"
"Do you?" he asked sarcastically. "Did you know that he had a sister he let die? That she was only a few feet down the hall, screaming for his help. And while he lay in a drugged and drunken stupor, she was torn to pieces?
"
Talon was horrified by what the man described. But he knew Acheron better than that. Acheron would never, drugged or not, be so far gone that he wouldn't render aid to a stranger. When it came to those who fell under his protection, Acheron would move heaven itself to keep them safe.
"I don't believe you.
"
"You will. Before I am through here, all of you will learn the truth of him." The imposter hung up the phone.
Talon tossed his phone to the nightstand and ran his hands over his face. This was a nightmare.
He was torn between his need to protect a friend he had known a thousand lifetimes and a woman whose soul meant more to him than his own life.
And he'd never felt more helpless. Not even when he had watched his uncle slain. At least then he'd held a weapon in his hand and had seen his attackers.
This time, there was nothing solid to grasp onto. There were two enemies out there. One pretending to be Acheron and the other a cowardly god with a vicious vendetta.
What was he going to do?
He turned around and looked at Sunshine.
Her black hair was a dark cloud on his pillow. Her face was relaxed and peaceful, her tanned skin a
soothing sight against his sheets. Even now he could feel her in his arms, feel the heat of her body under his, the warmth of her touch on his skin.
How could he protect her?
"Trust in the Morrigán, Speirr. Never doubt her loyalty to you. Never question her actions. Just
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) know that when she can, she will always help you." Those were the last words his father had ever spoken to him.
Closing his eyes, Talon could still see his father's face in the firelight that night. See the older man's pride and love shining at him as his father embraced him and sent him to bed.
He had held tight to those words, and no one had ever defeated him in battle. Not by ambush or by trickery.
In the end, it had been the enemy at home who had destroyed him. The last person he had suspected.
His cousin had wanted to be king so badly that he had known the only way to power would be to kill off both Talon and Ceara.
Talon had never suspected his cousin of setting up the death of his aunt and uncle.
Talon had learned of the man's treachery only after the Druids had slain him and Ceara.
The night Talon had shown up to take vengeance on his clan, his cousin had confessed everything, trying to get Talon to spare him.
It hadn't mattered. Young, angry, and hurt, Talon had taken his revenge against all of them, and then cast off his emotions and hardened his heart.
Hardened it until a fey beauty had looked up at him on a quiet street with large brown eyes that seared him.
He loved her. Her laughter, her wit.
She had made him feel again. Made him complete.
Without her, he didn't want to live at all.
But he refused to see her killed because of him.
"I have to let her go."
He had no choice.
Chapter 13
Zarek stood outside on the upper crosswalk of Jackson Brewery, looking downWilkinson Street . He had his hands braced on the iron banister as he stared at the people below who were walking alongDecatur Street , drifting in and out of shops, restaurants, and clubs.
Word had come down from Acheron that he was supposed to stay inside his townhouse until Mardi Gras. He probably should have listened, but taking orders wasn't exactly something he excelled at anymore.
Besides, the harsh February climate inAlaska kept him housebound entirely too much. He hated feeling trapped.
When he'd leftFairbanks , it had been fourteen below zero. It was currently fifty-seven degrees inNew Orleans and even with the chill wind coming off the river, it was nothing like what he was used to.
This was a balmy summer night in comparison.
Though late June and July days inFairbanks could get as high as the low nineties, by the time the sun set and he could go outside into the eerie twilight that never turned completely dark, he'd be damned lucky to feel a night as warm as this one.
And of course, in the dead of summer inFairbanks , he'd be really fortunate if he could go outside for more than a few minutes before the sun rose again and forced him back indoors.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) For nine hundred years, he'd been banished to that harsh, extreme terrain.
Now at long last, he had a reprieve.
Closing his eyes, Zarek inhaled the air, which was thick with life. He smelled the mixture of foods and river. Heard the sound of laughter and revelry.