Excerpt: To Reign in Hell (working title)

I have to admit I was stupefied that Silas was being so civil. He had chosen to live in Hell of his own free will. He knew our mom was suffering, but he didn't give a damn. He was on the side of the demons I'd chosen to fight against. He knew that, in their eyes, I had betrayed my father's blood and probably his as well.

But there he was, just talking to me as if we were old friends. No, not just old friends. To him, I was still his brother. Weirder still, he acted like nothing had changed in the last nine years.

All this time, I had thought our reunion would end with one of us dead. So far, he only wanted to talk.

I asked Silas, "Not to be rude, but why are you here? Seems like the job I took after you left would've pissed you off a little."

That got a smile out of him, but he didn't answer.

Then, it dawned on me. What if Silas wanted out? What if he had come to me so we could work together? That would've kicked some serious ass, the two of us fighting side by side against the legions of Hell. All of a sudden, his visit made sense, and I was glad to see him.

Before I could ask Silas if he was leaving his old life behind, Cerise, the hot blonde vampire from the other night, laid a hand on each of our shoulders.

"Is this Silas?" Cerise asked. "I thought he was only a rumor." Judging from the gleam in her eyes, she wanted to bag the set.

Silas sneered at her and said in a voice that could cut steel, "If you don't take your hand off of me, you disgusting vampire whore, I will make you suffer, and believe me: you won't like it."

After she got over the shock, Cerise left without a word.

"Repulsive," Silas spat. He took a long sip of his wine. "I'd rather cut off my own balls than sully myself with a human. Even an undead one."

After I got over my shock, I said, "You're half-human, you know. I mean, our mom was human, and she did have something to do with you."

"This isn't about our mother, Jack. This is about us." Silas looked at me. "You and I.... We're unique. And that's why I came to save you."