Sin didn’t respond right away, uncharacteristically taking the time to process Zai’s stuttering, halting speech.
Perhaps it was because he knew what it cost the male to reveal so much of what he was thinking. Like flaying open his own hide to show the bleeding, raw flesh beneath.
Perhaps it was because Sin was relaxed from sleep even if he was fully aware now. Perhaps being with Zai made his human side push to the fore, and he searched his emotions as much as relied on his instincts. Or perhaps it was all of the above.
Finally, he replied:
You are not responsible for what happened to me and my Kind. If you were not the Master Hunter, there would have been another. And if so, perhaps things would have turned out different.
Perhaps more of my Kind would be tortured heinously before being killed. Perhaps both Anya and I would have died that day.
Did you think of that?
Stony silence was his response. The Hunter barely seemed to breathe.
Knowing what you know about the Blood Moon Queen, can you imagine any scenario that would have allowed my Kind to flourish and thrive?
Sin waited a few beats before answering his own question.
The answer is a resounding no.
I have come to grips with this truth. Just as I know that there is no way to reclaim what I have lost.
What is lost is gone. Never to be recovered.
Zai flinched visibly at that.
Sin went on.
But we live, and so there are new things to be found.
Beautiful things. Wondrous things. Perhaps even more wondrous than anything we could have ever imagined.
Zai shuddered all over, his chest rising and falling with deep breaths.
Ben’s words…I hadn’t thought about it, Sin murmured.All this time I only acted on instinct. But his words make sense.
I remember that day. I remember what you did. You fought back even when it was an impossible fight.
“I failed,” Zai husked out loud.
“I acted too late. I could have…I had access to Queen Gaia. I could have tried to…”
Assassinate her? As if others haven’t made the attempt before you?
Sin released a long breath.
Perhaps you could have.
Perhaps out of the millions of possibilities, you could have had one chance to succeed without getting killed in the process. And it would be that kind of shot. That slim of chance. The most likely outcome would be failure and death.
What matters to me is that youtried.
You fought back, no matter when or where. You saved me too. Freed me from that hellhole. I have not even thanked you. It is not merely a debt I owe, but also my gratitude.
I thank you, Hunter.
He paused and added firmly: