The Dark-Hunters (628 page)

Noir shrugged. “She’s attractive. It’s to be expected.”

“Yes, but we need to keep our new tool happy. The last thing we want is to have him turn on
us.
Without your Malachai, we will need him when we attack the Source.” She dragged her hand over the woman’s unconscious body, appreciating her slight stature. “She is a beauty, isn’t she?”

“If you like pale, pasty women. Personally, I prefer ones with more color.”

Azura smiled as he pulled her close and ran his tongue along her throat. Chills erupted over her skin. Even though they called themselves brother and sister, there was nothing that united them in blood except their mutual quest for power and hunger for death. In that, they were family.

Reality was a different story.

“Not now, lover. I want to present her to Cratus.”

“Dump her into his room, then. Or kill her. Either way works for me.”

Azura conjured a containment collar for the woman’s powers. The last thing they needed was to have her loose in their home. Not that she could do that much. It was merely the principle of the matter.

As soon as she had the Olympian’s powers restrained, she undid the woman’s pale hair so that it would cascade over her shoulders. “Yes, very pretty.”

Satisfied, Azura teleported to Cratus’s room. He was looking out the window as if trying to find an enemy of some sort. The moment she popped in, he swung about as if ready to fight.

She had to suppress the urge to mock him for something that was actually admirable. He was intelligent to not trust them. Most people, to their extreme detriment, did. The fact that he alone suspected treachery said much for why he was a valuable ally.

“No need to be so jumpy.”

His face was absolute stone. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve brought you a gift.”

Jericho scowled at her, wondering what game she played—and he knew she was playing something. Her entire demeanor warned him that she was about to make him even angrier. And he wasn’t jumpy. It was just that he knew the treachery that lived in the hearts of all creatures. It was all he expected of them.

No one could be trusted.

Actually, that wasn’t true. They could be trusted to screw over the people around them when it served their purposes.
That
he would bank on.

“Gift?”

Her smile was wicked and it was colder than ice. “Bon appetit, precious,” Azura said as she snapped her fingers. The sound was still ringing in his ears when a small form materialized at his feet.

Jericho gasped at the sight of the tiny woman …

One who was completely naked.

CHAPTER 3

Delphine stiffened as she came awake to find herself sprawled face down on a cold marble floor. Naked. Mortified. Terrified.

Rising slightly, she tried to cover herself with her hands, but she lacked enough hands to do it. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she was more than aware of the pair of black men’s boots she couldn’t take her gaze off of. Mostly because she didn’t want to see this man, whoever he was, eye to eye after he’d seen her completely naked.

Heat spread over her as she wanted to crawl into a hole, one that hopefully had some clothes in it, and hide.

Cursing so foully he made her jump, the man knelt down. She tensed, expecting the worst and ready to fight him to the death.

But he didn’t touch her.

Instead he pricked his finger with a small knife, and the blood from his fingertip wove itself around her to form a warm crimson cloak that covered her completely. She still didn’t look at him. She couldn’t while she was this embarrassed.

“That was unnecessary,” he growled in that deeply masculine tone she’d recently learned belonged to Cratus. His voice rumbled like angry thunder.

It was Azura who answered him. “She’s our offering to you to show you our thanks for your loyalty.”

Completely covered now and finding some semblance of dignity, Delphine rose to find Jericho glaring at Azura, who stood in the corner by the door. The evil goddess looked entirely too pleased with herself.

Smirking at Delphine, Azura gestured toward her. “She’s your slave.”

Delphine gaped at her disclosure even though Jericho didn’t say anything.

“I’ve bound her powers and delivered her to you,” Azura continued. “Do with her as you please. But you should know she’s one of the Oneroi and friend to the Dolophoni you hate so much … the ones who have tortured you for centuries. I’ve restored all of her emotions so that you can take pleasure however you see fit…” She started to leave, then paused. “Oh, and you’ll probably want to know she’s one of Zeus’s favorites among the goddesses. I’m told he values her greatly.”

