A/N: This is the second half of chapter six, which because ffn is being retarded, it won't let me upload it in one file. Grrr -- enjoy!

Parker planned her assault well. But first, she had to lower Jarod's defenses. Other than their conversation over chicken noodle soup, Jarod had been silent and withdrawn, preferring to stalk the confines of the one room cabin. He looked uneasy and restless and frequently eyed the door longingly, as if itching to be free of this place. Occasionally he muttered to himself, though Parker strained to catch his mumblings, she failed every time.

She tried to figure out how to get Jarod to quit prowling, but nothing came to her and since she had never been known for her subtlety, she decided to brazen it out. She stood up and stretched her cramped muscles, groaning in appreciation. Jarod glanced over at her sharply.

"Well, I think I'll go take a shower," Parker told Jarod as she walked across the room, she paused and threw him a smile over her shoulder, "I'm feeling pretty dirty right now."

She barely got two steps further before Jarod grabbed her from behind. He growled low in her ear, "I'm feeling pretty dirty too, mind if I join you?"

Turning in his embrace, Parker wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned impishly, "That depends, Jarod," she answered casually.

Cocking a dark brow, Jarod grinned, "On what?"

She almost forgot what she was trying to accomplish, but she knew that Jarod needed her, even if he himself didn't know it. Whatever he was involved in, he had needed someone to help him, and he had called to her. So she had to get him to tell her what was going on, no matter how distracting his wicked grins were.

"On whether we can both fit in that tiny shower stall!" she taunted.

"Are you sure you want to take a shower right now? I mean, you'll just get dirty again, no sense in not saving water."

Parker had to laugh at Jarod. Even when he was trying to seduce her, he was ever the practical one. But before Parker could come up with a retort to Jarod's innuendo, he picked her up and walked back over to the futon and laid her gently upon it.

She shook her head, "Oh no, you don't Jarod!" she slipped out from beneath him, used one hand to push him into the position she had just vacated and pursed her lips at him. "You've had your fun, it's my turn now."

Jarod tried to keep from looking too eager, but Parker could see the anticipation glittering in his eyes. He was like a kid in a candy store. She chuckled at her own little analogy.

"I'm at your mercy," Jarod whispered just before she leaned over and kissed him.

Though she felt dazed by the sheer sensation that coursed through her body, Parker was on a mission. She allowed Jarod's hands to divest her of her clothing once again until she was clad only in her ridiculous panties. She pulled back to look at Jarod. His eyes were glazed over, his chest heaving.

Before she could think better of her plan, or how it might backfire in her face, Parker leaned over to kiss Jarod again, which proved to be a great distraction technique. She then used her free hand to explore the floor to find her bra. She found it and tucked it underneath the mattress of the futon so it would be within easy reach.

Her next move was to run her sensitive fingers down Jarod's muscular arms, exploring every curve, feeling the hair that lightly sprinkled his forearms, then down to his hands, where she entwined her own fingers with his. Slowly, she brought his hands up over his head and pinned them down.

When she pulled back again, Jarod was grinning madly up at her, thinking she was only playing a game with him. She smiled back, whispered in his ear, "Yes, you are at my mercy."

Once more, she began kissing him, this time, her move was to get her bra near Jarod's hands to tie them to the frame of the futon. She managed it, though there were times when she wondered if Jarod suspected her or if he was just too busy enjoying the feel of her body on top of his. Before her guilt could stop her from doing what she knew needed to be done, Parker moved with an agility that both amazed and frightened her.

Before Jarod knew what was happening, Parker had pulled away from him and he realized his hands were bound to the futon by nothing more than that small slip of lace and spandex.

She pushed herself off of his body and bent down to pick up her shirt off the floor. It would give her a boost of confidence and a measure of control, something she needed desperately as her gaze returned to the betrayal she found in Jarod's eyes.

"What are you doing, Parker?" his voice was controlled, telling her just how angry he was with her.

