be something good for Caine to toss around that kind of money.
The vampire shared a glance with Lucifer, then said, “We want you to infiltrate a rogue group that’s planning something big at the next Influx.”
The next Influx of preternaturals to come through the rift was due in four months. That didn’t give him a lot of time to go undercover.
“We figure your reputation will speak for itself,” Caine added. “It should open doors quicker than someone else could get it done.”
“The thing is…” Finn sat back down. He stretched his legs out in front of him and clasped his hands across his stomach. “I don’t need the money. I’ve got plenty.”
“Two million.” This from Lucifer.
That cut him deep. Since when had Finn ever done anything he’d been asked to because of a paycheck? He might be a lot of things, but mercenary wasn’t one of them. He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I don’t need the money,” he repeated.
“Three million.”
Finn folded his arms over his chest and thought about the offer. He’d been truthful when he said he didn’t need the money because he had more than he could spend in a couple hundred years. But there was something he’d been wanting, something that had been out of his reach for a long time. What he wanted was to be his own man for once. Do what he wanted when he wanted instead of having to ask permission from his boss, who also happened to be his father and the leader of the demon enclave in the region.
All his life Finn had felt more like one of Lucifer’s subjects and less like a son. From the day of his birth his father had designed the course of his life, and Finn in his early years had gladly followed that map. Yet century after century his efforts to garner his father’s approval had awarded him nothing. With his mother’s death Finn had lost the only person who’d ever truly loved him. His father certainly didn’t. At least he never showed it. Finn had never felt like he measured up to Lucifer’s expectations, and about five hundred years ago he’d given up trying. He did his job well because that was the kind of guy he was—you do the job you’re hired to do regardless of the pay or any issues you had with the boss. And now he didn’t care if good ol’ Dad was proud of him or not.
At least, that’s what he told himself. And perhaps if he kept telling himself that, eventually he’d believe it.
For the chance to be his own boss he just might give in. He’d been tossing around the idea of running a private security firm, one that would cater to the rich and powerful—both preternatural and human—and this might be his chance.
“There’s more to you asking for my help than my rep,” he said, looking from his dad to Caine.
Lucifer cleared his throat, drawing Finn’s gaze. “The chameleon abilities you got from your mother will prove useful.”
Finn raised his eyebrows. “You told him?” he asked, amazed that his father would tell an outsider a closely guarded secret that not even the demons knew.
“I trust him.”
“So I take it he also knows—”
“That you’re my son? Yes.” Lucifer leaned back in his chair and rocked it back and forth.
It wasn’t common knowledge that Finn was Lucifer’s child, and it was safer that way. Each of them had made enemies, and if a relationship closer than that of boss and employee were to become known, well, it wouldn’t be a good thing. For Lucifer to not only have clued in an outsider on the existence of chameleons but his and Lucifer’s kinship, he must trust the vampire implicitly.
Finn studied Caine. He didn’t know him, not really. He’d had some dealings with Caine in the past, and the vampire struck him as intense. Dedicated and single-minded in his pursuit of justice. And someone capable of taking secrets to his grave.
“As I understand it,” the vampire said, “you can take on the abilities of any preternatural. Does that mean you can enhance your hearing or sense of smell to the level of a werewolf’s if you wanted to?”
Finn nodded. “There’s a little more to it than that, though. For a short period of time I can actually become that preternatural.”
“Meaning…”
“If I mimic a werewolf, I can shift into a wolf. Or if I want to imitate a vampire…” He paused and got to his feet. “Here,