She heard it hit the ground, then silence returned and was broken only by their breathing.
Zarek's rage reached out to her like a tangible menace. It was vibrant and frightening.
Part of him wanted to hurt her, she could sense it, but underneath that she felt his pain.
"Who are you?" Zarek's voice was demanding and every bit as cold as the arctic winter. He kept his arms around her and his voice was right in her ear.
"I told you."
"You lied to me, princess," he growled. "I might not be able to read minds, but I know you're not what you appear. Human women don't have Katagaria companions. I want to know who you really are and why you were dicking around in my dreams."
She was shaking from nervousness. What would he do with her now?
Would he leave her for Thanatos?
She was scared to tell him the truth, and yet lies weren't something she practiced unless she had to.
He had a right to be angry at her. Not that she had lied to him; she'd only neglected to tell him a few things. Things such as her real purpose, why she had helped him, and the fact that the wolf he hated could become a man…
Well, she had lied about Sasha being dead, but Sasha had deserved it.
And she had drugged him.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) Yeah, okay, so she wasn't up for Miss Congeniality this year, but then, neither was Zarek.
Especially not in his current mood.
Zarek's warm breath fell against her exposed cheek. "What are you?" he repeated.
Astrid decided the time for deceit was over. He deserved to know the truth, and since Artemis had already broken the agreement and sent in Thanatos, what was the point of shielding the goddess any further?
"I'm a nymph.
"
"I hope you just left an important syllable off that word, princess.
"
"Excuse me?" It took a second for her to understand what he meant. When she did her face flamed. "
I
am not a nympho! I'm a nymph.Nymph . Noo !
"
He didn't move or speak for several minutes.
Zarek let out his breath slowly as he considered the woman in front of him and tried for once to rein in his fury.
A friggin' nymph. He should have known it was something like that.
Oh, yeah, right. Like the idea of a Greek nymph inAlaska was something that should have occurred to him. Her kind usually hung around beaches, oceans, and forests or stayed onOlympus
.
They didn't pop in during a blizzard and drag a wounded Dark-Hunter into their homes.
His stomach shrank as the reason for her presence slammed into him.
Someone had sent her here.
For him.
He gripped the handlebars fiercely, unwilling to let go for fear of what he might do to her. "What kind of nymph are you, princess?"
"Justice," she said quietly. "I serve Themis and I was sent here to judge you."
"Judge me?" He let out an extremely disgusted sound. "Oh, you're un-friggin-believable."
Zarek had never wanted to hurt anyone so much in his life. Getting up from the snowmachine before he yielded to his temper, he put space between them.
Was this his luck or what?
He'd finally found someone whom he thought didn't judge him and she reallywas a judge whose sole
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) purpose was to pass judgment on him and the way he lived.
Oh, yeah, he really knew how to pick them.
The gods were still laughing at him. Mocking him.
All of them.
Enraged, he paced around the snowmachine so that he could watch her sitting on the seat, looking all prim and proper with her hands folded in her lap and her head down.
All ladylike.
How dare she screw with him like this! Who did she think she was?
He was tired of people messing with him. Tired of games and of lies.
A judge. Acheron had sent in a judge before they killed him. Ooo, Zarek was just tickled pink by the consideration.
Maybe he should be flattered that they even gave him a pretense of impartiality. It was a hell of a lot more than he'd gotten as an accused slave.
"This was all just a game to you, wasn't it, princess? 'Come, Zarek, sit on my lap. Tell me why you won't behave.'" His vision turned dark. Deadly. "Fuck you, lady, and fuck them."
Her head snapped up. "Zarek, please!"
"So what, you decided Acheron was right? I'm psychotic, so send in your dogs to kill me?"
She got up and turned to where she heard his voice coming from. "No. Thanatos wasn't supposed to be sent in after you. As for Acheron, he would never convict you. If not for him, you'd be dead now. He bartered who knows what with Artemis so that I could come to you and find a way to save your life."
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
"It's the truth, Zarek," she said, her voice sincere. "Deny it all you want to, but it doesn't change the fact that we are on your side.
"
He raked her with a repugnant glare he only wished she could see to appreciate. "I ought to leave you here to freeze to death. Oh, wait, you're an immortal nymph. You can't die.
"