Hammer Down: Children of the Undying: Book 2 (20 page)

“Salmon and goat cheese?” Zel made a face, but gestured to a small terminal perched on the very edge of the cart. “Order up two. She doesn’t have a credit account yet.”

Yet.
The single word made her hands shake, so Devi folded them in her lap. “I guess I shouldn’t have joked about making you buy me breakfast.”

“Well, you don’t need credits to eat.” Zel pressed his hand to the scanner and held it there until it beeped. “There’s a communal dining area and everyone gets three meals a day. But if you want something special, you find a way to earn some credits so you can pay Sigmund to load you up with questionable omelets.”

Her crew had been taking their meals alone in a small, makeshift dining room in the visitors’ area. “Which part is questionable, the fish or the cheese?”

Zel laughed as he dragged one of the chairs around the side of the table, putting his back to the wall. “The whole damn thing. But he’s never let me down yet, so I’m gonna go on faith here.”

“Adventure’s good for the soul.”

“But not always the digestive system.”

Sigmund came back to the table and placed steaming mugs of coffee in front of each of them. “I heard that, Zel.”

“Less eavesdropping, more cooking.” Zel lifted his cup and inhaled deeply. “This is the real indulgence. We’ve got synthesized coffee most places, but Sigmund’s one of the few who grows his own coffee beans.”

“They’re a real pain to roast, but it’s worth it.”

Devi closed her eyes as she sipped the hot liquid. It glided over her tongue, rich and bold, with a complexity she’d never tasted in anything synthesized. “It’s delicious.”

When she opened her eyes Zel was watching her, heat and desire barely leashed in his gaze. “It is, indeed.”

Memories of being in his bed the day before rose with the warmth in her cheeks. Knowing that he still wanted her as much as she wanted him deepened her longing. It made her wish there were no practical considerations to fill their day, nothing to do but go back to bed and stay there, where she could relish the feel of his skin and the low noises he made when he slipped inside her.

Zel cleared his throat. “The council members said yesterday that they want to meet with you, but I can tell them to fuck off for a few days. Waiting is good for them.”

Devi shook herself. “Why would I make them wait?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” The words held the overtone of deeply rooted frustration. “Five minutes out of every hour is productive. The rest is people talking to admire the sound of their own voices.”

It was clear that the political minutiae drove him nuts. “I hear dictatorships are far more efficient.”

That earned her a choked laugh. “Yeah, if you
want
to micromanage a few thousand people and every goddamned problem they can come up with. Oliver was a dictator. A benevolent dictator, but one all the same. That was easy when there were a hundred people here, or a thousand. But now…”

“There are no perfect systems,” she allowed. “And no perfect people.”

“But there are perfect meals.”

It was Sigmund’s voice, and from Zel’s lack of surprise he’d sensed the man’s approach. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “He’s modest too.”

From the smell wafting off the tray, the man had no need for modesty. “Don’t listen to him. It smells wonderful.”

“Of course it does.” Sigmund set both plates on the table with a flourish. “You two enjoy your privacy. I’m going to scoot my cart up the way a bit and see if I can tempt some of the soldiers in the rec room.”

Devi bit her lip and waited until the cart squeaked by before she chanced a glance at Zel. “Is he playing matchmaker?”

Zel’s laughter filled the small nook. “Oh, probably. Though it’s just about shift change for the soldiers, so he’s not lying about that. They’re hungry and usually have credits to spare.”

Devi picked up her fork. “Are you stalling?”

“Maybe.” But he grinned and hefted his own fork. “Ready for your first meal as a Rochester resident?”

“I’m not the one who’s scared of a little goat cheese.” The omelet was light, almost delicate, but still somehow managed to carry the heavy, complex flavors of the smoky fish and piquant cheese. “Oh, he’s good.”

Despite his professed reservations, Zel had no trouble digging in to his breakfast. “There’s a reason I trust him.”

“Because he’s a god with a skillet?”

“Sometimes I think there might be a bit of magic there. Real magic. My mother says it’s science. Whatever it is, it’s damn good.”

