The Dark-Hunters, page 587
Abigail hesitated. He meant what he was saying. She could see it in his eyes and hear it in his indignant tone. “How could you forget that night? I heard you fighting with my father. You left and then came back and broke into our house.”
He held his hands up to emphasize his point. “I have never broken into a house. A bank, most definitely. A train a time or two to rob payrolls, but never someone’s home.”
“You’re lying.”
He shook his head. “I don’t lie. I’ve got no need to.”
“Bullshit. I was there. I saw you.”
“And I’m telling you right now that I wasn’t. On the soul of my mother, I didn’t kill them. And while I fought with your dad, I never once struck him or even insulted him.” Then to her utmost shock, he went to a cabinet a little farther down the hallway and opened a drawer that had a safe with a hand scanner. He put his palm on top and opened the safe. Inside was a handgun and KA-BAR. He pulled the knife out.
Her heart pounded as she realized he was going to stab her. She braced herself for the fight.
It didn’t come.
Instead, he flipped the KA-BAR around so that the blade faced his body and the hilt was toward her. “If you really, truly think I killed your parents, have your vengeance.” He placed the knife in her hand.
Completely caught off guard, she stared at him with the weight of the knife heavy in her palm. You’ve waited your whole life for this. Cut his throat. So what if she died afterward? She’d have her vengeance.
She wanted his life with a passion that was undeniable. It was a primal need that screamed out for his blood. But something in her gut told her to wait.
And in that instant, she had another memory. Sundown sitting at her kitchen table, coloring with her. “Dang, Laura, you have a real artist here. I’ve never seen a better rendition of Scooby-Doo.”
Abigail had beamed with happiness while her mother brought them both a cup of hot chocolate. When her mother turned her back, Jess had added his marshmallows to Abigail’s cup because they were her favorite. He’d winked at her and then held his finger to his lips and cut his eyes to her mother’s back to tell her to be quiet about it so that neither of them would get in trouble for it. She couldn’t count the times he’d done something sweet like that for her.
Sundown had been their friend.
No, her rationale countered. He’d killed them. She’d seen his face in the mirror of her room. He didn’t know how to be anyone’s friend. He was treacherous to his core, and if he was offering her a knife.…
“What kind of trick is this?”
He didn’t back down or blink. He stood right in front of her, looking at her through his thick lashes. His presence was terrifying and overwhelming as a tic beat a fierce rhythm in his jaw. “No trick. Believe me, I understand that soul-deep need to kill the person who took what you loved away from you. I know for a fact that I’m innocent, but I won’t fault you for your belief, wrong though it is.” He dropped his arms to his sides. “You want to kill me, go for it. I won’t stop you. But know that when you do, you’ll be spilling innocent blood yourself. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Growling in anger, she moved to slice his jugular, expecting him to catch her hand and use the knife on her.
He didn’t.
“I will kill you,” she said between clenched teeth. She could behead him. She had no doubts.
He continued to stare down at her. “Do it.”
Determined, she pressed the blade so close to his throat that it drew a bead of blood onto the dark carbon steel. Still, he didn’t budge. He merely stood patiently for her to end his life.
“What are you waiting for?” His words sounded like a taunt.
She ground her teeth in fury at herself. “I’m not you. I can’t kill someone who’s defenseless.”
“Nice to know the other Dark-Hunters you murdered had a fighting chance.”
She pulled the blade away from his throat. “Oh, spare me, you blood-sucking bastard. I know exactly how you prey on people and then blame the Apollites for it.”
He scowled at her. “Wait, wait, wait. I’m confused. First I’m a murderer, and now I’m guilty of preying on all humanity. Woman, who have you been talking to? They done got your head screwed on backwards and then some. We’re not the bad guys in all this. The Daimons are the ones killing humans, not us.”
What in the world was he talking about now? “Daimons? What’s a Daimon?”
He choked. “You work with Apollites and you’ve never heard the term?”
