The Dark-Hunters (398 page)

The color faded from M’Adoc’s face an instant before rage darkened his cheeks. “What is he doing?”

“Fucking things up for the rest of us.” M’Ordant slammed his fist down on the table. “I swear, Zeus as my witness, I’m going to tear him limb from limb. How could he be so fucking stupid?”

M’Adoc shook his head. “Enough with the vulgarity. I know you love the word, but save it.” He growled low in his throat, letting M’Ordant know he was equally willing to break eggs, heads, and bones in this as M’Ordant was. “Zeus and the others will question how Arik could have developed a desire so strong it would make him bargain with Hades to quell it.”

“Yeah, and there will be hell to pay if they come knocking on our doors. If they ever find out that the curse is weakening…” He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. Unlike Arikos, he, M’Adoc, and D’Alerian were the first ones they’d rounded up at Zeus’s order and punished for the Oneroi’s ability to manipulate dreams for their own personal gain.

To this day, the three of them, who had been innocent in the crime but held up as examples to the others, could still feel the pain and humiliation of that torture. When it came to absolute punishment, no one could match a Greek god bent on vengeance. It was what kept the three up at night and seeking the Skoti to make sure they didn’t violate the laws Zeus had set for them. The three would do anything to not relive the merciless hell they’d gone through—and they were the three whom the gods would punish again if they ever learned the secrets M’Ordant, M’Adoc, and D’Alerian carried.

No one would show them mercy, and they knew it.

“Does anyone else know?” M’Adoc asked.

“Just Hades and us.”

“How did you find out?”

Straightening up, M’Ordant folded his arms over his chest. “I make it my business to keep an eye on Hades and Hypnos.” They had been the two most mischievous gods who’d gotten the rest of them cursed. “When they sleep, I’m there every minute of it. I just don’t let
them
know I’m spying.”

“Good man. We have to contain this. Call out the Dolophoni. We need that bastard dead, then if Zeus finds out, we can tell him that it was an aberration unique to Arikos that we handled.”

“You think he’ll buy it?”

“If not, we’ll have to find some way to sell it to him.” M’Adoc’s phosphorescent blue eyes flickered with malice. “I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of bleeding for another one of these assholes.”

M’Ordant arched a brow at M’Adoc’s word choice. He generally profaned profanity—which told M’Ordant just how determined his brother was. M’Ordant held his hand out to M’Adoc. “I hear you,
adelphos,
and we’re in definite accord.”

M’Adoc wrapped his hand around M’Ordant’s and shook it. “Arikos dies.”

*   *   *

Geary paused in her chat with Thia to watch Arik bite into one of the Hostess cupcakes that Tory had broken out for the celebration. His eyes actually glowed with pleasure as he tasted it.

His smile was broad and enchanting. “This is incredible.”

Tory laughed at him. “I can’t believe you’ve never had one before. Man, that would stink, to grow up without Hostess.
This
was the staple of my elementary-school lunch box.”

He practically inhaled it. “Do you have any more?”

“Hang on.” She ran from the room.

Excusing herself from Thia, Geary made her way to Arik, who was frowning at the black cake that was stuck like glue on his fingers. Geary picked up a napkin as she approached him. “It must be bare in the mountains.”

He licked the sugar from his lips before he responded. “I know what things are, but I haven’t been able to experience them before. Like this cake. It’s really very good.”

“As the girth of my hips will attest.”

By his face, she could tell he didn’t understand she was calling herself fat. For some reason, she found that as endearing as his amazement that he couldn’t easily get the cake off his fingers.

Smiling, she took his hand in hers so that she could help him out. She paused at the sensation of his flesh against hers as she wiped the pads of his fingers with the napkin. He had the most beautiful hands. Large and masculine, they made her want to lick them clean. In her dreams, she would have done that in a heartbeat.

He lifted his hand so that he could place a very sweet kiss on the back of her knuckles. “Thank you.”

Geary swallowed as white-hot desire shot through her. What was it about this man that made her literally melt? “You’re welcome.”

Tory came running back in with her entire stash of junk food that she kept in a large shoe box that normally lived under her bed … protected by Mr. Cuddles of course. “Okay, Moon Pies.”

Geary laughed in disbelief. “You’re going to share a Moon Pie? Now? You know you can’t get any more of those until you go back to the States, right?”

