Jess considered it. Last time he'd made a bargain to go in with someone was Bart.
That hadn't worked out so well in the end.
"I don't know. I need to think about it."
Artemis splayed her hand out and waved it to her right. A shimmering light flickered there until images appeared. Jess gasped at the sight. It was incredible. He saw everything as if looking through a glass window-so real, he felt that he could reach out and touch it.
The images showed Bart kicking him to the ground and then the final bullet that went straight into his skull.
This time, he saw not only Bart killing him from a distance, but also what Bart did after he stepped over his body. Rage swelled up as Jess watched him kill Matilda's father and the preacher, then drag his bride into a back room.
"Enough!" he roared, unable to take any more. He'd always known Bart was part animal, but that only proved it. How dare he defile Matilda like that ...
God damn him.
His fury raging, he glared at Artemis as he literally shook from the weight of his need to bathe in Bart's blood. "I'm in."
"There are a few more details you should know, such as-"
"I don't care," he snarled, cutting her off. "So long as it starts with me gutting that bastard, I'll do anything. And I do mean anything."
"All right, then." A bright gold medallion appeared in her palm. She grabbed his arm and pressed the medallion to it.
Searing pain tore through him as he gasped in agony. Still, she kept that medallion on his bicep, oblivious of the smell of burning flesh, which was so foul, it made his stomach pitch. When she finally pulled it away, he felt completely drained and weak. And there was a strange double bow and arrow mark on his arm, where she'd pressed the medallion.
Just as he was about to ask her how he could fight anyone like this, a new warmth crawled up from his toes to the top of his head. Suddenly he felt stronger than he'd ever been before. More alert. He could hear things that made no sense. Things like Artemis's heartbeat and the whisper of voices from far away. He held more knowledge than he'd ever been taught.
It was like being a god, and yet he knew for all his newfound power, it was nothing compared to what Artemis had.
Cupping the medallion in her hand, she stepped away from him. "You have twenty-four hours, horseguy, to kill your betrayer any way you see fit and to take your revenge. Make them count. Oh, and know that you can't let daylight touch you. If you do ... Well, you don't want to die without your soul. It's highly unpleasant. Sometime in the next few days, a man named Acheron Parthenopaeus will find you and teach you everything you need to know about being a Dark-Hunter. If you're smart, you'll listen to him." She gave him an evil smirk as she stepped back and raised her arms. "Welcome to the madness."
138 years later
Las Vegas, Nevada
"How are you doing?"
Abigail Yager barely understood those words as the male doctor stood over her bed, injecting her with a substance that could very well be lethal. But if it worked, it would be worth the risk. "What?"
"Abby? Can you hear me?"
She blinked slowly and tried to focus on Hannah's question. Everything was blurry. Even so, she could see the way the light played in Hannah's blond hair. The concern on her sister's beautiful face. "Um ... yeah."
Hannah cursed. "You're killing her. Stop!"
The doctor didn't listen.
Hannah started for him, but before she could reach the far side of the bed, her older brother, Kurt, intercepted her. "Stop it, Hannah."
"We don't know what that will do to her. She's human!"
Kurt shook his head. "She needs it. If it strengthens us, it should do the same with her. Besides, it's too late. At this point, it'll either help her or she's dead. Plain and simple."
Could there be any less care in his tone?
Hannah shoved Kurt away. "I'm ashamed of you. After all she's done for us, you still see her as nothing but a human." She returned to Abigail's side and took her hand. "Stay with me, Abby. Don't leave me alone with an insensitive prick as the only member of my family."
"I'm not a prick!"