The Dark-Hunters (339 page)

D’Alerian:
Oneroi Dream-Hunter, son of Morpheus, he is a healer and helper to the Dark-Hunters. D’Alerian is a straight man who never met a rule he didn’t love. He keeps a constant vigil over the Dark-Hunters and is quick to step in with aid whenever one of them needs it. He and Acheron are close friends.

Danger:
A Dark-Huntress who died during the French Revolution. She is the heroine in
Sins of the Night.

Dark-Hunters:
Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors created from those who died wrongfully. Whenever such a person dies, the soul screams out for vengeance. The strongest and angriest of the screams echo through the halls of Olympus. Whenever one reaches Artemis, she considers offering a deal to the one who screamed:
     
Give her your soul, agree to fight the Daimons who are trying to kill and enslave mankind, and she will make you immortal.
      Once the bargain is struck, the new Dark-Hunter is branded with Artemis’s double bow-and-arrow logo and allowed an Act of Vengeance. He or she trains with Acheron Parthenopaeus, the enigmatic leader of the Dark-Hunters, and is assigned a location on earth. The Dark-Hunter then spends the rest of eternity fighting Daimons and other evil. Like the Daimons they kill, they have fangs, light-sensitive eyes, and a prohibition against going out in the daylight. The only things that can kill a Dark-Hunter are sunlight, beheading, or total dismemberment. Those who have read
Dance with the Devil
also know that piercing the bow-and-arrow mark can kill them as well. It’s something Acheron keeps from them since he doesn’t want them to panic and concentrate on it while they’re fighting. To do so would give that knowledge to the Daimons who would have a very easy way to kill them.
      Artemis pays them well for their services, and provides them with human helpers. (See
Squires.
)
      The only way for a Dark-Hunter to become free of Artemis is to find the one true soul who loves him or her enough to pass Artemis’s test. That person must take the medallion that contains the Dark-Hunter’s soul and hold it to the bow-and-arrow mark on the Dark-Hunter’s body until the soul returns. The medallion is lava-hot and will scar the hand. If the person can’t maintain his or her grip and the medallion is dropped, the soul is released into nothing. This traps the Dark-Hunter into a painful existence as a Shade. If, on the other hand, the lover succeeds, the Dark-Hunter is once again a mortal with a soul, restarting life at the age they were when they first died.

Dark-Hunter Code:
Honor Artemis. Drink no blood. Harm no human or Apollite. Never touch your Squire. Speak with no family, no friends who knew you before you died. Let no Daimon escape alive. Never speak of what you are. You walk alone. Keep your bow mark hidden.

Dark-Hunter.com:
An online community of Dark-Hunters and Squires disguised as a fiction and role-play Web site.

Dayslayer:
Apollite myth of a Daimon/Apollite who can walk in daylight. (See
Thanatos.
)

Desiderius:
Dangerous demigod Spathi Daimon with a grudge against the Devereaux family. Appears in
Seize the Night
and
Night Pleasures.
Can control minds and throw bolts of lightning.

Devereaux:
A close-knit family of sisters with a lot of magical talent. Daughters include Esmerelda (Essie); Yasmina (Mina); Petra; Ekaterina (Trina); Karma; Tiyana (Tia)—a voodoo princess; Selena (Lane)—a psychic; Tabitha (Tabby)—a human Vampire-Hunter; and Amanda—an accountant. (See also
Devereaux, Tabitha; Hunter, Amanda;
and
Laurens, Bill and Selena.
)

Devereaux, Tabitha:
A member of the Devereaux family who hunts Daimons. Owns Pandora’s Box, an adult shop on Bourbon Street. Has the ability to sense others’ emotions, a quick temper, and an unmatched vibrancy. Twin sister to Amanda Hunter and wife of Valerius Magnus.

Dionysus:
Greek god of wine and excess—now amuses himself as a corporate raider. Usually appears as a tall man with short brown hair and a neat goatee. Appears in
Night Embrace.
Not a very good driver …

Divine, Marla:
Drag queen friend of Tabitha Devereaux. Loves to steal men’s coats. Was once escorted in a drag pageant by a very uptight Dark-Hunter.

Dorean Squires:
Dorean Squires don’t serve a particular Dark-Hunter, but rather serve the whole group. These Squires set up businesses that fulfill the more bizarre needs of the Dark-Hunters such as making specialized weapons or cars. They are also bankers and lawyers who know all about the Dark-Hunter world and who help keep up the appearance of normality.

Doulos:
A human servant of Apollites and Daimons.

Dream-Hunters:
Dream-Hunters are the children of the Greek gods of sleep. Some of them are born of human mothers, but most are born of the Greek goddess Mist.
      Dream-Hunters are also known as Oneroi. Long ago, one of the Oneroi played a trick on the Greek god Zeus. In anger, the god cursed all of their kind to have no emotion whatsoever. Now the only time they can feel anything is when they are in a human’s dreams.
      Because this is seductive, Oneroi may only visit dreams; they may never participate and never revisit the same human.
      There are also a few Dream-Hunters who prefer to stay out of dreams, except to police their own brethren. All Dream-Hunters take a prefix to their name so that everyone will know their role:
      M’ are the enforcers, they work like a police force and are the leaders.
      V’ are the ones who help humans who are having trouble sleeping or who have nightmares.
      D’ are the ones who help the gods and immortals. One of these is almost always sent in to aid newly created Dark-Hunters. Since the Dark-Hunters usually come from horrible pasts, they tend to be plagued with nightmares. Their designated Dream-Hunter will usually watch over them throughout their entire DH existence.
      The Dream-Hunter world is complex, but not hard to understand. The main thing to remember is that they are born gods or half-gods. They can be either male or female, and for the most part, they leave the human realm alone and are found only in your wildest dreams as lovers or demons.
      Sometimes a Dream-Hunter will become enamored of a dreamer. Sometimes they even instigate the dreams and alter them to enhance their borrowed emotions. When this happens, they are termed Skoti. Oneroi are charged with seeking them out to punish them for their actions.
      However, many of the Skoti go unchecked and uncaught. They inhabit our dreams as incubi and succubi.

