Page 55 of Dance With the Devil (Dark-Hunter 3)
Enraged, he paced around the snowmachine so that he could watch her sitting on the seat, looking all prim and proper with her hands folded in her lap and her head down.
All ladylike.
How dare she screw with him like this! Who did she think she was?
He was tired of people messing with him. Tired of games and of lies.
A judge. Acheron had sent in a judge before they killed him. Ooo, Zarek was just tickled pink by the consideration.
Maybe he should be flattered that they even gave him a pretense of impartiality. It was a hell of a lot more than he'd gotten as an accused slave.
"This was all just a game to you, wasn't it, princess? 'Come, Zarek, sit on my lap. Tell me why you won't behave.'" His vision turned dark. Deadly. "Fuck you, lady, and fuck them."
Her head snapped up. "Zarek, please!"
"So what, you decided Acheron was right? I'm psychotic, so send in your dogs to kill me?"
She got up and turned to where she heard his voice coming from. "No. Thanatos wasn't supposed to be sent in after you. As for Acheron, he would never convict you. If not for him, you'd be dead now. He bartered who knows what with Artemis so that I could come to you and find a way to save your life."
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
"It's the truth, Zarek," she said, her voice sincere. "Deny it all you want to, but it doesn't change the fact that we are on your side."
He raked her with a repugnant glare he only wished she could see to appreciate. "I ought to leave you here to freeze to death. Oh, wait, you're an immortal nymph. You can't die."
She lifted her chin and stood as if braced to take on his worst. "You can leave me if you want to. But the man I have come to know isn't so callous or cruel. He would never leave someone to die."
He ground his teeth. "You know nothing about me."
Astrid left the snowmachine. Walking slowly, she reached out with her hand, wanting physical contact with him. She needed it, and something told her he did, too. "I've been inside you, Zarek. I know what no one else does."
"So what? Is that supposed to make me all warm and cuddly for you? Look, the little princess stole into my dreams to save me. Ooo, I'm so touched. Should I cry now?"
She grabbed his arm.
His muscles, like him, were tense and hard. Fierce. "Stop it!"
She reached up to touch his ice-cold cheeks with both of her hands. They were chafed from the ride, and yet they still managed to warm her icy fingers.
Half-expecting him to pull away, she was amazed when he didn't. He stood there like a statue. Unmoving. Cold. Inflexible.
Astrid swallowed, wishing for a way to make him understand. Wishing for a way she could reach him so that he would stop being so self-destructive.
Why wouldn't he see the truth?
Zarek couldn't breathe as she cupped his face in her warm hands. She was so beautiful, with tiny sparkling snow-flakes on her eyelashes and blonde hair. He saw the pain on her face, the softness.
She seemed to want to help him and yet he couldn't make himself believe that.
People were always self-serving. All of them.
She was no exception.
And yet, he wanted to believe in her.
He did want to cry.
What had she done to him?
For a brief time in his dreams he had begun to think that maybe he wasn't so bad. That he deserved some kind of happiness.
Gods, he was such a fool.
How could he have been so stupid and trusting? He knew better.
Trust was only a weapon that was used to kill people.
It had no place in his world.
Astrid stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. "I don't want you to die, Zarek."
"Here's the kicker, princess. I do."
Tears filled her eyes and melted the snowflakes on her lashes. "I don't believe you. Thanatos would have gladly given you that wish and yet you fought him. Why?"
"Habit."
She closed her eyes as if frustrated with him. Her grip tightened on his face, then to his complete shock, she burst out laughing. "You really can't help it, can you?"
He was completely baffled by her reaction. "Help what?"
"Being an asshole," she said, her voice broken by laughter.
As she continued to laugh, he stared at her in disbelief. No one had dared laugh at him before. At least not since the day he'd died.
Then she did the most unexpected thing of all. She walked into his arms and hugged him. Her laughter brought her body into contact with his, setting fire to him.
It reminded him so much of his dream...
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.
No one had ever held him like this. He didn't know if he should embrace her or shove her away.
In the end, he found himself placing his arms awkwardly around her. She felt just as she had in his dream. Every bit as wonderful.
He hated that most of all.
She gave him a tight squeeze. "I'm so glad Acheron sent me to you."
"Why?"
"Because I like you, Zarek, and I think anyone other than me would have killed you by now."
Even more suspicious of her than before, he released her and stepped back. "Why do you care what happens to me? You've been inside me; tell me honestly I didn't scare you."
She sighed. "Honestly, yes. You do scare me, but by the same token, I've seen goodness in you, too."
"And the village I showed you in my dreams? The one I destroyed."
She furrowed her brow. "It was broken and fragmented. It didn't feel like a memory to me, it felt like something else."
"What?"
"I don't know. I think there's more to what happened than you recall."
He shook his head. How could she have faith in him when he didn't have any in himself? "You really are blind, aren't you?"
"No. I see you, Zarek. In a way I think no one ever has before."
"I assure you, princess, if you saw the real me, you'd run for cover," he scoffed.
"Only if I knew you'd be waiting under that cover for me."
He was floored by what she said.
She didn't mean it.
It was another game. Another test.
No one had ever wanted him. Not his mother, not his father. Not his owners. He didn't even want to be with himself.
So how could she?
Zarek paused as he felt a psychic tremor run through him. "Thanatos is coming."
Her eyes widened in fear. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He pulled her toward the snowmachine. It would be dawn before long.
He would be trapped, but Thanatos...
The Daimon would be able to walk in daylight.
Zarek wrapped his arms around Astrid. He should leave her here for what she'd done to him, hand her over to Thanatos to see if she would buy him more time to escape. Yet he had this crazy idea of protecting her.
No, it wasn't an idea. It was a yearning he had to keep her safe.
Resigned to his stupidity, he started the snowmachine and headed it toward his property.
Astrid took a deep breath as they resumed their trip. She had violated more rules than she cared to think about.
And yet as she felt Zarek surrounding her, she knew it was worth it. She had to save him.
No matter what it took.
