The Dark-Hunters (152 page)

Without a backward glance, Zarek walked to the snowmachine that must belong to Thanatos. He opened the gas tank and made sure there was plenty of gas in it.

He snapped a hose from the engine, then used it to siphon the gas into his mouth.

Walking back to the cabin, he pulled his lighter out of his back pocket.

He lit the lighter, then spewed gas at the house and watched as the door caught fire.

After several more trips, he stood back and surveyed the flames that were quickly consuming Astrid’s house.

It was a good thing she was rich.

Looked like she was going to need a new place to live after this.

Zarek pulled a cigarette out of his coat pocket and smiled. Underneath his breath, he sang the Talking Heads’ classic song, “‘Three hundred sixty-five degrees … burning down the house.’”

*   *   *

Astrid came awake to a roar. Her lack of eyesight momentarily stunned her until she realized she’d been pulled from her drugged sleep.

But how?

Both she and Zarek should sleep for at least another day.

She could tell by the sounds and upright position of her body that she was no longer in her bed.

It felt like someone’s car.

“Zarek?” she asked hesitantly.

“No, ma’am,” a deep voice drawled in a thick Southern accent. “Name’s Sundown.”

Her heart pounded. “Where’s Zarek? Sasha!”

A hand touched her arm comfortingly. “Easy now, darling. Everything’s going to be all right.”

“Where’s my wolf?”

By the way the air in front of her face stirred, she could tell Sundown was waving his hand about an inch from the tip of her nose.

“Yes, I’m blind,” she said irritably. “Tell me where Sasha is.”

“He’s the furry thing at your feet.”

She let out a small breath of relief, but that was only half her concern. “And Zarek?”

“We left him behind.”

“No,” she said, her heart hammering once more. “I’m not supposed to leave him.”

“We didn’t have any—”

Astrid didn’t hear the rest of his statement. She was too busy trying to open the car door.

A strong hand pulled her back. “Whoa, little lady, what I’m doing here is dangerous. I’ve got to get you as far away from the cabin as I can. Trust me, if anyone can handle this, Zarek can.”

“No he can’t,” she said, trying to stand up. “I have to go back to him. If anyone finds out that I’m not with him, he’s dead. Do you understand?”

“Lady—”

She brushed away his hand. “Thanatos will be sent for him. I have to go back.”

“
You
know about Thanatos?”

Astrid reached out, trying to find Sundown’s mouth to feel for fangs.

He dodged her hand.

“Do you work for Acheron?” she asked.

“Do you?”

“Answer me. Are you one of his … men?”

He hesitated before he answered. “Yes.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Zeus for small favors. “I’m Zarek’s judge. If I leave him unchaperoned, Artemis will call out Thanatos to kill him.”

“I hate to break it to you. She already did. I just left the two of them at your place to have it out.”

Astrid’s head spun. How could this be?

“You’re sure it was Thanatos?”

“That’s what he said and after the way he tore through us Hunters, I tend to believe him.”

Astrid felt ill at the news. This couldn’t be happening.

Why would Artemis breach their agreement?

She knew Artemis had been anxious for a verdict, but still …

“You’ve got to get me back. Zarek can’t kill him. None of you can.”

“What do you mean?”

“Only Acheron has the power to kill Thanatos.
Only
Acheron. None of you stand a chance against him.”

Sundown cursed. “All right. Hold tight and I pray God you’re wrong, lady.”

Astrid felt Sasha stirring as Jess turned the car around in a move that reminded her of a carnival ride.

“Shhh, Sasha,” she said, reaching down to touch and soothe him.

“Where are we? What happened?”

She felt him shifting slightly to look up at Sundown. He let out a low growl.

“
And who the hell is this refugee from
A Fistful of Dollars?”

“He’s a friend. So be nice.”

“Nice? Fine. I won’t bite him. Just yet.”
Sasha settled back a bit.
“Why am I in a truck? How did I get here? And why does my head feel like it’s about to explode?”

“I drugged you.”

She had a distinct feeling Sasha had his eyes narrowed at her and his teeth bared.
“You what?”

She flinched at the anger in his voice.
“I had no choice. But yell at me later. We have a problem right now.”

“And that is?”

“Thanatos is loose. And he’s already after Zarek.”

