The Dark-Hunters (610 page)

He kissed her hand. “I can’t. There’s a lunatic on the loose and probably hiding in my mother’s home.” Closing his eyes, he manifested clothes on his body. “We have to prepare. Find a place where we can face War without a high bystander body count.”

Savitar rolled his eyes. “Little brother, I don’t mean to be a downer, but we’re talking about War here. There’s no way to mitigate damages. He won’t let us. I was there with twenty-five Chthonians to fight him and he spanked our hides like we were Lemurian slave women. Two of us had our hearts ripped out and shoved down our throats while he laughed, then he licked the blood clean from his fingers and came at the rest of us.
I
barely survived and it took me two decades of human time to recuperate from those wounds. Don’t think I fear the bastard, I don’t. I just want you to fully understand what it is we’re dealing with.”

Ash frowned at his words, but his resolve was set. They had to defeat War one way or another. “How did you trap him last time?”

“Ishtar, Eirene, Bia, and the Gigantes came to our rescue. Out of that list, the goddess Eirene is the only one left alive. And we’re down to only eight surviving Chthonians. That number includes you.”

Even so, Ash refused to believe it was hopeless. “There’s always an off-switch. We have to find it.”

“We will try. In the meantime, you should know that your boy Urian got word from the other side. Stryker is pulling in Daimons from all over the world, amassing numbers that would make Cecil B. DeMille proud.”

“Why?”

“Stryker’s planning to rain hell on the humans come Christmas day. Of course Urian said you could probably offset that by offering yourself up as a sacrifice. Stryker might be willing to call the attack off if you surrender yourself to War and die a painful death.”

Tory’s gaze narrowed angrily on Ash. “Don’t you dare. I swear, Acheron Parthenopaeus, if you even think about it, I’ll beat you down until you beg me for mercy.”

Ash tightened his grip on her hand. “Don’t worry. Even if I turned myself in, he’d still go after the humans. It’s his nature, and I’m not stupid enough to think he’d ever show mercy. What is it you’re always saying? It’s not the hand you’re dealt that matters. It’s how you play the cards you hold.” He rose from the bed. “Sav, I need you to take up residence with my mother.”

He choked at the suggestion. “Are you insane? That woman hates my guts. No, she doesn’t hate me. Hatred for her would be a step up toward possibly liking me someday.”

Which was something Ash had never understood, but it didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t leave her alone with Stryker and War. “Take Alexion and Danger with you and stand by her side to make sure they don’t hurt her.” She’d tolerate them around her a lot easier than she would Savitar. “Otherwise I’ll have to do it, and since the point of this is to avoid the apocalypse, my presence in her home would be extremely counterproductive.”

If Ash were to ever step foot in Kalosis, his mother would destroy the earth even faster than Stryker and War. “You’re the only one I trust to keep her safe from Stryker, War, and Kessar. Even though my mother and I don’t always get along and we’re on opposite sides of this war, she is my mother and I don’t want her hurt.”

Savitar looked like he’d rather be gutted. Not that Ash blamed him. His mother could be extremely … temperamental and difficult to deal with … and she loved
him.
Savitar she barely tolerated.

“All right,” Savitar relented. “I’ll go. But you owe me. Major owe, so if I ever need something, no matter what it is, I own you.”

Ash snorted. “She’s not that bad.”

“How you figure that, grom? Your mother’s the Destroyer. It’s a title she not only earned, but one she relishes. And you’re sending me in with only a few Charonte as backup. What did I ever do to you?”

He laughed. “Man up, Sav. You’re whining like a little girl.”

“If your mother has her way, she’ll turn me into one, and I look like shit in pink. Thanks, kid.”

Ash shook his head as he watched the Chthonian vanish. As Ash started across the room, he found Tory firmly planted in his way. She stood like a military commander ready for war—which boded bad for him. “What?”

“Where are you going?”

“To see Nick.”

She scoffed. “Do you really think that will be productive? The man hates your guts more than Stryker does. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t pull your spine out through your nostrils.”

“Nice to have Miss Merry Sunshine back again. Any other Eeyore outlooks you’d like to share?”

“Just one. If you leave here, War can find you again. What are you going to do if that happens?”

“Leave bloodstains on his best shirt.”

