Page 96 of Now or Never
Zeyla turned her head slightly toward Kenna and Jax and spoke in a low voice. “Is this supposed to convince us it’s not poisoned?”
Kenna wasn’t sure about this display, but didn’t want to stand by the door all day. “Let’s go.”
“You think we should hear him out?” Jax asked.
“He seems to have gone to a lot of trouble.” She could see the general heard her, but that was the point.
“No trouble at all. My staff are happy to provide for distinguished guests.” The general settled into a chair on one side of the table, a single place setting on that long side.
There were two place settings on her side, but Zeyla dragged over a chair from another long table with no cloth and no food, and made a big noise about scraping it over to sit by Kenna. She shifted and pulled out a gun everyone seemed surprised to find her in possession of, holding it loosely in her hand on her lap. Pointed vaguely in the general’s direction.
The general held up his hand to someone behind Kenna. “We aren’t here to fight. No one is going to harm anyone.” He looked at Zeyla. “This is just breakfast.”
Zeyla said, “You could’ve sent us an invitation.”
“You and I both know it would have been ignored.” He stared at her.
Zeyla set the gun on the table, reached forward, and grabbed two strips of bacon that stuck together. She folded them and shoved them in her mouth, then grabbed a piece of toast from the pile on a platter. She spoke around her mouthful. “If you don’t plan to murder us, and this isn’t about torture, what do you want?”
On Kenna’s other side, Jax shifted in his seat. His head had to be killing him, but he seemed okay.
The general looked from Zeyla to Kenna.
Something in his eyes she didn’t like struck a chord, and she decided that at best this could be a negotiation. “Years ago, I met a man who took a baby and raised her. Before she was twelve, he married her and called her his wife. He tormented her and tortured her. Is that the kind of man you are?”
Jax looked like he was about to jump out of his chair.
“I believe I’m more of a…visionary,” the general replied.
Zeyla scraped the chair forward, close enough to the table that she could pour herself a cup of coffee. “Like posing dead girls in display cases for your sick friends to enjoy. That kind of visionary?”
“I’ve discovered there’s a market for everything. Some businesses are more lucrative than others.” He paused. “But what my double chose as his hobby had nothing to do with me. His businesses did well, but they were niche.”
“And you didn’t stop it.” Zeyla scraped her chair back and crossed her legs, drinking her coffee. “Because you needed the money?”
The general turned to Kenna. “You’ve destroyed my team. If you want to continue, I’ll take yours as replacement.”
Behind her, the doors crashed open.
Kenna twisted to look over her shoulder and saw several of the gunmen shove Ramon and Bruce in the door. They forced the two men onto their knees and stood behind them, rifles pointed at the back of their heads.
Zeyla said, “Let them go, and I’ll stay. I’m worth at least four of your guys.”
Ramon’s head whipped up and he glared at Zeyla, but even from where she sat, Kenna could see there was fear in his eyes.
“We’re not part of your war,” Jax said. “If your soldiers came at us, we only defended ourselves.”
“That’s how Simon ended up dead,” Kenna added. “He left me no choice.”
The general sneered. “You’re the one who suggested an invitation.”
And that was what Simon was supposed to be? The general’s attempt at inviting them here? Kenna shook her head, but there were no words.
Jax said, “We’re not part of your war. None of us.”
“Our lives have nothing to do with you.” Kenna lifted her chin.
The general studied her with the assessing gaze of a scientist staring at a lab rat. “Many years ago, I provided my DNA toDominatusfor the advancing of the next generation. That DNA was used to create exactly one of our offspring.”
