Free The Living Night (Book 2) by Jack Conner Page B

home-made flour tortilla, then rolled the taco up and began eating it,
not talking. About the time he was finished, a servant came out and placed a
hot plate of huevos rancheros before him.
    After his first bite, he said to Kharker,
"I didn't kill her."
    "No," replied his host. "I didn't
think you would."
    "Are you disappointed?"
    "No. Actually, now that I've had time to
think about it, I'm relieved."
    "Relieved?"
    "Because I'd been
forcing all this on you. I got to thinking that if someone else were trying to force
a new lifestyle on me, I'd resent it, and ultimately I'd resist it just on
general principles, no matter what this new lifestyle's merits might be. So now
I respect you more for resisting me than I would've later if you'd gone along with what I'd wanted. I guess I was too anxious to
have things back like they used to be. I didn't stop to think about making you
comfortable with it. When I first met you, you were already quite on the
opposite side of conventional morality, so I didn't have to do any persuading;
that's why we were so close."
    "You taught me things ...”
    "I taught you how to be honest with
yourself, how to love life from all angles. Things are different now. You've
changed, and the harder I push you the harder you're going to push back. Please,
forgive me."
    "I can't, Kharker. You've gone too
far."
    "What, cutting out the girl's tongue? Is
that anything worse than I do nightly in the Hunt?"
    "I suppose not."
    "There you are. Come to think of it, we did
some much worse things back during the War, didn't we?"
    "Those times are past."
    Kharker buttered a tortilla and sopped up the
last of his plate with aplomb. "I'm glad you inspired me to get those
Mexican cooks," he said. "I'd forgotten just how delicious this stuff
is."
    "Kharker ...”
    "Yes, my son?"
    "I need to leave. I need to find Danielle.
If you hold me here, I'll only resent you more."
    Kharker nodded, took a swig of his orange juice.
"Yes, things can't go on like this for any longer. I've anticipated this
and have made preparations to shake things up around here."
    "I don't want to be shaken up. I want—"
    Kharker raised a hand, commanding silence.
"Look, Ruegger, you can't go back to Danielle yet. I don't say this just
to keep you around here longer—although I would like that. I say this because
in all likelihood she hasn't finished what she needs to do. She has a decision
to make, and if you interfere before she's ready you’ll only make things worse.
So, please, stay here a few more days and I’ll arrange transportation for you
to Roche's Castle. I'll make sure that he understands that you're to be given
special protected treatment. Does that sound like a deal?"
    Ruegger shoved his plate away. Slowly, he
nodded, because despite Kharker's ulterior motives, the Hunter was right: what
Danielle needed to do, she needed to do alone.
    "It's a deal," he said, and stood.
    "Going somewhere?"
    "I need a walk."
    Kharker wiped at his lips with a napkin.
"I’m sorry about all this. You know I love you, Ruegger. You do know that,
don't you?"
    "I know," Ruegger said, and left.
    He returned to his room, hoping to find the girl
for company, but she was gone and he realized that Gavin must have waited for
him to leave before abducting the girl from her slumber.
    Gritting his teeth, Ruegger pushed downstairs
and into the forest. He tried to turn his mind to the beauty around him, to
focus on it and not himself , but it wasn’t easy. Please, Danielle , he thought. Be strong. Be safe . Before long, he
stumbled into a small clearing and upon the remains of the two men he and Kharker
had killed the night Danielle left him. Little remained of the corpses except
for the bones, most of which were broken at least once; what Ruegger and
Kharker hadn't finished off, the creatures of the jungle had.
    He examined a black collar on the ground, where
he had thrown it after ripping it off the human's neck with his teeth.
    "I’m so sorry," he muttered, inhaling
the