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A chill ran down my back. “And what happens later?”
Her sharp smile chilled me even more. “We’ll get to that. Before we make any significant moves, there are a few outliers I’d like you to approach. The most important of those is the new Blood Hunter.”
“Another heir who’s just stepped up?” I asked, still trying to untangle her insinuations about the future.
“No, a usurper.” Mom’s smile widened slightly as if she liked the idea. Maybe she did, as long as it wasn’t her throne being stolen. “She has only a little experience within the Devil’s Dozen. And she’s not much older than you, so I’d imagine you’ll have more common ground than there’d be between her and me.”
“And we want to find that common ground because…?”
Mom shot me a look as if thinking I should keep up. “She’s a wild card. But as a woman who’s bringing new ideas to the table, I’m hopeful that she’ll see the benefits that would come with adjusting the balance of power.”
Adjusting the balance of power. And Mom was fussing over who wanted to ally with her and who wasn’t taking the bait.
A horrible suspicion clawed its way up through my chest. “Are you… Are you trying to find allies so you can overthrow some of the other Devil’s Dozen members?”
It wouldn’t be a totally absurd move, would it? Banding together with a smaller group to shove out the others, dividing the losers’ territory between the winners so there were fewer at the top, each with a bigger piece of the pie.
I could totally see Mom going for that. And becoming even more of a menace than she already was.
But if she failed… That kind of treason against her Devil’s Dozen colleagues would warrant a death sentence.
Not a hint of agreement showed in Mom’s expression—but she didn’t look scandalized by my suggestion either. That convinced me I was right before she even gave her carefully bland response. “We’re simply taking stock of where we stand—and what we might do from there. You should never leap into action until you’re sure of your plan’s success, Luciana.”
Oh, yeah, that was as much of a yes as I could imagine Mom ever giving. Holy shit.
She intended to turn on some of those other top bosses—the kings and queens of the criminal underworld. How much territory was she hoping to gain? Did she figure she’d double her holdings? Triple them?
How many more people would be terrorized under her reign?
Did she really think it was worth risking everything we had on a crazy gamble like that? Or maybe she’d already found enough support that it didn’t seem so crazy.
As those questions whirled in my head, a strange elation tickled up from my belly. I didn’t like what I was hearing, but it also might be exactly the leverage I needed so much.
Mom was holding my men’s lives over my head to get her way. If I could threaten somethingshecared about, it might balance out our own power struggle.
I tipped my head to the side as if I were thinking over Mom’s words. “Then I guess we’d better make sure. When did you want me to talk to the Blood Hunter?”
NINE
Luciana
I recognizedthe Blood Hunter the moment she stepped into the elegant coffee shop Mom had picked out for this meeting in downtown Atlanta, which apparently was neutral ground between their territories.
I’d never seen a picture of the woman before and only had Mom’s brief description to go by. But I think even if I hadn’t known to expect long black hair or dark eyes vivid against pale skin, I’d have identified her as a force to be reckoned with before she’d even crossed the room.
Despite her slim frame, the Blood Hunter’s every movement emanated physical control and strength. Her steady gaze as she approached the table spoke of plenty of will power as well. I considered myself a skilled fighter when the situation called for it, but every inch of my skin prickled with the knowledge that this woman could have me pinned in a matter of seconds, no matter what I did.
Like Mom had said, she wasn’t that much older than me, late twenties at most, but when she stood over the small table I’d chosen, I felt like a kid. A kid who had no business trying to play the kinds of games my mother wanted to involve me in.
I had to anyway, though, so I’d better put on a good show.
I started to stand up as a sign of respect, but the Blood Hunter lowered herself into the chair across from me before I could get to my feet. She didn’t show any sign of caring about those sorts of niceties.
It was far from standard protocol for her to be speaking with me at all. In Beckett’s case, his agreeing to meet with someone who didn’t even have the authority to sit at the Devil’s Dozen table yet could be explained by the fact that there was still some uncertainty about whether he or his father truly held the title.
The Blood Hunter had no heirs. From what Mom had told me, she’d ruled for the past few years after killing the man who’d claimed that name before her.
Why had she done that? What had she been after?
