Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter 4)

Chapter 4

Chris sighed as he neared his Old English classroom. It was a typical day of suckage and blowage. His life should be great. He had all the money in the world. Every luxury known. There was nothing on the planet he could dream of that couldn't be his for the asking.

For that matter, Wulf had even flown Britney Spears in to sing at Chris's twenty-first-birthday party last spring. The only problem was that the attendees had consisted of him, his bodyguards, and Wulf, who ran around the whole time trying to make sure Chris didn't get a head wound or racked.

Not to mention the three million times Wulf had urged him to make a pass at Britney. Or at the very least propose to her-which she had rejected with a great deal of laughter that still rang in his ears.

All Chris really wanted was a normal life. More than that, he wanted his freedom.

Those were the only two things he couldn't have.

Wulf wouldn't let him leave the house unless he was tagged and tailed. The only time Chris could fly anywhere was if Acheron himself, the leader of the Dark-Hunters, came and picked him up and kept him within his eyesight the entire time. Every member of the Squires' Council understood that Chris was Wulf's last blood link to his brother. As such, he was guarded more zealously than a national treasure.

He felt like such an alien species, he wished he could find someplace where he wouldn't be a complete freak.

But it was impossible. There was no escaping his destiny.

No escaping what he was...

The last heir.

Without Chris and his children, Wulf would be alone for eternity because only a human born of Wulf's blood could ever remember him.

The only problem with that was finding a mother for those kids, and no one wanted to volunteer.

His ears still rang with Belinda's rejection from ten minutes ago.

"Go out with you? Pah-lease. Call me when you grow up and learn to dress right."

Grinding his teeth, he tried not to think about her harsh words. He'd put on his best khaki pants and navy sweater just to ask her out. But he knew he wasn't suave or cool.

He had the social graces of an idiot. The average face of the boy next door and the confidence of a snail.

God, he was pathetic.

Chris paused at the door of his classroom to see the two male Theti Squires trailing him at a "discreet" distance. In their mid-thirties, both of them were over six feet tall, with dark hair and stern faces. Assigned to him by the Squires' Council, their sole duty was to watch over him and make sure nothing happened to him until he spawned enough kids to make Wulf happy.

Not that there was any big threat during the daylight. On rare occasions a Doulos-human servants for the Apollites-might attack a Squire, but those were so rare these days as to be worthy of national news coverage.

At night, Chris was forbidden to leave the property unless he was on a date. Which seemed impossible after his one-and-only girlfriend had dumped him.

He sighed at the prospect of trying to find someone else to go out with him. Why would they when they would have to be subjected to blood tests and physicals?

He groaned under his breath.

While he was in class, the Thetis would take up stations outside the door, thus guaranteeing Chris's freak status even more than his solitary nature.

And who could blame him for being solitary? Jeez, he'd grown up in a house where he wasn't allowed to run in case he hurt himself. If he ever got a cold of any sort, the Squires' Council called in specialists from the Mayo Clinic to treat him. What few children his father had imported to play with him from other Squire families had been given strict orders that they were never to touch him, or make him angry, or do anything to make Wulf angry at them.

So his "friends" would come over, sit and watch television with him. They seldom spoke for fear of getting into trouble and no one dared to even bring a present or share so much as a potato chip. Everything had to be thoroughly searched and detoxed before Chris was allowed to play with it. After all, one little germ and he might become sterile or, God forbid, die.

The burden of civilization was upon him, or more to the point, the burden of Wulf's lineage was upon him.

The only real friend Chris had in his life was Nick Gautier, a Squire recruit he'd met online a couple of years ago. Too new to their world to understand Chris's gilded status, Nick had treated him like a human being and the Cajun agreed that Chris's life seriously sucked in spite of the benefits that came along with it.

Hell, the only reason he'd been able to convince Wulf to let him go to college, instead of hiring professors to come to the house and teach him, was the fact that here he might actually meet an eligible ovary donor. Wulf had been giddy at the prospect and interrogated him every night on whether or not he met a new woman.

More to the point, had he scored with her?

Sighing again, Chris entered the room and kept his gaze lowered so that he wouldn't see the glares or sneers most of the students directed at him. If they didn't hate him for being Dr. Mitchell's pet, they hated him for being an overprivileged geek. He was used to it.

He flopped down in a vacant chair in the back corner and dug out his notebook and text.

"Hi, Chris."

He started at the friendly feminine voice.

Looking up, he saw Cassandra's beaming smile.

Totally dumbstruck, it was a full minute before he could respond to her. "Hi," he answered back lamely.

He hated himself for being so damned stupid. Nick could probably have had her eating out of his hand.

She sat down next to him.

He broke out into a sweat. Clearing his throat, he did his best to ignore her and the light scent of roses that drifted from her over to him. She always smelled incredible.

Cassandra opened her book to the assignment and watched Chris. He seemed even more nervous now than he had at the coffee shop.

She glanced down at his backpack, hoping to see another glimpse of the shield, but he'd concealed it completely.

Damn.

"So, Chris," she said softly, leaning a little closer to him. "I was wondering if I might be able to study with you later."

He blanched and looked like he was almost ready to bolt. "Study? With me?"

"Yeah. You said you knew this stuff really well and I'd like to make an A on the test. What do you think?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously-clearly a habit since he seemed to do it so frequently. "You sure you want me to study with you?"

"Yes."

He smiled sheepishly, but refused to meet her gaze. "Sure, I guess that would be okay."

Cassandra sat back with a satisfied smile as Dr. Mitchell came in and commanded everyone to silence.

She'd spent hours on the Dark-Hunter.com Web site after her last class, going through every part of it. On the surface, it appeared to be some kind of role-playing group or book site.

But there were entire sections of it that were password protected. Secret loops and areas that she couldn't access no matter how hard she tried. There were many things about it that reminded her of the Apollite site.

No, this wasn't a gaming group. She had stumbled upon the real Dark-Hunters. She knew it.

They were the last great mystery of the modern world. Living myths that no one knew about.

But she knew they were there. And she was going to find a way into their society and find some answers even if it killed her.

Sitting through that class while the professor droned on about Hrothgar and Shield was the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. As soon as it ended, she packed up and waited for Chris.

As they neared the door, she saw the two men dressed in black who immediately flanked them while eyeballing her.

Chris let out a disgusted sound.

Cassandra laughed in spite of herself. "Are they with you?"

"I really wish I could say no."

She patted his arm in sympathy. She jerked her chin to indicate down the hall where Kat was standing up and tucking away her book. "I got one myself."

Chris smiled at that. "Thank God, I'm not the only one."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I told you I understand completely."

The relief on his face was tangible. "So when would you like to study?"

"How about now?"

"Okay, where?"

There was only one place Cassandra was dying to get into. She hoped it would hold more clues about the man she'd met last night. "Your place?"

His nervousness was back instantly, confirming her suspicions. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"I just... it's just... I, um, I just don't think it's a good idea, okay?"

Stymied already. Cassandra forced herself to hide her irritation. She'd have to tread carefully if she was to get past his defenses. But then she understood that. She had her own secrets to hide.

"Okay, you pick the place."