The Dark-Hunters (508 page)
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Vampires, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Paranormal & Urban
Kaiaphas dodged it and laughed. “You didn’t really think such a puny trick would work on me?” He slapped her hard. “You know why your mother never came to see you after her death? I ate her soul, just as I ate your brother’s. And now, I’m going to taste yours.”
“Taste this.” She head-butted him in the lips, splitting them open.
He staggered back. Letting the power she’d inherited from her father course through her, she scissor-kicked him, then punched him hard enough in the gut to lift him off his feet.
Kaiaphas’s skin started boiling as those serrated fangs came out. He dodged her next punch and kicked her in the side.
Lifting her by the neck, he threw her down on the ground. Out of nothing, he manifested a sword.
Simone looked about for a weapon, a limb … something.
There was nothing around.
“Try this.”
She jerked to hear the deep voice in her ear, and found a man there who had one vividly green eye and one brown one. He was gorgeous and he held a small sword out to her.
Not questioning anything, she seized the sword. The moment her hand touched the hilt, a shimmer of power went through her entire body.
She heard whispering voices in numerous languages.
“Simone.” It was her father’s voice.
“Daddy?”
“Close your eyes, little one, and we will guide you.”
Trusting her father implicitly, she did as he said, and the moment she was blind, she saw everything clearly.
Even the wind was visible to the demon inside her.
Kaiaphas advanced and she parried. The harder he rained blows onto her sword, the easier she could parry them and fight him. The more she deflected, the angrier Kaiaphas became.
“You’re going to beg me for mercy, just like your whore mother.”
She ground her teeth until she heard her father again in her ear. “Anger is your enemy. Move forward not in anger, but with purpose.”
And the moment she did, her blade sang true. It deflected Kaiaphas’s thrusts and planted itself deep within his demon’s heart.
“That is for my mother,” she said, her eyes tearing. “And for my baby brother whose future you took. Burn in hell, you son of a bitch.” She snatched her sword out of his chest, twisting it as she did so.
An instant later, he burst into flames. His cries echoed out in the darkness.
Suddenly, there was applause behind her.
Simone jerked around to see the man there who’d given her the sword. “Who are you?”
“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”
“You’re Jaden.”
He inclined his head to her in a mocking gesture.
She looked down at the sword that was unlike any she’d ever seen before. The black hilt was tinged with red. Black roses and vines were etched down the blade that curved ever so slightly. “Why did you bring me this?”
“I promised your father peace. I told him that no demon would ever hurt his last remaining child. As Xypher told you, I can’t kill myself to fulfill a bargain. I can only provide a means.”
She held the sword out to him, but he refused to take it.
“That belongs to your bloodline, demonikyn. Guard it well. A demon’s sword is the best protection from others of its kind. With it, you can kill any demon who comes for you or one of yours.”
“Thank you.”
He laughed. “Don’t thank me. I do nothing that I haven’t bargained for.”
He started to fade.
“Jaden, wait!”
He solidified in front of her.
Simone tried to speak, but words wouldn’t come. She wanted to ask about Xypher and yet she couldn’t.
“He gave himself up for you,” Jaden said in a stoic tone.
“What?”
“It’s what you wanted to know, is it not? Xypher allowed Satara to kill him in exchange for her word that she would leave you alone. He gave up his vengeance to keep you safe.”
“No, he took his vengeance.”
Jaden placed a hand on her shoulder, and there in her mind, she saw Xypher in Kalosis. She heard the words spoken clearly and she watched as he died in Katra’s arms.
“No!” she cried, unable to bear it. “You have to help him.”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“You make deals. Xypher said you have the power to do anything.
Anything.
”
“What are you suggesting?”
“If you free Xypher from Tartarus, you can have my soul.”
“Do you understand the bargain you’re making? Once I take your soul from you, you are the property of whoever I give that soul to. You will be a bound demon, subject to the whims of your master. No will of your own. No future. Nothing.”
“I don’t care. Xypher died for me. I can’t have him punished for that.”
“He died to keep you safe.”
“I’ll be safe while I’m bound. He’ll have what he wanted. Please, Jaden. I can’t live knowing he’s being tortured.”
“Very well.” He handed her a dagger. “Open a vein, sister.”
* * *
Xypher flashed himself into Simone’s bedroom, expecting to find her there.
It was empty.
Closing his eyes, he sensed for presences in the condo. There was no Simone, but Jesse and Gloria were in Jesse’s room.
Without thinking, he flashed in there to find the two ghosts completely naked on the bed. “Oh, gods, I’m blind.” He spun around to give them his back.
“Don’t you knock?” Jesse said, until it must have dawned on him that Xypher was back. “Oh, my God, you’re dead.”
“Not as dead as you are, ghost-boy. Where’s Simone?”
“She went out on a call.”
“Where?”
“Didn’t say. Call Tate and ask. His number’s on the fridge.”
Xypher left them to go to the kitchen where he quickly located Tate’s business card. Picking up her cordless phone, he dialed the number.
He answered on the second ring.
“Tate? It’s Xypher. Where’s Simone?”
“She said you were gone.”
“I was, but I’m back and I’m trying to find her.”
“Well, she was here a second ago. I see her car across the street so she must—”
Using his powers to trace Tate’s location, Xypher manifested in front of him before he could speak another word.
