Eternal Prey (13 page)

“Don’t ask me. Jump into their minds to find out.”

“Fin protects his own while they’re under his roof. Their minds are closed to me.”

For whatever reason, that made Seir happy. “I think they will. I wonder if they’ll tell Fin.”

“He already knows. The bastard doesn’t miss anything.” Zero shrugged. “We’ll just have to see what happens.”

This seemed as good a time as any for Seir to ask the question nagging at him. “Why are you doing it this way? You don’t need to go through all this crap of raising a nonhuman army to destroy humanity. You did it with an asteroid last time. Why not do the same thing now?”

Zero grew thoughtful. “A challenge? He’s grown more powerful over the eons. Perhaps I want to prove I can defeat him on
this
playing field.” He shrugged. “Besides, the whole purpose of all this is the rise of the new and the death of the old. Nonhumans should have to work for ownership of this planet. And if they fail, I can always take care of things as I did before.”

“If he lets you.”

“I’m still the stronger.” He cast Seir a sharp glance. “As long as it remains a one-on-one fight.”

Seir refused to rise to the bait. “Why do you hate him so much?”

Zero looked honestly shocked. “It was never hate.
Never
.”

When Lia entered the dining room late in the afternoon, Fin sat at the head of the table. He was the only one there. He wore a short silver metallic jacket with a black T-shirt underneath. With his silver hair and eyes, he was almost too shiny to look at.

He smiled. It was beautiful and cold.

At least there was food on the table. Her gaze slipped past the toast, eggs, bacon, and fruit. Coffee. Yes! If she had to talk to Fin, she’d need caffeine.

Lia sat two seats away from him. Close enough so he didn’t feel insulted but far enough away to avoid being sucked into his personal vortex. She poured some coffee and took her time adding the cream. He waited patiently.

Finally, he spoke. “I’m glad we’re alone. I have things to discuss with you.”

Way to ruin a perfectly good day. She gulped her coffee. The steaming liquid burning a hole in her esophagus kept things real. “Talk.”

“Utah and Kione will be here soon, so I’ll keep this as brief as possible.”

He leaned toward her, and she resisted the impulse to lean away.

“You understand what’s at stake, Lia.”

“Remind me.” She needed time to wall up her defenses against him. Strange how she instinctively knew she’d need them. Fin wasn’t a person you relaxed around.

“Zero and his men are raising an army of nonhumans. They go to a city, train recruits, and then send their students to other places to repeat the process. On December 21 their armies will slaughter humanity.”

“There’re only ten of you guys. How do you expect to stop an army?”

He leaned back, and she breathed a little easier.

“We won’t have to stop an army if we cut off the heads of the hydra before December 21. Eight and Nine have already bought their one-way tickets back out into the cosmos, and once there they can’t return until the end of the next cycle.”

“Why bother with an army? Why not destroy everyone themselves? A natural disaster erased the dinosaurs.”

“They’re forbidden to kill humans directly, hence their need for minions. A natural disaster isn’t any fun. No challenge. And only Zero has the power to call forth that kind of apocalyptic event. He resorted to the asteroid to destroy the dinosaurs because he didn’t have any intelligent life forms to mobilize.”

Now there was something she hadn’t known. “Seems there’re a lot of cans and can’ts attached to all of this.”

Fin shrugged. “Those are the rules of the game.”

Rules of the game? A shiver worked its way down Lia’s spine. Could Fin sound any more cold, more disconnected from humanity? And Lia wondered what kind of unfeeling monster would think of mass murder as a game. Maybe she didn’t want to meet the cosmic rule maker.

“Now for your part in all of this.”

Here comes the bad part
. Lia could feel the sucking sensation as the tide rushed out on her personal tsunami. Any second the giant wave would appear on the horizon.

“Millions of years ago, I had a series of nine visions. They detailed where and when each of Zero’s immortals could be defeated. The visions also showed me the nine human women necessary to do it.”

“Women?” She knew what was coming, but she couldn’t stop it.

“Kelly and Jenna took out both Nine and Eight. Not a coincidence.” His gaze grew intense. “We need you.”

In times of crisis, she thought silly thoughts. She was picturing the old recruiting posters that said Uncle Sam wants you. And the giant finger of fate was pointing directly at her.

“I was in one of the visions.”

He nodded.

The wave towered over her, then crashed on the beach, sweeping her off her feet.

“I saw you reaching out. You had something in your hand. I didn’t see Seven, and I didn’t see what you were holding. But I knew that its touch would banish Seven from Earth. I saw lots of trees and what looked like a column of smoke in the background. Then the vision ended.”

She fought to the surface as the wave dragged her out to sea. “You’re a powerful guy. Why don’t you just find Zero and whip his ass? You don’t need me.”

Emotion too brief to identify moved in Fin’s eyes and was gone. “My visions didn’t include me ‘whipping his ass.’ Too bad.”

“Can’t you ignore the visions? Free will and all that stuff?” She was desperate.

Fin just stared at her.

“Right. No cheating.” Her gaze skipped around the room, searching for an escape. “At least did your vision show me making a triumphant exit from all this?”
With Utah’s arms wrapped around me
. Oh damn, she hadn’t meant that last thought. Had she?

“I don’t see outcomes.”

Then what good were his damn visions? Anything could go wrong. “What if I decide to walk away now?”

“You won’t. The visions don’t lie. It
will
happen. The tough part will be finding whatever you were holding in your hand.” He shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t have any more information. But once we follow up on the tip Seir gave you last night, I want—”

“Wait. You know about that?”

He smiled. This time it was genuine. Lia decided that any woman could ride to glory on his smile. Well, except for her. She preferred Utah’s hard-edged smile.

“I never sleep deeply. I sensed the moment he entered the building. Shen is handy with electronics. I’m hooked up to the building’s security cameras. I saw you meet him.”

