Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter 2)

His phone rang.

He answered it to find Dionysus on the other end.

"Are you ready for tonight?"

Zarek took a drink of vodka before he answered. "I'm always ready to cause trouble."

"Good. Since Talon is now on to Styxx, it requires a little more effort for tonight's preparations. I'll need you to get Sunshine away from the Celt and bring her to me. She has to be in the warehouse by eleven-thirty. Now rest and be ready to kill Talon and Valerius."

That he could do with no problem. "What about Acheron?"

"Leave him to us."

The phone went dead.

Zarek tossed his cell phone aside and returned his attention to the vodka. He'd already drank three-quarters of it. It was a pity Dark-Hunters couldn't get drunk. For that matter, they couldn't even get numb. The only induced pleasure they could take was human blood.

Closing his eyes, he remembered the woman he had tasted last night. Now she had been full of passion. Laughter. Even love. And there for a short time he had felt something other than the pain that cocooned him.

He leaned his head back against the wall and finished off the vodka, letting its smooth taste burn down his throat.

And as he sat there, alone, he couldn't help but wonder how Sunshine would taste...

Talon got up alone to the smell of turpentine on his sheets. He should have washed them, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing that last bit of her.

He wanted his Sunshine. He needed her.

And she was lost to him forever.

Sighing, he got up, showered and dressed, then headed into the city.

Tonight everything would be decided.

As soon as the sun set, he rode his motorcycle to Sanctuary where Ash had told him to meet everyone.

Instead of meeting them in the bar itself, he went to the building next door that was also owned by the bear clan.

Attached to the bar by a locked door in the kitchen, the other building was where the bears and certain were-members of the staff lived. The house was equipped with a makeshift hospital, complete with a doctor and a vet.

Sanctuary was more than just a bar. It was a safe haven for any Dark- or Were-Hunter who needed aid.

By the time Talon was admitted into the drawing room of Peltier House, the Peltier quadruplets had already been dispatched to patrol the Mardi Gras crowd for Daimons.

Julian and Kyrian were locked in a holding cell upstairs where Mama Lo Peltier was guarding them until morning. Even in the drawing room, Talon could hear them threatening to kill Valerius, who stood by the fireplace with a sneer on his face.

Nick sat in a stuffed chair, munching a bag of potato chips, and Eric St. James sat on the couch, staring into space.

Almost thirty years old, Eric looked a lot younger. He had long black hair and was another one of the goth contingency.

He'd come into their community as a second-generation Squire, but preferred Dorean Status, meaning he didn't serve one particular Hunter. He served anyone who needed him.

"Acheron, you better let me out of here," Kyrian shouted from upstairs. "Do you hear me?"

"Sounds like I missed a party," Talon said to Ash, who was standing with his back against the far wall.

"You have no idea. I decided it was best to keep Kyrian and Julian locked up until morning. I already called and told Amanda and Grace not to worry about them."

"I really wish you would let them out," Valerius said to Ash.

Ash didn't bother to comment.

Instead, he stared at Talon. "You almost look normal tonight. Are you going to stay that way?"

"I told you I could contain myself." So far, it was working.

Talon was at peace with the fact that come the dawn he'd be having it out with Camulus.

When Ash stepped forward to speak, it dawned on Talon that Zarek was nowhere to be seen.

Was he upstairs too?

"Where's Zarek?" he asked Ash.

"I have him guarding Sunshine."

Now that destroyed his calm.

"Like hell!" Talon roared.

"Trust me, Talon. I believe in Zarek to do the right thing."

Talon's response was emphatic. "I don't trust him. At all. And after this, I'm not sure if I trust you."

"Enough of the bickering," Ash said. "Just do as I told you and everything should work out."

"Should?" Talon asked.

When Ash spoke, there was an odd note in his voice that made Talon wonder how much more Ash knew than he was telling them. "We have predestinies, Talon, but human will can circumvent them. If everyone does as I've instructed, then things should work out the way they're meant to."