If there was one thing Parker had learned in all her years of chasing Jarod, it was to never underestimate him. She went in search of something to reinforce the skimpy bra restraining Jarod's hands. All she found was her torn skirt and Jarod's black shirt. Without warning, she tore it into several strips of cloth and used them to tighten his bonds.

"Let me go, Parker."

She sighed, "I can't do that, Jarod. I need answers and until I get them, I don't intend to let you go. You said it, you're at my mercy," she answered, reverting back to being the huntress.

His jaw tightened in frustration or anger, or both. "I already told you I can't tell you, Parker. I've made a promise, I can't just break my word."

She wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained, instead she clucked her tongue, "That's too bad."

"Parker!" he yelled, his face turning a very interesting shade of red, she noted with some satisfaction, "Let me go!"

"Not on your life," she returned, her blue eyes narrowed on him. "When you answer my questions to my satisfaction, Jarod, then I might think about it. You'll have to suffer until then."

He locked his jaw stubbornly, she could see he was already trying to formulate a way out of the trap she'd laid for him.

She paced in front of him slowly, giving him ample time to view her long, slim legs. Every move she made was deliberate, calculated. She was in full-fledge Parker mode and though the stakes were just as high as ever, she found she liked this situation. She was going to help Jarod whether he wanted her to or not.

"Lyle told me what happened," she began softly, almost catching Jarod off guard. He strained against the shirt and bra, his biceps bulging. She knew he didn't want to discuss this, but she had to know what had happened the night she'd shot him. What had really happened.

"How did you survive getting shot twice, Jarod? Lyle swears you died."

"How do you think, Parker? A Greek goddess offered me a chance at a new life, I got to live, and she got my soul. Seemed like the thing to do at the time," he snapped at her.

"Don't get flippant with me, Jarod," she retorted, "If I am going to help you, Jarod, I need to know what's going on."

Jarod was silent for so long after that, Parker began to wonder what was wrong with him, but when he opened his mouth, she was stunned.

"I don't need your help, Parker. In fact, once we leave this cabin and get back to New Orleans, you and I are going to part ways. I have work to do, and I don't need you distracting me."

Hurt beyond words, Parker turned away to blink back her tears, tears that she had no intention of letting Jarod see. She almost admitted defeat right then, her shoulders began to slump, and she was in danger of breaking down completely and untying Jarod. She moved to do so, but a voice stopped her.

Ayngil, you can't give up on him. He loves you and he needs you. You are the only one who can save him, Ayngil. Don't let him push you away.

It was her mother's voice. In her mind's eye, she saw her mother smiling encouragingly at her, nodding her head towards where Jarod lay. Parker nodded back and swung around, the light of battle in her blue eyes.

"I don't think so, Jarod. You can't get rid of me so easily," she informed her captive audience archly. "I want some answers, Jarod, and if we have to sit here for the next week, we will. I can wait."

Something in her stance, in her face and eyes must have told Jarod she was serious, and indeed, she was. She could be just as stubborn as he could be, if not more so. If he wanted to keep silent then she had every intention of keeping him tied up until he was ready to talk.

"Parker," he began in a warning tone, she cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it, Jarod. Unless it's the truth. Remember, Jarod, you're a horrible liar and I can tell when you're not telling me the truth," she crossed her arms over her unbound breasts, expectantly.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine," he spat out; "You want the truth?" His black eyes burned with an unholy fire. He was pissed at her. "I watched Lyle shoot Sydney, my father, saw him execute everyone, including Ethan. Our little brother. He shot them all and didn't even blink an eye. You're right. Lyle shot me, I died, Parker. You want the truth? I told you the truth, Artemis appeared before me and offered me an Act of Vengeance, and in return she would resurrect me and I would become one of her Dark-Hunters.

Parker opened her mouth to tell him to forget it. For a moment, she had thought he was finally going to spill his guts. Damn him to hell. It was Jarod who cut her off.

