** spoiler alert ** Zarek and Astrid. We got to see a bit of Zarek in the previous book and understood that he wasn't the psychotic killer that everyone made him out to be. But this is where he really shone.

This book goes into a really dark past for Zarek but it's not the images that are conjured. It is the emotional result of this past that has shaped Zarek into the creature that he became. Being isolated outside of Fairbanks, Alaska for 900 years didn't help things. There were days in the high of summer where he could not even leave his cabin to go to the well merely feet from his door because the 'night time' was just too short. It would be enough to drive anyone insane.

Astrid is sent to judge Zarek, see if he is fit to live or if he should be executed like the monster everyone claims he is. She is the daughter of Themis, a Justice nymph who apparently has never judged anyone to be Innocent. Ever. It is also around here that we see the 'relationship' between Ash and the goddess Artemis.

As the story unfolds, Astrid begins to see past the thorny exterior of Zarek and learns why he is the way he is; it is not enough to understand the Why of the man in order to judge him as innocent. And then the truth comes out, from the lips of a child demon (OMG! The Simi! I loves her so!) while they are being hunted by the Dark-Hunter slayer that Artemis had created almost a millennium ago.

The story wraps up with a happy ending, naturally, and we get to see even more about Ash/Artemis and just how powerful Acheron really might be. Again, I can't wait to continue reading this series!