“Mmm.” Breakfast was an easy topic, and Devi had always prided herself on not relying on the easiest paths. “I want to meet with your council as soon as possible. They must have questions.”

“They have demands.” A harder edge sharpened the words. “Which I’ll slap them down for presenting in anything but a respectful fashion.”

She laid her hand over his without thinking. “I can handle it, Zel.”

His fingers curled into fist. “I don’t know if I can.”

There was no guarantee that even the threat of Zel’s anger would urge the council members to treat her more politely. If anything, they might come to resent her perceived influence over him. “Do you want to skip the meeting?”

“
No
.” It was practically a growl.

“Why? Because they might hurt my feelings?” At least they wanted to meet with her. Zel wouldn’t even be allowed to stand before the city council in Nicollet. “I can take whatever they throw at me.”

“It’s—” He bit off the world and closed his eyes. “Things are unsettled.
I’m
unsettled. And with everything that’s happened between us…”

She lowered her voice. “I meant it when I said I don’t want to cause problems for you, Zel.”

“I’m not human.” It was hard to tell if he was reminding her or trying to remind himself. “You need to know that there are parts of me that never will be.”

The urgency behind the words startled her. “Do you think I’ve convinced myself that you are?”

“Do you understand what it means?”

Until her arrival in Rochester, she’d believed what she’d always been told—that demons were lower than animals, more vicious than beasts, and that included their halfbreed offspring. “You said sex and violence get jumbled together, and that you get protective.”

He twisted his hand abruptly and caught hers, his skin as rough as his grip was gentle. “Calling this feeling protective is like calling a demon a little mean. I get insane. Usually I have an outlet. I can channel it into something productive. But I’m the leader now, and I don’t have the luxury of doing things the way I used to.”

“How did you deal with it before?”

“I’d go hunting.”

A short, concise answer, but it told her everything she needed to know. “And you can’t risk it anymore?”

“No. If I disappear in the woods, Rochester falls apart.”

“Even for a few hours?”

That made him smile. “I appreciate your confidence, but I can’t take the risk that it would be more than a few hours. That I’d get myself killed.”

“Rock and a hard place.” It was a tough question, so she braced herself and asked it. “Do you
want
to be the leader?”

Zel clearly gave the matter some thought. He traced his fingertips over her knuckles, rubbing slow circles against her skin. “I want to be the protector,” he said finally. “The general. I’m good at it.”

The gentle touch made it hard to think. “Is it worth it?”

“For now. Maybe someday…” But he trailed off and didn’t finish the thought, shaking his head instead. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of business however I have to.”

He’d do what he had to do, even if it killed him. “Is there some way I can help you?”

He dragged in a deep breath and let it out. “You can tell me that you can handle the council on your own, and if I’ve got a problem with that I can go fuck myself.”

Devi laughed. “I had considered it, I’ll admit. But I was going to wait until after breakfast to press the issue.”

He smiled, the expression hot and familiar. “Don’t be gentle with my ego. It’s sturdy enough to survive some rough handling, like the rest of me.”

“Funny.” She dug her fingernails into his hand just a little. “I was going to say the same thing.”

Chapter Fifteen

The nursery was never quiet.

Zel leaned against the edge of the doorway and watched the beautiful madness. His mother kept the children well insulated from the troubles of their elders, free from politics and worry. Halfblood toddlers played with tiny summoners, though few had bloodlines so easily pinned down. And the powers… His generation had been strong. Rosa’s was dangerous. God only knew what would happen when these little ones reached puberty and grew into the magic in their veins.

God may not know, but Nicollet wanted to. Zel found Kate’s form amidst the sea of youngsters—not hard when five of them crowded around her, battling for her exasperated but fond attention. She smiled at one little girl and smoothed back her curly hair, but weariness marked her features, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She looked fragile. Bruised.

His fingers curled toward his palm, itching with the need to return to the vault and dole out a few well-deserved bruises of his own. Kate didn’t deserve a broken heart, much less a humiliatingly public one, but nothing could stop the gossip. Too many people had known she was expecting a new lover. Too many people had seen that lover identified as a Nicollet spy. Whispers and pitying gazes followed her everywhere.

