Page 14 of Dance With the Devil (Dark-Hunter 3)
"I owe Acheron more than ten minutes of my time."
Sasha scoffed.
She poured Zarek a cup of hot tea and took it over to him. "It's rosemary tea, is that okay?"
"Whatever."
When he took it from her hand, she felt the warmth of his fingers brush hers.
An incredible rush went through her. She felt his surprise. His heated need. His unsated hunger.
That truly scared her. This was a man capable of anything. One of almost godlike powers.
He could do anything he wanted to her...
She needed to distract him.
And herself.
"So what really happened to you?" she asked, wondering if he would breach his Code of Silence and tell her that he was wanted by the others.
"Nothing."
"Well, I hope I never come across Nothing then if it's capable of putting a hole in my back."
She heard him pick up his tea, but he didn't speak.
"You should be more careful," she said.
"Believe me, I'm not the one who needs to be careful." His voice was sinister as he spoke those words, reinforcing his lethalness.
"Are you threatening me?" she asked.
Again he said nothing. The man was a total wall of silence.
So she pressed him once more. "Do you have anyone we need to call and let them know you're okay?"
"No," he said, his tone hollow.
She nodded as she thought about that. Zarek had never been granted a Squire.
She couldn't imagine being banished the way Zarek had been. At the time of his incarceration, this area of the world had been very sparsely populated.
The climate harsh. Inhospitable. Desolate. Bleak.
She'd only been living here a few days and it had taken some getting used to. But at least she had her mother, sisters, and Sasha to help her adjust.
Zarek had been denied anyone.
While other Dark-Hunters were allowed companions and servants, Zarek had been forced to endure his existence in solitude.
Alone.
She couldn't imagine how he must have suffered over the centuries as he struggled through his days, knowing he would never have a reprieve of any kind.
No wonder he was insane.
Still, it was no excuse for his behavior. As he had said to her earlier, everyone had their problems.
Zarek finished his food and then took the dishes to the sink. Without thinking, he rinsed and cleaned them, then set them to the side.
"You didn't have to do that. I would have cleaned them."
He wiped his hands dry on the dish towel she had on the counter. "Habit."
"You must live alone, too."
"Yeah."
Zarek watched her draw near to him. She moved to his side again, intruding on his personal space. He was torn between wanting to stand beside her and wanting to curse her nearness.
He decided on pulling away. "Look, could you just stay away from me?"
"Does it bother you for me to come near?"
More than she could imagine. When she was near him, it was easy to forget what he was. Easy to pretend he was a human being who could be normal.
But that wasn't him.
That had never been him.
"Yes, it does," he said, his tone low, threatening. "I don't like people to get near me."
"Why?"
"That's none of your damned business, lady," he snapped at her. "I just don't like people to touch me and I don't like them to come near me. So back off and leave me alone before you get hurt."
The wolf growled at him again, more fiercely this time.
"And you, Kibbles," he snarled at the wolf, "had better lay off me. One more growl and I swear I'm going to geld you with a spoon."
"Sasha, come here."
He watched as the wolf went instantly to her side.
"I'm sorry you find us so bothersome," she said. "But since we seem to be stuck together for a bit, you could try and be a little more sociable. At the very least civil."
Maybe she was right. But the bad thing was, he didn't know how to be sociable, never mind civil. No one had ever wanted to converse with him either in his human life or his Dark-Hunter one.
Even when he'd first signed on to the Dark-Hunter.com Web site to chat ten years ago, the other, older Dark-Hunters had thrown a fit and attacked him.
He was in exile. The rules of his banishment required that none of them speak to him.
He'd been banned from posting on the bulletin boards, the chatrooms, even the private loops.
It had only been by accident that he'd stumbled across Jess, who had been in one of the gaming rooms waiting for his Myst opponent to arrive. Too young in Dark-Hunter years to know he wasn't supposed to talk to Zarek, Jess had greeted him like a friend.
The novelty of it had made Zarek vulnerable and so he'd found himself talking to the cowboy. Before he knew it, they had somehow become friends.
And what had that gotten him?
Nothing but a bullet hole in his back.
Forget it. He didn't need to talk. He didn't need anything. And the last thing he wanted was to be sociable with a human woman who would call the cops if she ever found out who and what he was.
"Look, princess, this isn't a social call. As soon as the weather lets up, I'm out of here. So just leave me alone for the next few hours and pretend I'm not here."
Astrid decided to back off a bit and let him get a little more used to her.
Little did he know, he was going to be trapped here a lot longer than a few hours. That storm wasn't going to abate until she wanted it to.
For now, she would give him time to reflect and regroup.
There were still other tests he would have to pass. Tests that she wouldn't relent on.
But there was time for that later. Right now he was still wounded and betrayed.
"Fine," she said, "I'll be in my bedroom if you need me."
She left Sasha in the kitchen to watch him.
"I don't want to watch him," Sasha snapped.
"Sasha, obey."
"What if he does something disgusting?"
"Sasha!"
The wolf growled. "Fine. But can I have one small bite of him? Just to give him a healthy respect for me?"
"No."
"Why?"
She paused at that as she entered her room. "Because something tells me that if you attacked him, it is you who would get the healthy respect for his powers."
"Yeah, right."
"Sasha! Please."
"Fine, I'm watching him. But if he does anything disgusting, I'm out of here."
She sighed at her incorrigible companion and lay down on her bed to try and get a little rest before she began her next battle of wills with Zarek.
Astrid took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She connected again with Sasha so that she could check in on Zarek. He was standing at her front window now, looking out at the snow.
She saw the ragged tear in the back of his shirt. Saw the weariness on his face. He looked daunted and at the same time determined.
There was an agelessness to his features. A wisdom that seemed somehow at odds with his sinister appearance.
"What are you, Zarek?" she wondered silently.
The question was morbidly followed by another. In the next few days, she would know exactly who and what he was. And if Artemis was right and he was truly amoral and lethal, she wouldn't hesitate to let Sasha kill him.
