Chapter 18
Nick tossed Kateri over his shoulder as they hiked through the hinterlands of hell to find the right cavern that no one other than Ren or Choo Co La Tah knew the exact location of.
"He's in trouble. I can feel it."
Nick swept his gaze around the others-Sundown, Cabeza, and Sasha who was limping, but who refused to, as he so eloquently put it, 'lie down and lick his crotch while they either saved or condemned the world.'
"Why am I the one holding hellcat when out of this group, I'm the only one who doesn't really have to fear the gates opening?"
Sundown clapped him on the shoulder. "'Cause you're just that kind of man, Nick. And we appreciate it."
Nick snorted in derision. "You're so full of caca, Cowboy-no wonder you only wear shit-kickers."
Sundown flashed him a wicked grin. "I happen to like my cowboy boots. My woman says they make me look sexy."
Nick let out a "heh" sound. "I should have had Andy buy you scratchy wool long johns when I was a Squire."
Kateri stopped squirming at the word she wasn't familiar with ... at least not in the way he used it. "What's a Squire?"
"Humans who help Dark-Hunters," Sundown said. "Obviously, mine was named Andy."
That made her heart lurch. "Was? Did something happen to him?"
"Yeah, little booger up and married on me a few months ago, and ... well, I was going to say moved out. But that's just a pipe-dream I had once. I can't get him out no matter what I do, but I keep trying. Luckily the house is so big I don't ever really see him unless he runs out of eats or coffee, and has to mosey over to my side in the middle of the night to raid my cupboard or fridge."
"How big is this house?" she asked.
"Don't ask," the three-men-not-Jess said simultaneously.
Okay, now she had to know. "How big?"
Sundown chuckled. "Sixty thousand, give or take a few."
"You mean six thousand."
"No," Sasha said. "Sixty. You can land a 747 jet in his backyard."
She gaped. "Where do you live?"
"Vegas."
Wow ... she didn't even want to contemplate how much something like that would cost in Vegas. "Now I have to be nosy. How much does a Dark-Hunter make?"
Nick laughed. "Let me put it to you this way. Those boots Jess is so proud of? Five grand."
That confused her more. "Then why is Ren's house so small?" While it was comfortably furnished, it wasn't elaborate. His sparse furnishings kind of reminded her a lot of IKEA.
"He don't got horses to accommodate." Jess made it sound so simple.
But it was Nick who really told her what she wanted to know. "Ren doesn't need much. He wants even less. Most of his pay gets donated to charity. Hell, he doesn't even have a Squire. And he never has had one."
"Why not?"
"It's up to the Dark-Hunter. Some," Nick cut his gaze to Jess, "like them, and others,"-he looked over to Cabeza-"can't stand humans of any sort. I have a feeling Ren falls into that latter category."
No. No one who donated the bulk of their money to charity hated people. But given his past, it made sense that Ren wouldn't want someone in close quarters with him.
Nick twisted to look at Jess. "For the record, Sundown is no longer a Dark-Hunter."
That surprised her more than anything else. "I didn't know they could stop."
Jess clicked his tongue. "It ain't easy on a Hunter. Not by a long shot. But somehow, some of us have muddled through."
Nick stopped dead in his tracks. This time when he spoke, his Cajun accent was as thick as Jess's Southern drawl. "Not easy? Cowboy, I know you did not just say that to moi. I'm the one who had to go up to Artemis and get your soul back pour tu. Having Abby stake your ass to put your soul back in is a Mardi Gras-style cakewalk. Trust me, cher."
Sundown scratched at the back of his neck. "Well, there you go. That's basically how we get out. Personally, I was going to stay in, but we decided we wanted kids, and since Dark-Hunters can't have young'uns..."
"They can't?" she asked.
"Nope," they all said in unison. Did they practice that?
But at least it took one concern off her table. Ren hadn't left her pregnant.
She tugged gently on Nick's jacket. "You can set me down now. I'm calm."
His expression skeptical, he obeyed and put her on her feet in front of him. "Remember now, cher. I can catch you and not break a sweat. So no more running after Ren and risking your neck. At least not until the calendar's reset. Then, you can be as stupid as you want, and I'll let you."
She let his comment go as she focused on what really mattered to her. "Could you get Ren's soul back?"
Nick groaned as if she'd just asked him for a kidney. "I damn sure can't say no to that face. Poor Ren. You must have him beside himself when you do that."
Not really ... at least not that she knew of. And since she didn't know Nick all that well, she wanted to make sure he didn't find a loophole on her.
"Would you get his soul back for us?"
This time, he growled. "He has to request it, but yeah. In spite of the rumors, I haven't completely gone to the dark side yet. But damn, those cookies are good." Come to the dark side. We have cookies.
Someone spent way too much time on the Internet. Smiling, she stood up on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his scarred cheek. "Thank you."
"Ah, cher, that ain't right. Laying lips on me to help another man out? Cold, cher, cold."
She frowned as she glimpsed a different Nick. One who was a lot younger and much happier. It was something he was remembering, too. "You're not as far gone as you fear."
Nick scoffed. "It's hard to know how far down you are when there's not a speck of light to judge the darkness by."
"But the scariest part of the dark isn't what's really there, but rather what we imagine from our own fears."
"Then, cher, you don't wanna ever come to my closet. I promise you, there's a lot more than just skeletons hanging in it."