Delphine opened her mouth to deny it, but no words would come out. Azura had her voice blocked.

Oh, to have one second of her powers …

And a minute alone with that deceitful bitch.

Her features smug, Azura vanished in a cloud of blue smoke.

Jericho glanced at his new “present,” intending to return the woman to Azura immediately, but the moment his gaze met hers, he was frozen in place.

Long, wavy blond hair contrasted sharply with the red cloak he’d made for her. But it was her eyes that held him prisoner. A deep hazel green, they showed him a potent fear that she, as a Dream-Hunter, shouldn’t have been able to experience. More than that, they showed her spirit and her fight. She was tensed to hold her own even though she had to know she didn’t stand a chance against him. The fact that she was willing to fight anyway said a lot about her.

Her form was slight, her face porcelain smooth with high cheekbones and a small widow’s peak. She looked so much like a Dream-Hunter he’d once known that he couldn’t help asking, “Leta?”

She frowned at him. “My name is Delphine.”

Delphine …

She took a step back and again he was aware of exactly how frail she was in appearance. He could crush her and yet, even given her relationship with Zeus, he couldn’t bear the thought of harming her and damned if he knew why. Kindness wasn’t something he made a practice of. It was his nature to strike the first blow.

As if sensing his thoughts, she put more room between them. “I won’t be your slave.”

Her defiance amused him. “I don’t think you have much choice.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “I will fight you until one of us is dead.”

He was consumed by an overwhelming urge to soothe her. It was something he hadn’t felt since he’d comforted his sister when they were younger—and he’d never felt that for another person.

Until now.

It made no sense that he’d want to reassure Zeus’s pet after what that bastard had done to him, and yet he couldn’t stand the thought of her being afraid of him. “I won’t hurt you.”

Delphine wanted to believe that, but she was having a hard time, especially since the rawness of her new emotions was making her dizzy. They were sharp and so confusing. How did people cope with this? “Where am I?”

“Azmodea.”

Delphine cringed at the name, which translated into “furious demon.” This was where Noir and Azura made their home and where they gleefully tortured their unfortunate victims. She had no doubt that’s exactly what would become of her now that they’d taken her hostage, too.

Her gaze fell to his sword on the highly polished dresser. “You would really fight at the side of such unrelenting evil?”

His one eye flashed with the weight of his anger as he snarled at her. “You know
nothing
about me.”

“That’s not true. I know you were cursed by Zeus and that you’ve lived every day since completely alone.”

He laughed bitterly. “Only when I was lucky.”

She scowled. “What do you mean?”

All the emotion left his face. Still raw hatred bled from his pores with a tangible heat so potent, she could swear it singed the air between them. “I owe you
nothing.
”

Delphine couldn’t breathe at the fury that glared at her from his one good eye. It was palpable and terrifying. “
I’ve
never hurt you.”

Faster than she could blink, he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall. Yet for the quickness and ferocity of his action, he didn’t hurt her. He merely held her neck in the large paw of his hand in a gentle grip while that one deep blue eye pierced her.

Jericho wanted to snap her neck in two. His pent-up fury begged him to do it. Send her back to Zeus in pieces.

But he couldn’t bring himself to kill her.

Grinding his teeth, he released her. “Don’t push me.”

She met his gaze unflinchingly. “I didn’t realize pushing you would involve me stating a simple fact.”

He was appalled by her unending temerity that seemed to prevent her from being silent even when it was the prudent thing to do. “Have you no concept of self-preservation?”

“Have you no concept of decent behavior?”

That made him really want to hurt her because deep inside it cut him harshly. There had been a time when he’d been decent. Even courteous. But his past degradations had killed that long ago. No one had showed him mercy, so why should he ever give it to another?

“No, I don’t.”

