Page 35 of Wolf of Ashes
“Okay,” I say on a heavy sigh as the keeper’s gaze continues to pierce my bravado. “I maybe have part of a plan. Thebeginningof a plan. Fuck it, IwishI had a plan.”
I meet his eyes and explain. “Mom told me everything she knew about my father’s empire and the supernaturals within it, but that knowledge is over twenty years old now. I have no way of knowing what or who has stayed the same and what’s changed.”
The keeper’s expression softens. “That’s fair. So tell me what you know and we can take it from there.” He takes off his sunglasses and winks at me. “After all, you have me now. So your plan would have to change anyway. A blank slate isn’t a bad thing.”
It’s a very reassuring response in the face of the fact that I have twenty-year-old information and no clear path ahead.
I proceed to summarize as much of my knowledge as I can in as short a time as possible, but the keeper doesn’t seem to have any trouble keeping up.
“The main headquarters is in New York,” I say. “I know the location and layout of every building that forms part of the network, including the underground levels. I also know the locations and layouts of the back streets and tunnels that connect the buildings. I know the names and powers of the supernaturals who stood at my father’s right and left hands at the time, along with the mercenaries who served him. And I know all about the business operations they conducted.” I pause. “All of which could have changed.”
The keeper purses his lips. “The best place to start is with family. That’s more likely to have stayed constant. Other than your mother, who else are you aware of?”
“I have an uncle,” I say, my lips twisting a little. Mom didn’t like him and he’s my most likely suspect, as far as the one behind her imprisonment is concerned.
I quickly clarify, “He’s my father’s brother, not my mother’s. My grandparents on both sides are dead. I have no other aunts or uncles that I’m aware of.”
“What about siblings? Yours, I mean.”
I shake my head. “Mom said I was my father’s first child and he was killed before she was imprisoned. She was running for her life when that angel entrapped her.”
“Hmm.” The keeper seems to chew on that for a moment. “You mentioned there were certain supernaturals who stood at your father’s side. What do you know of them?”
“Aside from the mercenaries, there were two powerful generals,” I say. “A man and a woman. Brother and sister. The woman was a witch and the man was a snake shifter—cobra, to be exact. Apparently, they have an older brother, who is a wolf shifter, but he wasn’t sworn to serve my father. Mom spoke about them with a kind of reverence I always found surprising.”
“A witch, a snake, and a wolf,” the keeper muses, a crease appearing in his forehead. “Siblings with such different powers is unusual.”
I’m nodding. “I thought it was strange, but whenever I questioned Mom about it, she would give me this smile and tell me that the gods make mysterious moves that are not for us to question.” I sigh as I continue. “She wouldn’t tell me who betrayed her: my uncle, the male general, one of the mercenaries, or someone else.” My hand clenches around my food. “My real challenge is figuring that out.”
“What if you can’t?” the keeper asks. “Or what if the one responsible is already dead?”
“If I can’t figure out who it was—or even if it comes to light that they’re dead—the fact remains that whoever subsequently took over the empire knowingly stole it from me.”
The keeper tilts his head. “Knowingly? How so?”
I growl at him. “Every supernatural who is aware of the existence of the empire is taught unbending loyalty to the family that controls it—the family I was born into. Control of the empire is the birthright of the first-born child. Always. Of course there are contingencies if there is no child, but my mother knew the rules. She proclaimed her pregnancy and staked my claim. Once there is a child, only proof of death can nullify their claim. I have the black blood and my father’s golden eyes to prove my identity. If the empire still exists, then whoever rules it knows they don’t have that right.”
“Well,” the keeper says, eyeing me cautiously. “Then you must tell me the name of this family because surely, I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s the most powerful supernatural family in New York,” I say, returning his bright gaze. “Oh, not the families who live in the limelight and make a show of their power. No, my family stands in the shadows behind them all. It’s my family that has stood behind some of the most notorious human gangsters in history.”
The keeper’s eyebrows rise. “The human mafia. I’m aware of it. Some dark creatures whose power I tethered had memories of working with human gangsters, or of being killed by them, but those supernaturals were all ruled by—”
He takes a quick breath and his eyes widen at me.
I can’t help my cold smile as I watch his thoughts click over. I let him speak first.
“Well,” he says, his eyes glittering and dark. “No wonder you want what’s yours.”
My lips stretch into a snarl. “I want what’sowedto me.”
The keeper inclines his head at me, as if he’s greeting me for the first time.
A murmur passes his lips, speaking a title I haven’t heard since my mother passed.
My title.
His eyes gleam as he says, “Well met,Ultima Nostra.”