Her eyes darkened. “You’re not funny, Ash. You said it yourself. This island is the only place safe from War.”

“And I’m not a wimp, baby. I’m a god. I’m not going to hide out here because I’m afraid of getting hurt. I have to warn Nick that he has an enemy after him. I owe him that much.”

She folded her arms over her chest and gave him a determined glare. “Then I’m coming with you.”

Like hell. He’d tie her down before he allowed that. While she had some of his mother’s powers, she didn’t have them all, and unlike him she wasn’t used to battling for her life. “I’ll take Xirena with me. But you will stay here and not argue with me.”

She growled at him. “You stubborn man.”

He gave her a charming smile he hoped would melt some of her ire. “I learned from the best.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve met your mother.”

*   *   *

Leaving the demon Xirena outside to keep her safe should a fight break out, Ash paused inside Nick’s house as he felt for the Cajun’s presence. There was no heartbeat to be heard.

But there was an undeniable power here. Ancient and cold, it set off every warning in Ash’s body.

Ready to battle, he flashed himself upstairs to Nick’s bedroom, where it felt the strongest. As soon as Ash manifested, a tall, lean redheaded man turned toward him. Eerie yellow eyes were filled with torment and power, and set in a face so delicately chiseled it bordered on pretty. His shoulder-length red hair framed his face perfectly. Dressed in black Goth, like Ash, the man was someone he hadn’t seen in centuries.

“Jared?”

The Sephiroth inclined his head respectfully. “Long time no see, Atlantean.”

“Why are you here?”

Jared sighed before he set one of Nick’s Voodoo dolls back on his dresser. “Probably the same thing that you’re doing here. Looking for Nick Gautier. I suppose my only question to you is if he’s your friend or foe.”

“Does it matter?”

His face steeled. “Not really. I just want to know how angry you’re going to be when I kill him.”

“Very.”

Jared sighed. “Damn shame, that. But it changes nothing.” He walked around the room, absorbing Nick’s essence so that he could track him.

Ash used his powers to shield Nick so that Jared couldn’t get an accurate reading. “Why are you so interested in Nick?”

Jared flicked at the black leather containment collar around his throat with his thumb. “Not my place to question why. I’m merely here to obey like the mindless supplicant they’ve forced me to become.”

Ash flinched at the reminder of slavery. A common bond they shared and one he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. He would give anything to free the being before him, but Jared’s kind of slavery was never-ending.

“Can I ask a favor of you?” Jared said in a tone that told him how much he hated to ask for anything.

Even so, Ash was cautious. Favors seldom turned out well for anyone. “Depends on the favor.”

Jared gave him a tight smile as he pulled his black leather coat off and exposed the dragon tattoo on his forearm. “Nim. Human form. Now.”

Ash watched as the dark shadow twisted up from Jared’s arm to manifest into a young man before him. No taller than five-eight, the demon was dressed like a steampunk, complete with large goggles that rested on his mop of black dreadlocks and a small goatee. His fingernails were painted as black as his eyes and clothes. The only color on his body came from a small pink stuffed bunny that he had chained to his hip.

Nim’s black eyes fastened on Acheron and widened. He darted behind Jared’s back to hide. “Friend or foe?”

Jared let out an aggravated breath. “Friend. And a good one at that.”

Nim peeked around like an unsure child. “He reeks of Charonte demon.”

“I know and I want you to go with him.”

“No!” the small demon barked. “Nim stays with Jared. Always.”

Jared cursed. “Could you help a brother out, Acheron? I need you to take custody of Nim and keep him safe for me.”

“No!” Nim snapped, even more determined than before.

Jared growled in response. “Damn it, Nimrod. For once in your life, do what I ask and go with Acheron.”

The demon clutched the small pink bunny to his chest and frantically shook his head no. “Nim stays with Jared. Those are the laws.”

A muscle twitched in Jared’s jaw. “I should have never saved your life.”

Ash felt his pain and understood what Jared was doing. Since Ash had a demon of his own, he knew what a weakness they could be. And what a responsibility. Even though the demon appeared to be around the human age of twenty, his actions said he was even younger than Ash’s Simi. “Nothing worse than adolescent demons.”

“You have no idea.”

