“Ok. So someone like Abigail Irving, could just one woman like her really be a threat?” I was already afraid of him. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by asking what was really on my mind.
“She was a feisty one, wasn’t she?” He chuckled, and I immediately went cold. “That one knew things. Killing her was the safest way to make sure that what she knew never got out.”
“What kind of things?” My eyes were dry. I hadn’t blinked in a while because I couldn’t pull myself away from his entrancing stare that long.
Shya studied me closely, a simple perusal. He made no attempt to test or touch my power the way so many others had upon a first meeting; he didn’t have to. He already knew far more about me than I did about him. Of that, I was certain.
“She knew how to access powers rooted in the pits of hell. I hope her zealous talk didn’t convince you otherwise. That woman went mad decades ago. She was a disaster waiting to happen. The demons she was consorting with are now just as dead as she is.”
Lilah. One of my coworkers’ names popped unbidden into my mind. I’d seen her kill a demon with very little effort.
“I’m always going to be in the dark, aren’t I? Never really knowing who I’m hunting or why.”
“Oh, you will know. You already do. You know as much as you need to know.” The smile suddenly vanished from Shya’s face causing his sharp features to seem more pronounced. “You have immense power over vampires and werewolves. You are both and yet somehow neither, all at the same time. The creatures of the underworld are constantly in conflict. The battle for control of both the human and the supernatural world never ceases. You have an opportunity to play an important role here.”
I swallowed hard. He really did know an awful lot about me, maybe more than I did.
When I failed to respond, Shya continued. “I like you already. You’ve proven yourself to be professional and discreet. And, from what Veryl tells me, you have no qualms about speaking your mind.” The serpentine smile returned.
“I don’t appreciate being lied to or having information withheld from me when it directly involves my personal life and business.” I didn’t mean to come across as bitchy, but demon or not, he needed to know where I stood.
Shya’s expression didn’t change. He seemed completely unmoved by anything I’d said so far.
“Understood. You’ve outgrown working with Veryl. You’re capable of so much more. All I want from you is the same loyalty I expect from anyone who works with me. I’m prepared to offer you much more than money.” He gave the rest of the club a cursory glance, and I could almost see what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to think any better of it than I did.
A waitress dumped her drink tray on a customer with a crash. The tirade she followed up with indicated he had it coming. I shrugged and did my best to tune it out.
“Look, Shya. I can just imagine what Veryl has told you about me, let alone whatever else you might know. You want a fair kill, I’m your girl. All I ask is that you don’t ask me to hunt any innocents.” I was dealing with a demon. I had to amend that. “What I consider innocent.”
He leaned forward, a brow raised. “Tell me, Alexa. What do you consider to be innocent?”
I had no easy answer to that. I didn’t need someone like Arys or Shya to convince me that the inhabitants of the earth, both human and otherwise, were far from innocent. That still didn’t make them all worthy of slaughter.
“I know that’s a trick question. There’s no way to answer it without contradicting myself somehow.” I paused, trying to form my words in a manner that he wouldn’t be able to twist on me. I wasn’t a demon expert, but I wasn’t born yesterday. “Prove to me a target is dangerous, a threat, anything like that, that’s all I ask. Just don’t send me in blind. I can’t live with a guilty conscience.”
Shya didn’t miss a beat. “Dangerous? But, even you are dangerous. Some would consider you a threat. It is never so simple.”
Dammit. So much for not contradicting myself. “Alright. Point for you.”
“I don’t claim to understand where your hesitance comes from. You are a killer. It’s in everything you are. However, you won’t be forced into anything.”
“Understood.” I knew what he meant. I could refuse a kill, but that wouldn’t stop someone else from doing the job.
The weight of Shya’s gaze made me fidget. I struggled hard just to sit still. His wicked power was deep and murky, like a bottomless pit that sought to draw me in.
“If you choose to accept the opportunity to advance from hunter to personal assassin, I think you will find there are many perks to having power like yours. That being said, I would like to propose something to you.”
The glint of anticipation in his blood-red eyes had me chewing my lower lip anxiously. I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. He enjoyed that. Fucking demons.