The Dark-Hunters (595 page)

Ash turned to Stryker and growled. “Enough of the family reunion bullshit. Where is Soteria?”

Tory frowned at Ash’s words. Though the voice was his, it had a thick Greek accent and not the more fluid Atlantean one he used whenever he wasn’t speaking colloquial American. How odd. Even when he spoke flawless Greek, his accent wasn’t that throaty and traditional.

“She’s over there.” A tall blond woman appeared a few feet from Ash and indicated the door where Tory stood with an imperious jerk of her chin.

Tory gasped at her beauty as the woman crossed the short distance to embrace Ash. “At last, m’gios. You’ve come to set me free.” She placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear.

Tory was stunned as she realized this was the goddess Apollymi. Ash’s mother.

The goddess of utter destruction.

Ash hugged her close and nodded before he stepped back. With a sneer thrown at Stryker, he turned and headed for her room.

Before Nick could stop her, Tory shoved open the door and ran for Ash. She threw herself into his arms and held him close from her giddy relief. And when their lips met …

She went cold in confused shock.

This wasn’t Ash. In looks he was completely identical, but he neither smelled nor felt like Acheron. And he definitely didn’t kiss like him.

Nick ran at the Ash imposter, but before he could reach him, Urian grabbed Nick and shoved him back into the room where they’d been.

“We have to go,” Urian said to her and the fake Ash as he slammed the door shut behind them. He looked at Nick. “And you need to come with us.”

Nick curled his lip in obvious hatred. “I’m not going anywhere with him. I’d rather be dead.”

Urian forced Nick to look down at Satara’s body. “I’m going to make the wildly unfounded assumption that Satara’s dead by your hand and not Tory’s.” Gripping Nick’s chin, he forced him to meet his gaze. “Now, stay with me on this, Cajun. My father slit my throat and murdered my wife because he thought I’d betrayed him by getting married. Before that, he loved me more than his life and I was his last surviving child. His second in command. Now what do you think he’s going to do to you once he sees her body? I can assure you, it won’t be a fun-filled trip to Chuck E. Cheese. For all their animosity toward each other, Satara is his sister and she’s served him well over the centuries. If you really want to stay here and have some fun with Stryker, I won’t stop you. But I really wouldn’t recommend it.”

That seemed to get through to Nick. Sanity returned to his eyes. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

“Urian,” the fake Ash said between his clenched teeth. “I think they’re catching on.”

“Catching on to what?” Nick asked.

Tory rolled her eyes at the dense question. “That this isn’t Ash.”

The words had barely left her lips before they faded out of the room.

*   *   *

Zolan, Stryker’s third in command and the leader of his personal Illuminati attack force, cleared his throat in the still silent room. “Um … boss, I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but why are we still here? I mean, if Acheron has come to free Apollymi, shouldn’t there be an explosion or something?”

The Daimons and demons looked around as if waiting for an opening to the outer world to appear or for Apollymi to burst into song and dance, or for something else unnatural to happen. Meanwhile, Apollymi just stood there completely stoic, appearing almost angelic and sweet, as she watched Stryker closely.

His second in command, Davyn, scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I agree, kyrios,” he said to Stryker, using the Atlantean term for lord. “It doesn’t feel like the end of the world.”

Stryker turned a cold sneer to Apollymi. “No, it doesn’t…”

Apollymi arched a taunting brow. “How does the song go, ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine’?”

Something was wrong and in an instant he realized what it was. Launching himself from his throne, he ran to the room just as Urian, Tory, Nick and what had to be Ash’s twin brother Styxx vanished.

His anger over the obvious trick mounted until he saw Satara lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Fear washed away his rage as he ran to find her dead. Her eyes were glazed and her skin tinged blue.

His heart shattered as he pulled her into his arms and held her close, fighting against the tears of grief and pain. “You stupid psychotic bitch,” he growled against her cold cheek, fighting the sobs that demanded release. “What have you done now?”

Apollymi stood in the doorway, aching for Strykerius as he rocked his sister’s body in his arms, reminding her of the day she’d found her son’s body dumped on the cliffs. Sympathy and a newfound respect for him tore through her.