“It’s for a good cause. We need more addicts. Besides, there’s always Grandpa to bail me out with an emergency shipment if I get too desperate.” Tory handed a chocolate-coated Moon Pie to Arik.

Geary shook her head. “Oh no, if you really want to be wicked to him, nuke it first.”

Tory made a slight face of contradiction. “Yeah, but given his reaction to the cupcake, that might overload his taste buds with pleasure and kill him.”

This was true. The mighty Moon Pie could be orgasmically deadly when nuked … it rated right up there with the infamous Australian Tim Tam Slam and the deep-fried Twinkie. “Good point. To be on the safe side, the first one should always be tasted at room temperature.”

Arik frowned while Tory unwrapped the small, round cookielike object. And as soon as he tasted it, he was in obvious ecstasy. “Oh my God, that’s good.”

She exchanged a mischievous grin with Tory. “Reese’s,” they said in unison.

“Reese’s?” Arik asked, puzzled.

“Oh yeah,” Geary laughed. “You’ll be dying the minute you bite into one.” She started digging through Tory’s shoe box until she found one. She made an evil noise in triumph as she pulled it out. “You know, Tor, I have no idea how you stay so skinny eating all this crap. I swear I gain ten pounds just rooting through it.”

“I’m still growing.”

Geary snorted. “So am I, but it’s out instead of up. Remind me tomorrow to start my diet again.”

Arik scowled at her. “I think you’re beautiful as you are. Why would you want to change?”

Something warm tickled her at his words. “You’re just trying to flatter me.”

“No,” he said seriously. “I’m only telling you the truth.”

“Awww,” Tory said dreamily. “He’s such a sweetie. Can we keep him?”

Geary gave a nervous laugh. “He’s not a puppy, Tory.”

“Yeah, but we did fish him out of trouble. In some cultures that would make us responsible for him forever.”

Arik gave her a hopeful grin. “And I wouldn’t mind being kept for a while.”

Geary shook her head at them. “You two are a terrible combination. Kind of like gasoline and fire.” She looked past Arik’s shoulder to see Kat entering the room finally. She had a very sour look on her face, as if something wasn’t settling right with her. “Hey,” Geary called out to Kat, catching her attention. “You okay?”

With an extremely fake smile, Kat walked over. “Yeah. Fine.”

Tory set her shoe box to the side. “So where’s the gorgeous ZT?”

Geary frowned at the name she didn’t recognize. “Who?”

Tory made a clicking noise with her teeth like a woman calling a horse. “Kat was with this really cute guy on deck when you sent me up to check on her.” She looked back at Kat. “Did he not stay?”

“No, he had to leave.”

“ZT?” Arik asked with a speculative gleam in his eyes. “As in Zebulon?”

Kat gave a very curt nod.

Tory looked back and forth between them curiously. “You know him, too, Arik?”

“He knows him,” Kat said in an odd tone. Her gaze was cutting as she met and held Arik’s. “He sends you his best.”

All emotion fled from Arik’s features. “I’ll bet he does. How is old ZT doing, anyway?”

“Charming as ever.”

The sarcasm between them was so thick it could have been carved into an ice sculpture.

Arik put the unopened Reese’s back inside the box as if he’d lost his appetite. “Nice to know some things never change.”

Geary scowled even more. “How is it that you two have a mutual friend when you didn’t know each other before today?”

“It’s a small country,” Kat said evasively. “The old families tend to stick together and Arik’s has probably known ZT’s for quite some time now.”

“Yes,” Arik said with a wry grin. “He’s like a rash for which there’s no cure. It only goes away for a bit before returning unexpectedly to ruin every pleasurable experience. He should have been named Herpes rather than ZT. Or maybe just Herpes Z, since he’s a very special irritant.”

Kat laughed. “Very aptly put, hell, it’s even Greek and he is creepy—I’ll give you that. But I wonder if he knows how you feel?”

“I’m sure he does. He’s rather astute and I’m anything but subtle.”

Okeydokey, this was getting a bit out of hand, and she wanted to avoid a herpes discussion in front of the walking/talking medical textbook who was only fifteen years old. So, trying to stave off the animosity and veer to safer territory, Geary stepped forward. “And on that happy note, children, I think we should all turn an eye to retiring. It’s been a long day and we have a really big day tomorrow.”

