The Dark-Hunters (113 page)

“It’s a promise, Vane. I have my army camped on your doorstep to protect your family. I ask the same of you.”

“I’ll respect your trust, Celt. But only because I know how rarely you give it.”

A look of mutual understanding passed between them.

Vane put his sunglasses back on. “You ready, baby?”

Sunshine stiffened at his offhand endearment. He might be cute, but she had no intention of letting him get away with that one. “You’re not my boyfriend or my brother, so lay off the ‘baby’ thing, okay?”

He flashed a set of killer dimples. “Yes, ma’am.” He held the door open until she walked past him. “See you after dark, Celt.”

“Yes, you will.”

Sunshine paused on the porch and looked about for their ride out of here. “Where’s your boat?”

“I don’t do the boat thing. It’s loud and it takes too long.”

“Then how are we going to get out of here?”

Vane smiled devilishly and held his hand out to her. “Trust me?”

Was he joking? “No, I don’t even know you.”

He laughed, a warm, rich sound that was seductive and charming, although strangely enough, it had no real effect on her. She could appreciate how appealing he was, but her heart and loyalty belonged to Talon.

“All right, then, Dorothy,” he said. “Close your eyes, click your heels three times, and say, ‘There’s no place like home.’”

“What?”

Before she could blink, he took her hand and they flashed from the porch to a wooded area where a small trail broke through the trees. She had no idea where they were, but Talon’s cabin was nowhere in sight.

Sunshine gasped. “What did you do?”

“I beamed you over.”

“What are you, Scotty?”

He gave her a taunting look as if he were enjoying her discomfort. “It’s correctly called a lateral time jump. I just moved you through horizontal time from Talon’s porch, across the swamp to where my motorcycle is hidden. Simple.”

“Horizontal time? I don’t understand.”

“Time flows in three directions,” he explained. “Forward, backward, and laterally. If you do nothing at all, time always flows forward, but if you catch the Rytis just right, you can choose one of the other directions.”

Totally confused, she frowned at him as she tried to comprehend what he was telling her. “What’s the Rytis?”

“For lack of a better term, it’s warp space.”

When she continued to scowl, he pulled his jacket off. “Let me explain it this way.” He held the shoulder of his jacket in his right hand and the end of the sleeve in his left. “Time is like this … If you want to get from here”—he moved his right hand—“to here,” he said, moving his left, “you see how far you have to travel?”

She nodded as she noted the long length of his sleeve. The man had really long arms.

“The Rytis is essentially invisible waves that move around us all the time. Through everything on the planet. They echo and flow and sometimes they buckle. In essence, they do this.” He compacted the sleeve between his hands so that his left and right hand were next to each other. “Now to travel from hand to hand, it takes a few seconds instead of several hours.”

“Wow,” she breathed as she understood. “So you can travel in any time direction? You can even go back in time?”

He nodded.

“And how do you do that? How do you catch this Rytis?”

He shrugged his jacket back on. “Baby, in this world, I’m the all-powerful Oz and there’s not much I can’t do.”

Oh, this guy was getting irritating. “Stop calling me baby.”

He inclined his head to her and moved to a tree. Two seconds later, a sleek dark gray motorcycle appeared out of nowhere.

“Okay, how did you do that?”

“In short, I’m a sorcerer. I can bend every law of physics known to mankind and a few not yet discovered.”

She was impressed. “That’s some serious talent.”

Again that dark, deep laugh. “Baby, if you weren’t with Talon, I would show you where my true talents lie.”

She just bet he would too.

He handed her a helmet.

“You’re calling me baby strictly to irritate me, aren’t you?”

“My father always said I was born to be the barnacle up his nether regions. I guess I can’t help it.”

“Do me a favor. Try.”

Flashing his dimples, he removed his sunglasses, put them in the inside pocket of his motorcycle jacket, and placed a helmet on his head.

“So tell me,” she said. “If you can do all this magic stuff, why are we riding a bike into town? Couldn’t you just time-jump us over to the square?”

He fastened his chin strap as he answered her. “I could. But as Acheron so often says, just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should. Personally, I don’t want to be some guy’s lab experiment, so I try not to pop in and out of populated areas if I can help it.”

