"Guess they're screwed, huh?"
How could he be so cocky and lackadaisical? He knew what he was up against. Did he really think he could win without someone fighting beside him?
She couldn't stand the thought of him going down in a fight without someone else there who knew how to combat the gallu. Mankind needed more than a single defender. "Teach me to fight the Dimme."
Sin couldn't have been more stunned had she stripped her clothes off and jumped him. "Sorry? I know I didn't hear what I think I did."
She didn't back down. "Teach me to fight them and the gallu."
He laughed at the mere thought of her going up against them and their cruelty. Yes, she was tall and not too thin, but she was no match for the strength of the gallu, never mind the Dimme. They'd eat her alive. Literally. "You don't have any Sumerian blood in you."
"There are ways to get around that."
He took a step back from her as one of them flashed in his mind. "Does bloodsucking run in your family?"
"No, but if we take a blood bond, I would have your strength and Sumerian blood."
That wasn't all it would give her, and he knew it. "And it would give you power over me. So screw you."
She took a step toward him, her green eyes pleading. "Sin..."
"Katra..." he mocked. "I will not allow you or anyone else to deplete me any more than what's already been done. Ever."
"Then let me train by your side. Show me-"
"All my best moves so that you can kill me?" What? Was she insane? "Fuck you."
She growled at him, "Do you not trust anyone?"
"Did we not already cover this? Hell no. Never. Why should I?"
"Because no one can stand alone all the time."
Sin scoffed. She actually looked like she believed the crap she was spewing, but he was anything but green and gullible. "And there you're wrong. I've been alone my whole life and I like it that way."
Still she wouldn't relent. She pursued him even across the room as he sought to put space between them. "Trust me, Sin. I only want to help."
"You want me to trust you?" He stopped so suddenly that she actually ran into him. The softness of her body made him flinch, but he wasn't about to let his libido interfere with his logic. He set her back on her feet, away from him, and gave her a hard stare. He knew one way to put a stop to her bullshit. "Fine. I'll trust you on one condition only. Tell me how to kill you."
Her eyes widened in confusion. "Excuse me?"
Sin smiled, knowing he had her now. She'd never give him the source of her powers. "All gods have a secret that can render them powerless and subject them to execution. What's yours?"
Now he saw the suspicion in her eyes. Good, she wasn't a trusting fool. "How do I know you won't kill me?"
"Yeah," he said, his voice thick, "it's not so easy to trust, is it?"
Still, she didn't back completely down. He had to admire her for that. "You have the Tablet of Destiny. That can render me powerless."
"But that doesn't show your trust, does it? Tell me how to kill you without it."
Kat stopped dead as she seriously considered the consequences of answering him. Given his hatred of her mother, it would be all kinds of stupid to give him that kind of power. He could kill her, any time, any place.
She remembered all the things that had been posted on the Dark-Hunter boards about him. He was without compassion or even sanity. But then a man such as that wouldn't be scarred from battling demons to help mankind.
Such a man wouldn't have come to her rescue. No, he wasn't the monster other people had painted him. But he wasn't a saint, either.
Trusting him could cost her her life. Not trusting him could destroy the world.