The Dark-Hunters (633 page)

“Your family. What were they like?”

Delphine started to tell him it was none of his business, but the sincerity in his eye kept her from it. He seemed to be genuinely curious, and she didn’t want to anger him again. She actually liked their more calm discussions. Few though they were.

“I knew nothing of my real father.” It was something she’d never really talked about before. Mostly because no one ever asked or cared. “Arikos said my father was one of the Skoti who seduced my mother in her sleep.” And a part of her still wished he’d come forward to claim her once she’d joined their ranks. That was the human side of her that at least wanted a face to put with her mysterious procreator. It would have been nice to have known which of the thousands of them had fathered her.

But she didn’t want to dwell on that. “My mother was a gentle woman. Lovely.” A tiny smile played at the edges of her lips as she remembered the beauty of her mother’s face and the tenderness of her touch. She’d truly loved her mother, who had never once raised her voice to anyone. It didn’t mean her mother didn’t stand up to people. She just did it in a calm, sweet way that Delphine had always admired.

“She used to make these honey cakes that were so good they would melt before you could even swallow them.” She closed her eyes as her throat tightened with the part of her heart that still ached over the fact that her mother was no longer with her. “I asked her once what her special trick was to make them like that. She told me it was the love she had for me that she put into them.” Delphine blinked away tears at the thought.

How could she still miss a woman she hadn’t seen in centuries? And yet there would always be a part of her that missed her mother and her mother’s kind heart and gentle soul.

“Did you have a stepfather?”

She nodded. “He was a good man. A blacksmith. I used to take drinks to him while he worked, and he would make up funny stories to entertain me.” She even had the crude silver heart he’d made for her when she was a girl that bore his smith’s mark. She kept it in a small box in her room on the Vanishing Isle. Even with muted emotions, she had loved them greatly, and that spoke more of them than it did her. The fact that they could make her feel what they did …

A part of her was sad that she hadn’t possessed a completely human heart to give them all the love they’d deserved in return.

Jericho looked away from her wistful face, wishing he could relate. But the world she described was nothing like his childhood. His parents had seldom been kind and the two of them had fought ferociously.

“And siblings? Did you have any of those?”

She shook her head. “No. It was just me. I think it’s why they doted on me the way they did.”

“And were they good to you?”

Delphine scowled suspiciously. Not that he blamed her. He was being nosy, but he had to know if he’d done right by her.
Please tell me I didn’t suffer without reason.…
He needed to hear that he’d spared her more misery, though he wasn’t sure why it was so important to him. All he knew was that a part of him would die if she’d been harmed in any way by his actions.

“Why do you care?” she asked.

“I’m curious.”

Still, suspicion hung heavy in those hazel eyes. She wanted a real reason, but he couldn’t give it to her. “Yes, they were very kind to me. Even though we were poor, I never wanted for anything. I think since they couldn’t have any more children, they lavished all their love on me.”

Jericho didn’t know why that made his heart lighter, but it did. He’d chosen well for her parents.

Good.

She took a sip of water. “What about you? Did you have a good relationship with your parents?”

He snorted before he could stop himself. But why hide the truth? It wasn’t like the whole of Olympus didn’t know what kind of family he had. “My mother is the goddess of hatred and my father the god of warcraft. My sisters were the goddesses of force and victory, my brother the god of rivalry. Let’s just say those personalities don’t lend themselves to a calm, peaceful home. Any time things started to go too smoothly, Zelos was there to stir everyone up and get us going at each other’s throats.”

And those were the good memories. His father had spent his childhood making them all “stronger.” His mother filling them with hatred because in her words, “Love is fickle and it will betray you. But hatred lasts forever. It gives you strength and it will never leave you cold.”

The fact that the other gods, including Zeus, swore on his mother and then were terrified to break those oaths for fear of her wrath, pretty much said everything there was about his mother’s “dainty” personality.

Her idea of tucking her young into bed had been to throw him into a lava pit and watch as he almost drowned.

