The Dark-Hunters (303 page)

Ash nodded. Savitar had his own demons that he hid. But then everyone did.

“I hope you find peace, my brother,” he said to Savitar.

Savitar scoffed. “Peace walks hand in hand with a quiet conscience.”

“Then we’re both seriously screwed.”

Savitar laughed. “Yes, we are.”

Ash fell silent for a minute as thoughts and scenarios played through his mind. “Question?”

“Answer?”

He gave Savitar an irritated grimace. There were times when Savitar enjoyed provoking him. “Would killing Stryker be such a bad thing?”

“Only you can answer that.”

“I hate it when you play prophet with me. But I suppose I deserve it.”

Savitar shrugged. “All of us answer to someone.”

Those words surprised Ash. He found it hard to believe that Savitar would allow anyone to have any power over him. “And who holds your chain?”

“If I told you that, you’d know too much about me.”

“You already know too much about me.”

Savitar didn’t comment on that. “Life is what
we
make it,” he said slowly. “You don’t need me to tell you what would happen if you killed Stryker. You know that answer.” He moved to stand to Ash’s side. “You let your emotions control you in New Orleans and what happened?”

Complete and utter disaster.

Ash bit his tongue to keep from asking if Alexion would survive the coming battle with Stryker. If the answer was no, then there was no way he could not interfere.

I have to stay out of this.

“Don’t worry, Atlantean,” Savitar said quietly. “The one thing I can assure you … through your own actions, you will be saved.”

“And Alexion?”

“Through his, he will be damned. But then you already knew that.”

Chapter 21

Alexion spent the next two days getting used to Xirena being a part of him, and popping off his body at inopportune moments because his blood was racing and his blood pressure was elevated. It seemed his demon couldn’t tell the physical difference between when he was in danger and when he was “in” Danger.

To which Xirena often commented, “Naked human sex, ew!”

That was okay with him since the idea of naked demon sex was equally repugnant to him.

Meanwhile he continued to grapple with fears about Danger’s future. Part of him wanted the voice back in his head that had warned him originally to watch over her. Who had it been and where had she gone?

How could he get her back?

Damn. There were never voices in his head when he needed them.

And tonight was the night. He would deliver his ultimatum to the Dark-Hunters and then he would channel Acheron’s powers.

In the past, he’d always been ready to return home. This time, he wasn’t. The thought of leaving Danger brought a pain to his chest the likes of which he’d never known before.

“I can’t do this.”

And yet what choice did he have? He couldn’t live in this body. His time was so finite as to be ridiculous. There was no choice here. He couldn’t stay.

It was over.

He looked up as Danger entered the room. Dressed in a pair of black jeans with a long-sleeved black shirt, she looked good enough to eat.

She crossed the room to stand in front of him. And the kiss she gave him set his entire body on fire. “When do you leave?”

He looked away as his heart sank, unable to face her with the truth. “Tonight. Once judgment is rendered, I’ll be taken back.”

He returned to her gaze to see sadness flash in her dark eyes a moment before she hid it. “If I don’t get a chance to say it later, I’m glad you came here. And I’m really sorry I stabbed you … twice.”

He smiled at her words, but his chest tightened as pain overwhelmed him. He was going to miss her more than he would have ever thought possible.

“Danger—”

“Don’t,” she said, placing her finger over his lips to stop him from speaking. “I know what you’re thinking. I can see it in your eyes. I’ll miss you too, but let’s not make this any harder on either one of us, okay?”

She was so strong that it never ceased to amaze him. There were times when he thought she might even be stronger than he was. “Okay.”

She took a deep breath as she dropped her hand to his shoulder. “You know, we might still be able to reach Kyros and save him.”

“I’m not counting on that one.”

“But you might,” she said with a hope he’d long stopped feeling. “Let’s not give up on him yet. People can sometimes surprise you.”

He frowned at her insistence. “Why is it so important to you that we give him another shot?”

Her dark gaze scorched him. “Because if not for Kyros, I wouldn’t have met you. And as wonderful as you are, I keep thinking that he would have to be too, otherwise you wouldn’t have believed in him in the first place.”

Alexion had to give her credit, she made a convincing argument. How could any man in his right mind find fault with that?

Even more, he didn’t want to hurt or disappoint her. For her, he would do anything.

“All right, I’ll try.”

*   *   *

Kyros paced his dark office, which was lit only by candles, as thoughts drifted through his mind. It was three hours and ticking. The great showdown was coming.

And it was unavoidable.

Every time he thought about it, the hairs on the back of his neck rose in warning. Something wasn’t right about tonight and it wasn’t just that Ias was here.

There was something else. Something he couldn’t see but he could feel it with every fiber of his being. Tonight was going to be unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

“You need anything before I leave?” his Squire, Rob, asked.

Kyros turned to see the young man in the doorway. The man was only five feet seven and dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. By his appearance, the dark-haired boy didn’t look any older than Kyros, but at twenty-nine, he was just a baby compared to the centuries that marked Kyros’s time on this earth.

“No. You can go on.”

In case things went bad, he didn’t want his Squire anywhere near this area. At his behest, Rob was heading to Nashville to visit his family.

Rob nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you next week.”

“I hope so,” Kyros breathed as the boy left. He was about to make a betrayal tonight that would most likely get him killed. But he’d known what he was doing from the beginning.

At least he hoped he had.

*   *   *

Danger lay naked in bed, wrapped in Alexion’s arms. She had her head resting on his chest while he played with her hair. Time was slipping away for them. Speeding by so fast that it left her bereft and dizzy.

She wanted to scream for it to stop. She wanted to hold on to Alexion through this night and through the next day and every day that followed after it.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

I won’t cry. I won’t.