“No. Are they some kind of demon?”
Sundown folded his arms over his chest as he gave her a disbelieving grimace. “Daimons are the Apollites who live past their twenty-seventh birthdays.”
Was he on something? Surely he knew the history of her adoptive people even better than she did. “Apollites can’t do that. It’s impossible.”
“Uh, yeah, they can. I know, ’cause they’re what we hunt. Every night. Without fail.”
She rolled her eyes at his lunacy. “You are such a liar.”
“Why would I lie?”
“Because you’re one of the ones who kills humans and then blames it on the Apollites,” she repeated, stressing the words so that even he could understand them. “You use them as your scapegoats, and this must be the lie you tell to justify it.”
“And that makes sense in what alternate universe? Really? Why would we blame something neither humanity nor Apollites know exists to cover up these supposed crimes we commit? Hell, it’d make more sense to blame little green men. Who told you this malarkey?”
Before she could answer, something bright flashed to her left.
Lifting her hand to shield her eyes, she cringed in pain. It was absolutely blinding.
When the light faded, there was another man in the hallway with them. One with an evil sneer, who looked like he’d been bred for no other purpose than to kill. Tall with jet black hair and icy blue eyes, he was gorgeous. Dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, he had a small goatee. He glanced at her, then locked gazes with Sundown, who seemed to know him. “Do I have to kill her for seeing me pop in?”
Sundown shook his head. “She already knows about us.”
The unknown man tsked at him. “Risky, boy. Acheron finds out you’ve been spilling your guts to civs, he’ll have your ass.”
Sundown ran his thumb down the line of his jaw. He held an expression that said he was oddly amused. “It’s not what you think, Z. Turn on those god powers and use them. I am not responsible for her knowledge of nothing.”
Z scoffed. “Impressively screwed-up syntax there, cowboy. Glad I could follow it … sort of. As for the powers, don’t really have time to scan her and I really don’t give a shit. Rather kill her and save myself the expended energy for something I might actually enjoy … like picking my nose.”
Ew. Someone was socially awkward. She wasn’t sure at this point if she liked Z or not. He was rather off-putting.
“So why are you here?” Sundown asked.
“Got a huge problem.”
Jess didn’t like the sound of that at all. He slid his gaze to Abigail. “I already got one of those. Don’t need another right now, little buddy.”
Zarek laughed evilly at his term of endearment. Only Jess could call the Roman ex-slave that and live. The one thing about Zarek, it didn’t take much to motivate him to murder. He hated all people and wanted nothing to do with the world at large. That being said, the two of them went way back, and but for Jess, Zarek would be dead now and not married to a Greek goddess.
It was a debt neither of them spoke about. Ever. However, Zarek wasn’t the kind of man to forget it, either. They had an unspoken bond of friendship that ran as deep as a blood tie.
Zarek sobered. “Well, that’s just too bad, Hoss. ’Cause I’m here to drop this one right in your lap. Someone killed your buddy tonight.”
His heart sank at the news. “Ren?”
“Other friend.”
Jess scowled. Like Z, he tended to shy away from most folks. His past didn’t exactly lend itself to trust. “I only have you and him. So I’m pulling a little blank here on who you might be referring to.”
Zarek slapped him across the back. “Think, bud. Fierce immortal who likes to gamble in Sin’s casino, wear tacky shirts, and watch anime.”
Jess sucked his breath in sharply as he understood. “Old Bear?”
“Give that boy a biscuit.” Zarek’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “He finally got it.”
Jess couldn’t believe what Z was saying. It wasn’t possible. Old Bear was one of the four Guardians and powerful beyond belief. “How?”
“Some fool beheaded him around one A.M.”
The woman frowned at them. “Are you talking about the Native American Dark-Hunter stationed here?”
A bad feeling went through Jess as he met her gaze. Surely she wouldn’t have been so stupid as to …
“Say you didn’t.”
“Kill him?” she asked. “Fine. I didn’t … but I did.”
