Slaying Monsters for the Feeble - Annette Marie Page 0,88

replied in his dry monotone.

I shivered involuntarily. My gaze darted to Zylas, lifeless and unmoving, with Vasilii’s arm curled around his unprotected chest, thin fingers gripping the demon’s throat.

“Robin,” Uncle Jack growled, “get your hand off the gun. A shot through the heart will kill him.”

“And my demon too!”

“You can summon another demon,” he snapped.

Vasilii’s black eyes stared right through me. “Robin Page, daughter of Sarah Page, owner of the Athanas Grimoire. Would you like to bargain?”

Tension burned in my muscles. “Why would I trust a vampire’s word?”

“I am not a vampire.” The slightest smile. “I am … as you call us … a fae.”

That took a moment to sink in. “But fae spirits create vampires by infecting humans, so …”

“I am not as they are,” he countered, each sound measured carefully in his toneless voice. “They are lowly, bodiless shades, ruled by their basest nature, and I am … how to explain so you might understand?” He paused thoughtfully. “I am to my brethren as the wolf is to the flies that crawl upon its kill.”

Not the best analogy, but it got his point across.

“I prefer my kin—other fae—as my quarries, but I enjoy the power I gain from these … demons.” He pulled Zylas’s head back, the wound on his neck reopening with another trickle of dark blood. “Now, Robin Page, that you know I am of honor, I ask again: Would you like to bargain?”

Fae. I didn’t know enough about fae for this. I’d read about them, that bargaining and exchanges were part of their mysterious culture, similar to negotiating with a demon, but I had no idea what the rules were. They were known for keeping their word, weren’t they? But I suspected Vasilii, whatever he was, might be a far less trustworthy darkfae.

“What’s your offer?” I asked cautiously.

“The grimoire. I will claim it regardless, but should it be damaged …” His black eyes bored into me. “Give me the grimoire, Robin Page, and I will release your demon to you, no further harm inflicted.”

The rifle twitched as Uncle Jack tried to pull it out from under my hand. Amalia stood rigid on my other side, her gaze darting from the three vampires to Vasilii to Uncle Jack’s unmoving demon as though calculating our odds.

“Why do you want the grimoire?” I asked, my voice cracking with suppressed panic. “What use would a fae have for it?”

“A trade, Robin Page. An item of value to be exchanged for that of equal value.” He twisted Zylas’s neck a little further, threatening to break it. “I will answer no more questions. My offer is given. Do you agree?”

I swallowed hard. Vasilii was our greatest threat, but even a super-speed fae wasn’t as fast as a bullet from fifteen feet away. Uncle Jack’s demon, with its armored skin and large size, could probably kill the remaining vampires—or buy us enough time to run to the car and escape.

All we had to do was sacrifice Zylas.

One shot. Vasilii and Zylas would both die, and Uncle Jack, Amalia, and I could escape. The grimoire would be safe. I could go home, no longer a Demonica mythic, no longer in danger of being found out as an illegal contractor. Zora could report me to the MPD and it wouldn’t matter. I would have no demon for them to investigate.

Or I could give up the grimoire and save Zylas’s life.

I looked down at the grimoire pressed to my chest, to my heart. My mother’s treasure. The origin of Demonica. Priceless, precious, dangerous—but just a book. How could I trade a life for a book?

Zylas …

Eyes burning, I drew in a shaky breath—and a memory of his husky voice whispered, Be smarter, drādah.

Just yesterday, alone in a cramped alley. I could almost feel his heat behind me, his hand on my shoulder as he murmured in my ear. You must always be looking everywhere.

I pulled my gaze off Vasilii’s unnerving eyes for the first time. The three waiting vampires stood near the kitchen. I skimmed across the room, picking out the shadowy corners, glancing across the broken windows, whisking past the large raised deck outside—

A shape ducked backward out of sight, hidden around the corner just outside the window. Another vampire outside. Why would that one be outside?

Unless there was more than one. Unless more vampires were positioned to ambush us.

Be smarter, Zylas had told me. If he were standing behind me right now, as he had in that alley, I knew what he would