The Immortal Hunter(51)

"Dani," he began.

Dani sighed to herself with irritation. She just knew Decker was about to bring up Nicholas again, but she didn't want to hear it.

She began to walk a little faster along the stalls, asking, "How long do you think it will take for Bastien's men to fix the phone?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "But while we're on the topic-"

"Oh look, more hay," Dani interrupted as they reached the end of the stalls.

Decker sighed and moved up behind her to peer in at the bales stacked in the end stall.

"They must have kept them in here so they didn't have to drag hay all the way from the front for these back stalls," Dani guessed, but was just talking to keep him from being able to. She began to walk quickly back toward the front of the building. "I always wanted a horse when I was growing up. I suppose most little girls do. I'd get one now, but I don't know how to ride and-"

"He ripped her throat out," Decker blurted.

Dani came to a shuddering halt at the end of the stalls, her eyes locked on the open door ahead. She stood just on the edge of the pool of light spilling through those doors. All she had to do was cross the open area with its hay and saddles and she'd be out, able to rush somewhere else to try to avoid hearing what she suspected was going to at least shake, and possibly topple, all the hopes she'd placed on the shoulders of one Nicholas Argeneau, rogue vampire. Instead she turned slowly to face him, her voice defeated as she said, "Tell me."

Decker glanced away, regret flickering across his face, then shifted to lean back against the stall behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. Peering down at the ground then, he said, "Her name was Barbara Johnson. She was a housewife, eight months pregnant. Both she and the baby died. She was an only child. Her father had a heart attack when they gave him the news, her husband hung himself after the triple funeral, and her mother became an alcoholic and drove her car into a tree before the end of that year." He raised his head and added bitterly, "The man you're counting on not only killed a woman, but also wiped out a family.

"And that's just the victim's family. Ours was torn apart by it too. His younger brother, Thomas, won't talk about him, and his little sister..." Decker shook his head. "Jeanne Louise really looked up to Nicholas and wouldn't at first believe it, but when she finally did... she won't even admit to his existence. As far as she's concerned, she only has and ever had one brother."

Dani had moved to stand opposite him as he spoke and now leaned weakly back against the stall she'd stopped in front of. His words swam around inside her head, carrying vivid images. And then she began to shake her head, her voice bewildered as she said, "But he risked being caught to save Steph and me. And he used to be one of you. Are you sure he-?"

"Yes." Decker rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "I was the one who caught him afterward. Her blood was all over him, even still coating his teeth and tongue."

Dani felt her heart sink at this news and shook her head with bewilderment. "Why did he do it?"

Decker shrugged unhappily. "His life mate died in a car accident a couple weeks before. They hadn't been together long, and she was pregnant. I think he just went crazy. Everyone knew he was in a bad way, and we all tried to help, but he was so damned bitter and angry-" Decker shook his head. "He locked us all out of his life. He stopped working as an enforcer, wouldn't see anyone..." He paused and then admitted, "Nicholas is my cousin on my mother's side. His father, Armand, is her brother. Nicholas was also my partner before it all happened, and despite the age difference we were good friends as well as cousins. I went to his house that day to try to get him to go out. I knocked, but got no answer and nearly left, and then I heard a woman's scream."

Decker grimaced and admitted, "I was stupid enough to try knocking again before deciding to break down the door or I might have been in time to save her. I just never imagined..."

Dani moved to his side, drawn by the guilt and pain reflected on his face. But once there, she had no idea what she could do to soothe him and merely raised her hand to rest it on his crossed arms, offering silent comfort.

It seemed to be enough. Decker took a deep breath, blew it out, and then continued almost mechanically, "I broke down the door, but by the time I found them in the basement it was too late. Nicholas was sitting on the floor with her lying across his lap and-as I said-her blood was all over him."

"I see," Dani said quietly, watching his face. It seemed obvious Decker blamed himself for Barbara Johnson's death, as well as what it had done to her child, father, husband, and mother. The very fact that he knew so much about the family told her that.

Decker, Dani realized, had taken on the responsibility for what Nicholas had done, much as she had been blaming herself for her and Stephanie being kidnapped.

"None of it was your fault," Dani said firmly, wanting to help him see that just as he had helped her. "Nicholas is the one who-"

"I let him go," Decker interrupted.

She stiffened. "What?"

"I let Nicholas go," he repeated. "When I saw what he'd done, I just turned right around and said I was going upstairs to call Lucian. When I got back downstairs he was gone."

"You were probably in shock. You didn't mean to-"