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I stared at him. He was so nonchalant that it began to dawn on me just how strong our cousin was. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even wince when he was talking about his injury. And considering he had been a member of the ISA, my guess was that he’d been trained to withstand torture.
“You were part of one of their elite forces, weren’t you?” Maybe we couldn’t glamour him, but I could force the issue.
He contemplated me for a moment, and the jovial smile slipped away. Beneath it lay the cold, harsh gaze of a predator, and I had the feeling that Daniel could be as deadly as we were.
“Cream of the crop, Menolly. I was the cream of the crop, top of the line. They didn’t want to let me go.” He shifted in his seat. “Before you ask, the reason I left was twofold. I wanted out of the danger zone. And… there were things we were trained to do—things I’ve done—that I could no longer bear on my conscience. They still haunt me, and while I know I can never atone for some of them, I had the strength to walk away.”
Camille shifted in her seat. “Did they object?”
He shrugged, still somber. “It was either let me go or kill me. And I had installed a few… shall we call them, safety nets. They knew—and they still know—that if there’s any question about my death, dominos will fall and a great deal of information about their covert operations will be revealed to the public. I’m a bitter, dangerous enemy to have, girls. And my former commander knows just how deadly I can be.”
A shift in the pit of my stomach made me nauseous, and that was a rare event. I slowly lowered myself into a chair. We’d let a viper into our midst. Daniel had managed to dig up a lot of information on us in a short amount of time. I wondered—did he know about the war? And would he use that to blackmail us?
As if reading my mind, he leaned forward. “For instance, I know what you are battling. Not by name, but I know you’re keeping the demons of the world at bay. And I also know you don’t want that information to get out. But fear not, I didn’t come here to threaten you.” His eyes flashed and the smile was back. “I think we can help each other.”
“How so?” Delilah stood, folding her arms across her chest.
“I can get into any place you need me to. I don’t care how carefully it’s armed—at least with human traps—I can spring it. I can disarm security systems. I can disarm bombs. I’m that good. I can dig up the actual—not just the public—but the actual floor plans of any building in this city. And in most big cities. I have contacts who can procure anything you need to work with, illegal or not.”
“Are you offering to work with us?” Morio asked. He cocked his head to the side, his soft, smooth hair trailing over his cheek.
“And if I am? Are you interested?”
Camille and Delilah looked at me. I nodded for them to follow me into the kitchen. Daniel just leaned back in his chair and began to whistle.
When we were near the table—which was almost ready for dinner—Camille turned to us. “I don’t know what the fuck to think about this.”
Delilah shook her head. “He’s certainly unlike any other FBH we’ve worked with.”
“Not quite.” I took a seat, making certain not to disturb the place setting Hanna had set. “Wilbur. Wilbur’s an FBH and he’s ruthless and dangerous. Just more uncouth than our cousin.”
“True that.” Camille frowned, poking over the cookie plate and biting into a chocolate chip one. Hanna glared at her but said nothing. “So what do we do? He obviously knows about the demons; he knows about all of us. Who knows how much other information he’s managed to dig up?”
I knew my suggestion was going to garner more than a questioning look but decided to speak up anyway. “Give him a chance.”
Delilah snorted. “Say what?”
“We don’t have much choice. I doubt if Daniel feels any family fidelity at this point—how can he? We barely know each other. And the International Security Alliance? Dangerous and deadly. I wouldn’t put much past what he’s been trained to do over the years. He’s probably killed as many people as we have, and my guess is a number of them have been innocent. But we also have a good deal of info on him, and we could easily turn the tables if he double-crosses us.”
“So what you’re saying is that we’re at a stalemate?” Delilah laughed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Because it’s par for the course? I truly doubt that Hester Lou knows anything about her brother’s background, so we have leverage there, too. I don’t know how or where Vanzir got his info but I’m damned glad he did. I just wish we could have found out before Daniel showed up here.” I tried to think out the potential disasters that could come out of this situation but there were just too many variables. “We are playing poker with a master, but we both have good hands. We need to find out what he expects to get out of this, though.”
“Good point.” Camille smoothed her skirt. “Let’s get back in there. I’m going to trust your instincts on this. He seems more prone to answering you so why don’t you take the reins on this. We also have to get dinner over with so that we can go meet Tanne Baum.”
Hanna cleared her throat. “Ten minutes and then I start clearing the table if you aren’t in here. I’m not keeping this food warm while you all sit in there and chatter.”
“Yes’m.” Delilah saluted her as we filed back into the living room.
I decided the time for formality was long gone. Walking up to Daniel, I planted myself in front of him, one booted foot resting on the arm of his chair as I crossed my arms and leaned down. He gave me a leisurely smile.
“First: What the fuck do you expect to get out of this? You’ve told us what you have to offer, but what do you think we can give you?”
He leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs so they rested between mine. I could sense a curious energy off him, but it wasn’t sexual. It was more… power plays. There was his key. Cousin Daniel liked to play with power and he liked to run the show. Whatever he’d done through his life had left him with a love for control. And he was thoroughly enjoying this.
“What do I expect from you? Knowledge. Contacts. Potential clients. I’m not looking to chase treasure with you—from what I’ve learned about you, you’re not concerned with such things.” He glanced over at Smoky. “And I have no intention of ever trying to find your treasure hoards, if you have them. I know enough about dragons to know that would be a stupid move.”
Smoky let out a low snarl, but remained where he was. “You are a wiser man than many, then. Camille’s cousin or not, should you come sniffing around my premises in hopes of stealing a coin or two, I won’t hesitate to teach you what it means to incur the wrath of a dragon.”