Eda:
Archon’s sister, Atlantean Earth goddess.

Elekti:
Atlantean word meaning “chosen.”

Elysia:
A secret underground Apollite city, where Apollites live hidden from humans and Daimons alike. One of the oldest Apollite cities in North America. Home to Phoebe Peters. Featured in
Kiss of the Night.

Eriksson, Christopher (Chris) Lars:
Wulf Tryggvason’s Squire and a direct descendant of Wulf’s brother. Since Chris is the sole surviving member of Wulf’s family, he is the only human who can remember Wulf and who he is.

Eros and Psyche:
Married Greek gods of sexual desire and the soul. Often seen playing pool and poker at Sanctuary.

Eycharistisi:
Atlantean word for “pleasure.” Also a potent Atlantean aphrodisiac that floods the body with endorphins and destroys all inhibitions.

Gallagher, Jamie:
Gangster Dark-Hunter from the American Prohibition era. Killed when he fell in love and tried to go straight. Featured in “A Dark-Hunter Christmas.”

Gataki:
Term of endearment, meaning “kitten.”

Gautier, Cherise:
Nick Gautier’s mother, who had him when she was only fifteen. A beautiful, kindhearted woman in her early forties who works at Sanctuary.

Gautier, Nicholas (Nick) Ambrosius:
Kyrian’s Squire. A young man with a rough past, a loving mother, and an irreverent attitude. Nick is fiercely loyal and as close to being a friend of Acheron’s as any mortal can be.

Gilbert:
Valerius Magnus’s trusted servant and butler, who would like to be a Squire.

Godeau, Marguerite D’Aubert:
The daughter of a Louisiana senator and a Cajun beauty queen, Maggie wants to escape her straight-laced social world. As a student at Tulane University, she joined a study group with Nick Gautier. Heroine of
Unleash the Night.

Hold the human hair:
A phrase used at Sanctuary to indicate that a Were-Hunter wants an especially strong drink, one that would inebriate a human with one shot. Weres have a higher metabolism and can handle a lot more alcohol.

Hunter, Amanda:
One of the Devereaux sisters, Amanda always wanted to be more normal than the empaths, voodoo priestesses, and psychics she was raised with. Tabitha Devereaux is her twin sister. Amanda became an accountant, but the supernatural found her anyway. Heroine of
Night Pleasures,
she is a human sorceress, married to Kyrian Hunter, and the mother of Marissa Hunter.

Hunter, Kyrian:
Ancient Greek Dark-Hunter. Born prince and heir to Thrace, Kyrian was disinherited when he married an ex-prostitute against his father’s wishes. As a legendary Macedonian general, he cut a trail of slaughter through the Mediterranean during the Fourth Macedonian War. Chroniclers wrote that he would break the Roman stranglehold on the known world and claim Rome for his own. He would have succeeded had he not been betrayed by his wife and delivered into the hands of his enemies. He was tortured for weeks and then executed by Valerius’s grandfather. Hero of
Night Pleasures.
He is the husband of Amanda Hunter and father of Marissa Hunter.

Hunter, Marissa:
Amanda and Kyrian Hunter’s daughter, Marissa is a baby with astounding powers and a favorite with Acheron and Simi.

Hypnos:
Greek God who holds dominion over all the gods of sleep.

I am the Light of the Lyre:
Phrase used by Daimons and Apollites to seek shelter from another Daimon or Apollite. Refers to their kinship to Apollo, god of the sun.

Ias of Groesia:
An ancient Greek Dark-Hunter. One of the first three created, along with Callabrax and Kyros. Cruelly betrayed by his wife.

Icelus:
Greek god who creates human shapes in dreams, and father of some Dream-Hunters. His children tend to be the more erotic Dream-Hunters. They live for sex and drift from dream to dream seeking new partners.

Idios:
A rare serum made by the Oneroi that allows the user to become one with the dreamer for a short time. Used in dreams to guide and direct, allowing one sleeper to experience another’s life so he can better understand it.

Illuminati:
The Spathi Daimon bodyguards of Apollymi, led by Stryker and comprising between thirty to forty members. They include the oldest and most powerful of the Spathi.

Inferno:
Also known as Dante’s Inferno. The nightclub run by Dante Pontis, located in Minnesota.

Inkblot:
A derogatory term for Daimons stemming from the strange black mark that all Daimons develop on their chests when they cross over from being Apollites to human slayers. This is what a dagger or sharp object must pierce to kill a Daimon.

Kallinos, Jasyn:
A Katagaria Were-Hunter, Jaysn changes into a hawk. He is one of Sanctuary’s deadlier inhabitants.

Kallitechnis:
A Greek term meaning “dream master.”

Kalosis:
Atlantean word for “hell.” The place where Apollymi is imprisoned so that she can see the human world but not participate in it. It is also where the Spathi Daimons live in perpetual darkness. No Dark-Hunter can enter and few Were-Hunters are allowed to live after visiting this realm, but it is accessible to Daimons through bolt-holes or laminas.