The fact that he could love someone as broken as Satara said much for him. Yes, he could be cold-blooded, but he wasn’t heartless. Closing her eyes, she remembered him the day they’d first met. Stryker had been young and bitter over his father’s curse.

“I gave up everything I ever cared about for him and this is how he repays my loyalty? I’m to die in agony in only six years? My young children are now banished from the sun and are cursed to drink blood from each other instead of eating food, and to die in pain at only twenty-seven? For what? For the death of a Greek whore killed by soldiers I’ve never even seen? Where’s the justice in that?”

So she’d pulled him to her ranks and taught him how to circumvent his father’s curse by absorbing human souls into his body to elongate his life. She’d given him and his children shelter in a realm where the humans couldn’t harm them and where there was no danger of his children accidentally dying by sunlight. Then she’d allowed him to convert others and bring them here to live.

In the beginning, she’d pitied him and she’d even loved him as a son.

But he wasn’t her Apostolos and the more he was around her, the more she wanted to have her own child with her no matter the cost. She admitted it was her own fault that she’d put a wall between her and Strykerius. And the two of them had used each other to get back at the people they hated.

Now it had all come to this …

“I’m so sorry, Strykerius.”

He looked up at her, his silver eyes swirling in pain. “Are you? Or are you gloating?”

“I never gloat over death. I may relish it from time to time when it’s justified. But I never gloat.”

“And I don’t let challenges like this go unanswered.”

*   *   *

Tory didn’t have time to even orient herself to her new location before someone seized her in a hug so tight, she feared her ribs might break. It wasn’t until the scent of Acheron hit her and he kissed her deeply that she smiled and laughed in relief. She was safe.

She started to wrap her arms around his back, but remembered his injuries. Instead, she hugged his neck and held him close.

This was the real Acheron and he felt great in her arms.

He cupped her face in his hands. “Are you all right?” he asked, his eyes darkening as he saw her torn shirt and Nick’s buttoned-up jacket.

“I’m fine. Really.”

“But we’re not,” Urian said drily. “Nick killed Satara while they held Tory.”

“He did it to protect me,” Tory interjected.

Urian snorted. “We’ll put that on the headstone for you. In the meantime Stryker’s going to want blood for this. A lot of blood.”

Nick scoffed at his dire tone. “No offense, your father doesn’t scare me, especially given how bad I want a piece of his hide. Come get some.”

Urian looked less than impressed. “I know you think you share powers with him, but trust me, he didn’t give you anything but the leftovers. Not to mention one small thing. No one gets a piece of him until after I do.”

Ash let out a shrill whistle. “Down, children. We have more important things to do than just save your machismo.”

Tory hid a smile as she finally understood exactly what Ash’s job was and why he described himself as a wrangler. He really was.

Ash leveled a determined look at Nick. “We have a battle to prepare for. I’m not letting Stryker take Nick.”

Nick laughed bitterly. “I don’t need your fucking help. I can fight on my own.”

Ash didn’t respond to the hatred in his tone. “I know why you hate me, Nick. I get it. But your mother wouldn’t want you to kill yourself again. Hate me tomorrow. Tonight tolerate me as a necessary evil.”

Nick shoved him back. “This doesn’t make us friends.”

Ash held his hands up. “I know.” He turned back to Tory. “Styxx, take her out of here. Keep her safe.”

Tory gaped as she realized that this was the same Styxx she’d read about in the journal—the same one who’d tortured and castrated Acheron.

A wave of rage so bitter she could taste it washed over her. She was going to tell Ash that she had no intention of going anywhere with the man who’d gone out of his way to hurt him, but before she could even open her mouth a bright flash of light blinded her.

A nanosecond later a herd of mean, blond men stepped out. They looked deadly serious as they took up formation.

Stryker came through and his gaze went straight to Urian. “You’ve betrayed me for the last time.” He threw something at Urian.

Tory had no idea what it was until Ash caught it in his hand. It was a strangely shaped dagger that reminded her of an ancient Greek design and yet it bore the same sun symbol on the pommel that Ash had on his backpack.

Ash narrowed his gaze on the Daimons. “Take your girls, scream and run away now, Stryker. It’ll save you time later. Believe me, you don’t want a taste of me in the mood I’m in.”

