Page 45 of Bishop's Flight
Zasha smiled. “Exactly.”
Lucas bounced his head against the wall. “No picture tonight?”
“Your mothers broke into my house and killed seven of my people.” Zasha kept their unearthly eyes on Lucas.
He froze.
Lucas had seen a documentary about a leopard once. Some people got leopards and cheetahs confused because of the spots. Not Lucas. Leopard jaws were so strong they could crush a bowling ball. Their heads and bodies were massive and muscled. A leopard wasn’t superfast, it hunted alone, and it wasn’t afraid of much.
Zasha reminded Lucas of a leopard.
Calm the leopard.
“I’m sorry about your friends.”
“They weren’t my friends. They were my people.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
Zasha took a deep breath, which made Lucas release his own lungs. Sometimes the vampire went a really long time without breathing, which he knew wasn’t actually necessary for vampires, but it still freaked him out when they didn’t breathe.
“My people work for me for money, which means that they assume some risk when they accept payment from me.”
“So they’re employees.”
“Exactly.”
“I guess… I’m still sorry?”
“You shouldn’t be. You are not an employee of your mothers. You are their child. Children are different than employees.”
“Do you have any children?”
“I did once. They’re all dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
Zasha heaved another long breath. “Well, I killed some of them myself, so I don’t think you should be sorry.”
Lucas felt like throwing up again. He tried to keep the question in, but he blurted it anyway. “Why?”
“To be fair, two of them tried to kill me first.” Zasha rolled their eyes. “And the last one disappointed me.”
“All kids disappoint their parents.”
“You certainly disappointed your parents when you ran away from your security.” Zasha winked at him. “Worked out for me though.”
He didn’t want to think about Angel. Just thinking about her made him sad and angry at the same time. “What did you ask my mothers for? Money?”
“Oh no.” Zasha picked at their voluminous robe. “Something far more valuable.” He looked at Lucas. “I asked for their city.”
I am going to die.
Lucas tried not to let the despair show on his face. “Well, that’s too bad. Because they’re not going to give you the city, and they shouldn’t.”
It wasn’t logical, and Agnes was logical. Rose was more vicious and emotional, but Agnes would know that sacrificing the safety of an entire city to a crazy vampire like Zasha in exchange for one human life wasn’t logical. It would put so many people at risk. It would put his sister at risk.
Despair grabbed him by the throat; then he took a deep breath, the fear released, and Lucas felt oddly calm. He remembered the car and the blackness and the spinning sensation before the crash.
