The Dark-Hunters (634 page)

As soon as she had the alley clear and the crying girls were running toward safety, Jericho let loose the demon, who turned on him with flashing fangs. Jericho caught the demon’s shoulders as he came at him and flipped him onto the ground.

In one fluid move, he pulled the dagger out of his boot and held it against the demon’s throat. Unable to move now without hurting himself, the demon’s eyes turned red and his demon’s marks appeared on his bald head.

“What are you doing here, Berith?” Jericho demanded in a cold, lethal tone.

The demon’s eyes bulged as he realized who Jericho was. “Kyrios?” he asked excitedly, using the term meaning “master.” “It’s so good to see you again. I’d heard you were banished. Stripped of your powers.”

Jericho kept him in place. “I’m sure my father’s filled your head full of bullshit. As you can see, I’m hale and whole, and willing to gut you. Now why were you after those girls?”

“Bidden.”

“By?”

Berith shrugged. “Dunno. Some boy-man who says he bought my ring in an antique store. You know the rules. I can’t question my orders. I only carry them out.”

Delphine was completely confused by what was going on but didn’t want to interrupt them.

Jericho pulled his knife away from the demon’s throat and sat back on his haunches. “Where is this boy who owns your ring?”

“In something called a dorm room not too far from here. It’s a small place. After I bring him the girl he sent me after, he wants me to put him in a house. A big one in something called the Garden District. Not sure what that is. I’ll have to do research on it.”

Delphine finally interrupted. “I take it you know this demon?”

Nodding, Jericho rose to his feet, pulling the demon up with him. “He was one of my father’s generals until he pissed him off. For that aggravation, my father bound him into slavery to a ring. You own the ring, you own Berith.”

Berith straightened his clothes with exaggerated jerks. “And it hurts every time they conjure me. I swear it feels like someone peeling my skin off.”

She shook her head in pity for both of them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked at Jericho. “You must have had such a great childhood with a man like that for your father.”

“Yeah. All puppy dogs and rainbows and those weird furry people with padded coat hangers on their heads that look like space aliens on acid.”

Berith paused as he brushed debris off his clothes to frown. “You mean the Teletubbies?”

Jericho gave him a smirk. “The fact that you know what they’re called, Berith, truly scares me.”

Berith shrugged. “As a demon of torture, it behooves me to know all things that are deeply annoying. You’d be amazed how many people in the modern age no longer fear zombies as much as Teletubbies.”

Jericho snorted. “Not really. I’d rather battle a brain-eating zombie any day than hear them sing.”

“You’re both sick individuals,” Delphine said, yet she was oddly amused by their conversation.

Jericho ignored her. “So what were you going to do with the girls?”

Berith rubbed his eyes before he answered. “One I was going to eat, the other the kid wanted for his girlfriend. You do know I still have to take her to him, right?”

“No, you don’t,” Jericho said in a flat tone.

“What do you mean?” Berith’s voice was filled with fear. He took two steps back. “You plan to kill me?”

“No. I’m going to liberate you.”

Berith backed up another step, his face contorted with suspicion. “That’s the demon euphemism for death…”

“I’m not going to kill you, Berith.”

“Really?” He dragged the word out slowly. “Why not?” The way he said that was comical. It was almost as if he were disappointed.

“Because I need an ally and I can think of no one better.”

Berith scoffed. “Sure you can. I can think of a lot of gods with more power than a bound demon.”

“Yes, but I know your weaknesses, which means you’ll think twice before betraying me.”

“Very good point. You get the ring and I’m yours to command.”

Jericho looked at Delphine. “Shall we?”

“Have I any choice?”

“Not really.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Berith took them straight to his master, who turned out to be a pimple-faced nineteen-year-old college student. Some master he was. He actually wet his pants the moment they flashed into his room.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice shaking as he cringed in a corner of his dorm room.

Jericho crossed his arms over his chest in a tough stance as he scowled at the boy. “I want Berith’s ring.”

“It’s mine. I bought it fair and square.”

“Kid,” Jericho said sternly, “hand it over. I’ll reimburse you. Most importantly, give it over without a fuss, and I’ll let you live.”

