"How do I know I can believe you?"
"You don't. But why would I lie?"
If anything, that made his anger increase. "You lied about knowing me. You could lie about anything. People lie all the time, usually for no reason whatsoever."
"But I'm not lying about being hungry." She gestured toward the loaf of bread on the counter. One of the problems with entering the mortal realm was that it tended to make Dream-Hunters extremely hungry, and right now her stomach was cramping and aching. "Could you toss me a piece of bread before the interrogation continues? Or do I have to beat your butt for a spoonful of peanut butter?"
Aidan grabbed the bread from the counter and chucked it at her. She caught it with one hand. Stepping back, he swept his hand toward the door next to the fridge. "Peanut butter is in the pantry."
She narrowed her eyes on him suspiciously before she moved to open the door and search through his staples. She emerged a few minutes later with the peanut butter. Her gaze unamused, she set it on the counter. "Knife?"
"Drawer in front of you."
After opening it, she twirled the knife in her hand with an expertise that said she wasn't lying about her occupation.
"Who was your last job?" he asked, tucking his hands under his arms.
"Terrence Morrison."
He frowned. "Who?"
"A billionaire playboy who made the mistake of putting his balls on the wrong billiard table."
Aidan could just imagine the trouble something like that could get a man into, especially depending on who thought they had rights to that billiard table. "Why did you leave?"
She spread the peanut butter over a slice of bread. "I took care of the person harassing him. Threat gone. Job eliminated." Her look smug, she took a bite of her sandwich. "Anything else you want to know? Dental records, fingerprints? Retinal scan?"
"Urine sample would work."
She rolled her eyes. "What cup you want me to use?"
He was intrigued by her comebacks and the fact that she didn't appear angry over his questioning and word choice. "Does anything faze you?"
"I fight people for a living. Do you honestly think peeing in a cup is going to frighten me?"
She had a point... providing she wasn't lying about her occupation.
Without a word, Aidan pulled a glass out of his cabinet and handed it to her.
Her jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me? You really want a urine sample?"
He actually smiled at her question. "Not hardly, but I thought you might be thirsty. The drinks are in the fridge."
For once he saw relief in her gaze before she went and poured herself a glass of milk. "Thanks for showing some mercy."
"Yeah," he said bitterly. "Just remember to return the favor."
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
He shrugged. "Just in my experience, all people do is take. None of them give a damn about helping someone else."
"And sometimes people can surprise you."
"Yeah. You're right. I'm constantly amazed by the unprovoked treachery they're capable of."
She shook her head. "Wow, you are jaded."
If she only knew. Besides, he had every right and then some to it. He'd had enough knives planted in his spine to make a stegosaurus envious. "Look at you." He indicated her body with his hand. "Do you protect people because they need it or do you protect them because they pay you?"
Leta hesitated. She most certainly didn't get paid for what she did, but he'd never believe a human would be so altruistic. So she opted for a semitruth. "Girl's got to eat."
"And I rest my case. People will knife you in the back for a stinking crumb and then go on with their lives as if you're nothing but a worthless roach."
She let out a slow breath as she saw in his anger exactly what M'Adoc had seen in hers. His was an unreasonable master that wouldn't release him. The worst part was the degree to which he'd embraced his rage. It controlled and distorted everything around him to the point he was unable to see past it. "There are sorry people out there. But I promise you not everyone is like that. For every act of cruelty mankind is capable of, they're just as capable of kindness."
He sneered at her. "You'll forgive me if I ruthlessly disagree." He shook his head as if the mere sight of her disgusted him. "I marvel at the fact you've lived to your age and no one's taken those rose-colored glasses and shoved them up your-"
She held her hands up in surrender to silence his tirade. "You're entitled to your opinion just as I'm entitled not to listen to it."
That set him off even more. He pushed himself away from the counter and headed toward the front door. "You're irritating. If I had to have someone barge into my home, couldn't they at least have been mute?" He picked up the gun and started for the small hallway that led to his den. "Don't make yourself too comfortable. I want you out of here the instant the weather clears."
Her gaze sharpened on the gun in his hands. "Trust me so little?"
"I don't trust you at all." And with that, he went off to his den and left her standing in his kitchen.
Leta took a deep breath as she felt his hostility reaching out to her. Good.
So far Dolor hadn't managed to break into the mortal plane. But it wouldn't be long.
Dolor had been summoned to kill Aidan and he would do everything within his power, which was great, to succeed. There would be no stopping him.
Which meant she wouldn't have long to build up her own powers by feeding from Aidan. She frowned as she felt a twinge of guilt. As a Dream-Hunter, she shouldn't feel anything like that at all and yet she couldn't squelch the part of her that didn't want to hurt Aidan when it was so obvious he'd been cut enough by those around him.
It's for his own good.
Odd how the gods and humanity used that so often to justify brutality.
Zeus had even said that when he'd ordered all the emotions stripped from the Dream-Hunters. When he'd had all of them punished for a crime only one god had committed. And even that hadn't been a crime. It'd been intended as a joke on old Thunderbutt to make him not take everything so seriously. Instead of laughing, Zeus had abused his powers to lash out against everyone who didn't agree with him.
The rest of the dream gods had merely been innocents caught in the crossfire. But Zeus's fear of being overthrown and mocked had caused him to punish them all. How pathetic to live his existence in such paranoia.
However, Zeus's god complex didn't concern her. What she needed to focus on was saving Aidan's life if she could and killing Dolor at any cost.
Dolor's laughter from the past filled her head. "I am Pain. I am eternal. And you are insignificant, Leta. You will never defeat me."
So far he was right. She hadn't defeated him, but she had wounded him.
His arrogance would be the tool she would use to break his strength and Aidan was the hammer she needed to drive her spike right between Dolor's eyes.
Her resolve set, she went to find Aidan and anger him some more.