“Why did you do that?”

“It is by your own strength that you will be known. You can never rely on another for help. Everyone sinks or swims by their own effort. Never forget that.”

“In a lava pit?”

Her answer had come as a vicious backhand. “You will stand. You will fight and you will never shame me.”

Yeah …

His childhood had been great indeed.

Delphine shook her head as she twisted the straw wrapper in her hands. “I met your brother Zelos once. He was a total jerk.”

“You have no idea.” She should have tried growing up with the mean bastard.

Jericho paused as the waitress returned to take their orders.

Delphine hesitated when it was her turn. She looked at the menu uncertainly. “I don’t know what to eat.”

Jericho leaned back in his chair. “Try the medley. It has some of everything. If you don’t like it, you can always order something else.”

“Okay.” She ordered it, then handed her menu to the waitress. “So have you eaten here a lot?” she asked once they were alone again.

He glanced out the window at the small line of people that was forming, waiting to come inside and be seated. “No. Darice’s girlfriend works here and she used to bring food over to Darice during lunch. It always smelled and looked good so I wanted to try it.”

Jericho paused as he became aware of what they were doing.… He was eating with a companion. He hadn’t done this in centuries.

More than that, they were chatting. Sharing. Something he’d never really done with anyone.

How strange.

Delphine fell quiet as she waited for her food. She kept thinking of M’Adoc and Deimos, along with the others Noir had taken. What were they going through right now? She knew they were in pain and she couldn’t stop dwelling on it.

And as she glanced around the restaurant, she wondered what would become of places such as this in the human realm if Noir succeeded with his plans. Would any of it be left standing or would he tear it all down?

It wasn’t right or fair. None of the people who were laughing and talking had any idea that evil was around them. That they were on the brink of total annihilation and that one of the people who could stop them sat across from her not even caring.

She watched as a couple walked out the door with their arms draped over each other. Frowning, she couldn’t take her eyes off them as they paused outside the window and kissed. They looked so happy and in love.

What would that feel like?

“You look like you’ve never seen people kissing before.”

She glanced back at Jericho. “I’ve seen it before. Just not in real life.”

He watched the couple until they vanished out of sight. Then that penetrating gaze came back to hers. “Have you never kissed?”

She gave him a droll stare. “Arik took me to the Vanishing Isle when I was fourteen. So no, I’ve never kissed. The Oneroi aren’t really big on affection. It goes against that whole no-feelings thing.”

Jericho had to concede that point. Zeus had done a number on all of them. “Were you never tempted to go Skoti?”

“It has crossed my mind briefly, but no, not really. I would
never
become one of them.”

Her adamant vehemence surprised him. He’d struck a nerve with her. “Why?”

Her gaze saddened as she swirled ice in her glass with her straw. “There was a woman in my village when I was a young girl. Beautiful and sweet, she used to bring fresh bread to my parents and make doll clothes for me. Then one afternoon, I noticed how tired she looked. She hadn’t been sleeping for days. Every night her dreams worsened. Within two weeks, she’d gone insane from them, and that was before the Skoti had lost their emotions. Back when they preyed for nothing more than cruelty.”

Delphine flinched; the memories were hard for her even now. “I can still remember the wails of her children when they found her. She’d killed herself to get away from the demons in her sleep. It wasn’t until Arik came to me that I learned it was the Skoti who’d driven her mad and why it was so important that we fight and stop them. Any time I ever considered allowing my emotions to rule me, I thought of Nirobe. I would never harm someone the way they’d harmed her. It’s wrong to prey on people.”

Wow, he wished he had those convictions. But truthfully, he felt vindicated for any action he took against mankind.

Still …

She shook her head. “I don’t understand why people can’t be nice to each other. Why someone always has to push someone else around.”

Unlike her, he got it completely. “It’s intoxicating to feel that power. To know that in your hands is their life or death. That no matter what they do or how hard they fight, they’re no match for you.”

