Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

AZIEL

The meeting with my uncle went about as I expected. He demanded information from Dante that the kid had no way of knowing, and got pissed when he couldn't answer. The same thing happened for the next few days until Dante finally got it in his head that there were worse things than living with me. He went quiet, his complaints stopped, and he spent more time in his room than doing anything else. At least at home, the situation had improved. At school was another issue. I'd gotten calls every day for the first week, telling me Dante was lashing out at students and staff, and if he couldn't control himself, they would need to consider transferring him to another school. Knowing what would happen if he got kicked out, I decided to talk to him, even though inviting that fight seemed foolish on my part.

Every day after school, Dante went straight to his room, and stayed there all weekend too. He'd already trashed it and I didn't let him have a tv in there, so I wasn't really sure what he was doing, but I didn't ask before. Letting out a heavy sigh, I pushed the door open and tried not to grimace. The place was a stye. I ignored it, grabbing his desk chair and spinning it around, straddling it as I faced him. He was lying on his bed, glaring at the ceiling, trying to ignore my presence. But he was also nine and didn't like it when I didn't immediately tell him my purpose for being there.

"What?" he finally demanded.

"Got a call from your school."

"Yeah, so?" he snarled.

"If you can't get it together, they're gonna transfer you to a paranormal school."

A tinge of hope crossed his face, and I shook my head before he could get too excited. "That's not a good thing. The closest paranormal school doesn't have anyone important. You won't be getting any information for your dad there. And he's going to take issue with you getting removed from where he wants you to be."

He huffed, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "What does it matter? No one talks to me anyway."

"Not with the way you're acting, they won't. Have you even tried to make friends?"

That got me a glare in response. "Why the hell would I make friends with humans?"

"Because you need information and they aren't gonna tell you shit if they are too busy avoiding you."

To my knowledge, no one ever sat down and taught Dante how to work for the family. He was raised by nannies in the Other Realm, went to a regular school there, and my uncle pretty much ignored his existence. I wasn't sure why they were demanding he do this shit now, but it wasn't really my business. My business currently was keeping this kid alive. And right now, based on the refusal on his face, he didn't get how making friends was going to do that.

"Come on. We're going out."

He scowled at me, but I didn't miss the flash of curiosity. "Going where?"

"To the park. You're gonna learn to get information. I'm tired of going to the healer every day to fix you after you piss off your old man."

He followed me out of the apartment, lunging at the cat who sometimes sat in the windowsill of the apartment above ours. I shook my head, leading the way to the park halfway between his school and home. I overheard plenty while I was out there, and I knew it was a popular place for the kids after school and on weekends. If Dante went there more often, he might be able to glean more than what he got in class.

The park was crowded when we got there, typical for a Saturday afternoon. Dante hesitated, hovering uneasily when he saw the crowd, so I stopped a block away and kneeled in front of him.

"Rule number one. Ears open. Even if you're playing alone, you'll overhear all sorts of shit in places like this. Kids don't ever shut up. Parents too, when they're talking amongst themselves. They think kids aren't listening, so they'll say whatever shit is going on without a filter."

His brows drew together tightly, his eyes shifting over the park with more consideration. I knew it had to be scary, being the only outwardly paranormal kid around. If I gave him a purpose, he might not panic as much.

"Rule two. Follow the money. You don't have to mean it, but you wanna at least pretend to make friends with the rich kids. Do something to get their attention. If you can't make friends with them, then go for the adjacent ones. The ones whose parents work for the rich families. Those kids usually have information from their parents."

His face turned more serious as he listened carefully. I gave him a few of the tricks I'd learned over the years, from working in the shadows to asking questions without really asking them. He seemed to get the gist of it, and when I sent him onto the playground, he looked determined. I sat at a bench nearby, close to a group of gaggling women. If he couldn't get any information, I'd pass some on to him. My uncle didn't give a shit who heard it, as long as he got information.

It bothered me seeing kids actively avoiding him. I saw his hurt expression flash over his face more than once. He gave up trying after a while and sat under the slide, hiding his unhappiness with a scowl.

"... and I know her husband didn't get that kind of money legitimately."

