"The least you could have done was bring about fifty of your friends with you. I could use a new coat."
She bared her teeth.
Aggravated, Zarek closed the door and returned the kindling to the pile in the corner. He was a dick, but not even he would toss them out. Being immortal, he would survive the cold. The mother and young wouldn't.
He picked up his laptop and zipped it inside his coat to keep it warm and went over to the far corner where his pallet was. As he lay down, he thought about going to sleep underground where it was warmer, but then, why bother?
He'd have to move the stove to reach his hidden basement and that would just upset the mother mink again.
This time of year daylight was short. It would only be a few more hours until sunset, and he was more than used to this frozen wasteland.
As soon as he could, he would go to town for supplies and a new generator. Pulling the quilts and furs over him, he expelled a long, tired breath.
Zarek closed his eyes and let his mind wander over the events of the past week.
"Thank you, Zarek."
He ground his teeth as he recalled Sunshine Runningwolf's face. Her large dark brown eyes were incredibly seductive and she was a far cry from the skinny model types most men favored; she had a lush, round body that had made him hard just to be around her.
Man, he should have taken a bite of her neck when he'd had the chance. He still wasn't sure why he hadn't tasted her blood. No doubt it would have kept him warm even now.
Oh, well. Chalk it up to another regret he had on an infinite list of them.
His thoughts returned to her...
Sunshine had shown up unexpectedly at his New Orleans town house while he had been waiting for Nick to take him to the landing site to leave.
Her black hair had been braided and her brown eyes had held a friendship in them that he'd never seen before when someone looked at him.
"I can't stay for long. I don't want Talon to wake up and find me gone, but before you left I had to thank you for what you did for us."
He still didn't know why he'd helped her and Talon. Why he had defied Dionysus and fought against the god while the god had sought to destroy the two of them.
For their happiness, he had consigned himself to death.
But as he had looked at her yesterday, it had seemed somehow worth it.
And as he allowed sleep to overtake him, he wondered if he would still think it was worth it when the Squires found his cabin and burned it to the ground with him inside.
He snorted at the thought. What the hell? At least he'd be warm for a few minutes before he died.
Zarek wasn't sure how long he'd slept. By the time he awoke, it was dark again.
Hopefully, he hadn't slept so long that his snowmachine would have had a chance to freeze. If he had, it would be a long, cold hike into town.
He rolled over and grimaced in pain. He'd been lying on his laptop. Not to mention the phone and MP3 player that were biting into something even more uncomfortable.
Shivering against the frigid cold, he forced himself up and grabbed another parka from his wardrobe. Once he was dressed for the weather, he went outside to his makeshift garage. He put the laptop, phone, and MP3 player into his backpack and slung it over his shoulders, then straddled the snowmachine and unwrapped the engine.
Luckily it started on the first try. Hallelujah! Maybe his luck was turning after all. No one had toasted him while he slept and he actually had enough gas to make it into Fairbanks where he could get some hot food and thaw out for a few minutes.
Grateful for small favors, he headed across his land and turned south for the long, bumpy trip that would take him into civilization.
Not that he minded. He was just too damned grateful there actually was civilization now to head into.
Zarek arrived in town shortly after six.
He parked his snowmachine at Sharon Parker's house, which was walking distance from the town's center. He'd met the ex-waitress about ten years ago when he'd found her inside her broken-down car late at night on the side of a seldom-traveled back road in North Pole.