There wasn't one.
"Okay, I can't explain. Give me a minute."
Ash narrowed his eyes. "I'm still waiting."
"I'm thinking about it."
Sunshine came out of the bathroom, then blanched as soon as she saw Acheron. She grabbed one of Talon's staves from the wall and went after him.
Acheron caught it in his hand as she swung it for his head. "Hey!"
Sunshine turned to Talon. "He's the one who kidnapped me!"
"I did not," Acheron said huffily as he tugged the staff from her grip.
"This is my boss, Sunshine. Acheron."
She formed a small O with her mouth. "Vane said you two looked alike. He wasn't kidding. Although now that I'm a bit calmer, you don't really look like him that much. He was scary, but you... you're really scary."
"If I had more time, I'd feel complimented." He handed the staff to Talon. "Outside, Celt, so we can finish our talk."
Talon didn't like being ordered about, but in this case he had no choice.
He had truly messed up and Ash had a right to vent.
Talon had put all of them in a very bad situation.
He went outside to stand on the dock where Ash was waiting with his hands on his hips.
Ash's face was mottled by fury. "You know, I've had a really wonderful night tonight. I got to tell Kyrian and Julian that Valerius is in town and spent, oh I don't know, three, four hours trying to keep them from going after the Roman. Then, just when I could relax and do my job, I find out there are Daimons in the swamp and no Talon to kill them. And why wasn't Talon here? Because Tarzan was swinging off a balcony to save Jane from Cheetah.
"Now all I can do is stand here and say, next fiasco, please, right this way."
Talon glared at him. "You don't have to be so sarcastic. I know I screwed up, okay?"
"No, screwed up is getting caught without your pants in Sunshine's apartment. This is a little bigger than just screwing up."
"I'm not going to apologize for what I did."
A tic beat in his jaw as Ash glanced away. "There are a lot of things that are still up in the air about tomorrow night. A lot of unknown factors. What we do know isn't good.
"I have Julian and Kyrian, who want to put Val in a pine box. Val, who doesn't want to lift a finger to help anyone not descended from the Romans. Two pissed-off wolves who are going to want revenge over what happened tonight. Zarek, who is mental on his best day, and who is currently wanted by New Orleans' finest. Nick screaming that he's quitting because he's tired of cleaning up after psychos. An angry goddess who is going to want everyone's head over this. And the only Hunter I have who is reliable is you."
Ash paused and gave him a stern glare. "And buddy, no offense, but you haven't been reliable in days."
"I'm okay, T-Rex."
"No, Talon, you're not. You were swinging from the rafters and punching out innocent humans because of Sunshine. You risked not only yourself, but all of us and the Peltiers just to protect one woman from hurt feelings. Where was your head?"
Anger tore through him. "I'm not a child, Ash. I know how to prioritize."
"Normally, you do. But you're thinking with your heart, not your head, and that will get us all killed. We're Dark-Hunters, Talon, we don't feel."
Any other time, he would agree with that, but at the moment Talon was feeling a whole lot of frustrated rage. He didn't need this lecture. He knew the risks and the dangers even better than Ash did. He more than understood everything at stake.
"I've got it under control."
"Do you?" Ash asked. "Because from where I'm standing, you don't. You have directly disobeyed me when I told you to keep Sunshine here. You have made pacts with the Katagaria and with Eros, and that's not your place. You don't make those kinds of obligations, Talon. Have you any idea how that can play out?"