Her gaze turned harsh and condemning. “Do you really feel satisfied when you’ve crushed them knowing they were weaker than you? That they couldn’t fight back and win? Is that true victory?”

Jericho looked away.

“Tell me,” she said, her voice thick with conviction. “I want to understand because I really don’t get it.”

Jericho swallowed, unable to meet her gaze as he remembered the times in his past when he’d gone after weaker enemies. There was one truth he kept coming back to, and it was one he didn’t want to think about. “I was always still empty afterward. The exaltation of victory is momentary and fleeting. By the time it’s felt, it’s gone.”

“So why do it?”

Because it was better than the emptiness inside. At least there for a moment, he had some kind of feelings besides hate and pain. That was all he knew. It was why Nike had been so precious to him. She had made him feel something else.

But even that had always been fleeting. Nothing could take away or soothe the rage and hate in his heart. At least not for more than a few minutes at a time.

It was those minutes he craved.

He sat back as the waitress brought their food and set it down in front of them. Silently, he ate his oysters while Delphine picked daintily at her food. Her nose wrinkled ever so slightly as she bit into her gumbo.

“Is it not good?”

She wiped her mouth. “Yes. But very different. Spicy. I wasn’t prepared for that.”

He pushed his basket of crackers toward her on the table. “That’ll help absorb it.”

“Thank you.” She started to bite into the wrapped package.

“Wait,” he said, pulling it out of her hand. “You have to unwrap the plastic.”

“What?”

He shook his head, amused by her confusion. She could be so knowledgeable and yet so childlike. But then, her experiences in the world had been through dreams and not based in reality. It made a big difference.

“You don’t eat the plastic part.” He opened the crackers and handed them back.

“Oh. Thank you again.” She smiled a smile that actually made his stomach tighten. Her hand brushed his as she took it.

That simple, innocent touch seared him. He wanted to take her hand and hold it to his face. To kiss his way up her arm and over her body.

But he didn’t dare. Tenderness for her could weaken him. He’d already sacrificed enough for her. He had no intention of giving anything more.

Her eyes sparkled as she continued to eat her meal. She was enjoying it. He didn’t know why he took pleasure in that, but he did.

But his pleasure died as he glanced out the window to the street.

There in the darkness, he saw a shadow he recognized. Inhuman and evil, it was after two girls who had just left the Fire of Brazil restaurant across the street.

Damn it! Couldn’t he even eat in peace?

What do you care? Let him have them.

He looked down at his plate, telling himself it was none of his business.

Then he looked at Delphine, who hadn’t seen what he had. She would be so disappointed in him if she ever learned that he’d sat here and done nothing to help those girls.

And the truth was, so would he.

Cursing, he pulled his wallet out and used his powers to create enough money to put on the table to pay for their food.

Delphine frowned at him as he stood up. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” he growled. “I’m about to kill someone.” Without another word, he headed outside to confront the creature.

No doubt this was going to be the second-worst mistake of his life.

CHAPTER 6

Delphine was more than ready to lay into Jericho for his cruel intentions as she followed him outside the restaurant. Whoever he was going after didn’t deserve to die, and from what she could see, it was one of two young women.

Or, Zeus forbid, both of them.

What was it with him that he’d forgotten all compassion? What could those girls have done to him to make him want to kill them? They looked as harmless as could be.

At least that was her thought until she saw the demon rush into a dark alley to attack the two young women they’d been following.

She tried to blast the demon, only to be reminded that her powers were completely gone.

Jericho ran at the demon and grabbed him from behind. No more then five-eight in height, the demon had dark skin, flashing black eyes and a bald head. Lean and wiry and extremely handsome, he struggled against Jericho.

Jericho pulled the demon off the screaming co-ed. “Get the girls out of here,” he shouted at her.

She did as he said, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fight the demon with witnesses present. Humans really didn’t want to know what was out in the world, preying on them.