"Fine," Thane said. "I'll fuck your demon, but I want something back."
"You are not in a position to make demands," the man pointed out.
Thane just pushed into his face. "I have spent my life under the shadow of what my mother and my brother did. I am not them. I think I've more than proven myself, but that taint will never go away. It's why Laird can't get a promotion. It's why my best attempts to kill that woman came under suspicion. I want you, not the Bishop, to declare that I have proven that whatever demons infested my mother stand no chance against me."
"You think you deserve that, do you?"
"Yeah," Thane told him. "I think that I've spent my life trying to kill as many of those bastards as I can for what they did to my family. I think I'll gladly keep going. They've already destroyed the few happy memories I had in my life, and making them pay for that is reward enough, but being judged for it? We both know I'm the best hunter this branch has."
"We do," the Cardinal agreed. "The power that made you impotent isn't as strong in Laird, but he has nearly as much promise."
Thane almost snapped that he wasn't impotent, but he figured the Cardinal wouldn't know the difference. Sex wasn't something priests had a lot of experience with, after all. Too bad for him, Thane was less worried about his reputation than getting Laird out of this mess alive.
"So, when are we doing this?" he asked.
"Tomorrow," the Cardinal told him. "Late, so we can be sure there won't be any worshippers around to hear her demonic cries."
"Am I allowed to talk to my brother about this?" he asked.
"For absolution?" the Cardinal asked. "I don't see a problem with it. In fact, I hope to have him help me secure the beast."
"And to find out what to expect," Thane admitted. "I've seen plenty of them die, but I've never seen one come back."
The Cardinal flicked his hand. "Go. We'll handle the rest of this, and I believe your brother is in the lobby. I've been keeping an eye on him, you know."
Thane couldn't be sure if that was because he had promise, or if it had been intended as a threat. It worked more as the second, in all honesty. Still, Thane headed back to the elevator and took it down all twenty-seven floors to the hotel lobby. There, the staff seemed confused, but in a dazed way that he recognized as the effects of a Word.
Half a dozen priests wandered through the large open lobby. Thane looked over them all until he found the man he was looking for. Pushing out a deep breath, he headed toward his brother, but Laird's attention was locked on the view through the windows before him.
"Laird?" he asked, making his brother jump.
"Thane," Laird breathed. "Sorry."
Then Thane realized what had stolen his attention. A group of men were kneeling around a spot on the pavement. A pile of dust was between them. Dust that had once been Dahlia.
"Did you see her hit?" he asked.
"Yeah," Laird breathed. "I watched her dissolve. That means she's dead, right?"
"Body death," Thane clarified. "We need to talk."
"Not here and not now," Laird countered.
"Yes, both. The Cardinal said I can ask you questions for the task he's about to assign me." And he pointedly tipped his head toward the back of the building. "I'd rather do it in private, if you don't mind."
"Bad?" Laird asked.
"I think so," Thane said, turning to walk for the rear exit. Thankfully, his brother followed at his side.
Outside those doors, there was a massive concrete patio. Beyond that was a highly manicured lawn. The pair kept walking out toward the grass, putting enough distance between them and the building that no one would be able to accidentally overhear their conversation. Thane found a picnic table and took one side, gesturing for his brother to claim a seat.
"They know her name," he started.
"That means we can call her back," Laird realized.
Thane nodded slowly. "They want me to do it tomorrow night, and you're going to help secure her when I'm done."
"Least I don't have to help with the calling back," Laird said. Then his head snapped up. "Where?"