Retribution (Dark-Hunter #20)(24)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Jess put his arm around her shoulders. "Go easy on her, Celt. She was protecting her family. We’ve all done things we regret while trying to help the people we love. It doesn’t make her an enemy."

"True. It just makes her human." Talon held his hand out to her. "Truce?"

Offering him a shy smile, she took his hand in hers and shook it. "Truce." The moment she touched his skin, she felt something strange on his palm. Scowling, she turned his hand over to see a nasty burn scar there. "That looks really painful."

Talon actually smiled as if the memory warmed him. He pulled his hand away. "A very small price to pay for all I gained. Trust me. Had it been necessary, I’d have given the whole arm." He passed a look from her to Jess that sent a shiver down her spine.

It was like he knew what they’d done.

A light smile played at the edges of his lips. "Speaking of, I need to be getting back home. Last thing I want to do is stress out Sunny. My luck, she’d show up here and in her condition I’d have to kill someone if they upset her. Since I don’t want to kill myself…" He scanned the three of them. "Good luck. For the gods’s sakes, don’t fail."

"Don’t intend to," Jess assured him.

Talon vanished.

Abigail shifted nervously as Sasha arched a brow over the fact that Jess still had his arm around her. She’d shrug it off, but didn’t want to do anything to make it stand out more. Besides, she liked it.

Ignoring Sasha’s curiosity, she spoke to Jess. "I take it Sunny is his wife and she’s pregnant?"

"Very."

She nodded as she absorbed that. Along with a new fear for herself. "I didn’t think Dark-Hunters could have families or make someone pregnant."

A light appeared in his eyes that said he might actually be reading her thoughts.

She gave him a stern glare.

Panic flared deep in his dark gaze before he stepped away from her as if wanting to put distance between her and his so-called tender parts. "Didn’t do it. I swear, and no we can’t. Talon’s no longer one of us and hasn’t been for some time. Sunshine freed him."

Really … there was another thing she’d never known was possible.

Before she could speak again, Ren’s deep, stern voice rang out. "You need to take it slowly."

"I say, stop mothering me, Ren. I’m not an invalid, you know? Fall into one little trance while taking care of something, and now I have a hen on top of me. I swear if you don’t stop, I shall rename you."

Abigail quickly hid her amusement as Choo Co La Tah came into the kitchen with Ren. The expression on Ren’s face could freeze fire.

Unlike her, Jess had no problem laughing at them both. "Anything I should know about?"

Choo Co La Tah stiffened indignantly. "Yes. Your friend here is a bit of a faffer, and I’ve had enough of it for one day, thank you very much."

Ren sighed in irritation. When he spoke, it was to Jess, not Choo Co La Tah. "Talon brought him out of the trance. I’m thinking now, though, that we should have left him there."

Abigail hated to interrupt, but … "Off topic-what’s a faffer?"

Ren’s face turned bright red.

Luckily, Choo Co La Tah smiled at her. "Someone who fusses, my dear."

Ah. No wonder Ren was so furious. Not the manliest of descriptions, by any means.

"May I also ask why you speak with an English accent? It seems…" She couldn’t say odd without offending him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She actually liked the old elder a lot, even if he wasn’t always the most likable of people. "Different."

Ren put his hands on his hips. "He learned to speak English from the original British settlers and never quite adapted to the modern accent."

Choo Co La Tah gave him a withering stare, as if he didn’t appreciate Ren’s explanation. "I like the way it sounds better. Besides, it throws everyone off balance when they hear it, and I like that even more. Always keep them guessing about you, my dear. Nothing ever makes them so crazy."

She appreciated that thought.

"How are you feeling?" Jess asked Choo Co La Tah, changing the subject.

"Weary. And we’ve wasted enough time. We need to get going so that we can reach the high point before dawn, make our offering, and secure the jars."

A tendril of fear went through her as she realized that the offering most likely would be her life. I’m not ready for this….

Jess saw the fear in Abigail’s eyes. Wanting only to soothe her, he took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers in a silent promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He meant that, too. So long as he had breath inside him, nothing would get to her.

Choo Co La Tah dropped his gaze to their hands, and something akin to approval crossed his face.

Weird.

But Jess didn’t have time to think about that. "Let’s head to the Bronco and get started. It’s a little over an hour to get there from here. We should have plenty of time before dawn, but with what all Coyote’s been throwing at us, who knows."

Ren hesitated. "My powers are waning. I think I’ll fly in and meet you."

He had a point, but … "You sure about that? Snake could open a can of whoop-ass on us, too, and we don’t know what his plagues are. Do we?"

"Flesh-eating virus," Choo Co La Tah said. "And bloodfire."

Sasha screwed his face up. "Bloodfire?"

"My personal fave." Ren’s tone was thick with sarcasm. "It’s blood drops that fall from the sky and explode like wet dy***ite."

Jess nodded as Ren proved his point. "Not exactly something you want to have hit you when you’re out in the open."

"True, but I’m stupid enough to chance it. I need to recharge if we have to fight, and I’m sure you do, too."

Jess cursed the man’s stubbornness.

And his sacrifice.

"You be really careful," he warned.

Ren gave him a cocky grin. "Always. You have to be careful when you fly, or you end up smeared on the side of a building."

"You’re not funny."

"I’m hilarious, crabass." Ren’s gaze went to Abigail, and a shadow passed across his face. One that Jess sensed was extremely important. But as quickly as it came, Ren covered it. "Save our girl. Won’t do us any good to get there without her."

"Don’t worry." He wasn’t about to let her go. Not yet, anyway. "Peaceful journey, penyo."

Ren saluted him, then went to the front door. He opened it before he turned into a crow and flew away.