The boy swallowed. He looked at Berith. “What about
our
deal?”

Berith indicated Jericho with his thumb. “The man doesn’t want me messing with it and, no offense, I wouldn’t anger him. I’ve seen what he can do and it’s the stuff horror movies are made of. Body parts flailing, blood. Lots of blood and torture.” He leaned forward to whisper loudly, “and the woman with us? Goddess of nightmares. These two can get you sleeping and awake. You might want to let them have the ring so that they’ll go away peacefully.”

“But—”

Delphine stepped forward. “No buts, sweetie. Give us the ring before someone gets hurt.”

Berith cleared his throat. “That someone would be you, just for clarification.”

The boy’s eyes widened before he pulled the ring off his pinkie and held it out to them. “I just wanted Kerry to notice me.”

Jericho took it from him. “For the record, kid, summoning a demon to kidnap her, not the best way to meet a woman. It usually backfires on you.”

Delphine arched a brow at that.

Jericho didn’t comment on her unspoken sarcasm.

The next thing Delphine knew, they were all back in Azmodea in Jericho’s room.

He turned to the demon. “Berith, back in the ring. Now.”

Berith saluted him before he complied. Jericho slid the ring onto his finger. Small and gold, it held a single blood-red stone that had a skull etched into it. The ring looked rather creepy, and given the fact that it housed a demon, it was rather apropos.

“What are you planning to do with that?” she asked, indicating the ring.

He shrugged. “It never hurts to have a surprise your enemies don’t know about. Even the toughest of us need the cavalry from time to time.”

That made sense to her. And Berith would have nothing to gain by working for Noir.

Not to mention Jericho didn’t trust Noir. Even though he didn’t say it in so many words, she sensed it in the way he was more on guard here than he’d been in the restaurant.

He might talk the game, but he knew the drill. She gave him credit for not blindly following someone she had no doubt would turn on him even worse than Zeus had.

She walked closer to Jericho. His hair was long and blond again—he’d made it short for their brief trip to New Orleans, probably because he seemed to have an aversion to standing out. But now he looked like the god he was, complete with an eye that glowed with color.

He was so much larger than she. Stronger. She should be afraid of him, and yet she had this overwhelming compulsion to rub herself against him. To have him hold her.

In spite of those feelings, she playfully narrowed her gaze. “By the way, I want to revisit that demon comment you made earlier. Isn’t that how
we
met?”

He scoffed. “And you see how wonderfully sweet you’ve been to me as a result of it. You’ve done all but bite me.”

She tucked her hands behind her back and smiled devilishly. “I probably should have done that while I had the chance.”

“Well, there’s always tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll get around to it then.” There was no humor in his tone at all. It was deadly serious.

“I was teasing.”

“Sure you were.”

She caught him as he started past her. “You don’t trust anyone, do you?”

“What do you think? I’m sure you’ll turn on me just like everyone else has. It’s not like we’re family or even friends. Like Noir said, we’re all for sale. It’s just a question of price.”

“And I don’t believe that. There is nothing that could make me turn against M’Adoc.”

His mocking laugh rang in her ears. “Easy for you to say. You’ve never been tested.”

“And there you’d be wrong.”

“How so?”

She turned around to give him her back. Lifting her shirt, she showed him the scars that she usually used her powers to conceal. Since her powers were bound, she was sure they were prominent now.

Jericho paused as he saw the scars she held from a past beating. How had he missed them earlier? But then, he’d been so occupied with getting her covered that he’d been trying not to focus on her body, only on concealing it. Because he knew how embarrassing it was to be naked in front of strangers, he’d kept his gaze off her bare skin.

It was routine for the Oneroi to be beaten whenever they broke the rules. But he couldn’t imagine Delphine doing anything to warrant such cruelty. He touched the faint scars as a wave of anger consumed him that someone would defile her body so. “What are these from?”

She put her shirt down and turned to face him. “My refusal to pursue Arik when he turned Skoti.”

“Arik?” He didn’t know that name.

