She laughed. "You're probably right. So would you like to join me?"
"We don't have reservations anywhere."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Hon, where I'm going we don't need no stinking reservations."
"Where are we going?"
She headed down Royal Street, which connected Canal to Iberville. "The Antoine's of seafood. Acme Oyster House."
"Acme? I've never eaten there."
And as soon as Tabitha reached the door of the place, Valerius knew why. It actually had plastic black-and-white checked tablecloths.
He hesitated in the doorway as he scanned the small restaurant. The place was tiny and the crowd thinning. It had a bar to his right that stretched along the wall, and tables set up to his left. The walls were a tawdry mixture of mirrors, pictures, and neon signs. It was loud and obnoxious.
Not to mention, Valerius had to quickly catch himself and mentally force his image into the mirrors before someone realized he didn't cast a reflection.
Tabitha turned to look at him. She put her hands on her hips. "Would you stop looking like someone just scuffed your brand-new shoes? They have the best oysters on earth here."
"It's so... neon."
"So put on your sunglasses."
"It doesn't look sanitary," he said in a low tone.
"Oh please, you're about to eat something that is the vacuum cleaner of the ocean. You do know how pearls are formed, right? All an oyster does is ingest trash. Besides, you're immortal, what do you care?"
"Valerius?"
He looked past Tabitha to see Vane and Bride Kattalakis seated at the oyster bar, where two men behind the counter were shucking oysters for the handful of people who sat there. Valerius let out a relieved breath. Finally, someone he could relate to. A little, anyway since Vane was an Arcadian wolf and Bride his human mate.
Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, Vane was Valerius's height and had long dark brown hair that he wore loose around his shoulders. Bride was a plump, beautiful woman whose long auburn hair was worn up in a messy bun. She had on a tan sweater over a brown dress with little white flowers.
Valerius crossed the floor to shake Vane's hand. "Wolf," he said in greeting... it was always polite to refer to the Arcadians and Katagaria by their animal selves. "Nice seeing you again." He looked to Bride. "And you, my lady, always an honor."
Bride smiled at him, then looked at Tabitha. "What are the two of you doing here? Together?"
"Val was doing a favor for me," Tabitha said as she came up behind him. She turned to one of the men behind the counter, who was wiping his hands after shucking a plate of oysters. "Hey, Luther, two beers and a fork."
The tall African-American laughed at her. "Tabby, this is what, the fourth time this week you've been here? Don't you have a home?"
"Yeah, but we don't have oysters in it. At least not good ones. And I have to come here just to harass you. Imagine a whole day without Tabitha in it... What would you do?"
Luther laughed.
Valerius didn't miss the strange look that passed between Vane and Bride before Luther handed Bride the plate of shucked oysters and went to get Tabitha the beers.
"Is there something I should know?" Valerius asked them.
The instant Vane opened his mouth to speak, Tabitha kicked his shin. Hard.
Vane yelped, then frowned at her.
"What was that?" Valerius asked. "Why did you kick him?"
"No reason," Tabitha said, reaching over the bar to pluck an oyster from the pile.
She looked angelic, which meant something truly evil was going on.
Valerius looked back at Vane. "What were you going to say?"
"Absolutely nothing," Vane said before he took a drink from his longneck.
Valerius had a bad feeling about this.
Luther returned with two bottles of beer and handed them to Tabitha, who in turn held one out for Valerius.
He stared at it blankly.
"Aren't you thirsty?" Tabitha asked.
"Don't we get glasses?"
"It's beer, Val, not champagne. Take it. Really, it doesn't bite."
"Tabby, be nice," Bride chided. "Valerius probably isn't used to beer."
"I do drink it," Valerius said, taking the bottle reluctantly, "just not like this."
"You want oysters?" Tabitha asked him.
"I'm not sure after your rather blunt reminder of what they are."
Tabitha laughed at him. "Set us up, Luther, and keep them coming until I pop."
Luther grinned at her. "I don't think you have a limit, Tabby. It's a wonder we have any left to serve after you leave."
Tabitha sat on the stool beside Bride and indicated for Valerius to assume the one on the opposite side of her. Valerius set his beer on the counter before he complied.
"You look so uncomfortable here, Valerius," Bride said sweetly. "How on earth did Tabitha talk you into this?"
"I'm still not quite sure."
"You two been dating long?" Vane asked.
"We're not dating, Vane," Tabitha answered quickly. "I told you, Val is only doing me a favor."
"Whatever you say, Tab. I just hope your sis-"
His words were cut short by Bride clearing her throat. "Tabitha knows what she's doing, Vane. Don't you, Tabby?"
"Usually not, but this is okay. Really."
Valerius would sell his soul again for a chance to read Vane's mind. "Vane, may I have a word with you privately?"
Bride poured Tabasco sauce over an oyster. "You leave that barstool, Mr. Kattalakis, and you really will be 'in the doghouse' literally for the rest of the week. In fact, I'll sic your brother Fury on you and change the locks."
Vane actually cringed. "As much as I would like to help you out, Valerius, you have to remember that her father neuters dogs for a living, and he trained his daughter well. I think I'll have to pass."
Valerius looked at Tabitha, who was busy taking an oyster from Luther. She refused to meet his gaze.
What did Vane know that he didn't?
They sat at the bar, with Tabitha and Bride chatting about clothes, old friends, and nothing important while both men were ill at ease. The restaurant closed at ten, but Luther served them oysters for another fifteen minutes.
"Thank you, Luther," Tabitha said. "I really appreciate you not running me off."
"It's always a pleasure, Tabby. I like the way you appreciate my service and food, and I have to say this one is easier to feed than your friend Simi. That little girl eats like a demon."
