"Protecting yourself doesn't require giving one a concussion, one a set of broken ribs, and another one a busted jaw."
Zarek rolled to his feet and glared at him. "What happened to them was their own fault. They should have backed off when I told them to."
Ash returned Zarek's glare even keel. Zarek possessed the ability to stir his anger even faster than Artemis did. "Dammit, Z, I'm tired of taking shit from Artemis because you can't behave."
"What's the matter, Highness? Can't take the criticism? I guess that's what happens when you grow up noble. You never have to worry about having your behavior censored. Everyone thinks you're perfect.
Meanwhile you're free to frolic through your life. Tell me, what made you a Dark-Hunter? Someone scuff your boots and get away with it?"
Ash closed his eyes and counted to twenty. Slowly. He knew ten would never be enough to calm him.
Zarek raked him with that familiar sneer. The ex-slave had always hated him. But Ash didn't take it personally. Zarek hated everyone.
"I know what you think of me, O Great Acheron. I know how much you pity me and I don't need it. Do you honestly think I could ever forget the way you looked at me the first night we met? You stood there with horror in your eyes as you tried not to show it to me.
"Well, you achieved your good deed. You cleaned up your little foundling and made him all pretty and healthy. But don't even think that means I have to lick your boots or kiss your ass for it. My days of subjugation are over."
Ash growled low in his throat as he fought down the urge to splinter the man against the far wall. "Don't push me, Z. I'm the only thing standing between you and a deathly existence so bad it's beyond even your comprehension."
"Go ahead then. Kill me. Do you really think I give a damn?"
No, he didn't. Zarek had been born with a death wish. Both as a mortal man and as a Dark-Hunter. But Ash would never again kill a Dark-Hunter and send him into the agony of Shadedom. He knew firsthand the horrors of that existence.
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"Shave your goatee, take the earring out, and keep your damn claws hidden. If you're smart, you'll stay away from the cops."
"Is that an order?"
Ash used his powers to lift Zarek from the floor and pin him roughly against the ceiling. "Stop pushing your luck, boy. I've had it with you."
Zarek actually laughed. "Have you ever thought of hiring yourself out toDisneyland ? People would pay a fortune for this ride."
Ash growled louder, baring his fangs at the impudent ass.
It was seriously hard to intimidate a man who had nothing in life that meant anything to him. Dealing with
Zarek made him feel like a parent with an out-of-control child.
Ash lowered him to the floor before he yielded to the temptation of strangling him.
Zarek narrowed his eyes as his feet connected with the floor. He walked nonchalantly to his duffel bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
He knew better than to taunt the Atlantean. Acheron could extinguish him in a heartbeat if he chose to.
But then, Acheron still held his humanity. He actually had compassion for other people, which was a weakness Zarek had never possessed. No one had ever given a damn about him so why should he care about anyone else?
He lit his cigarette as Acheron turned to leave.
"Talon will patrol around Canal, so I want you to take the area fromJackson Square to Esplanade."
Zarek exhaled the smoke. "Anything else?"
"Behave, Z. For the love of Zeus, behave."
Zarek took a long drag on his cigarette as Acheron opened the door without touching it and strode out of his house.
He held his cigarette between his teeth and raked his hands through his tousled black hair.
Behave.
He could almost laugh at the order.
It wasn't his fault that trouble always came looking for him. But he'd never been one to dodge anything either. He'd learned a long time ago to take his hits and his pain.
He clenched his teeth as he remembered last night. He'd seen the Daimons on the street as they headed to Sunshine's loft. Heard them talking about how they intended to damage her. So he'd followed them,
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The next thing he knew, he had four bullet wounds in his side and a cop screaming at him to freeze.
At first, he'd intended to let them arrest him and then call Nick to bail him out, but when one of the cops had hit him across the back with his nightstick, all good intentions had gone straight to hell.
His days as a whipping boy were over.
No one was ever going to touch him again.
Sunshine sat outside Talon's cabin, working on the paintings Cameron Scott had commissioned from her. While Talon slept inside, she'd been out here for hours, trying to figure out why she was still here with him in his swamp.