Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dante and I pulled up into the parking lot near a private entrance to the Underground. It also served as a parking lot for a tiny strip mall, so we wouldn’t look out of place parking here. Dante drove this time, because I wanted time to think.
“Well, we’re here. What do you think Saturn’s going to say?” Dante asked, turning off the ignition. He stared at the strip mall in front of us. The usual array—coffeeshop, fabric store, exercise studio, and dollar store. “You want coffee before we head down?”
I shook my head. “No, not right now. I juiced myself up on caffeine so much this morning that I’m still wired. I was anxious about how you all would react to my news.”
“I trust your instincts,” he said. “But it sure throws everything we thought we knew off base. When the bad guys turn out to be the antiheroes, well…it takes time to make that turnaround in your head, doesn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying to keep my two worlds separate, but they appear to be drifting closer and closer, and there doesn’t seem anything I can do to prevent it.” I stared out the window. “I can hardly wait for autumn and the rains. The light’s too harsh, too bright.”
“You’re tired, aren’t you?” Dante asked. “You sound…not defeated, but like you need a vacation.”
“Maybe I do. Maybe I’ve had too many changes this year.
I love Penn, and I love having her as a roommate, but it’s been an adjustment.
Mostly pleasant, though. And then meeting Konstantine and learning more about my mother—I thought that chapter of my life was wrapped up once Jace died.
Now, it’s wide open again. And now, meeting my father and brother…
Dante, there’s something I didn’t tell anybody else yet. Something I learned from Ezerian.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“There’s a ritual that can strip away my human side and turn me fully into a demon.” I stared at the dashboard, not sure why I told him. I wasn’t going to go through with it, but the fact that it even existed left me speechless. And wondering what it would be like.
Dante closed his door again, turning to face me. “What?”
I told him about the conversation. “What do you think?”
“You can’t be serious. You aren’t considering that, are you?” Dante looked frightened, which surprised me.
“You know me better than that,” I said. “I admit, it would be nice to feel whole, to feel like I only have one heritage, like you do. But I don’t want to lose the ties to my mother.
I love having her blood in my veins. She helped make me who I am, and even though she didn’t always make the best decisions, she did what she could.
” I shrugged. “So, don’t worry. I have no plans on trading in my mixed blood to become a full demon. ”
Dante winced. “I’m sorry. I just panicked. Okay, what I think, is obvious, given my reaction. I think it would be a huge mistake for you to go that route. If your father asks you to do that, it’s time to part ways.”
“He scares me, he’s so strong and so determined. But I don’t think he’d ask me to change who I am. Not unless something huge happens. Okay, let’s go see Saturn, and let’s hope that he listens to reason.” I motioned for Dante to follow me and we headed toward the shaded entrance.
* * *
Saturn was waiting for us on the fourth level of the Underground, hidden away in a secret bunker that, so far, my father hadn’t discovered.
He welcomed us in, looking as pale as a vampire could.
As we settled on the sofa, I dreaded trying to convince him that my father wasn’t out to stake the entire vampire population.
But he surprised me. “I received a message from Lord Ezerian. He’s asked to meet to discuss a truce.”
My father was a fast worker, that was for sure. I hadn’t expected him to reach out already.
“Please hear him out,” I said. “It’s not what you think. I urge you to work with him. You’ll prevent a lot of needless heartache and death. I met with him last night. I’m the last person to trust him but, I do. We can work with him toward a greater threat, or fight him and all go down.”
Saturn stared at me. “You’re serious?”
“I’m deadly serious. And deadly is the operative word. If I tell you everything, will you please keep it under wraps unless I tell you its safe to reveal?”
“I promise.”
“All right, here we go. The demons have nothing against the vampires.” I went on to explain everything we had discussed. “So, they need to use the Underground as a base.”
“Why didn’t they just ask?”
“I guess they thought you wouldn’t believe them,” I said.
“Well,” Saturn said. “I can see one big stumbling block. Most of the vampires—most of the Underground, actually—already believe that he’s out to destroy us.
How can I suddenly turn around and say, “He’s fine, let him move in” without giving them the facts?
I’m going to look like I’m selling out my people.
” Saturn’s voice was so smooth that he could give the orders for my death and sound like he was welcoming guests to a party.
