Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter 4)

Wulf shook his head, wondering when Corbin had returned. He hadn't even noticed the drain on his powers but then, given the way the Spathis were kicking his ass, it was no wonder.

Corbin rubbed her shoulder as if she'd been injured in the fighting. "Neither did I."

The impact of that statement wasn't lost on either of them.

The two of them turned to Cassandra.

"They were after you?" Wulf asked.

Cassandra looked extremely uncomfortable.

"You see to Dante and his crew," Wulf told Corbin. "I'll handle this one."

Corbin headed off while Wulf turned back to the women. "How can you remember me?"

But then the answer was so obvious that he already knew. "You're Apollite, aren't you?" She damn sure wasn't a Were-Hunter. They had an unmistakable aura to them.

Cassandra dropped her gaze to the floor as she whispered, "Half."

He cursed. It figured. "So you're the Apollite heiress they have to kill to lift their curse?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you've been fucking with my dreams? You thought I'd protect you?"

Offended, she raked him with a furious glare. "I haven't been doing anything to you, bud. You're the one who's been coming to me."

Oh, that was a good one. "Yeah, right. Well, it didn't work. My job is to kill your kind, not protect you. You're on your own, princess."

He turned and stalked away.

Cassandra was torn between the desire to slap him and to cry.

Instead, she went after him and pulled him to a stop. "Just for the record, I don't need you or anyone else to protect me, and the last thing I would do is ask the Satan of my people to help me. You're nothing but a killer and not a bit better than the Daimons you hunt. At least they still have their souls."

His face hardening, Wulf jerked his arm free of her grasp and left.

Cassandra wanted to scream at the way this had turned out. And it was then she realized some part of herself had actually started to like him. He'd been so tender in her dreams.

Kind.

So much for her thoughts of asking him about her people. He wasn't the same man she'd dreamed about. He was horrible in the flesh. Horrible!

She looked about the club where tables were overturned and the Katagaria were trying to clean up the mess.

What a nightmare all of this had turned into.

"C'mon," Kat said. "Let's get you home before those Daimons come back."

Yes, she wanted to go home. She wanted to forget this night had ever occurred and if Wulf came to her tonight...

Well, if he thought the Spathis were tough on him, he hadn't seen tough.

Stryker left his men in the hall and went to see Apollymi. He alone of the Spathis was allowed in her presence.

Her temple was the grandest building in all of Kalosis. The black marble glistened even in the dim light of their netherworld. Inside, the temple was guarded by a pair of vicious ceredons-creatures with the head of a dog, the body of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion. The two of them snarled at him, but stayed back. They had learned long ago that Stryker was one of four beings the Destroyer allowed to come near her.

He found his mother in her sitting room with two of her Charonte demons flanking her couch. Xedrix, her own personal guard, was to her right. His skin was navy blue in color, his eyes vibrant yellow. Black horns stood out from his equally blue hair and his wings were a deep blood red. He stood unmoving with one hand near the Destroyer's shoulder.

The other demon was of a lesser order, but for some reason his mother favored Sabina. She had long, green hair that complemented her yellow skin. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and her horns and wings an odd deep shade of orange.

The demons watched him closely, but neither moved nor spoke while his mother sat as if lost in thought.

Her windows were open, looking out onto a garden where only black flowers grew, in memory of his dead brother. The Destroyer's other son had perished untold centuries ago and to this day she mourned his death.

Just as she rejoiced in Stryker's continued life.

Her long white-blond hair fell around her in waves of perfection. Even though she was older than time, Apollymi had the face of a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties. Her black gauzy gown blended into the black of her couch, making it hard to see where one ended and the other began.

She was motionless as she stared outside, holding a black satin pillow in her lap. "They are trying to liberate me."

He paused at her words. "Who?"

"Those stupid Greeks. They think I will side with them in gratitude." She laughed bitterly.

Stryker smiled wryly at the very thought. His mother hated the Greek pantheon zealously. "Will they succeed?"

"No. The Elekti will stop them. As he always does." She turned her head to look at him. Her pale, pale eyes had no color. Ice glittered on her eyelashes and her translucent skin was iridescent, giving her a delicate, fragile appearance. But there was nothing fragile about the Destroyer.

She was as her name declared, destruction. She had consigned every member of her family to the death realm from where they would never return.

Her power was absolute and it was only through betrayal that she had ended up imprisoned here in Kalosis, where she could see the human world, but not participate in it. Stryker and his fellow Daimons could use the bolt-holes to come and go out of this realm, but she could not.

Not until the seal of Atlantis was broken, and Stryker had no idea how to do it. Apollymi had never disclosed that to him.

"Why did you not kill the heiress?" she asked.

"The Abadonna opened the portal."

Again his mother was so still as to not appear real. After several seconds, she laughed. The sound was soft and gentle, ringing through the air like music.

"Good one, Artemis," she said out loud. "You're learning. But it won't save you or that scabby brother you protect." She pushed herself up from her couch, put the pillow down, and walked over to Stryker. "Were you hurt, m'gios?"

He always felt a rush of warmth whenever she referred to him as her son. "No."

Xedrix moved to whisper into the Destroyer's ear.

"No," she said out loud. "The Abadonna is not to be touched. She has torn loyalties and I will not take advantage of her kind nature, unlike some goddesses I can name. She is innocent in this and I will not have her punished for it."

The Destroyer drummed two fingers on her chin. "The question is, what is that bitch Artemis planning?"

She closed her eyes. "Katra," she breathed, calling out to the Abadonna.

After a few seconds, Apollymi let out a disgusted noise. "She refuses to answer... Fine," she said in a voice Stryker knew could transcend this realm and be heard by Katra. "Protect Artemis and Apollo's heiress if you must. But know you can't stop me. No one can."

She turned back to Stryker. "We will have to separate Katra from the heiress."

"How? If the Abadonna continues to open the portal, we are powerless. You know we must step through it whenever it opens."

The Destroyer laughed again. "Life is a chess game, Strykerius, haven't you learned that yet? Whenever you move to protect the pawns, you leave your queen open to attack."

"Meaning?"

"The Abadonna can't be everywhere at once. If you can't get to the heiress, then attack something else the Abadonna cares for."

He smiled at that. "I was so hoping you would say that."