"Well, no. The thing's something like five thousand pages long."
Leo tsked at her. "You should read chapter fifty-six."
"Why?"
It was Otto who answered. "That's the chapter that tells you how you can free your Dark-Hunter and marry him."
Susan gaped at that. Ravyn hadn't said anything about that to her. "Are you serious?"
"Always. I don't have a sense of humor... well, Roman general and Tabitha not withstanding. "
She had no idea what he was talking about and honestly she didn't care.
"You know," Leo said, distracting her. "I like this article, Sue. What say we make it front-page?"
Her head still spinning from her latest discovery, she nodded at him. "That'd be great. I'll... um... I'll see you guys later."
She left them alone and headed back to her car as quickly as she could. Could she really be able to get Ravyn out of his service to Artemis?
The thought thrilled her.
At least until she got home and brought it up to Ravyn, who didn't seemed pleased by the prospect at all.
"No," he said firmly.
She couldn't believe his automatic answer. "What do you mean, no?"
He crossed his arms over his chest as he faced her in the hallway.
"What I said. No. I'm not getting my soul back from Artemis."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to be mortal."
That didn't make any sense. Why wouldn't he want to be free? For someone who hated cages, he seemed awfully happy to live in bondage to a Greek goddess.
"But you can leave-"
"No, Susan. I can die." He shook his head. "I don't want to die and I damned sure don't want you to die on me, either. I want us to bond when you're ready and I want us to be together forever." He gestured at the window that looked out onto the city. "I have a job to do here in Seattle. A really important one. I go back to being a Were-Hunter and then I go from this to being a Sentinel again and that's the last thing I want to do."
She frowned at the unfamiliar word. "What's a Sentinel?"
"Essentially, it's the Arcadian equivalent to a Dark-Hunter. Only instead of chasing Daimons, I chase down other Were-Hunters. And I lose all immortality. But wait, it gets better. The minute I return to being mortal again, the Katagaria have a clear shot at you because you're my mate."
"Oh..." Suddenly the idea of him getting his soul back wasn't so appealing to her, either. "They'd really do that?"
"Yes. We are at war and they'll stop at nothing to hurt us." He cupped her cheek in his hand as his black eyes and the sincere adoration there warmed her. "But if you really want that for us, then I'll call Ash and we can ask for the test to restore my soul. I leave it up to you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Susan bit her lip as she considered that. "What if Ash won't let us be together if you continue being a Dark-Hunter?"
"He let Cael have Amaranda. Do you really think he'll stop us?"
He had a point. "I don't know. I mean, after all, you only think you love me..."