Chapter 22
Danger paused outside the building where the Dark-Hunters were gathering. By the cars in the parking lot, the total cost of which would amount to the GNP for a small nation, she would say they were already here and yet. . .
"I don't feel my powers draining," she said to Alexion. "How can that be?"
"It's a trick. Somehow Stryker must be disguising it. "
She shook her head. "I don't think so. Maybe he knows some way to keep us from draining each other's powers. "
The look on his face chilled her. "Trust me, Danger," Alexion said as he paused to look at her. "There is no way a group of Dark-Hunters are together without draining each other. Stryker would never be able to gain that ability. The only way for it to happen would be if Acheron were here himself. Since he's not. . . It's not possible. The gods would never allow it. "
She wasn't so sure, but she trusted him. If anyone knew the truth, it was Alexion.
As they walked in the front door, she half expected someone to stop them. But there were no guards, no Squires. . .
Nothing.
Since it had been vacant for a number of years, the building wasn't the cleanest thing in the world. There were cobwebs and other things she didn't want to think about littering the floor. The air was stale with a rancid quality to it that left her breathing through her mouth in an effort not to pinch her nose closed.
She found it strange that there were working lights in the building.
But then Stryker was a god. . .
"Where's the light coming from upstairs?" she asked Alexion.
"I don't know. Maybe they have a generator hooked up, or again, Stryker is using his powers to light it. "
They found the stairs in the back and started up. As they headed up, they could hear faint voices, but the words were unintelligible.
Danger tried not to breathe deeply as she wondered what lies Kyros and Stryker were telling the others.
How many of them would buy into it?
As they reached the door at the end of the upstairs hall where the others seemed to be gathered, she pulled Alexion to a stop to listen to what was going on inside before they entered. She was only now beginning to feel a pull on her powers, but it was still very mild.
"So how do we defeat Acheron?"
Danger winced as she recognized Squid's voice. That little rat-bastard. But she'd suspected as much. He'd been vehement in his hatred of Acheron.
She looked up to see a cold, determined look on Alexion's face.
"He is a Daimon," Stryker said. "You kill him as you would any of our people. "
Kyros was the next to speak. His voice rang out. "Are you with us, brothers and sisters?"
She cringed as she heard the sound of unanimous agreement.
Alexion pulled her back. "I'll take it from here. " He kissed her lightly on the lips before he turned, held his hand out, and blasted the steel door into oblivion.
Alexion strode confidently into the room, even though he knew Stryker probably had some means to kill him. Let the bastard try. If he did, then he was in for a fight.
It was time now to do his job.
There were twenty Dark-Hunters in the room-eighteen men and two women, along with several dozen Daimons. It was a good thing Dark-Hunter blood was poisonous to the Daimons, otherwise they would most likely be feasting by now on the fools who had gathered here to die like sheep being led blithely to the butcher.
But it was Kyros who held his attention. He stood before the group, his eyes burning with hatred.
Sighing, Alexion shook his head. "What fools these immortals be," he said. "To listen to a Daimon and fall victim to his lies. "
"We fell victim to those centuries ago," Squid snarled. "There's not a one of us here who hasn't been used by Acheron. "
Alexion pitied him. "I'm not here to argue with any of you anymore. I'm here to give you your last chance to save yourselves. Those of you who want to live to see another night, step to the right. Those of you who wish to believe in Stryker's bullshit and die tonight stay where you are. "
"Don't be afraid of him," Stryker said. "What can one man do to all of you?"
Alexion gave him a wry grin. "If I'm so little a threat, Stryker, why haven't you killed me?"
He looked around at the gathered crowd of Dark-Hunters. "Don't throw your lives away so needlessly. All of you have survived too much to be so damned stupid. "
He paused to stare at Kyros. "And you, adelfos, I carried you on my back when you were wounded. I gave you bread when it was the last bite I had to sustain me. Look me in the eyes now and tell me that you are willing to back a Daimon over me. "
Kyros looked to Stryker, who began clapping sarcastically. "Great speech. Practice long?"