"I'm not finished," he snapped. "I awoke and went after Lyle to kill him. You stumbled onto what happened after that, so I will leave out explaining to you that my revenge was interrupted. After I jumped out the window, I ran until I collapsed. I woke up here in New Orleans." He purposely left out mentioning Acheron to her.

Still skeptical, Parker shifted her weight to her left leg and stared down at Jarod. "All right. So I am supposed to believe that you were miraculously resurrected by a mythical figure. Why?" she demanded.

What the hell, he thought, might as well tell her all of it. She won't believe it anyway.

"Because of what Lyle did. He killed my family, Parker, murdered them in cold blood! Do you know what seeing your family killed before your eyes while you stand by, unable to prevent their deaths, does to you? All I'd done for the last five years is try to win some justice for people who needed it. What did I get in return? All the people I loved were killed because of me, which just to prove that no good deed goes unpunished."

His cynicism scared Parker, who had always relied on Jarod to look on the positive side of things, while she remained bitter and pessimistic. She had still thought him innocent, but had it all been a ruse so she wouldn't see how much agony he was in? God, it had only been two years. She sat down on the futon next to him.

She was ready to listen to what he was saying. Turning to him, she smiled gently, "So what exactly is a Dark-Hunter?"

He smiled at her in answer, and she gasped. This time he didn't bother to hide his fangs from her view.

"You're a vampire!" she looked horrified and disbelieving, she quickly scrambled off the futon and began backing away from him. "This has to be a nightmare," she whispered, her face pale and her lips bloodless.

Jarod strained against his bonds, wanting to go to her to reassure her. "Parker, wait."

His voice snapped her out of her stupor; she looked at him and relaxed somewhat. "What the hell is going on!" she demanded, reverting back to being the Ice Queen in her confusion.

"I'm not a vampire. I told you, I'm a Dark-Hunter."

She glared at him, "Like that explains everything!"

He chuckled, "All right, give me a chance to explain before you run screaming from this cabin and turn me into crispy fried chicken pretender, okay?"

She nodded wordlessly, but she remained rooted to the where she stood. It made an adorable picture, Parker standing in the middle of the cabin, her silk shirt rumpled, eyeing Jarod as if he might go vamp on her and suck her blood.

"Dark-Hunters are, for the sake of a short explanation, soulless, immortal vampire slayers. We were created to protect humans from becoming second on the food chain. We were given many of the same abilities and strengths as vampires, but with one vital difference. We don't need human blood to survive."

Parker looked as if she still might have bolted from the room, but instead, she took a deep breath and tried to look calm and in control, but failed miserably.

"I don't know if you're telling me the truth, or if you've finally lost yourself in a pretend you were doing, Jarod, but I can't doubt what my inner sense says. As crazy as your story is, my inner sense says your telling the truth."

He sighed in relief. "Will you untie me now?" he added.

She debated seriously for a moment, but her common sense kicked in and she figured that if Jarod were truly going to hurt her, he would have definitely done it before now.

She had trouble getting the knots out, and was afraid she was going to have to get a knife to cut them loose, when Jarod told her, "Don't bother."

He strained for a few moments, before ripping through both her bra and the remains of his shirt. He sat up and rubbed the circulation back into his hands, while Parker gaped at him. He gave her a wry grin, "That's two pieces of your clothing I've ripped. I promise to replace them," he added sheepishly.

Parker sat down next to him heavily; she looked over at his hands and considered what had just happened. He'd broken his restraints if they'd been nothing more than a flimsy piece of string tying him down. He could have gotten free whenever he wanted to, but hadn't. Something else occurred to her and she turned to him.

