Hunter gave a whistle and opened the door to his car. He put Terminator in her seat. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I think we can manage."
Amanda got in the car and adjusted Terminator in her lap as best she could. It wasn't until Hunter sat next to her that she saw the blood on his hand and arm. "You're hurt?"
"Flesh wound on my forearm. It'll heal."
"Jeez, Hunter. How can you stand doing what you do?"
He laughed. "I've done it for so long, I honestly don't remember what life was like before I died."
His words sent a chill over her. "You're not really dead, are you? I'm kind of fuzzy on all this. You have a heartbeat and you bleed, not to mention that your skin is warm to the touch. That implies life, right?"
He started the car and headed down the street away from the police. "Yes and no. Once a human dies, Artemis uses her powers to trap our souls. After the soul is contained, we are brought back to life."
"How?"
"Since I was dead at the time, I have no idea. All I know is that I felt everything go black, then I woke up with powers and strengths I never knew before."
Amanda thought about that as she stroked Terminator's ears and held the dog's head against her stomach to keep him quiet. "Does that mean you can die again?"
"Yes."
"Then what happens?"
Hunter took a deep breath. "If we die before we reclaim our souls, we walk the earth eternally without powers. We are trapped as Shades in our corporeal bodies, but we have no real substance, which means we can't touch anything or be heard by anyone other than the Oracles. We crave food and water, but have no way to appease the hunger or thirst. It's a short trip from partial damnation to a total damnation."
Amanda gaped at the horror of such a fate. She couldn't stand the thought of something like that happening to him. "Does that happen even if a Daimon kills you?"
He nodded.
"That's not fair."
He glanced over at her. "What kind of life have you lived, little one, that everything seems to be a question of fair and unfair? Life and death just are. Fair has nothing to do with it."
There was something very telling about that statement. Just how many times had he suffered injustice to feel that way? That thought was quickly followed by another. "Julian said you can get your soul back."
"In theory, yes."
"In theory?" she asked as Terminator lifted his head to look at Hunter. Hunter reached over and patted the dog's head until Terminator settled down again.
"We are given an out clause, but in the last two thousand years, only a handful have succeeded. Most of the ones who tried ended up as Shades."
Amanda frowned. How horrible. By his tone she could tell Hunter had resigned himself to the fact he would never even attempt it. Why?
"What would you have to do to get your soul back?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. None of us do since the path to redemption is different for each Dark-Hunter. All I know is that when the moment of truth comes, the Dark-Hunter is either set free or damned for eternity."
What Kyrian didn't tell her was that in order to be free, the Dark-Hunter must place his or her soul into the hands of someone who loved them. Having been burned so severely by his wife, he would never again trust anyone with his body or heart, never mind his immortal soul. He had seen too many of his brethren trapped as Shades because the person they trusted had failed the test. And in the back of his mind was the knowledge that no woman could ever love him. Not even a tiny bit. Let alone love him enough to set him free.
"Why did you agree to this life?" she asked.
He arched a brow. "I told you, I have unlimited income and immortality. What's not to like?"
Still, Amanda didn't buy that. It was too easy and he didn't seem so superficial. "You just don't seem the greedy sort to me."
"No?"
"No. You're more grounded than that. More generous. Greedy people don't leave the kind of thoughtful gifts you left for Julian and his family." She saw his jaw flex and she knew she'd pegged him perfectly. "How did you get his ring back, anyway? Julian said he had sold it a few years ago."
Hunter remained so quiet that she didn't think he would answer. Finally he spoke. "I saved a man who was wearing it about a year ago from a Daimon attack. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. I offered to buy it from him, but he let me have it for saving him."
Amanda narrowed her eyes on him, wishing she could see into him the way he was able to see into her. "Why did you want it?"
A veil fell over his face and she could tell just how much the topic bothered him. "Well?" she prompted when it became evident he wouldn't answer.
"What do you want me to say?" he asked, his voice sharp and moody. "That I had a moment of weakness when I saw it? That for an instant I felt the pang of being homesick? Yeah, I did. There, you now know the Dark-Hunter who has no soul has a heart. Are you happy?"
"I already knew you had a heart."