“I don’t have an answer for that. Not yet,” I said. “Do you have a couple of friends who carry cachet in the vamp community? Ones you can safely confide in? Who won’t spill the beans? If they backed you up—”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Except…I do have two compatriots who wield immense influence in the community. If they back me up, others might listen. But I don’t think they’ll be amenable to listening to you. To someone who’s half demon. Do you trust me to tell them?”
I glanced at Dante. He gave me a single nod. “I suppose we have to. I don’t want to see anyone else killed because of a misunderstanding. But you have to move cautiously. My father’s concerned about this information getting out because it could lead to the entire downfall of their operations.”
“I realize that,” Saturn said, his forehead wrinkled.
“The thing is… If the Elder Gallara manage to come through the portals, we’re all dead.” As much as I didn’t like revealing my father’s plans, this seemed to be the only way. “Can you at least tell us who you are going to contact?”
Saturn nodded. “I suppose that won’t hurt.
The first is an old vampire mobster named Severin.
He’s extremely good at keeping secrets, and he owes me several favors.
The second would be Madame Veruka. She runs a chain of brothels for blood whores.
She’s known for keeping her list of clientele completely anonymous.
Nobody knows how she does it but she never leaves any tracks, and her customers on both sides are always satisfied.
” Saturn leaned forward, his hands folded on his desk. “Will that satisfy you?”
“I suppose it has to. And it sounds like they’re both discrete. Here’s my private number. You can always call me if something goes wrong. Even though I’m connected to my father, I want you to know that—at the first sign that he’s lying—I’ll be on him like white on rice.”
“Thanks. And you truly believe him about Brim Fire?” Saturn asked.
I hesitated, but then said, “Yeah. He’s right. I’m afraid that we’re facing an invasion by a group of Demonkin who won’t spare anybody or anything. At least my father is civilized in his demonic nature.” I stood, reaching out to shake his hand.
Saturn also stood, and took my hand in his. He was cold as ice, and I still wasn’t used to touching the vampires. Even though I had occasionally held Lazenti’s hand, the chill startled me every time.
“Thank you for caring enough to reach out. There are plenty of people—Supe community or not—who would just let them wipe us out. I won’t forget the kindness.”
As we made our way out of the underground, I turned to Dante. “We’ve done everything we can. At least we know Lazenti is safe, and here’s hoping that we paved the way for a number of other vampires to survive.”
“I know what you mean,” Dante said. “I think we can trust Saturn, and I hope that he find some amenable compromise with your father. Where to next?”
As we headed back to the car, I said, “It’s time to go visit Benny and talk to his friend Dan-Dan. After this morning, I’m kind of dreading what we’re about to find out.”
We settled back into Dante’s car, and I fastened my seatbelt, hoping that Saturn would manage to knock some sense in the other vampires.
Because I knew that my father wouldn’t let any pushback from them stand in his way.
Dante put the car into gear and we headed out, towards the side of town where nobody walked in the streets alone at night, unless they were heavily armed.
* * *
Benny’s neighborhood made New Orleans, Memphis, and all the other murder capitals of this country look tame.
The southern tip of Seattle housed numerous slumlords, flop houses, drug dealers, gang members, and lowlife scum.
In fact, Benny’s street and the surrounding blocks were known as Dead Man’s Row, there were so many gang fights and murders.
Seattle, as a whole, wasn’t extraordinarily high in crime, but certain areas had earned the warning, enter at your own risk.
Luckily, Dante and I were pretty intimidating ourselves, and Dante’s car had an alarm system from hell. The shrieks that the alarm emitted when someone tried to pry open the door were piercing. In fact, they did what they were supposed to and chasing people away.
We managed to find a parking spot right in front of the house that Benny rented.
Several times, I had tried to encourage the goblin to move to a better neighborhood, but this was all he could afford.
And quite frankly, there was so much prejudice that I doubted he’d ever find a place to rent that was halfway nice.
Nobody wanted to rent to goblins, and I understood, given the nature of most of the sub-Fae.
I texted Benny that we were at the door, and then knocked. Otherwise chances were he wouldn’t answer.
The door creaked open and Benny peered out, saw me, and flipped the locks on the screen door so that we could enter.