He paused to give her a look that asked are-you-effing-nuts? "Our Dark-Hunters are our family. There's nothing we wouldn't do for them. Even die for them if we had to."
"That's not what I've heard."
He scowled at her. "From who? Daimons? Apollites? If the DH are so bad, explain to me why some of the above have been known to work and live with Dark-Hunters themselves."
She rolled her eyes. "Now I know you're lying to me. There's no way an Apollite would ever work for a Dark-Hunter."
Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her a droll stare. "Babe, I know two of them who married one." He jerked his chin toward the door. "Ishtar Casino, here in Vegas, has a whole staff of Apollites who work for Sin Nana ... who up until about four years ago was a Dark-Hunter, and he was doing his duties while they worked for him. Hell, half of them helped him, and when he was attacked, they and even a Daimon fought to protect him."
Abigail would argue, but she knew Apollites who'd worked there, and she knew Sin owned it. "How do I know Sin was ever a Dark-Hunter?"
"Why would I lie?"
"It could be pathological."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you. Don't like you enough to bother. But like I said, you hurt one hair on his head, and you will regret it. Jess is my family, and he's been through enough damage in his life. And in spite of all the shit people have done to him, including his best friend shooting him in the back and in his head on the day of his wedding at the feet of his fiancee, there's not a more decent human being ever born." He turned and was out the door before she had a chance to say anything else.
Stunned, she stood there as that last bit hit her like a fist.
Shot in the back on his wedding day? An image of Matilda and her mother went through her mind. For a full minute, she couldn't breathe. She could see it all in her head so clearly.
It wasn't meant to be. Sundown's words echoed in her ears. No wonder he'd been so sad when he talked about her.
To be with her mother, who looked so much like Matilda, must have killed him.
It's why he killed her and your father. He couldn't take it any more.
A psychotic break would make sense.
Andy and Jess were lying.
She wanted to believe that. It would be the easiest. Not to mention, it was the option that didn't leave her with a conscience that would flog her for the rest of her life.
However long that was.
Rubbing her hand over her eyes, she sat down on the bed and looked at the food. It turned her stomach.
No, not the food. What she'd done. The one thing no one had ever told her about was how to cope with the lives she'd taken. Even before Sundown had kidnapped her, her conscience had been there, telling her that she'd taken someone's life. Her anger kept her going, but it wasn't enough to drown out her actions.
"They deserved it. Think of how many of us they've killed over the centuries. Do you think they ever have a minute's worth of compassion when it comes to us? No, they don't. Kill the Apollite. We're animals to be butchered to them. Wasn't it bad enough Apollo cursed us? Then his damned sister had to go and create a race to hunt and kill us as brutally as they can. They stab us in the hearts, Abby. And stand over our bodies while we die. Where is fair in all of that? We live twenty-seven years and hit full puberty at a time when most humans are still in grade school, learning their ABC's. Our lives are horrifically short, and you were there when my mother withered into dust. At twenty-seven. Remember that? Did you ever even hear her speak a bad word about anyone? No. She was kindness incarnate. We took you in and you've seen it firsthand. We don't hurt anyone. We are the victims." Kurt's indignation had fueled her vengeance quest, along with Perry and Jonah.
Even Hannah.
Kill the Dark-Hunters, Abby. That had been chanted to her since the moment Kurt's mother died. Even her adoptive father, on his deathbed, had begged her for retribution.
"You're our only hope, Abs. Don't let us down. Remember what they did to us. What that animal did to your parents. Never forget it."
But her memories ... Something in all of this didn't feel right. There were too many missing pieces.
If only she knew the truth.
You do know the truth. You were there.
Unable to sort through it, she looked up at the ceiling, wishing the real answer would fall down and smack her hard enough to make her listen.
* * *
"Your coyotes just came slinking back in the door with tucked tails. I would have killed them, but figured you'd want the honor. They claim there's a wolf helping your enemies now. But they don't know who he is, or if he's one of ours or from another pantheon. My guess is he's not one of ours."