"Sure, it's Acheron."
"Who's Acheron?" she asked. Everyone kept mentioning his name around her, but she had no idea who or what he was.
"For lack of a better explanation," Vane said, "Talon's boss."
"Why would Talon's boss kidnap me? Do you think it's to keep me away from Talon?"
Vane laughed at that. "Not his style. If Ash wanted to keep you away from Talon, he'd just show up at your door and scare the crap out of you. Besides, he was the one leading the rescue party to you."
Well, that was nice to know.
But why did he look just like the guy who'd kidnapped her?
Her frown deepened. "He was there when Talon got me away from Camulus?"
"Yeah and I was too. Don't you remember?"
She shook her head. All she could remember was Talon. "How well do you know Talon and Acheron?" she asked Vane.
He shrugged. "I just met Talon, but I've crossed paths with Acheron a time or two over the centuries."
"Are you immortal too?"
He shook his head no. "My kind just lives a lot longer than humans."
"How long?"
"About a thousand years, give or take a century or two."
Wow. That was quite a while.
Sunshine couldn't imagine what it would be like to have that long to plan her future. But something inside told her that it might be as big a curse as a blessing to live that long, especially if you had to live it alone.
Sunshine watched Vane as he scanned the crowd around them. Those hazel-green eyes seemed to take in everything.
"Why are you so open to talk about this while Talon refuses to tell me anything?"
He shrugged. "I didn't swear an oath of secrecy, and I figure you've seen enough spooky shit the last few days that knowing about me is the least of your problems. Besides, I dare you to tell anyone I'm really a wolf pretending to be human."
He paused and grinned devilishly at her. "I double dog dare you," he said slowly. "That, my friend, will get you locked inside a rubber room."
She had no doubt about that at all. And it explained why he felt so free to talk about his "differences."
"Are you really a wolf?"
He nodded.
"Then how can you be human?"
"We're a different breed than your people. My race was created about nine thousand years ago when my greatgrandfather decided to save the lives of his sons by magically splicing their DNA with a few choice animals. Thus we were born. One son made two half-blooded creatures. One that held a human heart and one that held an animal heart. I'm directly descended from the animal."
"So you have the heart of a wolf?"
Again, he nodded. "And the morals and the self-preservation instincts of one too."
"Do you ever wish you were human?"
"No, never. Why would I?"