“No funny business,” he warns. “I see any bullshit and I’ll paint these walls with your brain.”
I roll my eyes but say nothing as I continue through the labyrinth. Julen seems content following, until stone turns to soggy carpet. His exclamation of outrage is almost amusing.
“What the hell is wrong with this place? Don’t you know mold kills?”
“There are worse things that kill faster,” I remark, not really sure what I mean, but it sounds correct.
“Sick fuck,” I hear him gripe. “Where the fuck are you taking me?”
“You wanted to see where your nephews are,” I remind him.
