Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

AZIEL

It was by sheer dumb luck that my uncle never caught wind of the fight between Dante and the human kid. I gave him the potion to hide the bruise and when we went to the next family meeting, there was too much chaos for my uncle to even check in with him about his week at school and any information he gathered. Not that I thought Dante would snitch. He got the picture of what would happen if we weren't a team after our little trip Saturday night. But he was still only nine, and I didn't want anyone questioning him too hard. He wouldn't hold up well under pressure.

There wasn't a miraculous change in him in one day after he agreed to be better. I wasn't really expecting that. But I could tell he was trying. He at least picked up the clothes off his floor and put them in the hamper, and he ate dinner on the couch with me instead of holed up in his room. Baby steps were still steps, and I squeezed his shoulder to show my appreciation before he went to his room and I ducked out to do security at my uncle's club for the night. Dante could handle being alone for a few hours, and he had a phone to contact me if he needed me.

He'd been walking to and from school on his own for a few weeks now, so he let me sleep in the following morning. It was a little disconcerting. He was usually as obnoxiously loud as possible in the mornings to make me suffer right along with him. But I woke up to an empty apartment and when I checked his phone's location, he was at school where he belonged. It was refreshing and as a reward, after I got ready for the day, I stopped at the store to pick up ingredients for his favorite dinner. He never got praise for doing the right thing from his old man. He deserved to know making the right choices was appreciated.

My uncle had been busy lately. He didn't tell me why or what was coming, but I could tell something big was going to happen within the next few months. He kept my jobs the same, but he seemed to be targeting human politicians lately. It was concerning. I didn't want to get anywhere near that, but I didn't have much of a choice. Luckily, since he didn't trust me to actually participate in the work, all I was required to do was to gather information. He had me following a politician around to get her schedule down. One of my uncle's soldiers took over a little after I was supposed to pick up Dante, and I flew off without a word to go meet him at the park.

I'd expected to find Dante on the playground as usual, listening to conversations and doing his job. When I didn't find him, I checked the GPS on his phone and followed it to the basketball courts. He was playing ball with the human boy and his older brother, a big smile on his face. It meant I'd have to get information for him to keep him out of trouble, but seeing how happy he was, I let that go.

"Az! Come play!" he shouted, waving me over. I shook my head, pointing at a bench instead, and sat to watch them as they played. For being so small, the human boy was pretty good at the game. He was quick and dodged past Dante and his older brother, getting close enough to the net to get the ball in. His brother snatched him up and swung him around, shouting at Dante to get the ball. Dante darted forward, snatching the ball away, and took off with the human boy following behind him with a laugh.

It was hot, the height of summer, so it didn't surprise me when the human boy pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe his sweaty face. Dante did the same after shooting me a questioning look. It was when the older brother mimicked them that I stiffened.

I'd never taken a close look at his tattoos. I didn't see the point. But Athena's voice filtered through my head as I stared at the white tiger stretched across half his chest. The tattoo made the skin look shredded, the snarling tiger peeking out. Dread filled my stomach, and I yanked my phone out of my pocket without hesitation, dialing Athena's number. She answered on the first ring, her craggy voice smug.

"You found him."

"Tell me this is a joke."

"I'll do no such thing. I'm not prone to lying," she replied, and I could hear the grin in his voice. She was enjoying this.

Whispering so the trio wouldn't overhear me on the court, I growled at her. "There's no way, Athena. He's a damn human! Do you want to get him killed?"

"I told you, Azzy. You have a choice to make. Submit to the white tiger and find your freedom, or refuse and face your demise. He's stronger than he looks. Let him help you."

"Submit?!"

That came out a little louder than I'd intended and it drew the attention of the older brother. I turned away from them, hissing into the phone.

"Athena, you can't–"

"I'm not doing anything to you, Azzy. It's the fates that choose your future. I only deliver the message. Make your choice. And tell Dante to come see me this weekend. He's a strong boy, and I missed having someone to help me at the shop."