Alexion raised his hand and threw Stryker back against a wall. "Decide, Hunters. Now!"
The Daimons rushed at him, only to rebound off the wall he raised around himself. Still, they continued to attack as if seeking some way to break through his hold.
He watched as the Dark-Hunters exchanged nervous looks with each other. Then, to his relief, sixteen of them moved to the right.
The instant they did, he saw the confusion on their faces.
"What the hell?" Eleanore, one of the Dark-Huntresses, said. "I feel so weak suddenly. "
No doubt the break in Stryker's hold allowed them to feel the fact that their powers had been significantly drained.
Kyros took one step, then paused as Stryker broke Alexion's hold and shot a blast at him. It pierced the force field and sent him flying backward.
Alexion hissed as pain cut through him. Stryker blasted him again and again. The pain was searing. He tried to push himself up only to find Danger by his side, helping him.
A bad premonition struck him hard. "Get the Dark-Hunters and get out of here," he said to her.
But before she could move, Stryker attacked her with the bolt as well.
Alexion turned on the demigod with a curse as he returned fire with fire.
"Spathis!" Stryker snapped to his men as he ducked Alexion's blast. "Kill the Dark-Hunters! All of them. "
The Daimons attacked en masse. Danger drew the dagger from her boot as she ran to join the fray.
"Danger, stay back!" Alexion shouted as he blasted the Daimons away.
He tried to shatter them with his powers, but couldn't.
Stryker laughed at him. "They're stronger than you are, Alexion. We're not the wimpy little Daimons you normally fight. We are so much more. "
Alexion's gaze narrowed on him before he called out, "Xirena, take human form. "
The demon came off him and transformed.
Danger smiled at their ace in the hole. The Daimons would never be able to stand against Xirena.
"You traitorous bitch," Stryker snarled at the demon as he raked a disgusted sneer over her.
Xirena flew at him only to have Stryker slash at her wings with his dagger. The demon shrieked, then fell to the ground where she lay, unable to get up, as Stryker continued to stab at her. Whimpering, Xirena tried to crawl away from him before he could kill her.
Danger didn't know what had happened. She ran to the demon to try and help her.
Alexion's heart stopped as he realized what Stryker had used against the demon. . . an Atlantean dagger. The only thing that could kill Charontes. But more to the point, it could also kill Danger, even with her Dark-Hunter powers.
Shit! He could flash out of here with one of them, but not both. If he used his powers, he would have to choose between Danger or the demon. . .
But more than that, he couldn't leave the Dark-Hunters who were drained. They were having an almost impossible time fighting the Daimons who were attacking them.
"What's going on here?" Squid asked an instant before a Daimon killed him.
"Run!" Kyros shouted at the others. "They've weakened us so that they can kill us. "
> "Danger," Alexion said as he shielded the demon, "grab Xirena and get out. "
As she moved to obey, Stryker pulled out a red medallion. "Touch the demon and I'll destroy your soul. "
Everyone in the room froze at those words. Alexion noted the horror on the faces of the Dark-Hunters who realized just what the Daimon held. If Danger's soul was destroyed, she would never be able to go free.
More than that, it would turn her into a Shade.
Her expression one of terror, Danger held Xirena close.
Alexion cocked his head at the strangeness of Stryker's threat. The momentary panic that he held her soul lasted for only a few seconds, before he realized something. "Run with Xirena, Danger. He doesn't have your soul. "
Stryker laughed at him as he passed a pitying look to Danger. "How wonderful. Your lover thinks to call my bluff. "
"It's not a bluff," Alexion said assuredly as he faced the Daimon coldly. "I don't know what you have, but it's not her soul. "
Stryker's gaze was cold, sinister, and if he'd actually had Danger's soul, Alexion might have been scared. "Are you willing to take that chance?"