“He was the Oneroi who came to me when I thought myself human. He tutored me and protected me until I was strong enough to fight on my own. You asked if I had a sibling … I always considered him a brother for his kindness in helping me. Therefore, I refused to hunt him even after they threatened me and carried out their beatings. I would have died before I betrayed what I felt I owed to him.”

That was the kind of loyalty Jericho was desperate for. Just once.

He tried to tell himself that he’d had that with Nike, but he knew the truth. His sister could have helped him. Yet she never had. Not once in all these centuries.

She’d turned her back on him like the rest of them.

And it made his heart clench that Delphine was capable of it. “I commend your loyalty. It’s a rare thing.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. And I don’t think I’m any better a person than anyone else. So if I can stand by my principles, I know other people can, too. Case in point, Deimos and M’Adoc could turn against the Olympians and join Noir. Yet they’d rather be tortured than betray their people. Is that not loyalty?”

“So what?” he snarled. “I’m a bastard for betraying the Olympians? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No. I’m…” She paused as if frustrated. “Forget it. You’re beyond hearing me.”

That set his fury to boil. She was dismissing him, and he couldn’t stand it. “I’m not a piece of shit for you to flush and walk away!”

Delphine caught his face in her hands. “Jericho, relax. I haven’t accused you of anything.”

“You don’t have to. Your eyes do it for you.” He tried to pull away, but she held him in place.

Those eyes tore at him and weakened him as she gave him a gentle look. “Don’t put your insecurities on me. I won’t take that from you. I don’t condemn you for what you’ve done. A single beating for disobeying orders doesn’t equate to the betrayal you had, and I know that. While I was hurt, I wasn’t thrown out, powerless, to survive on my own.”

No, she hadn’t been, and the fact that she understood the difference weakened him even more.

Then she did something no one had done in centuries.

She hugged him.

Jericho wanted to curse and shove her away, but the softness of her body against his … the sensation of her arms around him … he couldn’t move. Deep inside, in the darkest place of his soul that he’d always denied, he craved this so desperately that all he could do was savor it.

Her blond hair was so soft on his face. Her breath tickled his neck. Before he could stop himself, he cradled her head in his hand and imagined himself inside her. Imagined what it would be like to have her loyal to him and to know he could depend on her to stand by his side no matter what.

What would that feel like?

Wanting to be closer to her, he dipped his head down and captured her lips.

Delphine was unprepared for the ferocity of his kiss. Yet for all the passion, he was still gentle as he tasted her. Her entire body exploded with heat and need. The hardness of him … the sensation of his hand in her hair … it was a heady mixture. No wonder the Skoti turned into incubi and succubi. If a kiss held this much pleasure, the other would have to be blinding.

His teeth nipped at her lips as his breathing intensified. Growling deep in his throat, he ravaged her mouth.

Delphine melted into him, reveling in the sinews of his body, the power of his desire.

He took her hand in his and slowly led it to the bulge in his pants.

Jericho trembled as she cupped him through his jeans. It’d been so long since a woman had touched him like this. For centuries, he’d craved the ability to stay hard whenever a woman neared him. Until now, that had only been a dream.

And he was desperate to be touched …

Needing release, he unzipped his pants and freed himself. Her touch faltered.

“Please,” he whispered, pressing her hand against his cock. “Please don’t pull away.”

Delphine was afraid. What did he want from her? She wasn’t ready to have sex with him. They barely knew each other.

But he didn’t seem to be pawing at her for that. He wasn’t encroaching on
her
body. Rather he used her hand to stroke his. “This is all I want from you,” he whispered, his tone deep and heartfelt.

Nodding, she looked down at their entwined hands. This was a man who’d known nothing but suffering, and this gave him pleasure. How could she deprive him of something that wasn’t hurting her?

For some reason she couldn’t name, she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him.

He buried his face in her neck as he thrust himself against her hand. His breathing was so ragged that it worried her. Was he okay?

“Jericho?”

The moment she said his name, he let out a fierce, primal growl as he released himself in her hand. His entire body shuddered violently. When he pulled back and met her gaze, his eye was a vibrant shade of blue as his wings shot out from his back and unfurled. They were black and huge as they fluttered softly, fanning her slightly.