Oh yeah, this was bad. The kind of bad they made horror movies out of. In fact, he’d rather be naked in a zombie flick with no ammo or shelter, coated in brain matter and wearing a sign that said COME GET ME, than face what they were going to have to face now. “Honey, let me give you a quick lesson. Just ’cause someone’s a few centuries old and fanged doesn’t make them a Dark-Hunter.”
Zarek concurred. “And some of those fanged immortals we actually need. Old Bear happened to be one of them.”
She rolled her eyes dismissively. “Pah-lease.”
Jess ignored her. There was no need in arguing with her right now. They had much bigger problems than her pigheadedness. “How bad is it?” he asked Zarek.
“Well, he was the Guardian for the West Lands, where his people had banished some of the worst of their supernatural predators. Now that he’s dead, the balance has shifted and those he guarded can be set free.”
Jess hated to even ask the next question. But unfortunately, he had to. “And they are?”
When he answered, Z’s tone was as dry as the desert. “Nothing too major. A couple of plagues. Some scary weather anomalies … oh, and my personal fave—” He paused for effect, which told Jess how bad it was going to be. “—the Grizzly Spirit.”
Oh yeah, that was quite a stellar lineup from hell. Literally. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Zarek shook his head. “I don’t have a sense of humor, you know that. The Dark Guardians will be moving after Choo Co La Tah now, since he’s the North Guardian. If they can take him down, they can free the ones he guards, too.”
And set loose an apocalyptic war that would make the Daimon leader, Stryker, look like a wuss. Yeah, that was just what they needed.
The woman set her arms on her hips in pique. “What are you people talking about?”
“Nothing important.” Zarek raked a nasty glare over her. “Just the end of the world as we know it, and for the record, I don’t feel fine. Neither will you when it all comes slamming down on your head.”
Jess dragged Zarek’s attention back to the more important matter. Saving the world from those who would put a major hurt on it. “Where’s Choo Co La Tah now?”
“Ren was with him at the time Old Bear died. Now he’s guarding him. When the sun goes down, Ren’ll need help moving Choo Co La Tah to the Valley of Fire.”
Now, that made no sense. “Why?”
Zarek shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Ren yourself. I didn’t inquire and no one elaborated. All I know is it’s something to do with a prophecy from their pantheon, and for that reason, I can’t go with you. Apparently the area you have to go into is protected from any god or demigod born outside their pantheon. I’m only here as a messenger. Ash would have come for this, but his wife’s in labor.”
“Why’d he call you?”
Zarek gave him a droll stare. “My charming personality.”
Jess snorted in derision.
“Fine, asshole. I’m sure it had to do with the fact that he figured you wouldn’t shoot me.”
That was a good bet, and Ash had no doubt refrained from calling Andy because the boy was too high-strung to deal with news like this. Andy would still be in his room, freaking out over the end of the world and trying to get laid before it occurred. “Why didn’t he call me himself?” For some reason, Ash’s calls came through even down here. That man had the best cell service ever.
“He tried. You didn’t answer your phone. And since he’s a little busy with his wife threatening to castrate him over her labor pains, he sent me in.”
Now, that Jess would have paid money to hear. He couldn’t imagine anyone threatening Ash.
He slid his gaze back to Abigail, who’d been nothing but trouble since the moment he followed her into the drain. The call must have come in when they’d been fighting.
Zarek walked over to her. “And thank you, Miss Priss, for making this easy on us.” He snapped his fingers and a rope appeared on her hands, binding them together.
She shrieked in outrage until Zarek manifested a gag over her lips to stifle her insults.
“What are you doing?” Jess asked.
“Making it easy on you.”
Completely baffled, he frowned at Zarek’s actions. “Making what easy on me?”
“Transporting her.”
At this point, Z was starting to wear on his nerves. “Would you stop acting like a third-rate Oracle and spit everything out so that it makes sense.” ’Cause right now, he had no idea why Zarek had her bound up like a Christmas goose, and he was too tired to keep chasing answers.