"Oh, you have no idea."
Valerius went to pay while Vane stayed with the women. Once the bill was settled, Vane and Bride headed off toward Royal while he and Tabitha headed toward Bourbon.
"Ready to patrol?" Tabitha asked.
"I'll drop you at your-"
"I'm not going home," she said, interrupting him.
"Where are you going?"
"Stalking Daimons. Just like you."
"That's not safe."
She stopped and glared at him. "I know what I'm doing."
"I know," he said quietly. "You have the spirit and strength of an Amazon. But I would really rather you not kill yourself for something best left to those of us who have already died. Unlike you, we have no one to mourn us if we perish."
Tabitha was taken aback at his unexpected words. More than that, she was taken aback by the concern she felt from him. The pain. "Who mourned for you when you died?" she asked, not sure why she wanted to know.
He paused, then looked away. "No one."
"No one? Didn't you have any family?"
He laughed bitterly at that. "My family was a Shakespearean tragedy. Trust me when I say they were gleefully rid of me."
"How can you say that? I'm sure they cared. Surely-"
"My brothers are the ones who killed me."
Tabitha felt the vengeful agony that surged through him as he growled those heartfelt words at her. Her chest ached for him. Was he telling her the truth?
"Your brothers?"
Valerius couldn't breathe as the past tore through him. But in truth, he felt a wave of relief at finally, after two thousand years, telling someone the truth about what had made him a Dark-Hunter.
He nodded as he forced the twisted images of that night out of his mind. When he spoke, his voice was surprisingly level. "I was an embarrassment to my family so they executed me."
"Executed you how?"
His eyes were blank. "You're an ancient scholar. I'm sure you know what Rome did to her enemies."
Tabitha covered her mouth as a wave of nausea consumed her. Before she could stop herself, she took his arm and pulled back his sleeve so that she could see the scar on his wrist. There was all the proof she needed.
Like Kyrian, he had been crucified.
"I'm so sorry."
Stiff and formal, he withdrew his arm and straightened out his sleeve. "Don't be. I find it oddly fitting given my family history. He who lives by the sword..."
"How many people did you crucify?"
She felt his shame before he turned and headed away from her. Unwilling to let him go, she rushed after him and pulled him to a stop. "Tell me, Valerius. I want to know."
The agony on his face tore through her. His jaw ticced. "None," he said after a long pause. "I refused to ever kill a man like that."
Tears pricked her eyes as she stared up at him.
He wasn't what Kyrian and the others thought. He wasn't.
The man they described wouldn't have hesitated to humiliate or kill someone. And yet Valerius had.
He cleared his throat and looked as if the words pained him. "When I was a young boy, I saw a man executed. He was one of the greatest generals of his time."
Tabitha's heart paused its beating as she realized he was talking about Kyrian.
"My grandfather tricked him and then spent weeks interrogating him." His breathing was labored, his entire body tense. "My father and grandfather insisted my brothers and I be brought in to witness it. They wanted us to learn how to break a man. How to strip the dignity from him until there's nothing left. And all I saw was blood and horror. No one should suffer like that. I looked into that man's eyes and I saw his soul. His strength. His pain. I tried to run and they beat for me for it, then brought me back in and forced me to watch."
He gave her a fierce, tormented stare. "I hated them for that. Two thousand years later and I can still hear his screams as they raised his broken body up and carried the once-proud prince out to the square to die like a common criminal."
Tabitha covered her own ears as she imagined what it must have been like for Kyrian to die that way. She knew from her sister that his death still haunted him, too. Though Kyrian's nightmares were much fewer now than they had been when he and Amanda had first married, he still had them. He still woke up in the middle of the night to make sure his wife and child were safe.
Some nights, he didn't sleep at all for fear that someone would come and take it all away from him again.
And he hated Valerius with an unreasoning vengeance.
Valerius took a deep breath as he saw the way Tabitha cringed. He cringed too, just not openly.
His heart had carried the guilt and horrors of his childhood throughout time. If he could go back in time, he never would have sold his soul to Artemis. Better to die and silence the resonance of his father's cruelty than to live interminably with all of their voices echoing in his mind.
He was sure Tabitha hated him now, just like the others. She had every right to. What his family had done was inexcusable. It was why he made a point to avoid Kyrian and Julian.
There was no need in reminding either one of them of their past lives in ancient Greece. It would be even crueler now that both of them had happiness in the modern world.
He'd never understood why Artemis had moved him into New Orleans. It was something his father would have done to ensure that the two Greeks had no peace whatsoever.
But that was something he would never speak of. And should he ever cross paths with Kyrian and Julian, he knew better than to apologize. He'd tried that once centuries past with Zoe, who had been killed by his brother Marius. The Amazon had run him through, trying her best to kill him.
Valerius had been forced to overpower her.
She had spat on him. "Roman filth! I'll never understand why Artemis allows you to live when you should be gutted like a squealing pig."
Over the centuries, he'd learned to just hold his head high and carry on regardless of what the other Dark-Hunters thought. He couldn't give them peace from their pasts any more than he could have peace from his own.
Some ghosts refused to be exorcized.
Now Tabitha knew the truth and she would hate him as well. So be it.
Valerius turned to leave.
"Val?"
He paused.
Tabitha wasn't sure what to say to him. So she didn't speak with words. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers, then kissed him soundly.
Valerius was stunned by her actions. He crushed her to him as he tasted the warmth of her mouth. The warmth of her embrace.
He pulled back. "You know what I am, Tabitha... why are you still here?"
She looked up at him, her blue eyes searing with tenderness. "Because I know what you are, Valerius Magnus. Believe me, I know. And I want to take you home with me, right now, and make love to you."