Acheron grimaced at the nickname, but didn't comment. He inclined his head toward the body that had been draped with a body bag, but not yet sealed up. "That woman died barely an hour ago. Tell me what you feel."
"Nothing." As soon as the word left his lips, Talon understood. Whenever someone died, their soul lingered for a brief time before it moved on. There was only one exception to that—when the soul was captured and trapped by someone else. "It was a Daimon kill?"
Acheron shook his head no.
"Is she a new Dark-Hunter?
"
Again theno shake. "Someone fed on her until they drained the life out of her and could steal her departing soul. Then they ripped her apart with something like a claw. The police are trying to convince themselves that it's an animal, but the depth and precision of her wounds are too precise."
Talon went cold. "Claws like the ones Zarek wears?"
Acheron turned his head to stare straight at him. All Talon could see was himself in the dark lenses.
"What do you think?"
Talon ran his hand along the edge of his jaw as he watched the police work over the area. This was disturbing.
"Look, T-Rex, I know you have a soft spot for Zarek, but I have to tell you that I found him having lunch a few minutes ago outside of a club. It looked like he was enjoying himself a little too much, if you know what I mean."
"So you think he killed this woman?"
Talon hesitated as he remembered what Zarek had said when he had caught him with the woman in the alley.I didn't hurt her . Was that an admission he had hurt someone else or was it a statement that he never hurt the women he fed on?
"I don't know," Talon answered honestly. "If you're asking me if he's capable, I'd definitely say yes. But I sure would hate to consign a man to Shadedom without more evidence."
Shadedom was the hellish existence that came to any Dark-Hunter who died without a soul. Since they no longer had a real body or a soul, their essence suffered eternity trapped between this plane of existence and the next. It was said to be the most grueling torture imaginable.
"So what do you think?" Talon asked. "Do you believe he did it?"
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) A slow smile slid across Acheron's face, but he didn't answer the question. The hair on the back of Talon's neck rose. Something about all this just didn't seem right.
For that matter, something about Acheron didn't seem quite right either.
Acheron took a step away from him. "I'll go talk to my good buddy Zarek, and see what he says."
Talon frowned. This definitely wasn't right. Acheron never referred to anyone as his "buddy."
"By the way," Acheron said. "How are you doing? You seem tense. Uneasy."
He was. It was like someone had opened a floodgate on his hormones and emotions, and he wasn't sure how to close it again.
But he didn't intend to burden Acheron with that. He could control himself.
"I'm fine."
Talon glanced away from Acheron for a second to watch the arrival of the coroner. "By the way, T-Rex, what happened to your nose stud and…" His voice trailed off as he turned back and saw nothing but empty space.
Talon looked about.
Acheron was gone. The only trace of his presence was two bloody shoe prints that marked the concrete where he'd stood a second ago.
What the hell?
Acheron had never done that before. Man, this night was getting stranger by the hour.
"… there's a disturbance onCanal Street . At Club Running wolf's…"
Talon's heart stopped at the words he overheard from a police scanner.
Sunshine.
Every instinct he possessed told him it involved her. He ran for his bike and quickly headed back toward the club.
Chapter 6
By the time Talon reached Sunshine's club again, it was complete chaos on the street outside the club's entrance and in the alley behind it.
A large crowd of people stood around outside where two ambulances were parked while medics tended three wounded officers. Someone had beaten them to a pulp.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) He paused near one ambulance as he heard the officer giving his report to a detective.
"He was at least six feet six. Lean, muscular build. Caucasian male dressed in black, with long black hair and a goatee. Mid-to late twenties with this huge silver claw thing on his hand. He looked like the devil himself when we came up on him. Man, he tore through us like we was nothing. I got at least two bullets into him and he didn't even flinch when I shot him. He just kept on coming at us. He must be on PCP or something."
Talon froze.
Zarek. There was no one else who could fit that description.
Damn. He shouldn't have left the area while Zarek was here. Zarek must have attacked them just a few minutes after he left.
"So what happened?" the detective asked.