"Do you comprehend the gravity of your situation, my dear?" Choo Co La Tah asked her.
She did. But that didn't stop one cold, hard fact. "I don't want to die."
There was no sympathy in the old man's gaze. "As the Duwamish would say, there is no death, only a change of worlds."
"I like this world."
"Then you should have thought of that before you took the life of Old Bear. I can assure you, even at his advanced age, he didn't want to change realms either. And he's only one of many you have killed who never once harmed you."
Her anger snapped at that. How dare he patronize her-something that was made even more pronounced by his accent and proper tone.
She hadn't stalked innocent people like some deranged serial killer. She was an avenger who was tallying a sickening score started by the true villains in all of this. "The Dark-Hunters have hunted my people for centuries."
"Your people, madam, are human ... most of them qualify for that term, anyway. They are the ones the Dark-Hunters strive to protect."
"Yeah, right. They..." Her words broke off as images flashed in her mind. She heard countless humans begging for mercy as they were attacked.
Not by Dark-Hunters.
By Apollites who'd killed them so that they could take their human souls and feed on them and live past their twenty-seventh birthday-just as Sundown had told her. The horror of it slapped her hard as their screams resonated through her skull.
It couldn't be.
She shook her head in denial. "You planted those images in my head. They're not real."
Choo Co La Tah sighed. "My people have a saying. Kirha tahanahna ditari sukenah. To deny the presence of the sun doesn't escape its blister. I admire your loyalty. But sometimes you have to face the truth, even when it hurts."
No, she didn't. Because if he was right, if those images were the truth, then she was wrong on a level so profound that it made her sick. It would mean she'd done horrendous things to people who didn't deserve it.
People who'd been protecting the innocent from predators.
And if that was the case, she wasn't sure if she could live with herself.
I'm not a predator. I'm a protector.
Choo Co La Tah's eyes were filled with compassion. "I feel your pain, child. But you should have studied Confucius."
She frowned at his words. "How so?"
"Had you taken the time to learn his wisdom instead of war, you would have known that before you start down the road to revenge, dig two graves."
She bristled at that. "You don't understand."
"There you are quite wrong. Shamefully, all of us have wanted revenge on someone at some point for something. I've lived since before man and buffalo roamed this small planet. I have survived the beginning, bloom, and death of countless enemies, civilizations, and people. And the one truth I have learned most during all of these centuries is the old Japanese proverb. If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by."
That made her temper boil over. He made it sound so simple. But he was wrong, and she knew it. "Even if he's immortal?"
"Especially then. To quote the Tsalagi, you should never allow your yesterday to use up too much of today. The past is gone and tomorrow is at best a maybe. Live for this moment because it may be all you'll ever have."
She curled her lip in disgust. His pithy phrases were easy to spout, but living with her amount of pain was another story. And seeing your parents slaughtered was something no one got over. Ever. "What are you? A fortune cookie writer?"
The Native American Dark-Hunter started forward, but Choo Co La Tah stopped him before he could reach her. There was laughter in his tone as he spoke. "Respect must be earned, Ren. Not demanded. A questioning mind is the most cherished resource man has and the rarest. I admire her tenacity and her misplaced loyalty."
Those words embarrassed her, and somehow they made her feel like she was being childish.
"And I don't." Deep and resonant, Ren's voice rolled like thunder.
Choo Co La Tah placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "All feelings are valid, and I do not discount yours, Abigail. Our true journey will begin in a handful of hours after the sun sets. In the meantime, all of you need to rest and conserve your strength. Sasha and I will guard you while you slumber." He glanced to Sundown. "And I will notify Andy and make sure he, too, is safe."
Sasha arched a brow. "Why is the wolf always the one who's drafted?"
Choo Co La Tah smiled. "The wolf is the one who is most rested."
Sasha scoffed. "What? You want to toss logic into my emotional outburst? Where's the fairness of that?"
If she wasn't so upset, Abigail might have found Sasha amusing, but right now nothing was funny to her. Not when the agony of her past weighed on her and her conscience ripped at her with razor-sharp talons. I'm not what they say.
She wasn't. At least she hoped she wasn't.
But what if?
Sundown cleared his throat to get Choo Co La Tah's attention. "I agree we need to rest. But there is a small matter of scorpions in the basement, and that's the only safe place for me and Ren during daylight. No offense, I don't really want to nap with them crawling all over me."
Choo Co La Tah stepped away from her. "Ah yes, the scorpion infestation. Don't despair. I've taken care of your pest problem. All of them are gone now."
"You sent the snow?" Abigail asked.
He inclined his head. "The plagues that will come are designed to weaken me. The Coyote is forcing me to expend energy to protect mankind from his tools. For now, my strength holds. But I'm old and I must recharge my powers much more often than I did when I was young. If we don't make it to the Valley before I lose strength..."
It wouldn't be pretty for any of them.
And it will be all by my fault.
Jess saw the terrified look in Abigail's eyes before she hid it. That uncharacteristic frailty from her tugged at his heart. She wasn't the kind of woman to let her vulnerability show. The fact that she did ...
She was in absolute agony, and he'd always been a sucker for a woman in pain.
"C'mon," he said to her gently. "I'll take you back downstairs."
For once, she didn't argue, and that told him exactly how torn up she really was. Ren followed after them while Choo Co La Tah and Sasha stayed topside to keep an eye out for any other enemies who might want to join them.
No one spoke until they were in the elevator. Ren folded his arms over his chest as he blocked the door and faced them. He glanced from Abigail to Jess. "You have no idea how much it bothers me to know that I was the man she meant to kill tonight and now I have to protect her."
Jess snorted. "Yeah, well, she tried to kill me, too, and I got over it."
"I'm not as good a man as you are, Sundown. I find it hard to give an enemy my back under any circumstance."
"Oh, I didn't say I was giving her my back. I'm not lacking all my noodle sense. But I'm not holding a grudge neither. Sometimes you just got to let the rattlesnake lay in the sun."
Ren muttered an obscenity about that under his breath.
Abigail cleared her throat. "Men? You do know I'm standing in this little box with you and can hear every word?"
They exchanged an arch look.