knife toward my heart.”
She licked her lips, wanting to defend her hunter friends yet also wanting to see her lover’s side. “Jared Pener was nineteen when he tried to fight you,” she informed him. “His family had to cremate him because you returned him in five pieces.”
“His hands were drenched with blood by the time he faced me. Blood from spirits too weak to harm anything. He slaughtered them indiscriminately and without mercy.”
“You remember him?” she asked, surprised.
He glanced at her. “I started to pay attention to the hunters I fought after I met you,” he confessed. “I tried not to send too many of your friends back missing parts.”
The news startled her. She thought of the way she’d avoided killing spirits since they met but it hadn’t occurred to her that he’d felt the same.
And my sisters? she longed to ask. Would their fate have been different had she met Arawn a few years earlier? Or would the opportunity to take out hunters of their caliber have been too tempting a chance to pass up?
The question caught in her throat. If he admitted he’d have killed them anyway, it would be the end of them. She’d never be able to be with such a man.
But before she could choke out the query, he spoke.
“Are you not capable of cruelty?” he asked quietly. “You have taken lives with your lovely hands, Keri. I have seen the harm you can inflict. My brother would not be after you now if you didn’t have an impressive body count of your own.”
She looked away, not liking to admit he had a point. She wanted to stare at the spirits around her and condemn them, but who was she to cast stones? In reality, her life was more like the spirits than the humans. She lived and breathed blood, danger and death. Maybe, given enough time, she would be able to see the beauty of his frightening world.
“I like the danger in you,” he whispered against her ear. “It gives you such strength. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
She glanced at him sharply. “You can’t be serious.”
He arched an elegant brow. “Well, perhaps I’d have you fear me a touch less.”
Kerilyn lifted her chin in denial. “I don’t fear you.”
A mocking half smile twisted his lips. “Of course.”
“I don’t.”
He was silent for a long moment before saying, “I’m different from you. The unknown is always frightening.”
Kerilyn swallowed hard, wishing the unknown was just a little bit less tempting.
“Would you change me?”
The words were said quietly, his voice bland as if he’d asked out of idle curiosity.
She opened her mouth to give a glib reply but thought twice. Her heart was still racing at his declaration stating he liked her as she was. Would her words have the same power over him? Would a joke wound more deeply than she intended?
She considered his words carefully. He was everything she’d ever wanted for most of her life. All she’d change were his allegiances, or rather his commitment to his brother. If he was on her side, no power in heaven or earth would be able to keep her away from him. It was a frightening thought. This man had the power to hurt her deeply, and not just physically.
“Are you really with me?” The words were out before she could call them back.
Arawn’s hand tightened on hers. “Perhaps there is one thing I would change about you,” he replied. “I’d make you more trusting. At least of me.”
As they continued on, Kerilyn realized his answer wasn’t really an answer at all.
* * *
By the time they reached the docks Kerilyn knew they were fast approaching midnight. The witching hour. It was the very worst time she could stage an attack. Abaddon was bound by the same rules as Arawn. Only on Halloween could either brother walk in her world. It meant both men were powers to be reckoned with on the one night they broke free. And for creatures who lived in darkness, midnight represented the pinnacle of their power.
“Maybe we should wait,”
She licked her lips, wanting to defend her hunter friends yet also wanting to see her lover’s side. “Jared Pener was nineteen when he tried to fight you,” she informed him. “His family had to cremate him because you returned him in five pieces.”
“His hands were drenched with blood by the time he faced me. Blood from spirits too weak to harm anything. He slaughtered them indiscriminately and without mercy.”
“You remember him?” she asked, surprised.
He glanced at her. “I started to pay attention to the hunters I fought after I met you,” he confessed. “I tried not to send too many of your friends back missing parts.”
The news startled her. She thought of the way she’d avoided killing spirits since they met but it hadn’t occurred to her that he’d felt the same.
And my sisters? she longed to ask. Would their fate have been different had she met Arawn a few years earlier? Or would the opportunity to take out hunters of their caliber have been too tempting a chance to pass up?
The question caught in her throat. If he admitted he’d have killed them anyway, it would be the end of them. She’d never be able to be with such a man.
But before she could choke out the query, he spoke.
“Are you not capable of cruelty?” he asked quietly. “You have taken lives with your lovely hands, Keri. I have seen the harm you can inflict. My brother would not be after you now if you didn’t have an impressive body count of your own.”
She looked away, not liking to admit he had a point. She wanted to stare at the spirits around her and condemn them, but who was she to cast stones? In reality, her life was more like the spirits than the humans. She lived and breathed blood, danger and death. Maybe, given enough time, she would be able to see the beauty of his frightening world.
“I like the danger in you,” he whispered against her ear. “It gives you such strength. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
She glanced at him sharply. “You can’t be serious.”
He arched an elegant brow. “Well, perhaps I’d have you fear me a touch less.”
Kerilyn lifted her chin in denial. “I don’t fear you.”
A mocking half smile twisted his lips. “Of course.”
“I don’t.”
He was silent for a long moment before saying, “I’m different from you. The unknown is always frightening.”
Kerilyn swallowed hard, wishing the unknown was just a little bit less tempting.
“Would you change me?”
The words were said quietly, his voice bland as if he’d asked out of idle curiosity.
She opened her mouth to give a glib reply but thought twice. Her heart was still racing at his declaration stating he liked her as she was. Would her words have the same power over him? Would a joke wound more deeply than she intended?
She considered his words carefully. He was everything she’d ever wanted for most of her life. All she’d change were his allegiances, or rather his commitment to his brother. If he was on her side, no power in heaven or earth would be able to keep her away from him. It was a frightening thought. This man had the power to hurt her deeply, and not just physically.
“Are you really with me?” The words were out before she could call them back.
Arawn’s hand tightened on hers. “Perhaps there is one thing I would change about you,” he replied. “I’d make you more trusting. At least of me.”
As they continued on, Kerilyn realized his answer wasn’t really an answer at all.
* * *
By the time they reached the docks Kerilyn knew they were fast approaching midnight. The witching hour. It was the very worst time she could stage an attack. Abaddon was bound by the same rules as Arawn. Only on Halloween could either brother walk in her world. It meant both men were powers to be reckoned with on the one night they broke free. And for creatures who lived in darkness, midnight represented the pinnacle of their power.
“Maybe we should wait,”
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