She hung up before I could argue, and I seriously considered smashing my phone. She knew. She knew when she gave me that message that the ‘white tiger' was human. His association with me would get him killed. I was dooming him if I spent any time with him. I didn't want my salvation to end his life. It would make me just like the rest of my family, using weaker beings to get what they want.

"Everything okay?"

I'd heard him coming, but I was too in my own head to say anything to him. I needed to leave. Being near him was stupid. For all I knew, our family could be watching this place. The reminder made me straighten, and I looked around warily. I couldn't see our family, but that didn't mean they weren't here .

"Dante! Time to go!"

He spun around, whining at me. "Aww, already? But we haven't finished the game yet!"

"Dante," I snarled. It got my point across because he stopped arguing, his head drooped forward in a pout. He waved at Ollie, trudging over to me as slowly as possible. The older brother frowned.

"If you need to be somewhere, I can bring him home. We weren't going to stay much longer anyway. I've got clients in an hour. We can finish the game and–"

"No. We need to leave. Thank you for watching him."

I didn't give either of them the chance to argue before I grabbed Dante's shoulder and teleported us away. We popped straight into my apartment, which I never did, proving just how thrown I was.

I'd trusted Athena my whole life. She never had an agenda. Her visions were always the truth. If I steered clear of the human, I'd be asking for trouble for myself. But I couldn't bring myself to put his life on the line to save mine. No, I'd face whatever the second path was. I'd hurt either way, but at least I wouldn't have a human's life on my conscience.

I avoided thinking of the human all week. Dante didn't make it easy. I told him to stay away from the human boy and he kept demanding to know why. I refused to tell him, and it pissed him off that I was keeping things from him. I tried to be honest with him after he showed up, since keeping him in the dark wasn't going to do him any favors, but I couldn't talk about this with him. He wouldn't understand.

He pestered me about it until the family meeting on Saturday night. He knew better than to bring up the humans this close to my uncle, so he mostly grumbled under his breath as we teleported outside the giant mansion and headed inside.

I always hated this house. It was a mirror of the one in the Other Realm, with dim lighting and dark walls. Instead of books on the bookshelves, my uncle kept the skulls of his victims because he was a sick motherfucker. The staff who took care of the house were all human, and they weren't well treated. If they found themselves in the room when he lost his temper, they were his punching bags and there was no guarantee they'd survive the interaction. They cowered and hid as often as they could, and kept their heads down when they couldn't. I hated being in this place.

Dante had his head down too, and I had to nudge him into lifting it back up. Showing fear in front of my uncle would only get him hurt. He needed false bravado at the very least until he could muster up a good enough mask to hide his emotions.

We stopped just inside the meeting room. I preferred to stick to the back of the room to not draw attention to myself, but when we arrived, all eyes swung towards us. My stomach clenched tightly, but I kept my face blank as my uncle beckoned us.

"Good. You're here. Come forward."

His tone was light and almost friendly, which was a big red flag. Trepidation slithered across my skin, my heart rate picking up as Dante and I moved forward through the crowded room. The sneers and dirty looks were normal for me, but they seemed more intense tonight and I was worried about what that meant.

Once Dante and I were standing in front of my uncle, the path we'd come through closed behind us so that a semi circle of family members surrounded us. With my uncle and his older sons in front, we were boxed in, and the unease only grew.

"Do you have news for me?" he asked pleasantly.

"Yes. The politician–"

"Not you," he snapped, a hint of his normal venom coming out. He masked it quickly and shot Dante a soft look. "You. What do you have for me, son?"

Dante's eyes widened at the word, and he looked wary as he took a half step forward. "I… I heard one of the kids in school talking about how her dad is the most important person in the city. Her last name is Donnatelli."

My uncle hummed his acknowledgement, gesturing for him to continue. "Go on. Anything else?"

Dante's brows furrowed a little. Usually, one bit of information was enough for my uncle. He expected little from a nine-year-old. The old man was fishing and I could make a guess as to why .

Dante shook his head slowly. "No…"

My uncle's eyebrows raised slowly. "No? You've been with them all week, and you don't have more? That seems suspicious, Dante. Tell me, is your cousin leading you astray?"