Everywhere but here.

Zel sensed movement on his right and turned to find his mother watching Kate, as well. “She’ll be all right,” she murmured, “after a while.”

“Will she? That was a hell of a blow.”

“She will,” Sora repeated. “She’ll be all right because what else would she do? Let that bastard destroy her life?” She shook her head. “No, not Kate.”

He supposed there was more than one way to be strong. “I have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I thought the security protocols we had in place were good enough, but he snuck past them.”

“Anyone could, given Cyrus’s resources and enough time. The only thing to do is the unthinkable.”

Close their borders completely. Not just to new blood, but to refugees desperate for help. “Oliver would come back just to yell at me.”

She laughed softly, the sound tinged with lingering grief. “Yes, your stepfather was nothing if not an eternal optimist. He believed in the genuine goodness of people.”

And he’d tried to teach that goodness to his half-demon stepson, no matter how difficult it must have been. “Sometimes I wonder what he was thinking, leaving me in charge.”

Sora patted his arm. “He was thinking you were the most qualified.”

“Let’s hope he thought right.” Zel nodded toward Kate. “Keep an eye on her, would you?”

She smiled. “I always do.”

“I know.” He leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek. “I’ve got another council meeting soon. They’ve got their list of demands ready for Devi.”

“They won’t go easy on her, you know.”

He tensed before he could stop himself. “Devi can take care of herself.”

“Of course she can,” she replied evenly. “But facts like that don’t change others. You want to protect her.”

Some things he couldn’t bring himself to discuss with his mother, and the way Devi tightened his body and stirred base lust and dark fantasies topped that list. “I’ll manage. She’s not in danger from a bunch of tottery old men and women.”

She waved away the words. “I can take a hint, Dominic. No more nosy observations.”

Zel managed a smile. “Have a care for my masculine pride. Someone in the family has to.”

“And your sisters certainly won’t.”

“No, not this century.”

“They love you, that’s all.”

Which made him one of the luckier halfbloods, one with a family that cared for him in spite of his blood and the way he’d come into the world. “I know. Do you need anything before I leave?”

Sora shook her head. “If I do, I’m like you. I’ll manage.”

Zel couldn’t help but smile. “Of course you will. Where do you think I learned it from?”

She didn’t answer because she didn’t need to. She headed across the room, and Zel watched until he sensed someone approaching behind him.

Lorenzo spoke, his voice low. “I was coming to check on Kate.”

Somehow Zel wasn’t surprised. He should have figured Lorenzo would get around to it—and admitted his friend would probably be better at coaxing a smile out of the woman. “My mother was busy telling me that Kate’s just fine.”

The corner of Lorenzo’s mouth quirked up. “If your mother’s taking care of her, the rest of us might as well move along.”

“Might as well.” At least no one would dare give offense in front of Sora. If Oliver had been a benevolent king for so many years, Zel’s mother had been his beloved queen. “I wish I could stop the gossip.”

An unusual flash of red colored Lorenzo’s pale blue eyes. “Let them say it in front of me, just once. They’ll shut their damn mouths.”

The anger echoed his own, which was satisfying. His mother might chide him for underestimating Kate’s strength, but Lorenzo understood. Just because Kate
could
struggle through didn’t mean she should have to. “I don’t care if you do. Especially the people blaming her. It’s Trip’s security check that failed, and it could have happened to any of them.”

“People are always quick to blame. They don’t understand.” He shook his head. “Kate was the man’s mission. Finding out everything he needed to know to get under her skin, that was his
job
. And we all have our pride, our vanity. In skillful hands, a seduction like that can’t fail.”

The words were more than a little chilling, more so because they held no doubt. “Let’s hope we’re never backed into a corner where using a weapon like that is the only option.”

Lorenzo arched one eyebrow. “Already forgotten that you asked me to turn the charm on Cache when Devi and her crew first showed up?”

He had, and he regretted it now that he knew the girl. Still… “Charm’s not the same thing as love.”

“It’s all manipulation.” Lorenzo sighed heavily, his shoulders tense. “Don’t mind me, Zel. I’m in a mood.”