“Not a promise. A guarantee.” I stared at him without flinching. “I know the exact location. Tell me what I want to know and I’ll give it to you.”
“Even knowing what it means to me, you would withhold such information? Bah, why do I ask? You are demon-ridden! Of course you would!”
His voice was a snarl, and my instincts told me to attack before he did. With an effort, I stayed in my seat.
“The Alchemists are four humans who seek immortality. Fire is their leader.” He flung the words out like daggers. “They think the blood of your kind holds the secret and harvest itwith zeal. In Pennsylvania, there is a blood ‘donation’ center, although the donors are far from willing. They call it City of the Future.”
“Not anymore.” Mira snorted. “Kerry destroyed it.”
“There’s also a lab where they butcher nephilim and call it science. Using the elements of alchemy, they gave themselves code names to keep their true identities secret. It’s a crime syndicate more than anything, and a young one. The first whispers I heard of it were ten or twelve years ago. Air specializes in smuggling, Water in trafficking, Earth in racketeering, and Fire in money laundering.”
He shared a little more, but it wasn’t anything we didn’t already know. When I asked about their old scoreboard, he shrugged.
“I never met anyone. Couriers from a variety of professional services dropped off a package of information every day. I posted it to the scoreboard and ran book for those who wished to bet on it. The Alchemists had no other part in it.”
“They didn’t make money off their own sport?” Mira scoffed.
“Not through me, and not to my knowledge.” Zick leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “It was a short-lived sport, anyway. The last posting was six or seven years ago now.”
“Do you know their true identities?” I asked.
“I do not. And believe me, if I don’t, no one else does.”
“Fire is Reginald Hubler.” I gave him that one for free, too, because I wasn’t playing very nice.
“TheReginald Hubler? The next American president? Are you sure?”
“I am. As sure as I am about giving you what I promised.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Mira, who understood at once and laid the package on the table. I tore off the brown paper and twine so he could see the sealed wooden box and read the engraved gold plaque on its lid.
A pinpoint of red spread from his pupils to blot out his irises.
“It was the only way, I swear.” I held up both hands, palms out. “And, for the record, I would have given it to you whether you gave me any information or not.”
The red sucked back into his pupils in a flash and disappeared. He reached out with one shaking hand to touch the top of the box.
“If this is a trick, Harker,” he whispered, “I will spenddecadeskilling you.”
“It’s real enough, Zick. Go home and enjoy.”
I stood, cut my eyes over to Mira, and tilted my head toward the door. We were done here. As we turned to go, though, she thought of one more question.
“What did he steal?”
“Hmm?” Zick tore his eyes away from the box.
“Castle. From the Nepali Sanctuary. Why else would he break in if he didn’t want to take something?”
“Clever girl. He stole a sword from a dragon’s horde.” His gaze dropped back to the box and he finally picked it up. “When the dragon awoke and realized it was missing, all Hell broke loose.”
“The earthquake?” she asked. “All those poor people died because a sword was stolen?”
“Dragons.” He shrugged, as if that said it all. “Of all the lessons life will teach you, only three matter. One, sometimes the hero wins. Two, sometimes the villain wins.”
“And three,” she finished for him, “sometimes the dragon wins.”
“Harker, she’s a keeper.” He grinned and his razor-sharp canines glittered like diamonds.
