"Yeah, and I can't protect her any more. I need someone else to watch her, okay?"
"Yes, I can see your dilemma."
Talon frowned. Dilemma? That wasn't an Acheron kind of word. "Is something wrong with you, T-Rex?"
"No. I'm just concerned about this situation. Are you leaving her now?"
"I need to."
"Perhaps you should wait until tomorrow night."
"What?"
"I can't get anyone there tonight. Why don't you continue to protect her until I can get someone else to take over? I don't really trust Zarek to watch her, do you?"
"Hell no. You're right. I definitely don't want to leave her here unprotected."
"Yes. It could be a problem. You spend the day there, and tomorrow I will take care of the matter."
The phone went dead.
Talon hung up with a weird feeling in his stomach. Something about that conversation just didn't seem right.
But as he looked across the room, his concerns were overshadowed by the vision of Sunshine.
She was still sitting on her sofa, sketching on her pad and humming a light tune.
It was Nynia's lullaby. The same song she used to sing while she worked.
Longing and pain tore through him so powerfully that he could barely move.
But it was the love he felt for her that overwhelmed him.
Against his will, he found himself approaching her. He knelt before her, laid his head in her lap and held her tight, grateful to have her with him, no matter how different she looked or acted.
His Nynia was back.
Sunshine was stunned by the familiarity of his actions. Instinctively, she ran her hand through the softness of his golden hair as she remembered even more about their past life together. He'd done this before. Many times.
"What is going on, Talon?"
"I wish I could tell you." He lifted his head up to look at her. The torment in those jet eyes reached out to her and made her heart pound for him.
Talon pulled back.
Now that he knew who she was, it made leaving her almost impossible.
But there was nothing else he could do. She would have to live out this life with someone else.
What choice did he have? He would never do anything to hurt her. Not again.
He'd killed her once, he wouldn't kill her again.
There was no way they could be together while the curse still bound him.
Styxx toyed with his cell phone as he thought over his conversation with Talon.
He smiled.