Pulling out my phone, I pretended to scroll, listening to the women. If someone was getting money illegitimately, that could bode well for my family. Either with information on how, or giving them territory to take over.

"How do you know? "

The queen bee scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Tara's husband works with him. She said she overheard him talking with his golf buddies about how Neil's numbers have been dropping so much that the managers have all taken notice. He's close to losing his job, if he hasn't already. He has to be getting it somewhere else."

"But where, though?" another woman asked, bouncing a baby on her hip. They were all staring at this woman like her story was fascinating, enthralled by a bit of gossip.

"Rumor has it he's been laundering money for a crime family. His secretary, Charlene, heard him bragging about his connections over the phone once."

They all gasped, and I bit back the urge to roll my eyes.

"Which family?"

Finally, a decent question. There weren't that many crime families around. The city wasn't that big.

The woman's voice dropped to a whisper. Good thing demons had excellent hearing because I didn't miss a word.

"Have you guys heard about the Shadowwalker crime family? I heard they're some kind of paranormal organization. Super dangerous. Apparently, Neil's been working with them."

My body stiffened, though I made sure not to let it show. I didn't know all the humans my uncle had under his thumb, but if one of them was bragging about working with our family, then that was a problem. If you couldn't be trusted to keep your mouth shut, you were a liability. This kind of information would keep Dante out of trouble for at least a few weeks.

I listened for a little while longer, but the women moved on to less interesting topics. Normally I'd send this information to my cousins right away to follow up, but I wanted to give it to Dante to report.

"Hey! Get away from him, you little freak!"

My head whipped up as a portly woman with blonde hair glared down at Dante. I was out of my seat and standing above him before either of them could blink, a snarl in my throat.

"Back up."

The woman startled hard, her eyes wide. She had a tight grip on a little boy's arm and she forced him behind her, taking a few steps back. She pointed an accusing finger at Dante, screaming at me .

"He doesn't belong here! There are parks meant for freaks like him! Keep him away from the normal children!"

I didn't normally listen to human dribble. Their opinions didn't matter. But Dante was just a fucking kid, and I wasn't going to let her get away with talking about him like that. My temper swelled, fire licking across my skin and focusing on my horns. The woman looked rightfully terrified, her face paling in the face of my wrath. I didn't hurt humans, but I had no problem making sure she never slept soundly again.

"Oh, shut up, Karen," a voice snapped. "I saw them talking. He didn't do anything."

The speaker was a man who stood a few feet away, his eyes locked on the bitch who was testing her luck with me. He was a little taller than the average human, not overly muscled or intimidating. It was the colorful designs all over his arms and neck that made him different. I'd heard of human tattoos, but I never really paid much attention to them. This one was covered in them. He wore a black cap, covering his hair, a loose fitted tank top, and ripped jeans. Not the typical kind of human I saw in this neighborhood. I saw more like him on the side of town that my uncle liked to work in. It made my hackles go up, even though this human was standing up for Dante.

The woman latched onto a conversation with another human, shooting the man a defiant look. "We as parents get a say on who our children interact with! I–"

"So leave," the man demanded, his voice somehow rough and smooth at the same time. He didn't look the least bit intimidated by the woman, even though she probably outweighed him by a lot. When she sputtered at him, he raised an eyebrow lazily.

"You're the only person kicking up a fuss right now. The kid didn't do anything wrong. If you've got a problem with him being here, then roll your ass right along and let the damn kids play."

It took work not to snort at his comment. Dante didn't even bother to hide his reaction, snickering behind me. He'd gotten to his feet at one point, but he knew better than to move away right now. He stood close enough that I knew where he was and watched as the humans argued with one another.

"You can't seriously want children to play with that… that… "

"Say it. I dare you," I snarled. I knew she was about to call him a monster. It was a common term with humans. The warning in my tone got through her thick skull, however, and she finally made a smart decision by keeping her mouth shut. She looked around wildly, like she was hoping for back up, but there was more than one parent glaring at her. Even the gaggle of women from before looked disgusted. It gave me hope, which I'd long since given up on. Hope that maybe, in the future, Dante would have an easier time than me. They might not care about how I was treated, but bullying a little kid wouldn't happen on their watch.