Sasha let out a sound of disgust. "What? Was he raised in a barn? Didn’t he ever learn how to close a door?" He flung his hand at the door and slammed it shut without touching it. "Amateur shape-shifters … No manners whatsoever."

Jess was puzzled by the lycanthrope’s distemper. "Do we need to get you a Midol before we go?"

"I’m not that easy to soothe, cowboy. My peeves are on a cellular level."

Jess shook his head, then fell silent as he looked at Abigail and saw the tiniest spark of red in her eyes. The demon was trying to surface again. He wondered if she could feel it when it did that. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, why?" Well, that answered his question. Obviously, she had no idea.

The red faded out.

His gut drew tight. That couldn’t be good either. He’d be more concerned with it, but right now, they were on a tight schedule.

"Never mind." Taking her hand, he led them out of the kitchen and down the barrel-vaulted hallway to the other side of the house.

Abigail was floored as they kept walking and walking. In the back of her mind, she’d noted that his house was huge, but it wasn’t until now that the full size of it hit her.

Dang …

He opened the door to another garage that housed a huge collection of cars and motorcycles. It had more in common with a warehouse than a garage, except for the fact that it was immaculate and ornate. The gold trim even appeared to be gilded. "Just how big is this house?"

Jess grinned sheepishly. "Andy’s doing, not mine. Don’t ask, ’cause it’s just obscene. And no, with the exception of the black Bronco, nothing in here belongs to me. Since Andy lives in the apartment over the garage, this is his domain."

"And how big is Mr. Andy’s apartment?"

He actually blushed. "Sixty-two hundred square feet, and I’m pretty sure it’s why he picked out this house. Though he denies it."

Holy snikes … Well, that explained the huge feel of the place. Her house was one quarter of the size of Andy’s apartment.

"And why’s your Bronco in here?"

Jess continued on through the huge place toward his truck. "He was hauling tack earlier, and he didn’t want to risk dinging or scraping one of his darlings. Since I don’t drive it all that much, he left it over here."

She was strangely amused as she counted Andy’s impressive super car collection. "If he has sixteen cars, why does he care about the Audi so?"

He opened the door for the Bronco and passed her a defiant grin that set fire to her blood. Oh, to have five minutes to nibble those lips. "That’s his newest, and honestly, I think the boy just wants something to moan about. Pay him no heed."

Abigail climbed into the backseat, leaving Choo Co La Tah to sit up front with Jess while Sasha climbed in beside her.

Jess adjusted the seat and mirrors to accommodate his size. Before he started it, he pinned a meaningful glare at Sasha through the rearview mirror. "Everyone buckled in?"

Sasha snorted, then gaped as he realized Jess wasn’t joking about it. "Really? Is there anyone here one hundred percent human? No. I think dying from an unbuckled belt is the least of our concerns right now."

"And I don’t put it in drive until everyone’s secure. That means you, wolfboy."

Sasha’s exasperated expression was priceless. "Un-frakkin’-believable. I’m in hell. With a lunatic. Might as well have stayed with Zarek. Next thing you know, you’ll be drowning pancakes with syrup, too." He made a grand showing of buckling himself in. "Hope you get fleas," he mumbled under his breath.

"Thank you." Jess pulled out of the garage.

She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at them. No doubt they’d take turns beating her if she did.

Curling his lip, Sasha sarcastically mocked his words in silence. "By the way, cowboy, you do know that if we were to wreck, I can teleport out of this thing. Right?"

"Is Scooby still bitching?" Jess asked Choo Co La Tah. "Remind me to check his vet record when we get back. I think he might have distemper or rabies or something."

Choo Co La Tah laughed.

Abigail shook her head at their antics. She wasn’t used to people so at ease with danger. They were either the bravest creatures ever born …

Or the most reckless.

And as they headed back out into the darkness, she felt a chill run down her arm. I’m being watched.

It’s Ren. Don’t worry about it.

Maybe, but it didn’t feel like Ren.

It felt like evil.

* * *

Coyote felt the fire in front of him flare as he walked with his mind through the realm of shadows to spy on his enemies. Even with his eyes closed, he could see himself in the cavern. The fire licked against the logs in front of him, casting eerie shadows from the stalagmites and stalactites onto the rock walls around him.

But that wasn’t what held his focus. His enemies did.

They were together, and that made him seethe so deep inside, he was sure it burned a groove into his soul. "Why won’t you die," he snarled. "All of you."

How many times did he have to kill Buffalo before he stayed dead?

As for Ren …

"What’s happening?"

He opened his eyes to find Snake walking toward him from the dark opening that let out onto the hills he’d called home for centuries. "They’re heading to the Valley."

Snake cursed. "We have to stop them."

Like he didn’t know that? "Why are you panicking when I’m the one who has everything to lose?"

"You’re not the only one, Coyote. I don’t want to retire any more than you do."

But this wasn’t about retirement. It was about payback. A betrayal so foul that no amount of time had lessened the burn of it.

How could I have been so stupid?

The First Guardian was still tormenting him. He could feel it. Why else would he have made the mistake he made all those years ago?

I killed the wrong one. Only the First Guardian could have pulled off that deception and protected the girl from him after he killed her mother.

And he needed that key. It was the only way to have his vengeance. The only way to survive this.

I will not fail. Not this time. He’d waited for centuries, and it was the season for his patience to be rewarded.

He rose to his feet and started for the entrance.

Snake caught him and held him by his side. "What are you doing?"

"I’m going after them."

"You can’t. Outside of the Valley, we’re like gods."

Inside, they weren’t. It still mystified Coyote that the woman had been able to kill Old Bear. Something that should have been impossible even for her.

And if she could kill a Guardian outside of the Valley, then Buffalo most likely could do it, too. "I have to stop them."