"I wasn't hallucinating earlier when I thought you looked like some blond guy, was I? Its part of whatever you are now, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Sydney used to always say I could pretend to be anyone I wanted to be. I guess my Dark-Hunter powers took that one step forward. I can literally become anyone I want to be now. My new powers seem to have enhanced my pretender abilities. I have some precognizant flashes, during battle especially," Jarod paused, then added, "If the Centre ever got its hands on me again and managed to keep me, do you realize the implications of what would happen? It can't happen Parker. I'm not Jarod anymore and you have to go back and tell them that he doesn't exist anymore."

She nodded in agreement. They sat there for several minutes, then Jarod stood up, "It's sunset, Parker. It's time to get the hell out of here."

Looking up, Parker frowned, "How can you tell it's sunset? There's no way to tell what time of day from in here."

"I can feel it," he whispered. He demonstrated by walking over to the door and opening it. It was beginning to grow dark outside and the sun had already set.

Parker stared at Jarod uneasily. Then her eyes were drawn down to the tattoo on Jarod's stomach. Everything clicked in her mind, and she realized why it had looked so familiar to her before. It was the symbol of the Greek goddess of the hunt. Instead of commenting on it, she grabbed Jarod's leather jacket from the back of the futon where she'd thrown it that morning.

He raised a brow as she slipped his jacket on. He prowled over to where she stood, swallowed by the folds of his jacket. Her eyes looked up into his, luminescent in the coming twilight that permeated the cabin now that Jarod had opened the door.

He reached into the jacket and began removing items that she hadn't even realized were stowed in its deep recesses. His cell phone was the last thing he pulled out. She looked down and saw all the weapons in Jarod's hands. A long sword, a PDA, a wicked looking knife, and lastly, a 9mm. All the items disappeared on Jarod's person as he pulled his black leather biker boots on and ran his fingers through his messy hair. Except the sword, which he hooked to the waist on his jeans.

Flipping open his cell phone, Jarod pushed a button and waited a moment.

"Yeah it's me, gator bait. Who'd you think it would be using my phone? A polite little Daimon, just calling to say he loved you?"

Whatever response Jarod got made his eyes twinkle and his lips twist in wry humor.

"Sorry, Nicky, I'm not into pretty little boys like you."

Jarod laughed loudly to the response he got. "You're not my blood type either. Listen, I need some new clothes and weapons brought to Talon's. I don't have time to go back to my place tonight."

He paused, the responded, "Because you don't want me to hunt you down, Nick. Once I was through with you, you'd not only be single for the rest of your life, but a eunuch as well." Laughing in unholy delight, Jarod threw a wink at Parker, who wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

"I thought so. I'll see you in a little while."

After Jarod had hung up the phone and got Parker settled into the catamaran, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure your friend will come after what you just said to him?"

It was the last question Jarod expected to come out of her mouth, especially after all the ugly phone conversations they had shared over the years. He grinned as he started up the catamaran and began navigating the swamp, "I think he would be offended if I didn't. Nick is a smart ass. He just likes giving Dark-Hunters hell, but he always comes through. He's a squire, a human who has sworn to protect and serve Dark-Hunters."

"Perhaps I should call Lyle. I am certain he has informed Raines that you kidnapped me. I need to let Lyle know I am okay before the Centre sends reinforcements down here to look for us both."

It was now completely dark, so neither could see each other. Jarod hesitated, although he knew Parker was right. He just wasn't so certain he wanted to let her go, not until he absolutely had to. Finally, he answered her, "All right. But wait until we reach the other side of the swamp."

"Okay."

Jarod knew he needed to tell Parker something, but he just couldn't get the words to form. He swallowed heavily, wishing he could explain to Parker all of the feelings in his heart, but there just wasn't enough time. He flexed his jaw, remembering a time when he had begged her to start over with him. She had been the one to push him away. Now it was his turn. She couldn't stay in his world any longer, and as loath as he was to give her up when she had finally allowed him to breach her defenses, he had no other choice.

Unable to find the words, Jarod could only content himself with sailing through the darkness with her, praying that it would last for eternity and knowing it could not.