Fang looked at her suspiciously. "What are you?"
"Half human, half Kalios demon."
Kalios were benevolent demons. He'd learned that in the Nether Realm. The only one of their kind he'd met had been torn apart by a Harvester while trying to help him.
He narrowed his gaze on Zeke. "You?"
"Born human. Classified now as a Necrodemian, which loosely translates as death to demons or demon executioner. Unlike a Hellchaser, I have the ability to kill demons without consequence as long as I follow certain protocols which really, really blow most days."
"While we just send them back."
Zeke gave him a sarcastic salute. "You're getting it."
Fang put his hands on his hips. "I still don't understand how I got dragged into all this."
Ravenna patted him on the shoulder in sympathy. "The last Malachai has been tapped and with it, the oldest dark powers are uniting again to take over the earth. Our soldiers are being rallied and you, my friend, have stepped straight into this battle."
"I was only trying to protect Aimee."
"And that emotion is what has damned many a good soul."
Fang supposed so. But it still didn't lessen the fact that he'd seriously fubarred his life. And all this because he'd wanted a beer. . . .
And ended up wanting a bear.
"So is Thorn evil?" he asked Zeke.
"He's the son of one of the darkest powers ever known. And his father was a trusted soldier for good until he turned. Unlike his father, Thorn has resisted that temptation most of the time." Zeke let out a tired sigh. "In the end, we really don't know. Many members of his army have been known to turn and had to be put down . . . usually after making the same mistake you did when you killed Phrixis. When the demons kill the Hellchaser, they're made more powerful and harder for us to kill. Which begs the question, does Thorn fail to warn his Hellchasers about the demons on purpose, wanting the demons to get more powerful for his father? Or is he just that forgetful?"
Ravenna let out a derisive snort. "Or as I suspect, he's just a mentally twisted fuck who likes head games."
Fang would like an answer to that himself. "Bet if I asked-"
"You'd get the same answer we get. He'd either put you through a wall or set you on fire." Zeke smirked. "The fire part really hurts, by the way. I don't know what that bastard has in his fist, but it burns like nothing you've ever felt. For the record, stay on his good side."
Great. Just great. Stay on the good side of a man sired by pure evil. "So I'm no better off here than I was in the Nether Realm."
Ravenna laughed. "Are you insane? Of course you're better off. You can actually sleep here without fear of being brutalized, and there is real food that is worth eating. But . . . you have a crosshair on your back that looks like the mighty Target sign off I-10. Because the demons are all about gathering more power, you're extra-appealing to them. A possessed Were-Hunter . . . you're lucky I'm not trying to kill you."
Fang ignored that last bit. "So how do I get it off?"
Zeke scratched his chin. "Well, my bosses aren't much more forthcoming with information than yours is. We can try to resurrect Phrixis out of you, which could really suck and not work. It could also kill you. Or we could find the one who summoned him and break the chain she used. That should eradicate the little bugger."
"Why didn't Thorn tell me that?"
"I told you, we don't really know what side he's on. You've got to figure either he wants a demon to eat you and get more powerful to fight us. Or he wants you to be more powerful to fight them. Since we don't know if Good Fang or Bad Fang will win, it's a dangerous game he's playing."
"Personally, I want the demon out. How do we find his summoner?"
Ravenna arched a brow at him. "We're in N'Awlins, boy. Any idea how many people here that could be?"
"Well," Zeke said, "there is a third way."
"And that is?"
"An act so purely good and selfless it drives out the demon."
Fang liked the sound of that one. At least it had the most likely prospect of working and not getting him killed . . . maybe. "What is that? Saving an infant?"