It wouldn’t be fair to him or to her. But inside she was sobbing uncontrollably. She was torn to pieces. How could she get through this night?

How could she say good-bye to the best thing she’d ever found?

How did people leave their loved ones behind?

But she knew. She’d been forced against her will to leave hers so many times in the past that it made her wonder how she had ever allowed herself to care for someone else.

Then again, not loving a man like Alexion would be an impossibility.

She heard the grandfather clock down the hall striking ten o’clock.

“We have to go,” Alexion said, his voice deep and husky.

“I know.”

Reluctantly, she pulled away and forced herself to concentrate on anything and everything other than Alexion.

Neither of them spoke as they showered and dressed.

What was there to say? Even worse, she was afraid one of them would say something to set off her tears. It was much easier to keep herself together if she were silent.

She couldn’t even tell him that she wouldn’t forget him. And that hurt most of all.

“I don’t want to forget…”

She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Alexion gathered her into his arms. “It’s better if you do. I couldn’t leave you if I knew you were in pain because of me. The only thing that makes this bearable to me is knowing that tomorrow your life will be back to normal.”

A tear fled past her control. “I’m sorry,” she said, brushing it quickly away. But it was too late. That one tear started an avalanche of sobbing.

Her mind and heart shattered at the thought of the days to come, when she would never even know he existed. She’d no longer know his touch … his scent …

God, how she loved the smell of his skin. The caress of his hand on her face. The feel of his body under and over hers …

How could she live without him?

“Don’t leave me,” she said, her voice breaking.

Alexion closed his eyes as he felt his own tears swelling. If he could have one wish …

But all the wishes in the world couldn’t make him human and they couldn’t keep them together.

“I won’t leave you, Danger. I will be here for you anytime you need me.”

She looked up at him with pain in her eyes that made him ache all the way through his being. “But I won’t see you.”

“No. But I won’t ever leave you alone. I swear it.”

Danger tightened her hold on him. She didn’t know who had it worse. The one who had no memory at all or the one who knew and couldn’t speak of it.

She didn’t want the night to end. Unable to stand it, she captured his lips to taste him one last time. To inhale his warm, masculine scent and to let it carry her away from this moment of pain.

Not even love could save them. Nothing could.

“I love you, Alexion. I love you, Ias. With all that is within me and more.”

“Je t’aime pour toujours.”

“Moi aussi.”

And then she did the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life …

She let go of him and stepped back even though every fiber of her being screamed at her to hold on regardless.

Unable to look at him without falling apart again, she turned, took a deep breath as she wiped away her tears, and headed for the garage.

Alexion cursed as he watched her leave.
I’m stronger than this.
But the problem was, he wasn’t. Not even his powers and Acheron’s combined could alleviate the ragged misery that engulfed him.

Danger had unleashed something inside him and set it free. He would never be the same again.

He just wanted one more day with her.

No, that was a lie and he knew it. One day would never content him.

He wanted it all.

He took a deep breath and expelled it.
If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride.
It was a saying he’d learned from a Dark-Hunter three hundred or so years ago.

In every incarnation, he’d learned something new.

In this one, he’d learned how to love … no, that wasn’t true. He’d finally learned how to live.

And tonight he would learn how to leave.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to follow Danger. And with every step he took, he reminded himself of the greater good.

That was what sustained Acheron. It was what had kept his boss going for thousands and thousands of years. It was what made the unbearable tolerable.

Closing his eyes, he summoned the numbing calm. Later, he would weep for what he had lost. But tonight, he would keep Danger safe and do his job.

May the gods show their mercy to Kyros and Stryker. The Alexion would not.

Chapter 22

Danger paused outside the building where the Dark-Hunters were gathering. By the cars in the parking lot, the total cost of which would amount to the GNP for a small nation, she would say they were already here and yet …

“I don’t feel my powers draining,” she said to Alexion. “How can that be?”

“It’s a trick. Somehow Stryker must be disguising it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Maybe he knows some way to keep us from draining each other’s powers.”

The look on his face chilled her. “Trust me, Danger,” Alexion said as he paused to look at her. “There is no way a group of Dark-Hunters are together without draining each other. Stryker would never be able to gain that ability. The only way for it to happen would be if Acheron were here himself. Since he’s not … It’s not possible. The gods would never allow it.”

She wasn’t so sure, but she trusted him. If anyone knew the truth, it was Alexion.

As they walked in the front door, she half expected someone to stop them. But there were no guards, no Squires …

Nothing.

Since it had been vacant for a number of years, the building wasn’t the cleanest thing in the world. There were cobwebs and other things she didn’t want to think about littering the floor. The air was stale with a rancid quality to it that left her breathing through her mouth in an effort not to pinch her nose closed.

She found it strange that there were working lights in the building.

But then Stryker was a god …

“Where’s the light coming from upstairs?” she asked Alexion.

“I don’t know. Maybe they have a generator hooked up, or again, Stryker is using his powers to light it.”

They found the stairs in the back and started up. As they headed up, they could hear faint voices, but the words were unintelligible.

Danger tried not to breathe deeply as she wondered what lies Kyros and Stryker were telling the others.

How many of them would buy into it?

As they reached the door at the end of the upstairs hall where the others seemed to be gathered, she pulled Alexion to a stop to listen to what was going on inside before they entered. She was only now beginning to feel a pull on her powers, but it was still very mild.

“So how do we defeat Acheron?”

Danger winced as she recognized Squid’s voice. That little rat-bastard. But she’d suspected as much. He’d been vehement in his hatred of Acheron.

She looked up to see a cold, determined look on Alexion’s face.

“He is a Daimon,” Stryker said. “You kill him as you would any of our people.”

Kyros was the next to speak. His voice rang out. “Are you with us, brothers and sisters?”