Alexion didn't blink. "Yes. "
"Alexion!" Danger snapped, her voice filled with fear. "If it is my soul-"
"It's not," he said, looking at her. "Trust me in this. Artemis holds those souls too closely and there's only one man alive who can get them from her. You can bet your life, your ousia, and everything else you have that Stryker's not him. "
"Are you so sure?" Stryker asked as he toyed with the medallion in his hand. He tightened his grip around it. "Artemis is my aunt, after all. "
Alexion scoffed. "Yeah, and she hates your guts with a blazing passion. The only way for you to get a soul is for Acheron to hand it over to you and we both know the chances of that. "
Cursing, Stryker threw the medallion down and crushed it under his heel.
Danger cringed until she realized that nothing had happened to her.
She felt her chest just to make sure. . .
Nope, she was still intact. Breathing in relief, she returned to Xirena, who was still holding her chest where Stryker had stabbed her.
"I told you to kill them all," Stryker commanded his Daimons.
Danger stood before the demon to protect her. As the Daimons attacked and she fought them, she realized something terrifying. Her powers weren't there in full strength.
With every strike and blow, she seemed to weaken.
The Daimon she was fighting kicked her backward. Danger hit the ground so hard, it knocked the breath from her. She rolled, trying to get away, only to find herself at the feet of another Daimon. He laughed as he raised a sword to behead her.
Just as she was sure she was dead, the Daimon was thrown back. She looked up expecting to see Alexion.
Instead, it was Kyros who stood over her.
He had killed the Daimon, and was holding his hand out to her. "I've been a stupid fool," he breathed as he pulled her to her feet. "I'm sorry. "
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. "
He glanced to Alexion who was fighting Stryker. "I know. " He pushed her toward the door. "C'mon. We have to get the other Dark-Hunters out of here before it's too late. "
Before she could say anything, he bent over and picked Xirena up to carry her away from the Daimons.
Alexion paused as he saw Kyros and Danger working together to get the others to safety. She'd been right-he had come around in the end. Gods, he owed that woman more than could ever be repaid.
He did a quick head count of the Dark-Hunters who were leaving and realized that only three Dark-Hunters had been killed by the Daimons so far.
They'd been the ones who hadn't moved to the right.
Kyros and Danger were fighting the Daimons as the rest of them rushed to make it out of the room.
To buy them more time, he lunged at Stryker again.
The Daimon turned with a snarl. "You can't stop me," Stryker said ominously.
He tossed the dagger at Danger.
Alexion threw his hand out to deflect the dagger's path. The dagger should have shot to his hand. It didn't.
Just as it started for him, one of the Daimons hit him in the chest. He staggered forward, then regained his balance. Before he could reclaim the dagger, it returned to Stryker who tossed it faster than he could blink.
It buried itself deep into Danger's chest.
Alexion couldn't breathe for a full heartbeat as he saw it hit her so hard it knocked her off her feet before sending her twisting to the floor.
Kyros turned with a curse as he ran for her.
No! Alexion's mind screamed in denial.
It couldn't be. . .
"You should have backed off," Stryker said between clenched teeth as the dagger flew back into his outstretched hand. "But that's all right. The best way to kill someone is to always aim for their heart. She dies because of you and you die because of Acheron. "
The Daimon threw the dagger at him.
Strike at the heart. . .
Catching the dagger in his fist an instant before it would have embedded itself in his chest, Alexion finally understood what the unknown feminine voice had been trying to tell him. He felt his powers surging at those words.
He turned on Stryker with a snarl. "You want a heart, Stryker? I'll give you yours. . . "
He knew his eyes were glowing green as he shouted, "Urian!"
"Don't you dare defile my son's name with-" Stryker's words broke off as the air around them stirred.
Two seconds later, Urian appeared. Tall and blond, the man looked eerily similar to his father except Stryker dyed his hair black while Urian's was white-blond. As always, he kept it long, and in a ponytail that was secured with a black leather cord.
