Talon vanished.
Abigail shifted nervously as Sasha arched a brow over the fact that Jess still had his arm around her. She'd shrug it off, but didn't want to do anything to make it stand out more. Besides, she liked it.
Ignoring Sasha's curiosity, she spoke to Jess. "I take it Sunny is his wife and she's pregnant?"
"Very."
She nodded as she absorbed that. Along with a new fear for herself. "I didn't think Dark-Hunters could have families or make someone pregnant."
A light appeared in his eyes that said he might actually be reading her thoughts.
She gave him a stern glare.
Panic flared deep in his dark gaze before he stepped away from her as if wanting to put distance between her and his so-called tender parts. "Didn't do it. I swear, and no we can't. Talon's no longer one of us and hasn't been for some time. Sunshine freed him."
Really ... there was another thing she'd never known was possible.
Before she could speak again, Ren's deep, stern voice rang out. "You need to take it slowly."
"I say, stop mothering me, Ren. I'm not an invalid, you know? Fall into one little trance while taking care of something, and now I have a hen on top of me. I swear if you don't stop, I shall rename you."
Abigail quickly hid her amusement as Choo Co La Tah came into the kitchen with Ren. The expression on Ren's face could freeze fire.
Unlike her, Jess had no problem laughing at them both. "Anything I should know about?"
Choo Co La Tah stiffened indignantly. "Yes. Your friend here is a bit of a faffer, and I've had enough of it for one day, thank you very much."
Ren sighed in irritation. When he spoke, it was to Jess, not Choo Co La Tah. "Talon brought him out of the trance. I'm thinking now, though, that we should have left him there."
Abigail hated to interrupt, but ... "Off topic-what's a faffer?"
Ren's face turned bright red.
Luckily, Choo Co La Tah smiled at her. "Someone who fusses, my dear."
Ah. No wonder Ren was so furious. Not the manliest of descriptions, by any means.
"May I also ask why you speak with an English accent? It seems..." She couldn't say odd without offending him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She actually liked the old elder a lot, even if he wasn't always the most likable of people. "Different."
Ren put his hands on his hips. "He learned to speak English from the original British settlers and never quite adapted to the modern accent."
Choo Co La Tah gave him a withering stare, as if he didn't appreciate Ren's explanation. "I like the way it sounds better. Besides, it throws everyone off balance when they hear it, and I like that even more. Always keep them guessing about you, my dear. Nothing ever makes them so crazy."
She appreciated that thought.
"How are you feeling?" Jess asked Choo Co La Tah, changing the subject.
"Weary. And we've wasted enough time. We need to get going so that we can reach the high point before dawn, make our offering, and secure the jars."
A tendril of fear went through her as she realized that the offering most likely would be her life. I'm not ready for this....
Jess saw the fear in Abigail's eyes. Wanting only to soothe her, he took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers in a silent promise that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He meant that, too. So long as he had breath inside him, nothing would get to her.
Choo Co La Tah dropped his gaze to their hands, and something akin to approval crossed his face.
Weird.
But Jess didn't have time to think about that. "Let's head to the Bronco and get started. It's a little over an hour to get there from here. We should have plenty of time before dawn, but with what all Coyote's been throwing at us, who knows."
Ren hesitated. "My powers are waning. I think I'll fly in and meet you."
He had a point, but ... "You sure about that? Snake could open a can of whoop-ass on us, too, and we don't know what his plagues are. Do we?"
"Flesh-eating virus," Choo Co La Tah said. "And bloodfire."
Sasha screwed his face up. "Bloodfire?"
"My personal fave." Ren's tone was thick with sarcasm. "It's blood drops that fall from the sky and explode like wet dynamite."
Jess nodded as Ren proved his point. "Not exactly something you want to have hit you when you're out in the open."
"True, but I'm stupid enough to chance it. I need to recharge if we have to fight, and I'm sure you do, too."
Jess cursed the man's stubbornness.
And his sacrifice.
"You be really careful," he warned.
Ren gave him a cocky grin. "Always. You have to be careful when you fly, or you end up smeared on the side of a building."
"You're not funny."
"I'm hilarious, crabass." Ren's gaze went to Abigail, and a shadow passed across his face. One that Jess sensed was extremely important. But as quickly as it came, Ren covered it. "Save our girl. Won't do us any good to get there without her."
"Don't worry." He wasn't about to let her go. Not yet, anyway. "Peaceful journey, penyo."
Ren saluted him, then went to the front door. He opened it before he turned into a crow and flew away.
Sasha let out a sound of disgust. "What? Was he raised in a barn? Didn't he ever learn how to close a door?" He flung his hand at the door and slammed it shut without touching it. "Amateur shape-shifters ... No manners whatsoever."
Jess was puzzled by the lycanthrope's distemper. "Do we need to get you a Midol before we go?"
"I'm not that easy to soothe, cowboy. My peeves are on a cellular level."
Jess shook his head, then fell silent as he looked at Abigail and saw the tiniest spark of red in her eyes. The demon was trying to surface again. He wondered if she could feel it when it did that. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, why?" Well, that answered his question. Obviously, she had no idea.
The red faded out.
His gut drew tight. That couldn't be good either. He'd be more concerned with it, but right now, they were on a tight schedule.
"Never mind." Taking her hand, he led them out of the kitchen and down the barrel-vaulted hallway to the other side of the house.
Abigail was floored as they kept walking and walking. In the back of her mind, she'd noted that his house was huge, but it wasn't until now that the full size of it hit her.
Dang ...
He opened the door to another garage that housed a huge collection of cars and motorcycles. It had more in common with a warehouse than a garage, except for the fact that it was immaculate and ornate. The gold trim even appeared to be gilded. "Just how big is this house?"