Page 71 of Dead of Night
“No, thank you.” He covered his tiles as I walked to the refrigerator.
“Are you serious? Do you think I’m going to cheat?”
“Why not? I would. All demons cheat. It’s in our blood.”
Another mark against trusting him. “I don’t think cheating is encoded in anybody’s DNA.”
“Shows how much you learned in your eleven schools.”
I was relieved to be facing the window over the sink because my face was burning. “What about you? I can’t imagine your circle of hell has the best educational system.”
“I attended Oxford.”
“They have a satellite campus?”
“Ha-ha,” he said. “We have that in common.”
I craned my neck to observe him. “Humor?”
“England. We both spent time there.”
“Right.” I poured another glass of iced tea to accompany my apple slices and almond butter. Kane declined a second drink.
I rejoined him at the table. “This isn’t the underworld, you know. You’re not going to be trapped in my house if you eat or drink anything.”
“Those aren’t actually the rules.” He placed four tiles in the sweet spot I’d been eyeing. “Why are you voluntarily returning to the vampire’s house? Visconti is surly and unpleasant. Even his own kind shun him.”
“Is that your question for this round?”
He tapped the paper where he was keeping score. “No. This is called making conversation.”
“It’s a personal question. I think it should count.”
He sighed dramatically. “Fine. It counts.”
“I made him a promise.”
“I thought you said the promise was to visit him once a week for a month or something, which you’ve now fulfilled.”
I shrugged. “He puts out a helluva spread, and he’s a talented musician.” Food and music, two of my favorite things.
“You enjoy music?”
“You already knew that.” I set down tiles for the word ‘fuzzy.’ “Twenty-five points. Read ‘em and weep.”
He slotted his fingers together on the table. “Fine. What’s your question?”
“Why do you oversee the Assassins Guild?”
“Someone needs to do it. Who better than the Prince of Hell?”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’ll get.”
“So you wrangle assassins because you feel like you’re the obvious candidate? What about what Kane wants?”
“Kane wants a quiet life in the country, which he currently has.” He used one of the z’s to make the word ‘zax.’