Sunshine.
Every instinct he possessed told him it involved her. He ran for his bike and quickly headed back toward the club.
By the time Talon reached Sunshine's club again, it was complete chaos on the street outside the club's entrance and in the alley behind it.
A large crowd of people stood around outside where two ambulances were parked while medics tended three wounded officers. Someone had beaten them to a pulp.
He paused near one ambulance as he heard the officer giving his report to a detective.
"He was at least six feet six. Lean, muscular build. Caucasian male dressed in black, with long black hair and a goatee. Mid- to late twenties with this huge silver claw thing on his hand. He looked like the devil himself when we came up on him. Man, he tore through us like we was nothing. I got at least two bullets into him and he didn't even flinch when I shot him. He just kept on coming at us. He must be on PCP or something."
Talon froze.
Zarek. There was no one else who could fit that description.
Damn. He shouldn't have left the area while Zarek was here. Zarek must have attacked them just a few minutes after he left.
"So what happened?" the detective asked.
"Me and Gabe had a disturbance call about a fight in the alley. We got here in time to see the claw guy fighting two men. We yelled for them to stop, but the guy ignored us. He ripped their hearts right out of them. Right in front of us."
Talon groaned. They had seen Zarek take out a pair of Daimons. Great. Just great. He closed his eyes and cursed. This night was starting to rate right up there with abscessed teeth.
"Johnny got here right as I pulled my weapon and ordered the claw guy to stop. He turned on us like a wild beast. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground bleeding, you guys are here, and he's gone."
"And the bodies?"
"He must have taken them with him while we were trying to get to the cars for safety. I'm telling you, Bob, the man was insane."
Talon raked his hands through his hair. Not even in town one night and now Zarek had the entire police force looking for him.
How had the man managed to last so long?
His phone rang again, but the caller ID didn't display the caller's identity. Expecting it to be Acheron since Acheron's phone almost never registered a number, he was surprised to hear Zarek's thick Greek accent on the other end. "The Daimons wanted to party with your girlfriend, Celt. Don't leave her unprotected."
The phone went dead.
An eerie chill went up Talon's spine. How could Zarek have known about him and Sunshine?
The man's powers were rating right up there with Acheron's.
His instincts on alert, Talon looked up to the roof above his head-to the old abandoned drugstore next door to the club. Silhouetted against the dark sky was a figure. To a human's eyes, the man standing on the rooftop would be invisible, but Talon's honed Dark-Hunter vision saw him clearly.
It was Zarek.
Zarek inclined his head to him, put the phone in his pocket, then stepped back and vanished into the darkness.
Talon frowned. Psycho Zarek had been watching over Sunshine all this time? Even while the cops were looking for him?
How unlike Zarek was that?
Talon immediately hit the automatic call-back feature on his phone.
"What?" Zarek asked, his voice surly. "Can't you see I'm trying to get out of here before the cops find me?"
"What were you doing at Runningwolf's?"
"Picking my nose, Celt. What do you think? I saw the Daimons on the street and I tracked them inside."