Urian looked less than pleased to have been summoned. His jaw went slack as he glanced around the room at the Daimons who were staring at him in disbelief.
"Nice way to keep me incognito, Lex," Urian said, until his gaze fell on his father.
His eyes narrowed in hatred.
"Urian?" Stryker breathed the name like a sacred prayer.
"You bastard!" Urian snarled.
"Kill him," one of the Daimons shouted.
"No!" Stryker said. "He's my son. "
Urian shook his head. "No, old man. I'm your enemy. " Urian grabbed the dagger from Alexion's hand and ran at his father with it while Alexion went for Danger.
"Retreat!" Stryker ordered his Daimons an instant before five bolt-holes appeared.
Stryker hesitated, looking at Urian for a long minute, before he jumped through and vanished.
His heart broken, Alexion gathered Danger into his arms while Xirena stared at them from where Kyros had set her down. Alexion pressed a cloth to Danger's chest to stop the blood flow from her injury.
The demon was wounded but, unlike Danger, not fatally. Stryker hadn't stabbed the demon in the heart.
Urian turned on him. "What the hell was that action, Shade? My life was supposed to be kept secret. "
"Shut up, Urian," Alexion growled as he held Danger and fought against the tears that wanted to blind him. Fought against the debilitating pain that overwhelmed him.
His entire being was screaming out in pain as it refused to believe what had happened to her.
"Come on, baby," he whispered to her as he gently rocked her in his arms. "Don't die on me. "
"It should heal," Danger whispered softly in a voice that belied her pain. "Why isn't the wound healing?"
"I'm sorry, akri," Xirena whispered. "Xirena didn't mean to get stabbed and let your woman die. "
Urian joined them, his face pale as he noted her chest wound. "Did Stryker stab her with his personal dagger?"
"Yes," Alexion choked, noting the haunted look behind Urian's eyes. No doubt the man was reliving the death of his own beloved wife at Stryker's hands.
&n
bsp; "Is there any way to save her?" he asked the Daimon.
"Acheron!" Urian called.
Alexion tensed as he heard a summons he knew Acheron wouldn't heed. He knew the rules of his mission. Acheron wouldn't interfere.
Danger was going to die.
The pain of that thought lacerated his chest and shredded his heart.
It brought tears to his eyes that he couldn't stop.
"I wish he would have had your soul," Alexion whispered against her cheek. "At least then I could have made you human. "
"Can't you call on Ash's powers to heal her?" Urian asked.
Alexion shook his head. The power over life and death wasn't one Acheron was willing to share.
Kyros fell to his knees beside them. "I'm so sorry, Danger. None of the Dark-Hunters were supposed to be hurt tonight. Dammit, this is all my fault. "
Alexion glared at him and his stupidity as his anger swelled, wanting to kill his so-called friend. "How do you figure? You were trying to turn them against Acheron. "
"I know," Kyros said with a sincere gaze. "I screwed up. I'm so sorry. Stryker was so convincing. At first he turned Marco, and the next thing I knew, Marco was dead. Stryker swore it was you who killed him. I should never have listened to him. "
But Alexion wasn't really listening to Kyros at the moment. All he could hear was Danger's breathing getting lighter and lighter.
She choked as she struggled to continue breathing. She reached up and touched his cheek with a cold hand. "If anything is left of me, will you take it to France? There's a mass grave in a park in Paris-"
"I know that park," Alexion said. It was where the victims of the guillotine had all been buried.
Danger took a deep breath. "My father, his wife, and my brother and sister are there. If I can't be with you, I want to be with them. "
Alexion nodded as tears choked him. "I promise, Danger. I won't let you be alone. "
She offered him a wan smile. "We had fun, didn't we, mon coeur?" She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I'm so going to miss you. "
Then he felt it. . . that last expulsion of breath from her body.
She went limp in his arms as her hand fell away from his face.