“Good, the Dayslayer has taste.”

“Sasha!”

“I can’t help it. You know I don’t like the psycho-beast.”

Sighing, she buried her hand in Sasha’s fur and used his eyes as her own. He climbed into her lap so that he could look out the window for her.

After a few miles, she recognized the scenery as they neared her cabin.

But what scared her was the sight of a huge fire off in the distance.

Sundown cursed and accelerated.

As they came closer, she saw her cabin burning. There was a lone shadow in front of it, but she couldn’t tell if it was Zarek or Thanatos.

Terrified, she held her breath, hoping it was Zarek who was still alive.

It wasn’t until Sundown pulled to a stop that she could tell for sure.

She went weak with relief. It was Zarek silhouetted by the fire. Letting go of Sasha, she opened the door and ran toward where she had seen him.

Astrid had no idea how he had survived Thanatos or where the Executioner was. All that mattered was getting to Zarek.

She wanted to touch him, to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

Halfway there, a fearful, masculine scream rent the air.

Astrid slid to a stop as she tried to pinpoint where it came from.

She heard the snow crunching to the side of her and she assumed that was Sundown, heading for Zarek. Sasha came up from behind and nosed her hand with his muzzle.

It didn’t seem to have come from any of them.

Then all of a sudden, an explosion sounded.

She dropped to her knees and used Sasha to see what was happening.

Her house had blown apart. Fire and debris shot high into the air, blending ominously with the aurora borealis.

Out of the midst of the fiery remains came Thanatos. Unmarred and undamaged.

Not even his hair was singed.

It was a horrifying sight.

Zarek cursed. “Don’t you ever die?”

Thanatos didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to slug Zarek who ducked the blow and delivered a staggering one back.

Sundown moved toward her. “I’ve got to get you—”

She took off running before Sundown could finish the sentence.

“Sasha,” she called. “Attack.”

“Like hell!”
Sasha snapped.
“I may be your guardian but that is Artemis’s pet. I can’t kill it. I’ll be lucky to even faze him. And you know what people do to injured wolves … They shoot them.”

Astrid panicked. She couldn’t see. She could only hear the grunts of the men fighting, the sound of flesh striking flesh.

Someone grabbed her and threw her to the ground, then covered her body with theirs.

She screamed.

“Stop it!” Zarek snapped.

He rolled with her, then pulled her up and pushed her forward.

“What’s going on?” she asked as he kept moving her forward.

“Not much,” he said in a bored yet breathless tone. “Some invincible asshole is trying to kill me. And you’re not supposed to be here.” He let go of her. “Get her out of here, Jess.”

“I can’t.”

Zarek curled his lip. Had he been able to afford the drain to his powers, he would have slugged Jess for that.

Instead, all he could do was whirl around to face Thanatos who was stalking him relentlessly.

“What’s the matter, Zarek? You afraid to die?”

He snorted as he pushed Astrid toward Jess. “Dying’s easy. It’s living that’s hard.”

Thanatos paused as if the words caught him off guard.

It gave Zarek just what he needed. Pulling the Daimon dagger from its concealed sheath inside his boot, he rushed forward and embedded it in Thanatos’s chest where a stain that looked like an ink blot should have been. Normally the strike would release the human souls trapped inside a Daimon’s body. The force of their exit was usually enough to blow the Daimon apart, causing instant decomposition.

This time, it didn’t work.

Thanatos pulled the dagger out and reached for him. “I’m not a Daimon, Dark-Hunter. Don’t you remember? I was an Apollite until I met you.”

Zarek frowned.

Thanatos grabbed him by his collar and held him tight. “Do you remember my wife you killed? My village you destroyed?”

Memories flashed through his mind. Zarek saw nothing but his own village.

No, wait. He remembered something …

A flash of an invincible Daimon, but not the man he faced.

This one had red, glowing eyes.

No, that had been someone else.

His thoughts turned to New Orleans.

To …

Why couldn’t he remember?

He recalled Sunshine Runningwolf in the warehouse room with him as he told Dionysus and Camulus to shove their orders up their sphincter, and then the next thing he remembered was leaving Acheron on the crowded street.

A flash of lightning went through his head.

He saw something …

Was it Acheron?

