Jeez, did none of them have a happy life?
"He killed his clan members?" she asked.
"I would imagine so."
Amanda sat in silence while she thought about that. Poor Talon. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to watch one of her beloved sisters die before her eyes. They might annoy her a large portion of the time, but they meant the world to her and she would kill anyone who hurt one of them.
The horror that man must have felt that day. It must still haunt him.
Nick navigated deep into the swamp until they came upon an incredibly small cabin. She doubted it was even eight hundred square feet. It looked even more rundown on the outside than the shed where they had left Nick's car. The rough wood was a light, sun-faded gray and it looked as if it would crumble under the slightest breeze.
As they approached it, she saw a dock behind the cabin with two large generators and another catamaran.
"What does he do during hurricane season?" she asked as Nick turned off the boat.
"Nothing really. One of Talon's powers is that he can control the weather so it's not that big a danger. But there's always the possibility the place could blow apart in the daylight while he's sleeping and not aware of weather conditions. In which case, he's toast."
"They like to live dangerously, don't they?"
He laughed. "It takes a certain breed to do what they do. Flirting with disaster is pretty much a basic requirement."
Nick got out of the boat first with a warning for her to stay put. He carefully walked along a narrow, old walkway that led from the makeshift dock to the cabin door, then motioned for her to join him.
"Back off, Beth," he snapped as an alligator approached her.
Amanda jumped back onto the boat.
"It's okay," Nick assured her. "They protect Talon in the daylight. As long as you're with me, they're harmless."
"I don't know about this," she said, reluctantly leaving the boat again.
Four massively huge alligators kept a vicious eye on her and followed her all the way to the door. Amanda's throat constricted in fear as the largest alligator climbed up on the porch behind them and swished its tail.
It hissed at them.
"Shut up, Beth," Nick snapped. "Or I swear I'll make luggage out of you." Nick knocked on the faded old door.
"It's not dark yet, Nick," Talon's thickly accented voice snapped from inside, making her wonder how he knew it was them. "What do you want?"
"I need your srad for Kyrian before it gets dark."
Amanda heard rustling on the other side of the door. A few seconds later, the lock clicked and the door opened the tiniest of cracks. Nick opened it wider and let them in.
She tried to see in the darkness, but had no luck until Nick turned on a small desk lamp.
Amanda froze as soon as she saw the interior. The walls were painted black and the place looked like a military control room. There were computers and electronic equipment everywhere. Though the location and-outside of the cabin would deny it, the man was a techno-junkie.
When her gaze touched on Talon, her jaw dropped wide open. The man was completely naked.
And he looked really good.
She stared at his perfect body, which was covered with strange red and black Celtic tattoos over the left side of his torso, front and back, and all the way down his left arm. His large, dragon-headed tore gleamed in the dim light. And though the man was sinfully handsome, she was strangely unmoved by him.
She appreciated him for the incredible picture he cut, but he didn't make her heart race like Kyrian did. Nor did she feel even a hint of sexual desire toward him.
And Talon was totally unabashed by his state of undress.
Nick gave her an amused grin. "I should have warned you, ancient warriors tend not to think much about nudity. Clothing is a modern hang-up none of them seem to have." He looked at Talon. "Celt, put some clothes on before you shock her."