The Dark-Hunters (854 page)

B
LOOD
R
ITE
S
QUIRE

H
AIR
/E
YES
: brown/dark brown

Delphinian
    The Oracle of Delphi. Leader of the Oracle Squires.

Erikkson, Christopher Lars
    Nickname: Chris. Wulf Tryggvason’s Squire, and a direct descendent of Wulf’s brother.

Because he is a blood relative, Chris falls through the loophole Acheron created in Wulf’s unfortunate curse. He can remember the existence of Wulf, though folks like his mother—who married into the family—will keep on forgetting. (If you need a laugh, call Mrs. Erikkson sometime and ask her about her son’s boss.)

Some member of the Tryggvason family has always been Wulf’s Squire for this reason. Unfortunately, Chris is an only child.

Chris is a brilliant student—okay, technically he’s a teacher’s pet with perfect scores—who shared a few classes with Cassandra Peters (before she went and married his Dark-Hunter uncle). Not real smooth in the social skills department, Nick Gautier was Chris’s only real friend.

Chris’s claim to fame is a story you’ll hear circulating around the Dark-Hunter watering holes. I’ll fill you in, but be sure to have someone tell it to you with their own personal flair. In a desperate attempt to help his nephew “go forth and multiply,” Wulf Tryggvason flew Britney Spears in for Chris’s twenty-first birthday. Rumor has it they played Trivial Pursuit all night. Chris won. Britney ate all the birthday cake.

B
ORN
: April 21, 1981

B
IRTHPLACE
: St. Paul, Minnesota

H
EIGHT
: six feet

H
AIR
/E
YES
: black/blue

D
ARK
-H
UNTER
: Wulf Tryggvason

Gautier, Nicholas Ambrosius
    Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick. (Sigh.)

Bastard son of a convict (who died in Angola during a prison riot), and a teenage exotic dancer on Bourbon Street (Cherise Gautier), Nick was raised in the back room of his mother’s club and ran wild as a child. He was pulled off the streets by the Dark-Hunter Kyrian. It didn’t take him long to become a brilliant prelaw student at Loyola and a technogeek computer whiz. According to Tad Addams, Nick could hack into anything.

Nick was Kyrian’s Squire and best man at his wedding, drinking buddies with Tabitha Devereaux, and—despite his smart-mouthed, mule-headed, charming-as-hell self—the closest thing to a best friend Acheron ever had. After Kyrian’s return to mortality, Nick became Talon’s unofficial, part-time Squire.

It all sort of went to pot the night Nick made the worst decision of his life and slept with Simi … though to his credit, he didn’t know what she meant to Ash at the time. Ash went so crazy when he found out that he inadvertently cursed Nick by saying, “If I were you, I’d kill myself to save me the trouble of doing it later.”

When Nick found his beloved mother after she had been murdered by the Desiderius-possessed Ulric, he took his own life so that Artemis would be forced to make him a Dark-Hunter and allow him his vengeance. Artemis—who cannot make a Dark-Hunter from a suicide—felt she had no right to Nick’s soul, so she handed it over to Acheron.

Nick bears his bow-and-arrow mark on his face and neck, making it impossible to conceal (though it goes quite well with his Blood Rite tattoo). After Acheron gave Nick to Savitar to train, Savitar handed him over to Ravyn Kontis. Angry at the world, Nick ran off and
really
went to the dark side. He made a pact with Stryker and drank his blood, an act that gave him silver eyes and godlike powers.

Like the world didn’t have enough to worry about.

B
ORN
: September 12, 1978

B
IRTHPLACE
: New Orleans, Louisiana

H
EIGHT
: six foot four

H
AIR
/E
YES
: dark brown/hazel blue (turned silver)

A
GE AT
D
EATH
: twenty-seven

P
OWERS
: godlike

Greg
    Squire who saw his Dark-Hunter burned to death in a holding cell.

D
ARK
-H
UNTER
: Troy (deceased)

Kirby, Allen
    A multigenerational Squire from Toronto, and a complete smart-ass. (That seems to be a Squire prerequisite, doesn’t it?) Brother to Leo.

B
LUE
B
LOOD
S
QUIRE

Kirby, Leo
    Attended college with Susan Michaels; later became her boss at the
Daily Inquisitor.
Leo holds the office of Squire Regis of Seattle, and is in charge of the Theti Squire branch. He also sports a spiderweb Blood Rite tattoo on his left hand. Leo is always more receptive to a bearer of Starbucks.

S
QUIRE
R
EGIS

H
AIR
/E
YES
: black/gray

C
URRENT
L
OCATION
: Seattle, Washington

Lekti
    Oracle Squires who keep the Book of Prophecy, where all important events in human history are predicted. It is said that even the end of the world is chronicled within its pages.

Liza
    Liza is the extremely talented dollmaker who owns Dream Dolls and Accessories in New Orleans. She was Xander’s Squire (pre-Brynna) and an Oracle for thirty-five years.

Liza is the master weapons designer famous for “Starla,” an angel doll with three-inch blades that shot out of her feet, given as a gift to Amanda Devereaux that later killed Desiderius … the first time. In her spare time, she also likes to make jewelry and other innocent items (the “Accessories”) equally as lethal. She’s a touch deaf, so do yourself a favor—look at Liza and speak clearly when addressing her.

She also makes a great cup of tea.

D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

H
EIGHT
: five feet (on a good day)

H
AIR
/E
YES
: white/brown

C
URRENT
L
OCATION
: New Orleans, Louisiana

Mallory, Keller
    The former Squire of Dangereuse St. Richard. Be on your toes around Keller—he’s a fast talker.

