She backed away from him several steps, and then he knew he’d made the right decision. The only huntress ever willing to commit to him, the one he’d fallen in love with at first sight, could never be his. And he knew he didn’t want to live as a hunter turned. She abhorred him, just as he knew she would.
For a horrified second, she stared at him as if he was the demonic vampire Piaras himself, and then she stormed back down the path toward the house.
With his heart torn, Zachary continued walking through the gardens, not wanting to talk to anyone about anything for the moment. He stopped to watch the water cascade into a basin filled with rounded river stones, knowing he would have to go on the next hunt that was scheduled. He was never careless, well, not usually when he hunted, but if he did slip up and the vampire took advantage of his mistake, it was a way for Zachary to die with honor.
Footsteps from the direction of the house in the distance approached. He turned to see Rachael walking toward him. “You told her?” Rachael looked surprised.
Zachary nodded. “I couldn’t live a lie with Pasha. She had to know. You knew from the beginning what Adonis was.”
Rachael took Adonis’s arm and led him to a stone bench. “Yes, and I was torn between loving him and giving him up. I couldn’t love a vampire, I kept telling myself.”
“Well, Pasha can’t either.” He shook his head. “What’s the use? I wouldn’t want her to marry something like me either.”
They sat together on the cold stone bench. “Adonis told me you wanted to die.”
Zachary’s heart hitched. He hadn’t expected Adonis to tell anyone.
Rachael patted his shoulder. “I won’t say anything to your father. Uncle Tobias would have you seeing a shrink.”
Zachary couldn’t help but smile. He knew Rachael was pulling his leg.
She rubbed his arm. “Adonis had to live to rescue Pasha and their parents. He never had time to sulk about what had happened to him. When he saw me, he knew he wanted me for his own…no matter what I thought.”
“It’s not the same with Pasha. She hates Adonis and Danai for what they are. Now she hates me.”
Rachael took a deep breath. “She was speaking to her father.”
“It’s to be expected. She’ll want to encourage other hunters’ interest in her now.”
“Give it a chance, Zachary.”
He shook his head. “I was a good hunter, wasn’t I?”
“One of the best. You and Michael are following in your father’s footsteps.”
“She asked me to do something for her, and I said I would, only now…now I doubt she’ll trust me to do the job.”
“What’s that?”
“She wants me to go with her to hunt down those who killed the rest of her family.”
Rachael stood, then wrung her hands. “That’s a suicide mission.”
“What’s wrong, Rachael?”
“She’ll be asking Adonis next. Or maybe she’ll get someone else to convince him to go.”
Zachary rose from the bench and took Rachael’s hand. “Will Adonis go?”
“Will I go where?” Adonis asked as he appeared next to Rachael.
Zachary’s mouth gaped open.
Adonis wrapped his arm around Rachael’s shoulder. “You had a spat with my sister already? She’s asked my father if he’ll permit her to see other hunters now.”
Rachael said, “Zachary told her what had happened to him.”
“Ah. You’re too honorable for your own good. So what about this business about whether or not I’m going somewhere?”
Rachael and Zachary exchanged glances.
“Family secret? Remember, I’m part of the family now.”
“Pasha wants to fight the vampires who killed your family,” Rachael blurted out.
“Oh.” He rubbed Rachael’s back. “We have to do it, you know. Just as you had to avenge your parents’ death, we have to do this.”
“You and Danai and Pasha?”
“Yes.”
“What about your parents?”
“They can’t know we’ve gone to do this. Both my parents have lost their fight, but they’d go with us if they knew what we were up to. They’d be killed.”
“All right, but I’m going with you.”
He ran his hand over her belly. “Not with our child, you’re not.”
Rachael frowned at Adonis. “Now you listen to me, Adonis Cameron, I am too going, and neither you nor anyone else is going to stop me.”
“All right. How can I say no to that? What about you, Zachary?”
“Count me in, though I’m sure Pasha won’t be happy about it.”
“I’ll be the leader of the hunt. She won’t have any say in it.”
“What about Michael?” Rachael asked.
“If Danai goes, he will too. Pasha is really hurting. My father’s a broken man over this whole situation. My mother hasn’t overcome her own grief. Pasha needs time to sort out her own feelings too. In the meantime, take a stand with her. Show her what you’re truly made of, not just what she imagines. I know you want her. Go for it.” Adonis took a deep breath. “I did with Rachael. Not that I didn’t feel the way you’re feeling right now, so soon after being turned. I’ll have to discuss the hunt with your father. He wouldn’t like it if I took both his sons and his niece on a hunt without his permission.”
“Not to mention a son-in-law,” Rachael said, poking her finger into Adonis’s chest. “Remember, as part of my family, you have to live by my uncle’s rules, too.”
Adonis smiled. “Do you know how demanding your cousin is?” he asked Zachary.
Zachary frowned at her. “She’s a handful. She gave me fits growing up, watching out for her, keeping her out of trouble.” Then he grew serious. “I’ll go with you to speak with my father.”
“Pasha will be the same way with you,” Adonis assured him.
Zachary sighed. He was determined to do this, to whatever end.
Zachary’s father’s blue eyes studied Zachary, then he turned to Adonis after hearing Adonis out. “Have you discussed this hunt with Michael?” Tobias asked.
“Yes, sir, and if you agree, he’d like to go.”
Tobias slumped in the chair. “That’s a change for the better. Danai has certainly been a good influence on him. But if Zachary goes, I want your assurance you’ll watch out for him.”
“Father, I’m not a teen hunter. At twenty-six—”
His father raised his hands as his eyes turned stormy. “You have already asked Adonis to put an end to your life. If you go, I don’t want any foolhardiness on your part. You haven’t even had a chance to grow into your new condition as it were. Do you understand?”
Adonis cleared his throat. “If I might add, sir, the hunter and vampire instinctive sense of self-preservation will kick in whenever there’s a fight. I can assure you Zachary would do nothing to put his life in danger on purpose when in so doing, he would endanger all the rest of us.”
Zachary’s father rubbed his chin. Then nodded. “If it is as you say, I give you permission. When will you leave?”