"And I'm telling you right now that I wasn't. On the soul of my mother, I didn't kill them. And while I fought with your dad, I never once struck him or even insulted him." Then to her utmost shock, he went to a cabinet a little farther down the hallway and opened a drawer that had a safe with a hand scanner. He put his palm on top and opened the safe. Inside was a handgun and KA-BAR. He pulled the knife out.
Her heart pounded as she realized he was going to stab her. She braced herself for the fight.
It didn't come.
Instead, he flipped the KA-BAR around so that the blade faced his body and the hilt was toward her. "If you really, truly think I killed your parents, have your vengeance." He placed the knife in her hand.
Completely caught off guard, she stared at him with the weight of the knife heavy in her palm. You've waited your whole life for this. Cut his throat. So what if she died afterward? She'd have her vengeance.
She wanted his life with a passion that was undeniable. It was a primal need that screamed out for his blood. But something in her gut told her to wait.
And in that instant, she had another memory. Sundown sitting at her kitchen table, coloring with her. "Dang, Laura, you have a real artist here. I've never seen a better rendition of Scooby-Doo."
Abigail had beamed with happiness while her mother brought them both a cup of hot chocolate. When her mother turned her back, Jess had added his marshmallows to Abigail's cup because they were her favorite. He'd winked at her and then held his finger to his lips and cut his eyes to her mother's back to tell her to be quiet about it so that neither of them would get in trouble for it. She couldn't count the times he'd done something sweet like that for her.
Sundown had been their friend.
No, her rationale countered. He'd killed them. She'd seen his face in the mirror of her room. He didn't know how to be anyone's friend. He was treacherous to his core, and if he was offering her a knife ...
"What kind of trick is this?"
He didn't back down or blink. He stood right in front of her, looking at her through his thick lashes. His presence was terrifying and overwhelming as a tic beat a fierce rhythm in his jaw. "No trick. Believe me, I understand that soul-deep need to kill the person who took what you loved away from you. I know for a fact that I'm innocent, but I won't fault you for your belief, wrong though it is." He dropped his arms to his sides. "You want to kill me, go for it. I won't stop you. But know that when you do, you'll be spilling innocent blood yourself. May God have mercy on your soul."
Growling in anger, she moved to slice his jugular, expecting him to catch her hand and use the knife on her.
He didn't.
"I will kill you," she said between clenched teeth. She could behead him. She had no doubts.
He continued to stare down at her. "Do it."
Determined, she pressed the blade so close to his throat that it drew a bead of blood onto the dark carbon steel. Still, he didn't budge. He merely stood patiently for her to end his life.
"What are you waiting for?" His words sounded like a taunt.
She ground her teeth in fury at herself. "I'm not you. I can't kill someone who's defenseless."
"Nice to know the other Dark-Hunters you murdered had a fighting chance."
She pulled the blade away from his throat. "Oh, spare me, you blood-sucking bastard. I know exactly how you prey on people and then blame the Apollites for it."
He scowled at her. "Wait, wait, wait. I'm confused. First I'm a murderer, and now I'm guilty of preying on all humanity. Woman, who have you been talking to? They done got your head screwed on backwards and then some. We're not the bad guys in all this. The Daimons are the ones killing humans, not us."
What in the world was he talking about now? "Daimons? What's a Daimon?"
He choked. "You work with Apollites and you've never heard the term?"
"No. Are they some kind of demon?"
Sundown folded his arms over his chest as he gave her a disbelieving grimace. "Daimons are the Apollites who live past their twenty-seventh birthdays."
Was he on something? Surely, he knew the history of her adoptive people even better than she did. "Apollites can't do that. It's impossible."
"Uh, yeah, they can. I know, 'cause they're what we hunt. Every night. Without fail."
She rolled her eyes at his lunacy. "You are such a liar."
"Why would I lie?"