“Actually, I do.” Ash approached Nim slowly, like he would a small toddler. “Nim, you can come with me and I promise nothing will hurt you.”

Nim gave him a mean, sullen stare. “I don’t know you.”

Jared tried to push him toward Ash. “He’s a good man.”

Nim bared his fangs at both of them in a vicious hiss. “He’s been with the Charonte and they hate me. They hurt Nim and make him bleed. I want to stay with Jared.” Nim immediately returned to sleep as a small dragon tattoo on Jared’s neck.

Jared let out a long, aggravated breath. “Is there any way to get him off me like this?”

“No.”

“Figures.” His eyes shimmered with gold flecks that flipped until his eyes were a solid golden amber. “One day my master is going to kill him if I don’t find him a new home.”

“I think you need to tell him that.”

“He says he’d rather be dead than leave me. According to him, we’re family. I guess that makes me the psycho uncle no one wants to talk to. And he’s the kid with only imaginary friends for company. Normal Rockwell, here we come.”

Ash smiled at his twist on the painter’s name. Honestly, Ash felt for Jared, but there was nothing either of them could do. “Then it’s his decision.”

Jared gave him a harsh stare. “Would you feel that way if it were Simi?”

“You know the answer.”

“And you know why I have to get him off me.”

True enough. There was nothing worse than having an exposed weakness that those around you preyed on. One they used to control your actions and subjugate you. Ash knew that better than anyone. And he felt sorry for Jared’s situation.

Sighing, Ash changed the subject to something he could perhaps control. “So why were you ordered to kill Nick?”

Jared shrugged his coat back on. “He’s the last of the Malachai bloodline.”

Ash laughed at the absurdity of that idea. “Nick Gautier is a Malachai? C’mon, Jared. Lay off the crack.”

“I’m not joking. He’s the last of their breed.”

Stunned, Ash actually gaped. Nick Gautier? And yet as ludicrous as that seemed, it strangely made sense. Nick’s unfounded powers. Ash’s inability to control him …

Shit.

How could he have missed it?

You weren’t looking for it.
Who would have? They were an extinct breed.

“Don’t feel so bad,” Jared said softly. “His powers were bound and hidden much the way yours were when you were human. It wasn’t until War attacked him that they kicked in.”

“Does Nick know what he is?”

Jared shook his head. “My job is to kill him before he learns it.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“You have no choice and neither do I.” He vanished before Ash could even draw breath to speak.

“Jared!”

The Sephiroth ignored him completely. “Damn it!” If Jared found Nick before he did, the boy was deader than five o’clock roadkill.

*   *   *

“You’re looking entirely too smug with yourself.”

Stryker glanced over his shoulder to see Zephyra eyeing him. “I have you here. Why shouldn’t I be pleased?”

“I can think of a million reasons, starting with the fact that I want to kill you more than I want to breathe. As for the others, would you prefer them in order of importance or alphabetically?”

He laughed. “Tell me honestly … didn’t you ever miss me?”

“No.”

Those words struck him hard. “Not once?”

She folded her arms over her chest. “You know what I remember about you, Stryker? It was the last words you said to me. ‘There’s no reason for me to stay.’ Then you walked out of my house and never looked back. No reason for you to stay, you said. None.” She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. “You severed my heart with those few words. I’d have rather you hit me.”

Stryker paused as he saw that night so clearly in his mind. She’d stood before him with tears in her eyes. Not a single one had fallen. A tribute to her strength. He’d wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her that he didn’t give a damn about his father. That she was the only one he loved and that he’d die to protect her.

Had he stayed with her, his father would have killed her, no doubt. And if Apollo hadn’t, he would have sent Artemis in to do the honor as Zephyra birthed his child and then he would have lost them both. Apollo was grotesquely vindictive that way. Stryker had tried to explain it to Zephyra, but she’d refused to listen.

“Then I will die loving you.”
That had been her answer to his arguments.

It’d been a sacrifice he hadn’t been willing to make. He thought it best that she hate him and live rather than she love him and die.

If only he’d known then what was waiting for them in the future.

“I didn’t mean those words.”

She scoffed. “Of course not. You were thoughtless, et cetera, et cetera. I really don’t care anymore.”