Kat took her turn.
Cassandra reached over and laced her fingers with Wulf's. "I didn't know Dark-Hunters could go free."
"It's rare," Wulf said, tightening his grip on her hand. "At least it was up until this last year. Talon and Kyrian make two we know."
"Three," Kat added as she moved her piece on the board.
"Three?" Wulf asked. He looked shocked.
Kat nodded. "Three Dark-Hunters have been freed. I heard the other handmaidens talking about it last night when I went to check in with Artemis."
"I thought you didn't get a chance to talk to her," Cassandra said, remembering what Kat had told them after her return last night.
"Oh, I didn't. She has the big Do Not Disturb sign on her temple door. There are definite times when no one but Apollo dares to barge into her domain. But I did hear the other Icons gossiping about it. Apparently, Artemis wasn't real happy over the matter."
"Hmm..." Cassandra said as she thought about that.
"Who else was freed?" Wulf asked.
"Zarek of Moesia."
Wulf's jaw went slack as Chris looked at Kat as if she'd sprouted a new head.
Chris snorted. "Now I know you're full of it, Kat. Zarek is marked for death. There's no way."
Kat looked over at him. "Yeah, well, he didn't die and ended up going free instead. Artemis has threatened everyone's head if she loses another Hunter."
Those words weren't comforting to Cassandra. She could only imagine how much less so they were for Wulf.
"I never thought I'd see the day when they would set Zarek free," Wulf said under his breath. "He's so psychotic they've had him under exile for almost as long as I've been a Dark-Hunter."
Cassandra took a deep breath at that. It didn't seem right that someone like this Zarek could be free while Wulf was cursed the way he was.
"I wonder what Nick'll be doing for a Dark-Hunter now that Talon's free," Chris said as he grabbed the canister of Pringles from Kat. "I can't imagine he'd ever serve Valerius."
"No doubt," Wulf said. He explained to Cassandra that Valerius was the grandson of the man who had ruined Kyrian's family and crucified the Greek general. Since Nick was Kyrian's former Squire and a personal friend, Nick would never serve the man whose family had done that to Kyrian.
Wulf, Kat, and Chris continued to discuss the Dark-Hunters, while Cassandra thought over what she'd learned tonight.
"Could I free you?" Cassandra asked Wulf.
A strange look darkened his eyes. "No. Unlike the other Dark-Hunters, I don't have an out-clause."
"Why?"
Wulf let out a tired breath as he spun the wheel for his turn. "I was tricked into serving Artemis. Everyone else volunteered."
"Tricked how?"
"That was you?" Kat interrupted before Wulf could answer her question.
Cassandra turned toward Kat. "You know about it?"
"Well, yeah, there was a big brouhaha at the time it happened. Artemis is still steamed that Morginne beat her out. The goddess doesn't like anyone getting the better of her and most especially not when it's a mortal she owns."
"How did she do it?" Cassandra asked.
Kat took the Pringles back from Chris before he could polish them off. That boy liked to eat. They had yet to figure out how he managed to stay so skinny eating the way he did.