Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter 4)

Chapter 9

For three solid weeks, Wulf kept Chris and Cassandra under house arrest. But as time went by and no Daimons showed, he began to wonder if maybe he wasn't overreacting a bit.

Thor knew Chris accused him of it at least five times an hour.

Cassandra had withdrawn from school entirely even though she hated to. She was only about three weeks along, but looked more like three months. Her stomach was rounding out, letting them all know that there really was a child inside her.

It was the most beautiful thing Wulf had seen, even as he struggled to keep himself emotionally distant from her.

But it was hard. Especially as they spent so much of their time together taping her for their baby. Most of the time, she was perfectly calm as she told the baby about her past, her mother and sisters. Her father. With every fond memory she shared with the baby, he felt himself growing closer to her.

"See, this," she said, as she showed her hand with the signet ring on it to the small camcorder he held. Wulf focused the lens on it. "My mother told me that this was the actual wedding ring the Atlantean kings used when they married."

Cassandra looked at it sadly. "I'm not sure how it survived all these centuries. My mother gave it to my father so that he could give it to me. I'll make sure your father has it to give to you too."

Whenever she talked about the baby's future without her, it killed a part of him. The injustice of it tore his heart into pieces.

The pain in her eyes, the regret.

And whenever she cried, it hurt him even more. He would soothe her as best he could, but in the end they both knew what the outcome of all this would be.

There was no way to stop it.

Her father came often during the daylight hours to meet with her. Cassandra didn't have her father meet Wulf since her father wouldn't remember him anyway.

For that he was truly grateful.

Instead, Cassandra introduced her father to Chris and they made plans for the two of them to stay in touch after the baby came.

Acheron had called on Mardi Gras night and put Wulf on an immediate leave from his Dark-Hunter duties to watch over Cassandra and protect the baby. Two more Dark-Hunters had been transferred to St. Paul to take over Wulf's usual patrols and to help keep watch should Stryker or the others come after them.

Ash had also given him the name of an Apollite Dark-Hunter named Spawn who might be able to help them with what Cassandra needed for her pregnancy. Wulf had called every night to leave a message at Spawn's house, but Spawn had yet to respond.

Nor had he been able to reach Acheron again.

His phone rang.

Cassandra watched as Wulf pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it. She knew he was worried and not just about her and Chris. His best friend, Talon, had vanished and none of the Dark-Hunters had had any contact with him in weeks.

Even more concerning, Acheron had also gone MIA. Wulf kept telling her it was a bad omen, even though Kat told them not to worry about it. Apparently Acheron was rather famous for having times when no one could reach him.

Kat had assured them that Artemis would never allow anyone to hurt Acheron. If he had been harmed, they would all know it.

Cassandra sat on the floor with Chris and Kat, playing Life. They had tried to play Trivial Pursuit earlier only to learn that a Dark-Hunter and an immortal handmaiden to a goddess had a decidedly unfair advantage over Cassandra and Chris.

In Life, the only thing that mattered was luck.

"Well, I'll be damned," Wulf said a few minutes later after he hung up the phone and rejoined the game.

"Something happen?" Cassandra asked as she moved her piece.

"Talon got his soul back."

"No friggin' way," Chris blurted out, sitting back on the floor in shock. "How'd he do that?"

Wulf's face was impassive, but Cassandra had grown to know him well enough to see the tenseness of his features. He was happy for his friend, but she could tell he was also a bit envious. Not that she blamed him.

"He met an artist and they fell in love," Wulf said as he sat back down beside her and adjusted his play money. "On Mardi Gras, she got his soul back and freed him."

Chris made a disgusted noise at Wulf's announcement. "Oh man, that sucks. Now he's going to have to join Kyrian on the geriatric patrol."

"Chris!" Cassandra gasped with an inappropriate laugh. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"Yeah but it's true. I can't imagine trading immortality for a woman. No offense, ladies, but something ain't right with that."

Wulf kept his attention on the game board. "Talon didn't trade his immortality. Unlike Kyrian, he got to keep his."

"Oh," Chris said. "That's cool then. Good for him. Man, must be nice to have your cake and eat it, huh?"

Chris's face flushed as he looked back and forth between them and realized what he'd just said. "I mean-"

"It's okay, Chris," Wulf said charitably. But his eyes betrayed the hurt he felt.

Kat took her turn.

Cassandra reached over and laced her fingers with Wulf's. "I didn't know Dark-Hunters could go free."

"It's rare," Wulf said, tightening his grip on her hand. "At least it was up until this last year. Talon and Kyrian make two we know."

"Three," Kat added as she moved her piece on the board.

"Three?" Wulf asked. He looked shocked.

Kat nodded. "Three Dark-Hunters have been freed. I heard the other handmaidens talking about it last night when I went to check in with Artemis."

"I thought you didn't get a chance to talk to her," Cassandra said, remembering what Kat had told them after her return last night.

"Oh, I didn't. She has the big Do Not Disturb sign on her temple door. There are definite times when no one but Apollo dares to barge into her domain. But I did hear the other Icons gossiping about it. Apparently, Artemis wasn't real happy over the matter."