Tate looked around. “Damn, you’re lucky no one saw you. Incognito, boy, in-cog-nito.”
“I don’t have time for that. I need to find Simone.”
“Hey, Doc? Can you come here for a second.”
“I’ll help you look in a sec,” he said to Xypher before he went over to the officer.
Xypher growled before he felt that rift in the air.
Jaden.
A bad feeling went through him as he honed in on it and went to search for him.
He rounded a corner and froze. No! That single word was branded into his mind as he saw Simone on the ground.
Terrified, he ran to her and gathered her up in his arms. But the moment he touched her, he knew.
She was dead.
He glared up at Jaden. “What have you done?”
“I didn’t do anything. She did.”
“Don’t you dare play that bullshit game with me. What bargain was struck between you?”
“She wanted you out of Tartarus.”
“You fucking bastard. I was already out of Tartarus.”
“I know.”
“You knew and still you made the deal?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to know how far she’d go.”
Impotent fury roiled through him. Unable to think, he lowered Simone to the ground and charged at Jaden.
Jaden caught him and swung him back, pinning him to the side of a house. “You better think twice, demon, before you come at me.” The fury of hell burned deep in those dual-colored eyes. Jaden’s fangs flashed as he spoke in sharp, clipped words. “Had Simone stayed alive, you would have watched her die of old age, while you continued to live eternally in your current form. Is that what you wanted?”
Xypher blinked in disbelief. “What?”
Jaden shoved him back, then released him. He pulled a small vial of a white substance from the inside pocket of his jacket. “She’s free of her human life span now. She won’t age and she won’t die.”
“But she’s bound.”
Jaden inclined his head. “So she is.” He stared at her soul for a full minute before he held it out to Xypher.
“What’s the price?”
“You two owe me a favor. One day, I’ll be back to collect.” He closed Xypher’s hand over the vial, then vanished.
Xypher couldn’t breathe as he stared at her soul in his hand. He couldn’t believe what Jaden had done for them.
Why?
It was so against everything he knew about the demon broker.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
He knew what Jaden had known, there was nothing in this world or any other that he wouldn’t have done to free Simone.
His heart pounding in joy, he took the vial to her body and released her soul.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Xypher?”
“Your worst nightmare has returned.”
* * *
Jaden took a moment to glance back at Xypher and Simone, who held on to each other with everything they had.
He remembered a time when he’d done the same. “Whatever you do, don’t betray each other.”
The band on his neck heated and pierced him. Wincing, he left them and returned to his master. The blistering winds cut through his body as he stood, waiting.
“What did you do?”
“My job.”
A disembodied slash opened his left cheek to the bone. Jaden cursed at the pain of the wound.
“Worthless dog. You let the daughter of Palackas go?”
“I fulfilled a bargain that was struck in good faith.”
Another slash cut across his torso so deep it forced him to his knees.
“Your compassion disgusts me.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t exactly thrill me, either.” Jaden realized he should have kept his opinion to himself as he was thrown against the wall.
“One day, dog, you’ll learn obedience.”
Jaden swallowed as his clothes were stripped from him. He knew what punishment was to come and it was going to hurt like hell.
Yeah, Xypher and Simone owed him more than they could ever dream.
* * *
Xypher sighed as he collapsed against Simone who was still purring in satisfaction.
“I like demon sex,” she said, rolling over to pin him to the bed.
“I told you, you would.”
She laughed, then kissed him senseless. “Thank you, Xypher.”
“For what?”
“For trying to protect me.”
“I’m not the one who bartered my soul for your freedom from hell.”
“No, but you gave up your life to keep me safe. I think that makes us even.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, Simone. And I swear with every part of me that you’ll never doubt that.”
She took his right hand into hers and kissed his knuckles. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
Simone smiled before she lay down over him and held him close. Closing her eyes, she realized that Xypher had given her much more than just his love. He’d given her a family and taught her things about herself she’d never known.
For the first time in her life, she had a real future to look forward to.
And a family that would be with her no matter what.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DREAM CHASER
Copyright © 2008 by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Excerpt from
Acheron
copyright © 2008 by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 0-312-93882-9
EAN: 978-0-312-93882-6
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / February 2008
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
eISBN 9781429937191
First eBook edition: February 2014
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ACHERON
SHERRILYN KENYON
CONTENTS
The Diary of Ryssa, Princess of Didymos
For my husband, who is my eye in the storm. Hand in hand, we’ve weathered many typhoons, and together we’re still here. Thank you for being my light in the darkness and for showing me what loyalty and love are all about. You are the gentle wind that allows me to soar to the highest level. Thank you.
And for my children, who never shirk at eating more pizza. You guys are the greatest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the entire staff at St. Martin’s for being so great, especially Monique and Matthew, who didn’t faint at the length of this book. No author could ask for a better team. Thank you for all the hard work.
To Dianna Love, for keeping me sane through the long days of writing and the delirium that often ensues. Not to mention for being my intrepid tour buddy. Alethea Kontis, for babysitting me on the lockdown weekends and keeping me fed. Kim, Loretta and Tish, for all the verbal support. Pam and Kim, for being my comic relief. Steven, for writing Ash’s song and for being the best little brother ever. Jack, Carl, Aimee, Ed, Alex, Soteria, Bryan, Judy and all the support staff who keep the site running so that I can work. Not to mention Zenobia, who is the greatest lithromancer.