“Glad to. In order to set everything back to normal and stop the hell to come, Choo Co La Tah has to go to the Valley and offer up a sacrifice of the one who killed Old Bear.” He passed a wry grin to the woman. “That’d be you, sweet cheeks.”
CHAPTER 6
Jess gaped while Abigail backed away at Zarek’s dire words, but she couldn’t go far. Zarek threw up his hand to hold her in the hallway next to them. Even before he’d married a goddess, Zarek had held some impressive telekinetic powers. Nowadays, they were downright sick.
He gave Zarek a disbelieving stare as he digested his orders to kill her. “You’re telling me that Acheron, my boss, the really tall Atlantean pain in most of our asses, actually authorized the killing of a human?”
Zarek shrugged. “I can see your confusion. It is highly out of character for him. But since she’s been killing off Hunters … I guess he figures it’s tit for tat. Or maybe he’s just having a really bad day.”
“You’re seriously not joking?”
Zarek let out an irritated growl. “Really? How many more times are you going to ask me that? I could be on a beach right now with my wife, son, and daughter, baking in the sun while they frolic and play. Am I? No. I’m here, and I want nothing more than to yank you around with bullshit ’cause this gets me off more than my wife running in a bikini.”
Jess counted to ten before he let Z rile him. That was the thing about Zarek. The man had a short fuse, and Jess’s wasn’t all that far behind his. Not that he blamed Z for it. As bad as Jess’s childhood had been, it was a picnic in paradise compared to what Z had suffered.
Still, those orders were so contrary to what they normally were that he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Acheron profaned hurting humans in any way. Why would he be okay with it now?
That alone told him just how scary this whole thing was. Playtime was over.
Jess removed the gag from Abigail’s lips. No need in making this worse on her. He expected her to shriek and curse. At the very least, head-butt him again and fight.
Instead, she was remarkably calm, given the fact she’d just heard Zarek call for her death. “You are not sacrificing me … to anything,” she said between clenched teeth.
Zarek scoffed. “You started this, babe. The choice is simple. Either you die alone, nobly like a good sport, or the entire world dies with you, which I don’t think they’d appreciate much. So put on your big-girl pants and own up to what you and your stupidity caused. It’s Joe Versus the Volcano time.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “But in the end, I don’t give a shit what you do. With the exception of the cowboy there and my family, I hate people with a passion that makes your feelings for Jess look like a schoolgirl crush. Lovely thing about my current situation, I’m truly immortal. You annihilate humanity and the world … I’m still good. So whatever you decide, it won’t affect me personally. I would say you’re the one who’ll have to live with the guilt. But either way, you’re dead. Whatever. I delivered my message. My job here is done, and I need to get back to the one that I’m still not sure how I let them talk me into doing—which is even weirder and scarier than the Dark-Hunter gig.” He turned his attention to Sundown. “Jess, call me if she wusses, and I’ll make sure you survive the holocaust.” He vanished.
“Thanks, Z,” Jess called after him. “Always nice chatting with you.”
Now what should he do? Really … it was the kind of thing that even his vast and varied experiences had never prepared him for. Yes, he’d dealt with Daimon outbreaks galore. A run-amok Daimon slayer up in Alaska who’d walked in daylight. But Daimons who were demons and could convert anyone they bit, and all-out death prophecy were a whole new territory for him.
Jess wasn’t sure where to go with that.
Abigail’s eyes were filled with a mixture of panic and suspicion. She did not appear happy. Not that he blamed her. He’d hate to be told he had to sacrifice himself to save the world. It would seriously muck up even a great day. And honestly, he wasn’t sure he’d be any more inclined to do it than she was.
“He was lying.” Her voice had a tiny tremble in it.
Wouldn’t it be great if life were that easy? You got bad news, you called it a lie and everything was fixed.…