Was it himself he saw?

Zarek struggled to put the memories straight.

Ah, screw it. The only memory he needed was this one.

He kneed Thanatos in the groin.

The Daimon doubled over.

“Dead or alive, the balls still hurt when kicked, huh?”

The Daimon hissed and cursed in response.

Zarek slammed his combined fists down across Thanatos’s back. “If anyone has any suggestion on how to kill this guy, I’m open to it.”

Jess shook his head. “I’m out of dynamite. You got any grenades?”

“Not on me.”

Thanatos righted himself. “Say die, Dark-Hunter.”

“Fine. Die, why don’t you?” Zarek lowered his head and charged him. They locked arms and hit the ground.

Thanatos rose up from him and ripped open his shirt. From the way he moved his hands, Zarek could tell he was looking for the bow-and-arrow mark Jess had mentioned.

“Surprise, dickhead, Mama forgot to tell you a few things about me.”

In the distance, Zarek heard the approach of an engine. He heard its drone over the sound of Jess urging Astrid to leave and Astrid’s refusal while Sasha barked and pushed at her.

Suddenly, a snowmachine came flying up at the same time Zarek broke from Thanatos.

“Duck!”

Zarek didn’t recognize the voice, and ordinarily, he wouldn’t have obeyed, but what the hell? He was tired of getting his butt kicked by this Daimon.

He hit the ground and rolled out of the way while the dark green snowmachine flew over him. The man on it was dressed all in black with a black helmet. The newcomer skidded to a stop and pulled out a gun.

A bright flash of light cut through the darkness. The flare hit Thanatos in the center of his chest and knocked the Daimon flying.

Thanatos roared. “How dare you betray me! You’re one of us.”

The man slung a long leg over the snowmachine and reloaded his flare gun as he headed over to where Zarek was still lying on the ground.

“Yeah,” he said bitterly. “You should have thought of that before you took out Bjorn.” The newcomer fired his gun and knocked Thanatos back. “He was the only one of them I could ever stand.”

The stranger reached down and helped Zarek to his feet. He pulled his helmet off and gave it to Zarek. “Get the woman and get out. Hurry.”

The minute Zarek met the stranger’s eyes, he knew him.

This was the only Dark-Hunter he’d ever known who was even more hated than he was. “Spawn?”

The blond Apollite Dark-Hunter nodded. “Go,” he said, reloading. “I’m the only one who can hold him off, but I can’t kill him. For Apollo’s sake, someone get a hold of Acheron and tell him the Dayslayer is out.”

Zarek ran for Astrid.

“No!” Thanatos roared.

Zarek saw the blast before it left Thanatos’s hand. Acting on instinct, he cut back toward Spawn. The blast missed him, but hit Astrid’s wolf.

The animal yelped, then changed from wolf to man, back to wolf.

Zarek drew up short as he realized Astrid’s pet was a Katagari Were-Hunter.

Now why would a blind woman with a Katagari companion take in a rogue Dark-Hunter?

“Sasha?” Astrid called.

Jess ran to the Katagari to keep him covered while Zarek went to Astrid.

“Your were-buddy got zapped, princess.”

Fear lined her brow. “Is he okay?”

He picked her up, and brought her over to Jess, then cursed as he realized Jess couldn’t get both her and the wolf to safety. After an energy blast, the Katagaria tended to flash in and out of their forms for a while.

Jess struggled to get the wolf-man to the safety of his Bronco. As soon as he could, Jess left.

Zarek put the helmet on Astrid’s head. “Looks like it’s just you and me, princess. No doubt you’re going to wish I’d left you here with the Daimon.”

Astrid hesitated at the anger and hatred she heard in Zarek’s tone of voice. “I trust you, Zarek.”

“Then you’re a fool.”

He took her arm and led her away so she couldn’t hear Spawn and Thanatos.

Roughly, he helped her onto a snowmachine.

She expected him to lead her away from the sound of fighting. Instead, they headed toward it.

She covered her face instinctively as something crashed close to them.

“Get on,” Zarek snapped. “Hurry.”

She felt the seat dip, then they were rushing away from all the noise. Astrid’s heart pounded as she waited for something else to happen.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Zarek stopped the snowmachine.