That made sense to her. “Since you can time-travel, do you ever think about changing the past?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever done it?”

He shook his head and a dark earnestness came over his face. “There are some powers in this world that are best left alone. Altering someone’s destiny is definitely one of them. Believe me, the Fates have a nasty way of putting a hurt on anyone dumb enough to mess with their domain.”

His ominous words rang in her ears. He sounded as if he had once made that mistake, and she wanted to ask if he had, but something inside told her to let it be.

Sunshine put her helmet on, then climbed on the back of the motorcycle and did her best to keep some distance between them. Vane was a handsome man, but something about him made her extremely nervous, and it wasn’t the fact he was a werewolf or time-walker.

There was something about him she didn’t trust.

At her request, he took her to the small art gallery where she kept her cart of artwork locked up and helped her wheel it to Jackson Square.

By the time they got there, it was a little after ten, and there was a huge crowd already gathered.

“I don’t get it,” Vane said as he wheeled her cart toward Selena’s card stand. “Why are you setting up shop if you just want to meet a client?”

“Cameron said he wanted to see everything I sell. If I have to drag it all out for him, I might as well sell it to other people too.”

She showed him where to set it up.

Vane did, but he didn’t look too pleased about it.

Selena did a double take as she caught sight of them. “Someone new, Sunny?”

“No, he’s just a—”

“Guard dog,” he said, extending his hand out to her. “You’re Selena Laurens, right? Amanda’s older sister?”

Selena nodded as she shook his hand. “You know Amanda?”

“I know Kyrian.”

“Is it just me or does everyone know Kyrian?” Sunshine asked.

Selena laughed, then turned back to Vane who was opening up Sunshine’s card table where she usually placed her cheaper pottery pieces. “It’s daylight so I know you’re not a DH. Are you a Squire?”

He stiffened. “Don’t insult me. I fetch for no one.”

“He’s not real friendly,” Sunshine explained as she set up her stand. “I think he has rabies or something.”

Vane gave her a half amused, half perturbed smile. “You know, Sunshine, I like your spirit.”

Sunshine started to respond, but she felt someone watching her.

Scared and anxious, she looked around the crowd until she saw a bright, smiling face that was as familiar to her as her own.

Sunshine beamed.

Even though she wasn’t very tall, the elderly woman stood out in the crowd and it wasn’t just the insanely bright red shirt she wore. The older woman had an essence and presence that was as powerful and strong as Talon’s or Vane’s.

Her steel-gray hair was worn up in braids that were wrapped around her head. Her face was lined by a lifetime of happiness and smiles, and her dark brown eyes were bright and kind. The kind of eyes that drew people to the extremely wise woman.

“Grammy!” Sunshine said, as the older woman drew near. “What are you doing here? I thought you swore to never step foot in New Orleans again during Mardi Gras.”

Her grandmother squeezed her tight, then pulled back to look at her. It’d been almost a year since they had last seen each other.

Oh, it was great to see her grandmother again!

Her grandmother ran her hand up and down her arm as if reassuring herself that Sunshine was healthy. “Well, that was my intention, but your mother called and told me that you were having all kinds of questions about being a Celt. So I thought I’d just pop in and surprise you.”

“You certainly did. But I’m glad you’re here.”

Her grandmother arched a censuring brow as she caught sight of Vane. “And you are?”

“Vane Kattalakis.”

She looked back at Sunshine. “Where’s this Talon your mother told me about?”

“He’ll be here later, Grammy.”

She nodded, then pulled a small medallion out from under her shirt and placed it around Sunshine’s neck.

“What’s this?”

Her grandmother adjusted it so that it would be obvious to anyone who glanced at her. “Keep that close to your heart, little one. If that man comes after you again, you let him know who protects you.”

“What man?” she asked, hoping her grandmother didn’t know about her kidnapping.

She did.

“I know what happened, Sunny. You know I do.”

Drat. Her grandmother had some eerie psychic talents.

“I don’t think your necklace will scare him, Grammy.”

“You’d be surprised. And if it doesn’t, then he deserves what he gets.” Her grandmother patted her on the shoulder and turned to Selena. “Have you been practicing those exercises I showed you, Ms. Laurens?”

