Dark Stranger Immortal (The Children of the Gods #3)(42)

she supplied.

“Yes, Mother… but it’s thumbs. Not fingers.”

“What?”

“The expression is twiddling my thumbs.”





3 6

D A L H U

“So, now you added stealing to your list of crimes, along with kidnapping.” As soon as Dalhu was done loading the car with the last of the supplies, Amanda resumed her incessant nagging.

Driving on a dark and deserted mountain road, he’d found a small shopping center. Closed for the night, with no soul for miles around, the decrepit wooden building housing a general store and a donut shop looked creepily like something one would expect to find in a ghost town. But it was exactly what he’d been looking for.

The simple lock had posed no real challenge for Dalhu, and as he’d suspected, the store had no alarm system.

He’d piled on canned foods, loaves of bread, and drinks. Looking around for more items that were not too difficult to prepare, he’d grabbed several packages of ramen noodles and, some spaghetti, along with canned spaghetti sauce. His own expertise in the cooking department was limited, and he had no illusions as to Amanda’s willingness to prepare food for them.

There were a few racks of garments for both men and women at the back of the store, and he’d picked sweats for Amanda and himself. Luckily, he’d found some XXL sweats. They were cheaply made, not to mention too short, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. They would have to do.

Despite her loud protests, he’d left Amanda cuffed in the car while he’d gathered the supplies. She’d retaliated by making him go back time and again for towels, blankets, toiletries, and other things she’d figured they would need.

She was right, of course. They had no way of knowing what they would find in the deserted cabin he planned on breaking into, wisely making sure that they would at least have the bare necessities.

So why the hell was she suddenly throwing that in his face when only a few minutes ago she was sending him for more things?

His gaze cut to her. “If that was the sum of my crimes, I would be a happy man,” he grated. Then seeing her shrink away from him, he added in a softer tone, “If it makes you feel any better, I left three hundred bucks on the counter to cover what we took. I may be many things, but I’m not a thief.”





3 7

A M A N D A

R eminded of who and what her kidnapper was, Amanda’s bravado faltered. He was a Doomer, for goodness’ sake, by definition a cold-blooded, professional killer. She must’ve been out of her mind pushing him the way she had. She should tread lightly around him and shut up, instead of antagonizing him.

The smart thing to do was to wait patiently to be rescued. Except, how would anyone find her? Had they even noticed that she was missing? Kian and Syssi were probably still on their date, oblivious to her fate. Only Onidu would know something was wrong. It was sad, really, that the only person waiting for her to come home wasn’t really a person.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Kian and Syssi would be worried sick about her just as soon as they found out. And so would be the rest of her family. They’d do everything in their power to get her back.

“Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?” Dalhu studied her face in the dim illumination of the dashboard lights.

“I thought my nagging was annoying you,” she said without looking at him.

“Nah, I like the sound of your voice… even with the whiny undertones.”

Forgetting her newfound resolve of only a moment ago, she hazarded, “You sounded like you have regrets, are they for all the killing you have done?”

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can’t I keep my mouth shut?

Dalhu pinned her with an unreadable look before turning his eyes back on the road. “Regrets are for those who had a choice and made the wrong one. I didn’t have a choice. So no, I have no regrets. That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m happy with the way my life has turned out.” Dalhu paused as if deliberating whether to tell her more.

Amanda’s silence eventually prompted him to continue. “My mother was a slave and a whore with no say in her life either, and yet she loved me despite the way she came to have me. Which could not have been said for the rest of the women at the harem; some hated the children that were forced upon them. After all this time, even though I can’t recall her face anymore, I still remember her crying when I was torn from her arms and taken to be activated and raised as a warrior in a cold and cruel military training camp.

That camp and its teachings of hate and war became my whole life, and I never saw her or my sister again. I could feel sorry for myself and indulge in wishing that my life’s circumstances were different, but that’s all it would be —wishing. It would change nothing.”

Chewing on her lower lip, Amanda reflected on what he’d told her. He was right. She grew up pampered and sheltered, never having to face the things he had since he’d been a young boy. Could she blame him? Judge him? Not really. But the fact remained that after a lifetime of hatred and killing, Dalhu was no doubt broken beyond repair, and to think differently would be wishful and naive. It was exactly as he had said; wishing would not make it so.

Glancing at his hard profile, Amanda felt a mixture of pity and grudging respect for him. Somehow, through all that he’d done and all that had been done to him, he’d managed to keep a tiny bit of himself out of the darkness, and with that flickering flame, he still hoped and struggled to feel something other than hatred and rage. It made her curious. The scientist in her hankered to discover how he was able to do it after centuries of living in what must have been a damn close approximation of hell.