Time Untime (Dark-Hunter 21)

"Don't patronize me, Kateri," he growled. "You weren't there. You may have had visions about things that happened, but you didn't really see it. You definitely didn't live it. There's no worse feeling than being trapped in a situation from which you can't escape. In retrospect, I should have found the courage to walk away from all of them, but I was too afraid. I kept thinking that if this was how the people who were supposed to love me treated me, how much worse would a stranger be? Not to mention that those not related to me were every bit as cruel, if not more so. So even if I'd left, it would have been the same wherever I went. I'd be alone and outcast." His gaze cold, he dropped his voice an octave. "And I've since had eleven thousand years of moving from place to place to know just how right I was. Nothing ever changes except hairstyles and clothing."

She wanted to deny it, but she knew in her heart that he was right. People could be unbelievably cruel, and in spite of what he thought, she wasn't naive. She'd had her own share of insensitive comments over the years.

Still, there was much he wasn't telling her. "So what did you do when they married?"

He shrugged. "They didn't marry. She fell in love with Buffalo the moment he spoke up for me on the day of her arrival."

"Oh..." She cringed internally over something she hoped hadn't been blamed on him. "I take it that didn't go over well."

"No. It did not." Ren brushed his hand through his hair. "I destroyed all their lives. But for me, Coyote would have married her and they would have had a good life together."

She didn't believe it. "Had you not saved him, your father wouldn't have arranged the marriage. Butterfly would have married someone else anyway." She moved to lay her hand on his cheek. "They were responsible for their own lives, Ren. And all but Buffalo were cruel to you. You were in pain and none of them cared."

He started away from her, but she caught him again.

"You can trust me, Ren. You can. I would never take advantage of your heart."

Ren wanted to believe that, but as he'd said, nothing ever changed. He never changed. "I was born broken, Kateri. I'm not like other men. I can't have what they have."

"You're wrong. But I won't push you." She rose up on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Then, she whispered in his ear. "And for the record, I think you're the sexiest man I've ever seen."

Those words meant everything to him. Everything. This is just more torture for you.

It was true. Her presence. Her kindness. How cruel to have her here, knowing there was nothing he could do to keep her.

And he was tired of being kicked.

"We have to leave. We've been lucky that nothing has found us."

She nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Stay with me. He wasn't sure where that thought came from or why it was there. It'd popped into his head before he could stop it.

"Just stay focused. I think I've healed enough that I should be able to get us out."

Kateri inclined her head to him. "All right. Fingers crossed."

* * *

Cabeza barely made it to Talon's before the sky unleashed a furious blood-red downpour. Thunder clapped so hard it shook the house, while lightning flashed again and again.

"You all right?" Talon asked as Cabeza took body inventory to make sure he hadn't been singed by anything. Or that Chacu hadn't ripped something off while he wasn't paying attention.

"Si. Yeah." Cabeza turned to find Talon's wife Sunshine on the black leather couch next to Acheron Parthenopaeus, who was holding her infant son. He did a double take on Ash's short black hair as a sick feeling went through him. "Madre de Dios ... it is a sign of the Apocalypse. What happened to your hair? Did someone scalp you?"

Never in all these centuries had he seen Acheron with short hair. No matter the fashion or time period, it'd always been down to the middle of his back.

Always.

"Relax," Ash said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Tory and I donated our hair to Locks of Love on Bastian's first birthday to show our appreciation for having a healthy baby. It'll grow back."

Grow back?

Maybe, but this ... this had evil written all over it.

"Hey," Sunshine said to Cabeza with a wide grin. "You should have seen it six months ago. It started out as a crew cut."

Bug-eyed, Cabeza was momentarily speechless as he tried to imagine the intrepid Dark-Hunter leader with a crew cut. "Out of all the shit I've seen in the last two days, that is the only thing that truly frightens me. I think we just sped up the final countdown."

Rolling his eyes at him, Acheron handed the baby back to its mother, then stood. His long, black leather coat settled down around his dark red Doc Martens. Though Acheron was the oldest of the Dark-Hunters by years, he physically was their youngest. He'd only been twenty-one when he'd died. And honestly, he looked more like a teenager until you saw his eyes. Only they betrayed his ancient age....

And his wisdom.

Rain came out from the rear of the house. He still had a black eye from where Cabeza had rescued him in Las Vegas. "Any word on Teri?" he asked Cabeza.

"It's worse than we thought. They are in Xibalba."

Acheron cursed. "No wonder I couldn't find them with my powers." He glanced over to Rain to explain. "I can't see into another pantheon's hell realm without going to it physically."

Talon let out a nervous laugh. "I try to avoid descending into hell realms as much as possible."

Ash scratched at the back of his neck as if that comment made him uncomfortable for some reason. "Out of curiosity, do you know what level they're in?"

"As far as I can tell, the first."

Ash let out a relieved breath. "You think Ren knows better than to descend past the fourth level?"

Cabeza thought it over. Ash was right, if Ren and the Ixkib descended below the water level, there was no coming back. They would be in Xibalba forever. "Since it's Mayan, I wouldn't count on it. He might not even know where he is."

"Well," Talon said, "we can look on the bright side."

This, Cabeza had to hear. "And that would be?"

"No one can reach the time stone, right?"

Cabeza inclined his head to him. "True. But there is a problem."

"And that would be?" Talon explained.

"If she doesn't make it to the temple by week's end, the Daimons won't be our worst fear, amigo. Imagine every known piece of evil from all pantheons unleashed simultaneously on this earth. Every demon and predator that has been put down by priests and shamans for centuries..."

Ash went completely still at those words.

"Is something wrong?" Talon asked.