Alexion threw his head back and cried out as pain tore through him. In that moment, he hated Acheron. He hated Kyros. He hated Stryker, but most of all he hated himself for not being able to protect her.
Xirena and Kyros stayed back, their faces pale as they watched him, but Alexion didn't care. Nothing mattered except the woman who lay limply in his arms.
A woman whose vibrancy had shown him how to live again. More than that, she had shown him how to love. She had reached inside his heart and made it beat for the first time in more than nine thousand years.
Now she was gone.
And his heart would never beat again.
No! his heart screamed in denial. She couldn't die. Not like this. Not someone who had loved to live so much. Someone who had spent her life helping others.
She had believed in him and he had let her die. . .
Urian paced back and forth between Kyros and Xirena, and Danger and Alexion. "I can't believe Ash just let her die," he growled. He looked up at the ceiling. "You are a fucking asshole!"
"No," Alexion said as tears fell, while he held her cold, pale body to his chest. "It has to be this way. He can't change fate. "
"The fuck he can't," Urian snarled angrily. "He brought me back and I was a Daimon. Why would he save me and not her?"
Alexion had no answer to that. He didn't have any answers at the moment. All he could feel was the pain of her loss. The agony. It was raw and consuming.
How could she be dead?
How could he have allowed this to happen? Damn me, damn me, damn me!
"I'm sorry I failed you, akri," Xirena said.
Alexion didn't speak. He couldn't.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the room.
Acheron flashed into a corner, where he stood with a stoic expression.
Urian turned on him with a curled lip.
"Don't even, Daimon. " Acheron zapped him out of there before Urian could speak.
"Kyros," Acheron said gently. "Go home and rest. "
Then he, too, was gone.
Acheron hesitated as the demon stared at him as if he were an apparition.
Her face was ghostly pale from her fear of him. "Will you kill Xirena now?"
"No. " Ash knelt by her side and healed her wounds. "Return to your master for a little while and you will meet your sister soon. "
The demon nodded, then ran up Alexion's sleeve, to his chest.
Alexion still hadn't moved as he cradled Danger to him.
Acheron cocked his head as he watched them with those all-powerful, swirling silver eyes. "Why don't you question me?"
Alexion swallowed against the bitter lump in his throat that was choking him. "Because I know better. " He looked up at Acheron so that he could see the sincerity in his eyes. "But I hate you right now. "
"I know. "
And then it happened. . .
Danger's body evaporated into a shiny gold powder.
Alexion cried out again as he felt her loss completely. "No!" he growled as he tried to scoop the powder up so that he could take it to Paris for her as he'd promised.
"Don't," Acheron said gently as he reached out for him.
Alexion shoved him away. "Damn you, you bastard, I promised her. I promised-"
He covered his eyes with his hands as he sobbed, realizing it was hopeless. "There's nothing left to bury. Nothing left to gather even. "
Oh, gods, how could she be gone like this? How? It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.
"We have to go, Alexion. "
He nodded even though what he wanted to do was attack Acheron himself. He knew it wasn't Acheron's fault, but it didn't matter. He wanted to strike out and hurt someone. Anything to ease the burning, aching hole inside him.
There was nothing left to stay for.
Danger was gone. . .
His heart shattered, he felt his human body melting as it shifted from the human realm to Katoteros. He found himself back in the throne room where Simi was waiting.
"Alexion!" she shrieked happily, running at him before she launched herself into his arms. "You're back!"
She pulled away and frowned when he didn't return her enthusiasm. Cocking her head, she scowled at him. "But you're so sad. Why are you sad, Lexie? Was them Daimons mean to you? The Simi will eat them if they hurt you. "
Acheron gently pulled her away. "He needs to be alone for a little while, Sim. "
"But. . . "
"It's okay. " Acheron took her hand and gave him the space he needed.
Alexion didn't speak as he walked the back hallway toward his chambers. He was so cold inside that he didn't think he could ever be warm again.
For the first time ever, he hated this place. He hated everything about it. Most of all, he hated Acheron.