Stryker ran his tongue over his fangs as if he was savoring the idea of feeding on Acheron. “There’s nothing I crave more than the taste of blood. Your Dark-Hunters aren’t here.” He looked around at the men who stood with Ash and laughed in derision. “Tonight we feast, Spathi. Attack!”

Tory was snatched behind the group that stood with Acheron. She wanted to tell them that she could hold her own, but as the men attacked and the Daimons fought back with punches and lightning bolt strikes, she realized that she wasn’t as proficient as she needed to be.

They weren’t just fighting with their fists and weapons, they were fighting with preternatural powers she could never compete with. And the thought had barely finished before a group of demons joined ranks with the Daimons to fight them.

Stryker went for Nick, but Ash caught him and the two of them went to the ground, slugging. Urian stabbed a demon between the eyes before he turned and ducked the fangs of a Daimon.

Tory stumbled back, looking for a weapon of some kind.

A demon launched itself at her. She tried to kick him back, but he didn’t even flinch. Just as he would have reached her, Julian was there with a sword. He severed the demon’s head with one well-placed swing.

Balancing the blade of his ancient Greek sword on his shoulder, he turned to face her. “Can you handle a sword?”

“Yes.”

“Kyrian!” Julian shouted to the other tall blond man on their team. “Give me a sword.”

Kyrian tossed what appeared to be only a hilt. In one fluid move, Julian caught it and pressed a button on the cross hilt. The blade shot out to just under three feet in length. He handed it over to her. “Daimons have to be stabbed through their hearts. Demons between their eyes and if you cut the heads off any of us, we all die.”

“How do I tell the difference?”

“Most of the Daimons are blond and they explode into dust when you pierce their hearts. Hit the heart and if that doesn’t work, try the eyes. If you stab someone who whimpers then hits the ground, you attacked a good guy. Just FYI.”

She inclined her head. “Thanks for the tutorial.”

He laughed before he put his battle face on and went back to the fight.

Tory swung the blade around her body, getting a feel for the balance. Out of nowhere a female Daimon came at her and manifested a staff. She swung it at Tory’s head.

Parrying the blow with her sword, Tory pulled the blade back and went on the offensive. The woman met her stroke for stroke and she made every blow count. The ferocity of it rattled all the way to Tory’s bones.

She hated to admit it, but the Daimon was actually winning. With a feral growl, she tried to shove the Daimon back.

Suddenly, Nick was there. He swung the Daimon away from her and into another one. “No one hurts a human on my watch,” he snarled before he stabbed the Daimon through the heart. As Julian had noted, the Daimon screamed, then turned into a golden powder.

Nick moved away from Tory before she could thank him.

Another flash of light heralded an even larger group of demons and Daimons.

Tory stepped back, her jaw dropping. They were so outnumbered …

The guys on her team were brilliant fighters, but they were being overrun by the sheer number of enemies. “This is bad…”

Ash froze as he saw one of the Daimons sink his fangs deep into Vane’s arm at the same time more demons joined them.

He couldn’t let his friends be hurt. Closing his eyes, he summoned his staff from Katoteros. He’d just tightened his hand around it when he felt someone stumble into him.

He opened his eyes to see Styxx there with an Atlantean dagger stuck completely through his stomach. Stryker cursed as he jerked it free, then went for Ash again.

Ash caught the Daimon overlord with the blunt end of his staff and shoved him back. “Flee or die,” he growled.

“Fuck you.”

Narrowing his gaze on Stryker, Ash shoved him back, then slammed the staff to the pavement. A wave of raw, unfettered power shot out from it to the demons and Daimons around him. Every one of them turned to dust.

Except for Stryker. He hovered above the ground in his dragon form, snarling and flapping. Bellowing, Stryker spewed fire.

Ash lifted his arm, barely in time to keep it from burning him. He shot another god bolt at Stryker, who dodged it.

“This isn’t over, Acheron. Next time you won’t be able to use your powers.” With another blast of fire, Stryker vanished.

Vane shook his bleeding arm in an obvious effort to alleviate the pain of the Daimon’s bite. “Why were we fighting if you had that kind of power?”