“Hear! Hear!” Teddy concurred from the other side of the room. “As long as we’ve been waiting for this excavation, I want to make sure that we all have one that’s error free. We can’t afford a single mistake, people.”

There were a few grumbles, but overall everyone agreed. If they were to get cracking at dawn, then they needed their rest.

“So where’s Arik bunking?” Tory asked.

Geary hesitated. There really wasn’t any place to put him without inconveniencing one of the guys. Their rooms were cramped at best, and she was sure none of them wanted to bunk with a stranger.

Arik gave her a hopeful look that brought an unexpected smile to her face. “I already have a roommate.”

There was no missing Arik’s disappointment. “Who?”

Tory rocked back and forth on her feet. “Me and Mr. Cuddles.”

“Yeah,” Geary said, nodding, “and Mr. Cuddles is a jealous sort. He doesn’t share us well.”

Arik didn’t miss a beat. “Does this mean I’ll have to fight him?”

“You’d never win,” Tory said sweetly. “Mr. Cuddles cheats. You think he’s just a pushover teddy bear, but he’s vicious, I tell you. Vicious.”

Kat cast a speculative look at Arik. “You could throw him on a hammock on deck.”

Geary considered it. It actually wasn’t a bad thought. “We will be up at dawn, so it wouldn’t really wake him once we hit the deck.…”

Tory leaned toward Arik. “Bet you’re thinking you should have gone home, huh?”

“No,” he said, his tone sincere. “I had a great time tonight.” He looked at Tory and smiled. “And you’re right. The mighty Moon Pie is the best. Thank you for sharing your treasure with me.”

“Anytime.” She rose up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Good night, Arik. I’ll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”

“You, too, Tory.”

Kat gave him an odd look before she bid them good night and followed Tory to the hallway.

Thia came forward with a calculating gleam in her eyes. “Well, if no one else wants him … I could share my bunk with him.”

“Go to bed, Cynthia,” Geary said sharply, “before Justina kills you for pimping out your shared cabin.”

Thia gave a weary sigh. “I was just trying to be friendly. They always say you shouldn’t sleep alone in a strange bed.”

“Yes, and they didn’t have their cousin on board to watch over them, either. One who would report any sleazy behavior to their mother. Good night, Thia.”

Tossing her hair over her shoulder in a huff, she left them alone.

Geary gave Arik a once-over as she realized he’d have to sleep in his borrowed jeans and shirt. “What are you going to do for clothes?”

“Solin said he’d return with something for me to wear in the morning.”

“Ahh, okay. Well, I guess I’ll grab a hammock and meet you topside.”

Arik started to offer to go with her, but she was already feeling smothered by his presence. He would back off for a bit even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. “All right. I’ll see you on deck.”

He headed for the stairs to the upper deck while she went the other way, deeper into the boat. He paused at the handrail, amazed by the slick feel of it. Nothing here was what he’d expected. Especially not the food. He didn’t know why the gods made such a fuss over ambrosia and nectar, given how wonderful human food tasted.

Perhaps the gods were in denial because they were only supposed to have the best and it bothered them to think that mankind had perfected some of their world even while they battled one another.

Or maybe the gods honestly didn’t know better.

Dismissing the thought, he climbed up to stand on deck as a light breeze whispered against his skin. The sensation was exquisite, but it was nothing compared to the sight of the city that sparkled over a velvet black landscape. The water lapped quietly against the boat as a faint jingle of music and laughter reached him. No wonder humans didn’t want to die. Their world was remarkable, and their lives were made even more precious by the fact that they had so little time to spend here.

How did they do it? How did they exist knowing that the specter of death constantly haunted them? It was enough to depress anyone, and yet for the most part they were happy with their lot. They ignored their impending doom and marched on toward their death with dignity and grace while finding shards of happiness to content them.

It was truly amazing.

But then, they didn’t know how long their lives would be. Decades or weeks. So they prepared for the worst and expected the best. It was actually rather noble.

And how strange it must be for Solin and ZT and the others to live this close to walking corpses. No wonder they were closed off from everyone. Who would want to reach out and befriend someone when he or she could be torn away from you at any moment? When there was no chance of a lasting relationship. Everything here was doomed to finality.