At least he did until he opened the doors to his room. He stopped short, his breath catching, as he saw the impossible.
It couldn't be, yet it was. . .
There in the center of his room, dressed in a red chiton, was Danger.
He couldn't speak as he caught sight of her there.
She was looking around as if disoriented. "Where am I?"
No words would come out of his mouth as he rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms. She felt real.
She felt alive. . .
Could it be? Did he dare believe that this was real?
Holding her close, he buried his head against her neck, inhaled her scent and wept.
"Alexion, you're starting to freak me out. "
He pulled back with a laugh. "How did you get here?"
"I have no idea. One minute I was in a lot of pain, then everything was dark, and then I was here. " She leaned towa
rd him. "Where is here?"
"My chambers. You're in Katoteros. "
She frowned up at him. "I don't understand. "
Neither did he.
"You didn't really think I was going to let this end badly, did you?"
Alexion turned to find Acheron standing in the doorway, watching them with a smile.
"We learn from our pain," he said, using the words Acheron so often quoted to him.
Acheron shrugged. "But we are rewarded with pleasure. " His gaze shifted to Danger before it returned to meet his levelly. "You've served me too long and too well for me to turn my back on you, Alexion. I couldn't save her life without altering too much of the universe. But I can give you this. "
Alexion was grateful and at the same time stunned by it. He had never expected Acheron to do something like this. . . ever. "You hate people in your house. "
Acheron let out a weary breath. "What the hell? I got used to you. I'll get used to Danger in time too. "
Danger gaped. "I get to stay? Here? With Alexion? Really?"
"Only if you want to," Alexion said.
Danger swallowed as her eyes filled with tears. She wrapped herself around Alexion and held him tight. "I can't believe this. "
"I'm sorry for what you lost, Danger," Acheron said quietly. "This existence is far from perfect. "
Alexion saw a panicked look darken her eyes. "Do I have to drink blood to live?"
Acheron shook his head. "Only Einstein over there has to do that. But like him, you won't be able to taste food anymore. "
Danger laughed. "That's all right. Who needs taste buds anyway? I'll just eat a lot of popcorn. "
Acheron's gaze softened. "If you want to release your demon, Alexion, I'll go introduce her to Simi and give you two some time alone. "
Alexion frowned. "How is it that you're not stunned she has a sister?"
"I've known for a long time that she wasn't the only demon out there. It wasn't too big a leap of faith to figure she probably had some family too. "
Still, Alexion was shocked that Acheron had kept such a secret from them. "Then why didn't you tell us?"
"Simi likes the idea of being the only one. I was going to tell her the truth once she got a little older. But I guess now's the time. "
Alexion agreed. "Xirena, I summon you to human form. "
The demon popped off his body and stood back, reserved. "Am I in trouble?"
"No," Alexion assured her. "You're going to meet Simi. "
Her eyes sparked with happiness.
"Come, Xirena," Acheron said. "I'll take you to her. "
She hesitated. "You're not trying to trick Xirena, are you?"
"No. "
"It'll be all right," Alexion said. "You can trust him. "
Xirena went to Ash hesitantly before the two of them left the room.
Danger waited until they were alone before she turned back to Alexion and pulled him into her arms. "Is this really real?"
"Yeah," he breathed as he held her close. "I still can't believe you're here. "
"You can't? I thought I had lost you forever. "
"At least I didn't die on you. "
"No, but that's not a problem for either one of us again, is it?"
Alexion smiled as he savored the sight of her bright brown eyes shining up at him. "Not unless we piss off a Charonte. "
"Then I will make sure I never do. "
He hugged her tight and picked her up in his arms, grateful that he had her back. This time, he was going to make damn sure that nothing happened to her again. "I love you, Danger. "
Danger kissed him as her heart swelled with joy. "I love you too," she breathed.
And though this life with him wasn't going to be perfect, it would be really, really close. So long as they were together, nothing else mattered.