"Sunshine?" her mother asked as soon as she recognized Sunshine's voice. "Where are you? Storm said you blew him off last night without calling."
"I'm sorry, Mom. You know me. I got distracted and forgot to call. Listen, I need to know something.
Do you remember years ago when you and Grandma did that whole past-life regression thing on me?"
"Yes?"
"I remember you and Grandma telling me that I was an ancient Celt, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember anything more specific than that?"
"No, not really. I'd have to call Mom and see if she remembers. Knowing her, she might. Why? You sound panicked."
"I am panicked. I'm having some bizarre flashback kind of thing. I don't know what else to call it. It's just very, very weird."
"Are you with Steve?"
"Talon, Mom, his name is Talon. And yes, I am."
"You think you knew him in a previous life?"
Sunshine looked back at the door and swallowed. "Honestly, Mom, I'm thinking I was married to him."
Chapter 7
It was shortly after sunset when Acheron knocked on Zarek's door. He'd spent most of the day with Artemis, discussing what needed to be done since the human authorities were now looking for Zarek.
He could still see Artemis lying nonchalantly on her white-cushioned throne, her beautiful face completely
disinterested. "I already told you, Acheron, kill him. Only you are blind to the man's character. It's why I wanted him inNew Orleans in the first place. I wanted you to see firsthand just how far gone he is."
Ash refused to believe it. He, better than anyone, understood Zarek's nastiness. The need to strike the
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So he'd bargained with Artemis for more time for Zarek to prove to the goddess that he wasn't some rabid animal in need of a mercy killing.
But how Ash hated bargaining with her for anything. Still, he wasn't going to sign the order for Zarek's execution. Not yet. Not while there was still hope.
He knocked again. Harder. If Zarek was sleeping upstairs, he might not hear him.
The door swung open slowly.
Ash walked inside, his eyes instantly adjusting to the pitch-blackness. He closed the door with a mental push and reached out with his senses.
Zarek was in the sitting room on his left.
The ex-slave had neglected to turn on the heat so the house had a frigid chill to it. But then, Zarek was so used to the subzero temps in Alaska that he probably didn't even notice the more moderate cold of New Orleans in February.
Heading for the sitting room, Ash stopped as he caught sight of Zarek lying on the floor by the Victorian sofa. Dressed only in black sweatpants, Zarek appeared to be asleep, but Ash knew he wasn't.
Zarek's senses were as honed as his own and the ex-slave would never allow anyone to enter his sleeping area without being fully alert and ready to strike.
Ash let his gaze wander over Zarek's bare back. On the lower part of his spine was a highly stylized dragon. It was the only mark his back currently held, but Ash remembered a time when Zarek's flesh had been covered in scars so deep that Ash had actually flinched the first time he'd seen them.
A whipping boy for Valerius's family, Zarek had grown up paying the price every time Valerius or his brothers had crossed the line.
The scars hadn't been just on his back. They had been on his legs, chest, arms, and face. One facial scar over his blinded left eye had been so severe that Zarek had barely been able to open the eye. The scar on the cheek below that eye had given his face a twisted, misshapen look.
In his human lifetime, Zarek had walked with a pronounced limp and his right arm had barely functioned.
When he'd first crossed over and become a Dark-Hunter, Zarek hadn't even been able to meet Ash's gaze. He'd stared at the floor, cringing every time Ash moved.
Normally, Ash gave newly created Dark-Hunters a choice of keeping their physical scars or having them removed. In Zarek's case, he hadn't asked. Zarek's body had been so badly damaged that he had erased them immediately.
His second course of action had been to teach the man to fight back.
And fight back he'd done. By the time Ash had finished his training, Zarek had unleashed a fury so strong that it gave him incredible powers.
Unfortunately, it also made the man uncontrollable.
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"You gonna keep staring at me, Great Acheron, or are you ready to chew me a new one?"
Ash sighed. Zarek still hadn't moved. He lay there with his back to him, his arm tucked under his head.
"What do you want me to say to you, Z? You knew better than to attack a cop. Never mind three of them."
"So what? I was supposed to let them handcuff me and take me to jail where I could wait for sunup in a cell?"
He ignored Zarek's rancor. "What happened?"
"They saw me kill the Daimons and tried to apprehend me. I merely protected myself."