Poitiers, Kyl
    Third-generation Squire by his mother and fifth generation on his father’s side, Kyl hangs out a lot with Otto Carvaletti. He was thrilled to become a Blood Rite Squire, and he enjoys his job
waaaaay
too much.

B
LOOD
R
ITE
/D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

B
ORN
: March 14, 1974

B
IRTHPLACE
: Christian, Mississippi

Rob
    The former Squire of the Rogue Dark-Hunter Kyros, Rob has family in Nashville, Tennessee.

H
EIGHT
: five foot seven

H
AIR
/E
YES
: brown

Samuel, Carl
    A former classmate of Tad Addams at Iowa State, Carl is quite the computer nerd. He hangs out on the Dark-Hunter bbs with Tad a lot. So when you visit, make sure to say “Hi” to Carl.

D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

B
ORN
: September 4, 1975

B
IRTHPLACE
: Cedar Falls, Iowa

Sharon
    Sharon is the former Squire of Streigar, a Dark-Hunter who was trapped by humans and exposed to daylight.

Simms, Andy
    Jess Brady’s Squire from Reno. Andy’s father was Jess’s Squire before him.

H
EIGHT
: six feet

H
AIR
/E
YES
: black/brown

C
URRENT
L
OCATION
: Reno, Nevada

D
ARK
-H
UNTER
: Sundown

St Germaine, Alec
    A first-generation Squire who was caught hacking into the Dark-Hunter computer system. Alec was given a choice: Work with Tad and Carl, or die. Guess which one he picked, smart boy.

D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

B
ORN
: January 3, 1981

B
IRTHPLACE
: Dulac, Louisiana

St. James, Eric
    Once a “vampire hunter” and snitch for the Dark-Hunters, Eric became a Barnacle Squire for Valerius when he first arrived in New Orleans. He is now a Dorean Squire, serving any Dark-Hunter who might need him.

More dangerous than all of those put together, Eric used to date Tabitha Devereaux. He’s now happily married … to someone else.

D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

H
EIGHT
: five foot eleven

Winstead, Tyler
    Squire from Milwaukee. Tyler is what we like to call intense.

D
OREAN
S
QUIRE

C
URRENT
L
OCATION
: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

How to Roast a Daimon

Apollites and the Origin and Weaknesses of Daimons

It’s messy and it’s heartbreaking, but at the same time, it’s a thrill ride.

—Alexion

Birth and Death of the Apollites

Zeus and Apollo were walking through Thebes. (They may have walked into a bar … but that’s not the point. Sounds good though, doesn’t it?) Zeus looked down upon his puppy-eyed worshippers and commented on the perfection of the human race. Like every son who wants to one-up his father, Apollo scoffed, bragging that he could do better with one hand tied behind his back. To prove his point, he found a nymph to bear his more-perfect children, children who would hold the fate of the world in their hands. It was as true then as it is now—absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Sure, Apollo’s had liaisons before, but he royally screwed it up with this one.

Made from his own flesh and blood, he dubbed the new race Apollite and gave them superior strength and psychic abilities. In three days, the first four Apollites were born, blond and beautiful and with psychic abilities. Three days later, they were adults. Three days after that, they were ready to take over the world.

Zeus wasn’t having any of that nonsense. So he banned them from the earth. ’Cause he can do that sort of thing.

He banished the Apollites to Atlantis, where they brooded and stewed, intermarrying with the Atlantean natives. They were an aggressive race, ever pursuing their hunger for world conquest. The Apollites and Atlanteans intermarried, mixing blood until they truly became a race of people whose powers were unmatched. Apollo did not dissuade them. He looked forward to the day he would sit on Olympus as Supreme God.

In 10,500
B.C.
, the Apollites sent the beautiful virgin Clieto to Delphi as an offering to Apollo. The god fell in love with her, and she gave birth to ten of his children: five sets of twins. Clieto and her children were sent back to Atlantis, to intermarry with the Atlantean royal family and, inevitably, secure the rule of Atlantis by Apollo. Through Atlantis, Apollo meant to cast out Zeus and take his rightful place as ruler of the heavens and the earth.

After all, that’s how Zeus did it. And his father before him … Apollo was just following the family tradition at this point.

Apollo himself fathered the first son of every Atlantean queen, hoping that each child would be the one chosen to bring about the downfall of the Atlantean gods. Each year, the Oracles turned him away.

(Now, this part gets confusing, so pay attention. It’s a bit like the shell game.
Baby, baby, who’s got the baby.…
Yeah, I’ve never been good at that one either.)

In 9548
B.C.
, Apollo fathered another son on the Atlantean queen, seducing her in the guise of her dead husband as a phantom in a dream. Talk about one seriously potent dream. Voilà: baby number one: Stryker.

The same year, the dreaded queen of the Atlantean gods, Apollymi, found that she was not barren, as had been originally supposed—she was pregnant with her first child. A child, the Fates declared, who would bring about the end of their pantheon.

Enter baby number two: Apostolos.

Well, Archon wasn’t ready to schedule the apocalypse just yet. His child or not, he demanded that his wife slay the baby upon its birth for the good of the world.

Right. Like Apollymi was going to let that happen.

She gave birth to her son prematurely, in secret, and hid him away. Lucky baby number two. When the time came to present Archon with the baby, Apollymi gave him a baby made of stone wrapped in swaddling.

Archon was furious. He knew his wife had hidden her baby … no doubt in the womb of a mortal woman. (Human wombs are apparently an exceptionally convenient place for gods needing to hide a cursed baby without a moment’s notice.)