“Yes, ma’am. I can feel my powers growing every day.”

“Good. Now I better get back to Starla’s. If that rank bastard comes near my baby—”

“Grandma!” Sunshine gasped. She’d never in her life heard her grandmother use such a word.

“Well, he is. Messing with my granddaughter. I’ll boil his warts in oil and feed his head to the wolves.”

Vane choked on that one. “You know, wolves don’t really like to eat heads. Meat, yes, but heads are really hard on the jaws. Not to mention, the cranium gets caught between your teeth.”

Her grandmother gave him a withering stare. “Are you being smart with me, boy?”

“Yes.”

“Young man,” her grandmother said in a haughty tone, “didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

“My mother only taught me one thing and, I promise you, it wasn’t manners.”

Her grandmother nodded. “I can see that. But you still have a very important lesson to learn in life.”

“And that is?”

“One day you’re going to have to let someone other than your brother and sister get close to you.”

His face turned to stone and the look in his eyes was feral and fierce. “What do you know about my siblings?”

“More than you would care for. You have a hard road ahead of you, Vane Kattalakis. I wish I could ease it for you, but it’s yours alone to travel. Just remember, you’re a lot stronger than you think you are.”

“Believe me, lady, my strength is the one thing I never doubt.”

Her grandmother smiled at that. “It’s amazing the lies we tell other people, isn’t it?”

Her grandmother turned her back on him. “Selena, Sunshine. You two take care. And Sunshine, when tonight comes, follow your heart. Do as it commands, and it won’t fail you.”

“Okay, Grandma, I will.”

Her grandmother kissed her cheek, then headed off toward St. Anne.

After she was out of sight, Sunshine turned back to see Vane looking agitated. “I’m sorry. She does that a lot to people. She tends to just say whatever pops into her head.”

Vane didn’t speak. Instead, he folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the black iron fence that surrounded the square.

Sunshine finished setting up her stand, then checked her watch.

It was still a little while before Cameron was due, so she pulled out her sketchbook and started doodling.

Before she realized it, she’d drawn a picture of the man who had kidnapped her.

Vane looked at the sketch. “Damn good likeness.”

Sunshine went cold. “You know this guy?”

“Well, yeah. Of course I do. So does Talon. Selena probably knows him too.”

“Selena,” Sunshine said, heading to her friend. “Do you know who this is?”

“Sure, it’s Acheron.”

“Who’s Acheron?” she asked. Everyone kept mentioning his name around her, but she had no idea who or what he was.

“For lack of a better explanation,” Vane said, “Talon’s boss.”

“Why would Talon’s boss kidnap me? Do you think it’s to keep me away from Talon?”

Vane laughed at that. “Not his style. If Ash wanted to keep you away from Talon, he’d just show up at your door and scare the crap out of you. Besides, he was the one leading the rescue party to you.”

Well, that was nice to know.

But why did he look just like the guy who’d kidnapped her?

Her frown deepened. “He was there when Talon got me away from Camulus?”

“Yeah and I was too. Don’t you remember?”

She shook her head. All she could remember was Talon. “How well do you know Talon and Acheron?” she asked Vane.

He shrugged. “I just met Talon, but I’ve crossed paths with Acheron a time or two over the centuries.”

“Are you immortal too?”

He shook his head no. “My kind just lives a lot longer than humans.”

“How long?”

“About a thousand years, give or take a century or two.”

Wow. That was quite a while.

Sunshine couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have that long to plan her future. But something inside told her that it might be as big a curse as a blessing to live that long, especially if you had to live it alone.

Sunshine watched Vane as he scanned the crowd around them. Those hazel-green eyes seemed to take in everything.

“Why are you so open to talk about this while Talon refuses to tell me anything?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t swear an oath of secrecy, and I figure you’ve seen enough spooky shit the last few days that knowing about me is the least of your problems. Besides, I dare you to tell anyone I’m really a wolf pretending to be human.”

He paused and grinned devilishly at her. “I double
dog
dare you,” he said slowly. “That, my friend, will get you locked inside a rubber room.”