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Chapter 4

She arrived at Zarek's house at sundown only to find a more than irate-looking Acheron stalking out of the house. "Great," she said under her breath. "I'm guessing you've already chewed his ass out about getting in with the authorities."

"Talon told you?" He raked his gaze over the girl, who stood a whole foot shorter than him. For some reason, he felt better that she was here and seemingly ready to handle Zarek.

"Yeah. And now he wants me to babysit." She didn't look too happy about that. "The question is, do you want me to babysit? Or can I memorize my monologue and actually study for my midterm this time?"

Ash paused. "Stay here. Zarek is under house arrest, and he's not too happy with it. I need you to make sure he stays."

Laine cocked an eyebrow at him. "Me make him stay?"

The oldest Dark-Hunter gave her a peeved expression, and she knew that he probably had a lot more on his mind than she would ever have on hers. "Alright, Ash." She sighed and bit her lower lip. "But, as I told Talon, if he wants to go crazy, I can't stop him."

"You better, little girl."

Laine rolled her eyes heavenward. "That's what he said too." With that, she squared her shoulders and marched toward the door. She rang the doorbell, not expecting anyone to answer, and she saw that her card was still stuck between the window and its frame on the door. For some reason, she felt a tinge of sadness.

Are you really surprised that he didn't take your card?

She wasn't. But secretly, she had wished he had.

"What?" The door opened, but Zarek was nowhere to be seen. Holding her breath and praying that she wouldn't be killed if she walked in, she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. It was just as cold in the house as it was outside, and she realized Zarek hadn't bothered to turn up the heat. This was probably mild weather compared to Alaska, anyway. The house was completely black, and Laine couldn't see a thing. And that was saying something, considering her Apollite blood.

There was a snort somewhere in front of her, toward the right. "Really? Are you the one they sent in to make sure that I stay here?"

"Yup. So I'm here for the night, whether we both like it or not." She raised her hands in front of her face and wiggled her fingers, but she found she couldn't see them. The windows were boarded shut and Zarek hadn't turned on the light because they would hurt his Dark-Hunter eyes. Great, I'm blinder than a bat.

"Get the hell out of my house."

The hatred in his voice was undeniable, and she wanted to turn around and run for Acheron.

"I can't, Zarek. This is my job, and the only way you're leaving is over my dead body." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she gulped and wished she hadn't said them. Laine couldn't see anything, and she knew that Zarek still had those damn claws on his hand. If he really wanted her dead, she would be on the ground, without a heartbeat in a second. She tried to remind herself that she had thought the same thing last night and survived.

The Dark-Hunter gave a low, evil laugh, and the hair on the back of her neck began to rise. She swallowed hard and tried to remind herself that she also had powers. However, she always found that when she wasn't focused, they were incredibly hard to summon.

"Don't push me, little girl."

She took a few steps forward slowly, knowing that Zarek could see her but she couldn't see him. That was a wonderful feeling. At this rate, he could slip out the door behind her, and she wouldn't know until she heard the door slam.

Zarek watched as the girl held up her hands and realized that with her human eyes, she couldn't see a thing in the dark. Good. He didn't want her watching him anyway. He hated it when people looked at him. Their eyes were either full of fear, anger, or pity. And he didn't need any of those things right now.

Laine took a few tentative steps forward, and suddenly, he realized she was going to trip over his duffel bag full of weapons that he had left in front of the television. She would spill the weapons and then fall… possibly getting hurt on his swords and knives. It was too late to call out a warning. Without thinking, he leaped up and pushed her out of the way, slamming her body into the wall behind her. Unfortunately, his momentum made him crash into her just as she did so.

Her head made a sickening smack on the wall, and Zarek ground his teeth. He hadn't meant to hurt her.

"What the heck?" she cried, and tried to push him away. He finally realized what she was trying to do when he felt both her palms against his chest. Though her mind was strong, she still couldn't match him physically. Suddenly, the only light in the living room came on. It was too weak to hurt Zarek's eyes, but he guessed it allowed her to see in the room.

"What the heck?" Laine repeated, staring up at Zarek, whose chest was only an inch away from her nose. The back of her head stung, and she was still trying to recover from being slammed into a wall by a man the size of most football players.

Zarek only snarled at her. "You want to stay? Fine. It's your hell." He stalked away, slamming the door as he walked into his room. Laine couldn't understand what was going on. Hadn't he just smashed her into the wall? Why was he angry? She had thought he was trying to attack her and …

She tried to wipe the other thought out of her head, but the words came anyway. …kill her.

Laine scanned the room, and her eyes fell on the duffel bag, which was exactly where she had been about a second ago, before Zarek pushed her into the wall. The glint of steel caught her eye, and she bent down to look into the bag.

She gasped as reality dawned on her. He hadn't meant to hurt her, and he certainly hadn't been attacking her. Zarek had been able to see in the dark, and knew that she was about to trip on a bag full of weapons. Had he done nothing, she would probably have tripped, fallen on a sword, and been killed. Sighing, she made her way toward the direction of Zarek's door.

****

As he slammed the door behind him, he cursed under his breath. Why did he even bother? Every time he tried to do something nice, it came back to bite him in the ass. No one trusted him, and he kept making the same mistake. Zarek snarled as he took off his claws, knowing that he wouldn't need them tonight.

In fact, he was sure Acheron wouldn't let him out for the rest of his stay here. Of course, he didn't intend to follow orders exactly; it was something he wasn't too good at doing anymore. He could easily get past Laine, but it would involve her getting hurt, and he hadn't descended so low as to hurt an unprotected woman.

His thoughts turned to the one moment when she had been pressed into his body. She had been soft, and her hair and body smelled of peaches and cream. The heat from her body had warmed him for just that second and given him a false sense of security and belonging. Something he had always longed for…

No.

He didn't need anything. He didn't want anything, except to end this miserable existence.

A knock came on his door.

Even from his bed, he could feel Laine's presence on the other side of it. Ever since she put up the shield around her mind, he couldn't tell what she was thinking, and for some reason, it was comforting to not always have someone's random thoughts enter his head.

"Zarek?" Her voice wasn't angry anymore, but he knew it could change any second. But it didn't. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. And thanks for pushing me out of the way." He sat up, startled that she had actually figured out his intentions. Usually, people took one look at him and thought the worst. "I haven't eaten dinner, so do you mind if I fix myself some food?"

Zarek stared at the door in disbelief. Who was this woman? And why did she insist on treating him like he was just another human being? No one, in his entire existence, had ever apologized to him. He wasn't sure how to respond, as his heart wrenched.

Stop it! He couldn't understand why he was feeling this. Why did he care? She was his Squire and had to serve him. Heck, Lord knows she was getting paid enough to do it. But she could have been like Nick: silent and pouting in his presence. Instead, she was making an effort to talk to him.

"Well, I'm taking that as a yes."

It was only when she spoke did he realize how long he had been quiet for. Before he could say anything, he heard her retreating footsteps.