"Stay with me, Speirr, please don't ride out with vengeance in your heart."
Had he listened to Nynia the day his uncle was killed, his life would have taken an entirely different course.
But overwrought with grief and rage, he had denied Nynia's request and she hadn't argued the matter.
As always, Nynia had stepped aside and let him have his way. He'd gone straight to the northern Gaul tribe and had laid waste to them, never knowing that both he and the Gauls had been set up.
By the time he'd learned the truth, it had been too late to apologize.
The Gauls had been under the protection of the war god Camulus and under the leadership of Camulus's human son. The war god's wrath still resonated through Talon's life.
"I will exist only to see you suffer..."
It was a promise Camulus had delivered well on.
No, he couldn't fight Camulus and win. As a Dark-Hunter, he was strong and powerful, but not to the point he could kill a god.
Basically, he was screwed unless he got Sunshine back to her life and out of his, pronto.
Once they were dressed and Sunshine had her things, which she'd had to go back for three different times, Talon helped her into his boat and headed back toward New Orleans. The sooner he put distance, between them, the safer she would be.
He would contact Acheron once they were in the city and see if maybe Acheron could call in another Dark-Hunter or Squire to watch over her until Mardi Gras. Someone whose presence wouldn't endanger her even more than the Daimons who were after her.
Once they reached his garage, Talon decided to leave his motorcycle behind and use the Viper tonight. He needed speed and had no desire to put Sunshine in any more jeopardy.
Breaking more speeding laws than he wanted to contemplate, Talon took her to her loft and then used her wall phone to call Acheron.
"What are you doing in the city?" Acheron demanded.
"I was told you were trying to reach me."
"Told by whom? I thought my directions were clear. You were to stay at your cabin with the woman."
Talon frowned. This was peculiar. Ceara had never been wrong before, nor had she ever lied to him. "You did, but then..." He paused as he tried to sort it out.
What was going on here?
"Yes?"
"Nothing, T-Rex. I guess I misunderstood."
"So why are you still on the phone with me?" Ash asked. "You need to get her back to the cabin. Now."
Talon didn't care for his haughty tone at all. Ash could be evasive and annoying, but he'd never before been an authoritative dick. "I can't, T-Rex. Something weird is going down. I have to leave her here."
"Why?"
Talon glanced around to make sure Sunshine couldn't overhear his conversation. She hadn't said a word to him the whole way back to her loft and now she was sitting on the sofa sketching and appeared completely oblivious to him.
He wanted to keep it that way.
Just to be safe, he lowered his voice. "She's my wife."
"Excuse me?"
Talon lowered his voice even more. "I think Sunshine is Nynia reincarnated."
"Well, isn't this interesting?"
"Yeah, and I can't protect her any more. I need someone else to watch her, okay?"
"Yes, I can see your dilemma."
Talon frowned. Dilemma? That wasn't an Acheron kind of word. "Is something wrong with you, T-Rex?"
"No. I'm just concerned about this situation. Are you leaving her now?"
"I need to."
"Perhaps you should wait until tomorrow night."
"What?"
"I can't get anyone there tonight. Why don't you continue to protect her until I can get someone else to take over? I don't really trust Zarek to watch her, do you?"
"Hell no. You're right. I definitely don't want to leave her here unprotected."
"Yes. It could be a problem. You spend the day there, and tomorrow I will take care of the matter."
The phone went dead.
Talon hung up with a weird feeling in his stomach. Something about that conversation just didn't seem right.
But as he looked across the room, his concerns were overshadowed by the vision of Sunshine.
She was still sitting on her sofa, sketching on her pad and humming a light tune.
It was Nynia's lullaby. The same song she used to sing while she worked.
Longing and pain tore through him so powerfully that he could barely move.
But it was the love he felt for her that overwhelmed him.
Against his will, he found himself approaching her. He knelt before her, laid his head in her lap and held her tight, grateful to have her with him, no matter how different she looked or acted.
His Nynia was back.
Sunshine was stunned by the familiarity of his actions. Instinctively, she ran her hand through the softness of his golden hair as she remembered even more about their past life together. He'd done this before. Many times.
"What is going on, Talon?"
"I wish I could tell you." He lifted his head up to look at her. The torment in those jet eyes reached out to her and made her heart pound for him.
Talon pulled back.
Now that he knew who she was, it made leaving her almost impossible.
But there was nothing else he could do. She would have to live out this life with someone else.
What choice did he have? He would never do anything to hurt her. Not again.
He'd killed her once, he wouldn't kill her again.
There was no way they could be together while the curse still bound him.
Styxx toyed with his cell phone as he thought over his conversation with Talon.
He smiled.
Oh, this was sweet. Talon already knew Sunshine was his dead wife reincarnated.
Perfect. Just perfect. He couldn't have hoped for better timing. Everything was going along according to their plans.
Zarek had swallowed the bait and allowed himself to be framed. Talon was now adequately distracted by his wife. Valerius was under the control of Dionysus.
And Acheron...
Well, he had something very special planned for that one.
As the Cajun French people of New Orleans would say, Laissez les jeux commencer... Let the games begin.