Delphine felt a whisper of wind before he vanished out of the room. She looked around, but there was no sign of him. Even his sword was gone. Yet what surprised her was that in its place was a set of clothes for
her.
A pair of jeans, shoes and a pink top.

Why would he bother?

Grateful even though it didn’t make sense, she dropped the cloak and reached for them. The moment she did, she became aware of just how cold it was here in his room. Chills ran over her body, making her teeth chatter.

It was absolutely frigid.

Frowning, she touched the cloak that vibrated with warmth. It truly felt like living body heat.…

Was it from his blood? She had no idea, but she was grateful for the warmth. And right now, she wanted to have something on besides her skin and his cloak.

With her hands shaking, she quickly dressed. She kept trying to use her powers, but the containment collar was more than effective.

Bloody dogs …

Furious with her predicament, she opened the door to leave, then pulled up sharply. There in the hallway was what had to be the largest, ugliest demon she’d ever seen in her life. At least ten feet tall, he had bulbous skin and a stench so foul she had to hold her breath.

She immediately took a step back and slammed the door shut.

His evil laughter echoed outside.

Delphine rolled her eyes. “What are you? Stupid? Of course they have a guard. What part of ‘You’re a prisoner’ did you miss?” she castigated herself out loud.

Feeling ill, frustrated and upset, she wrapped her arms around her chest and wondered what she could do to help the others from here. This had to be where the Skoti were taking them. If she could find their prison, maybe she could set the hostages free …

Then she could focus on converting Jericho back to their side. That would be the best of all worlds.

Literally.

But how did one go about seducing someone? She truly had no idea. Most of her interactions with people were through dreams and since she wasn’t an erotic Skotos, she’d never been sexually involved with them. She’d gone in only as a warrior to combat the Skoti and free the dreamer from their spell.

As a human …

Well, that had been a long time ago. And while she remembered having an appreciation for some of the boys in her village, those feelings had been muted.

Now her emotions were something else. Raw. Hurtful. Painful.

Overwhelming.

Anger burned her over their holding her captive and she wanted to hurt someone. Luckily, she understood that it was only an exaggerated fury inside her and not real anger. She had to calm down and think rationally.

The window …

She went over to it and drew the curtains back. Rain soundlessly pelted the glass. Gray skies stretched out endlessly with puffed and ugly clouds. Her view looked out on a sea that boiled and crashed upon black stones. Placing her hand to the pane, she snatched it back immediately. It was so cold that it burned her.

“Calm down,” she whispered, trying to remember everything she knew about Azmodea. Honestly, it wasn’t much. It was said to be the primordial ooze that had been left over when the universe had been created. Afraid it might taint the beauty of the rest of the universe, the Source had banished it to the deepest part of the earth, never to be seen again.

When Noir and his sisters had risen to power, they had profaned the light and taken up residence here. It was said that the walls of their palace were painted red with the blood of the victims they had tortured.

She looked at the burgundy paint. No, it wasn’t dried blood. That was just a story meant to frighten.

It’s doing a superbly good job.

Stop it!
She was rational and not given to panic attacks even though a chill went down her spine. While the room was large and well-dressed with intricately carved furniture, the austere ambiance made it less than inviting. Honestly, she preferred the hole Jericho had lived in on earth to this place. At least the hovel hadn’t been insidious and so icy cold. Creepy. She kept expecting something to jump out of the walls and grab her.

Nervous and out of sorts, she went to the mirror and tried to pry her collar off even though she knew just what a waste of time it would be. It was better than doing nothing. It’d never been in her nature to not fight.

But after a few minutes, her frustration grew and left her snatching at it until she had a bruise forming.

So much for that.

“Where are you, Jericho?” And most importantly, what was he doing?

*   *   *

Jericho paused outside the door to the room where Azura had first taken him. She’d called it their war room, which made sense. But as he stood there, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was so hard to breathe. To think.

Images flashed through his mind. Quick and intense, he saw himself as he’d been in the human realm. He felt the hunger and the pain of it.