"Information on his father and how to break their curse."
"Did you tell him?"
She nodded. "I told him the truth. There's no way to break their curse. And that his father, even after all that's happened, still cares about him."
Dev let out a low whistle. "I'll bet he didn't take that well."
Sam fell silent as she considered that. "He took it better than I thought, but I have a feeling this isn't over."
"How so?"
"The Daimons can still walk in daylight and we're their enemies. Sooner or later, they'll be coming for all the Dark-Hunters and Stryker seems too determined to give up. I think he's got something even more sinister brewing."
"And I hope you're wrong."
So did she. But her gut was kicking and it had never been wrong in the past. They'd won this battle.
The war was still on. Sam paused as someone knocked on the door right as dawn was breaking. She and Dev were just getting ready for bed. "Aimee?" She was the most likely candidate for someone disturbing them at this hour.
Dev shrugged. "Come in," he called.
It wasn't Aimee.
The door opened to show Nick. Once again, he had that sick pallor to his skin like he was in pain or about to hurl. He leaned heavily against the doorjamb as if he didn't have the energy to stand on his own. "Sorry to disturb you guys. But I wanted to give you a mating present."
Sam was touched by his kindness. The Weres had already been spoiling them with gifts and good wishes. "You didn't have to do that, Nick."
"Yeah, I did." He handed her a small wooden box. One that looked ancient.
She took it and opened the lid. There inside was a green amulet that glowed with an ethereal power. "It's beautiful." She reached to pick it up, but Nick stopped her.
"That's your soul, Sam."
She gaped at him as Dev came forward to stand behind her. "I don't understand."
Nick gave her a wan smile. "You don't have to. Suffice it to say, Artemis has agreed to let you go."
She was incredulous. How could this be? "Did you do this?"
That familiar tic started in Nick's jaw again. "Acheron set the terms. But that's not important. I wanted to get it to you guys as soon as possible. Do you know how it works?"
She had a basic idea from what she'd heard as rumors from other Dark-Hunters who'd been set free. "I have to die and Dev has to release my soul back into my body."
"That's an Ash-type explanation. You have to figure out what drains your Dark-Hunter powers and then stop your heart from beating. At the moment of your last breath, the amulet has to be placed over the bow and arrow mark and held there until you come back to life. It's going to burn like fire and if Dev lets go of it even one nanosecond before you start breathing again, you will spend eternity as a Shade." They were frightening ghosts who could never be seen or heard by others. Invisible apparitions who spent eternity in perpetual hunger and agony. It was a frightening thing to be.
Nick replaced the lid. "Good luck to both of you."
As he started to leave Sam stopped him. "I have one question."
"Yeah?"
"Do I have to become human again?"
Nick hesitated before he answered. "No. It's your soul to do with as you please. As of this moment, you're technically free from Artemis and your powers are yours. But if you don't return your soul to your body, you'll have the same limitations as before. You won't be able to have children and you won't be able to walk in daylight. Worst of all, you're off payroll."
She laughed. That wasn't the worst of it. She'd barely spent any of the money she'd made over the centuries so she was flush for at least a few hundred years.
Touched by his generosity, she stepped forward and did the one thing she hadn't done in a long time. She kissed his cheek.