"In theory?" she asked as Terminator lifted his head to look at Hunter.
Hunter reached over and patted the dog's head until Terminator settled down again.
"We are given an out clause, but in the last two thousand years, only a handful have succeeded. Most of the ones who tried ended up as Shades."
Amanda frowned. How horrible. By his tone she could tell Hunter had resigned himself to the fact he would never even attempt it. Why?
"What would you have to do to get your soul back?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. None of us do since the path to redemption is different for each Dark-Hunter. All I know is that when the moment of truth comes, the Dark-Hunter is either set free or damned for eternity."
What Kyrian didn't tell her was that in order to be free, the Dark-Hunter must place his or her soul into the hands of someone who loved them. Having been burned so severely by his wife, he would never again trust anyone with his body or heart, never mind his immortal soul.
He had seen too many of his brethren trapped as Shades because the person they trusted had failed the test.
And in the back of his mind was the knowledge that no woman could ever love him. Not even a tiny bit. Let alone love him enough to set him free.
"Why did you agree to this life?" she asked.
He arched a brow. "I told you, I have unlimited income and immortality. What's not to like?"
Still, Amanda didn't buy that. It was too easy and he didn't seem so superficial. "You just don't seem the greedy sort to me."
"No?"
"No. You're more grounded than that. More generous. Greedy people don't leave the kind of thoughtful gifts you left for Julian and his family." She saw his jaw flex and she knew she'd pegged him perfectly. "How did you get his ring back, anyway? Julian said he had sold it a few years ago."
Hunter remained so quiet that she didn't think he would answer. Finally he spoke. "I saved a man who was wearing it about a year ago from a Daimon attack. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. I offered to buy it from him, but he let me have it for saving him."
Amanda narrowed her eyes on him, wishing she could see into him the way he was able to see into her. "Why did you want it?"
A veil fell over his face and she could tell just how much the topic bothered him.
"Well?" she prompted when it became evident he wouldn't answer.
"What do you want me to say?" he asked, his voice sharp and moody. "That I had a moment of weakness when I saw it? That for an instant I felt the pang of being homesick? Yeah, I did. There, you now know the Dark-Hunter who has no soul has a heart. Are you happy?"
"I already knew you had a heart."
He stopped at a red light and looked at her. A fierce frown creased his brow as if he were trying to figure her out.
"Believe it or not," she continued, "it shows in everything you do."
He shook his head as if he couldn't believe her, then he looked back at the light. "You know nothing about me."
It was true and yet...
She was intrigued by him. Captivated. This man who wasn't a man called out to her and seduced her. All she had ever wanted in life was to be normal. To have a warm, loving home with children. A quiet life.
He could offer her none of that.
Yet when she looked at Kyrian, when she thought about him, the strangest things happened to her. It wasn't just lust.
There was something more.
Something undefinable that made her heart just a little happier, a little more tender. Something about being around him that made her soar.
She wondered if he felt that, too.