Page 43 of The Demon’s Due (Bedeviled #5)

I emailed everyone on the global task force a draft of the memo with the request for more operatives to join us when we tried again, then I removed myself to a conference room, so I didn’t stab anyone before my hanger was vanquished.

I was stuffing chips in my mouth when Ezra rapped on the door and slipped inside. “Vamps are flammable,” I said through a mouthful of crunchy nacho flavoring.

“You saw the photo of the burning building.” He reached for a chip, but I slapped his hand away.

“You could have died. Also, you don’t even eat, so back off my stash.”

“Those people didn’t have the luxury of time, Avi, and vampires are fast. Me more than any of them.”

“I know.” I tipped the plastic bag to my mouth and hoovered up the crumbs. “I’m proud of you. It’s just been a shitty day.” I sighed. “Did you speak to Silas? How’s he handling Rylan’s death?”

“Not great, but he threatened to drop a car on me if I phoned him again.”

Louis poked his head in the doorway, his expression pinched tight. “Michael wants you in her office.”

I shot to my feet. “What’s happened?”

It was after midnight, neither of them should have still been here.

“One of the Authority has come to town to talk to you.”

He couldn’t tell me anything other than it wasn’t Dmitri Koslov, but Zhengyu Lin, our Taiwanese representative.

I was tired and my shirt was covered in chip dust. I looked at Ezra in silent entreaty to accompany me.

Louis held up a hand. “Just you.”

The elevator ride to Michael’s office was endless; each soft chime marked another floor passing, another half-dozen discarded possibilities as to why Zhengyu had come.

My hands were damp against my thighs as I smoothed my trousers down for the third time, fighting the urge to check my collar in the highly polished panel with all the buttons. True, he’d been an ally to me in the past, but I had very little intel on the man other than he was a Real Madrid fan.

When the doors finally opened to the executive level with its sweeping views of the city at night, my heart was pounding so hard I was sure Ezra could hear it, three floors down.

Louis escorted me into Michael’s office, then left.

Zhengyu stood up and shook my hand.

My mother gestured for me to take a seat with an almost imperceptible shrug. He hadn’t enlightened her on the reason either?

I clenched my teeth, catching myself only when the ache spread down my neck and into my shoulders.

“There’s been a lot of suffering,” he said, sitting down and rubbing his knee in a gesture reminiscent of Delacroix.

“But the Maccabees, no, all Eishei Kodesh, all Holy Fire People, have come out of the darkness stronger than ever. The pressure to rescind legislature against our community is at an all-time high.”

“You can thank Ezra for some of that,” I said.

“And we will.”

Michael clicked her Montblanc pen. “This is all well and good, Zhengyu, but what about moving forward? The threats Maccabees face haven’t all been from the outside.”

“That’s part of why I’m here. We’re reaching out personally to our directors to assure them that the crisis affecting our current Authority Council has resolved itself.”

Translation: Dmitri wasn’t pulling the strings anymore because Eishei Kodesh—and Maccabees—were no longer on the chopping block.

That also didn’t explain why I was here. But Michael spoke up before I could ask.

“I’m not talking about whatever power move Dmitri tried to pull,” Michael said. “I’m talking about systemic issues. Starting with Operation Inferno.”

I clasped my hands tightly in my lap so I didn’t throw out a fist pump or seven. Michael’s meteoric rise to director was based on her dismantling massive corruption in the Vancouver chapter, but I’d been too young to witness it firsthand.

Seeing her do that exact thing now was thrilling.

Zhengyu, however, didn’t miss a beat after her accusation. “A dark chapter that I’ve only just learned of. With the exception of Birgitte, no council member was part of that operation. And Michael,” he rebuked her gently, “you shouldn’t be aware of that either. It’s above your clearance level.”

She leaned forward. “Spare me the bullshit. Did you really expect I wouldn’t eventually root this out? It’s what I do.”

He sighed. “That’s the other reason I’ve come. I think very highly of you and Aviva. You’ve been instrumental in many positive shifts and strides forward in our organization.”

There was a “but” coming if I ever heard it.

“But your unique nature should have been disclosed to us.”

“There wasn’t a box to tick for being a half shedim on my application form,” I said evenly.

“It should have been disclosed much farther back than that,” he said. “However, the Authority has forgiven your oversight, Michael, as well as pardoned you for determining for yourself what evacuation would and would not entail for your chapter.”

Michael widened her eyes. “You didn’t want them all killed? Shit. I wish I’d understood that before they attacked us at Seaside.”

A muscle ticked in Zhengyu’s jaw. “Regardless, we’ve forgiven all that.”

Michael turned her monitor around. “I don’t need the Authority’s forgiveness when I’ve secured signatures from every single director to take over Pederson’s seat.”

I sat back, enjoying the fuck out of this plot twist. This was so much better than how I’d imagined this meeting would go.

“Now,” she continued, “my first responsible act as a council member should be to open all the sealed files on Operation Inferno. You know how I love to trace these things back to their source. I intend to find out who knew what and if there’s a statute of limitations on these crimes.”

Zhengyu sat back with his arms crossed. “The only council member involved was Birgitte.”

“So you said.” Michael narrowed her eyes like a shark scenting blood.

“But are you positive there’s nothing countermanding your plausible deniability?

No secret minutes years later discussing it?

Not even after Birgitte learned Natán had put a hit on her?

” She clicked her pen again. “Maccabees impregnated women with shedim sperm.” Her voice dripped with ice.

“Women like Eva Cardoso. An operative. My friend .”

What a baller.

And I was so proud of Ezra for sharing his quest to find answers with the director. Then again, maybe he simply wanted his mom’s old friend to know the truth.

“What do you want?” Zhengyu said wearily.

“The resignation of the entire current council. I’m still going to bring all this to light, but I’ll make sure no one goes to Sector A.”

The older man chuckled softly. “I warned them you’d do this. Michael Fleischer, the great corruption crusader, wouldn’t let this stand. Should we agree, there will be no consequences whatsoever for any of us, and in addition, Aviva will do something in return.”

“Yeah?” I said. “What’s that?”

“Kill Natán Cardoso.”