She nodded. “And you heard us through Utah’s mind.”

“No. Actually, it was your mind. Utah was busy trying to block me just in case I was awake. I could’ve blasted through his block, but he would’ve known I was there.” His smile faded. “I’ve already spoken to him.”

“Let me guess. He was ticked.”

“A little.”

“You could’ve just kept an eye on the cameras and not listened in if you were worried about our safety.”

Fin didn’t bother shrugging. “You think I should’ve trusted him to tell me what happened? I didn’t notice him contacting me as soon as Seir called to him. Did I miss that part?”

“No need for sarcasm.” Okay, so Fin was right about that.

He leaned forward, but his gaze didn’t seem focused on her. “Listen to me, young one. Trust is usually misplaced. Trust no one, and live a long life.”

Something about his voice had changed, taken on a cadence that didn’t sound natural. He was creeping her out. She could’ve asked the same questions of him that she’d asked of Seir.
Who are you?
What
are you?

“You’re not like the rest of the Eleven, are you? You were never a dinosaur romping across the prehistoric landscape.” That revelation wasn’t a shocker. It was a no-brainer. Anyone could see that Fin was different. “If I can see it so clearly, your men should too. But they don’t, do they?” She narrowed her eyes. “Because you’ve messed with their minds. What don’t you want them to know about you?”

Lia regretted the questions the moment they left her lips. She swallowed hard and gripped the arms of her chair as his eyes bled purple.

“Be careful.”

He didn’t sound angry, but his eyes shone with emotion. She wished she could ID it.

“I do what I think is best for all of us.”

For all of us
. Well, Lia recognized a god complex when she saw it.

“Now, since I’m already . . . upset, do you have anything else to ask?”

Purple still pushed out the silver in his eyes, but any hint of emotion was gone.

A sudden thought gave her the courage to ask one more thing. He couldn’t eliminate her. She was in his vision. If he wanted to get Seven, he needed her.
Unless he tears you apart in an uncontrolled rage
. She pushed that possibility aside. Fin might get angry, but she couldn’t imagine him losing control.

“Why won’t you at least meet with your brother? That’s all he wants, just to talk to you. I feel kind of sorry for him. After all, he’s still family.”

For some reason, her comment amused him. He leaned back in his chair, and his eyes shone silver again. “Sometimes family is the most poisonous of all.”

Katherine
. He was right. Lia was the wrong person to lecture him on family.

“Okay, so now I know you can bend minds into pretzels. Are you going to take away my memory of asking you these questions?” She had to know even if she forgot immediately afterward.

“No.” For a moment he sounded almost weary. “Regardless of how powerful you seem to think I am, I can’t manipulate the minds of thousands. I’ll have to trust that you’re smart enough to remember what’s at stake. The survival of your species is more important than any minor concerns.”

Warping men’s minds wasn’t minor. But she kept that thought to herself. She concentrated instead on breaking her toast into small bits and sipping her coffee.

Thankfully, Utah and Kione showed up a few minutes later. Utah looked fierce and gorgeous and she wanted him more than . . . How had this happened so fast? A few days ago, she might’ve been crouched in an alley aiming at his head. Now her aim was a lot lower and didn’t involve a gun. She contemplated her toast, but it had no answer for her.

Utah sat next to her. The soft fabric of his sweater slid over her arm. She shifted so that the contact remained. Talk about static cling.

Kione sat down a few chairs away from everyone. He still had his cloak wrapped around him. Strange. It was warm in here. Hadn’t Utah offered to loan him something to wear?

“Now that everyone’s here, we can talk about tonight.” Fin included all of them, but he was watching Kione.

“Can’t we at least eat in peace?” Utah loaded up his plate with eggs and bacon.

She started to mention the fat content of that plate but then shut her mouth. His cholesterol count wouldn’t kill him.

“You can eat in peace on December 22.” Fin’s gaze never strayed from Kione.

Lia glanced at the fae prince to make sure she hadn’t missed anything the first time she took a quick peek at him. Nope, looked the same. But then she realized he was sitting by himself. Lia didn’t know why, but his aloneness bothered her. Sighing, she beckoned to him. “Move over.”

Kione didn’t respond for a moment, but finally, he moved to the chair next to hers. He made sure not to make eye contact. She appreciated the gesture.

Fin smiled at Lia. “I spoke with your father. I assured him you hadn’t asked the first vampire you met to change you.”

Lia was
not
amused. “Dad needs to stop checking on me.” Every time her father did something like that it reminded her of the insecure little girl who wasn’t brave enough or strong enough to make her mother love her. She hated the feeling.

“He loves you.” Fin said it as though the power to love was a strange human disease he didn’t understand and definitely didn’t want to catch.

If they’d been alone, Lia would have asked him if he’d ever loved anyone. Then she remembered his trust issues. Nah.

Fin turned his attention back to the silent Kione. “Welcome, Kione. I’ve wanted to meet you. I’m sorry I missed you in Philadelphia.”

Kione’s nod was strangely formal. “You were busy at the time.”

Utah followed the conversation while making sure he didn’t look at Kione and trying not to think about Lia. He’d liked it a lot better when he’d believed the dark fairy’s power was driving his interest in her beautiful little bottom and full breasts. Now? He’d have to work harder to focus on his work. Last night had been a revelation. No one to blame but himself for the emotions he’d unleashed on her unsuspecting head and other body parts.

“What brought you to Portland, Kione?” Fin glanced away from the fae prince as Greer pushed open the kitchen door. Fin motioned at him, and the chef disappeared back into the kitchen.

Kione countered with a question of his own. “What are you? And don’t tell me you’re just one of the Eleven. Your power is . . . extraordinary.” He seemed unsettled by the knowledge.