Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter 4)

"Die like an Apollite?"

Cassandra nodded, her throat tight with apprehension.

Dr. Lakis's eyes were sympathetic. "I honestly don't know. We can run tests once he gets here and see, but genetics are a strange thing so there's really no way to predict."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Cassandra forced herself to ask the other question she was desperate to have answered. "Is there a way you can tell if I'll live longer?"

"You already know the answer to that, Cassandra. I'm sorry. You are one of the lucky ones who has some human traits, but your genetics are strongly Apollite. The mere fact you're in the middle of a blood transfusion says it all."

Cassandra's eyes welled with tears as she felt the last of her hope dwindle.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Wulf asked.

"Her only chance to live longer is to turn Daimon and I somehow doubt you would allow her that option."

Cassandra clutched the picture of her baby as she wondered how Apollite he would be. Would he, too, be damned?

She didn't speak further while the doctor and nurse were in the room with them. It was only when she was alone with Wulf that she reached for him and held him close.

She held on to him tightly, afraid of tomorrow. Afraid of everything.

"It'll be okay, villkat," he whispered.

How she wished that were true. Still, she was glad he at least went through the motions of pretending they were a normal couple with normal concerns.

Someone knocked on the door.

Cassandra pulled away before Wulf went to answer it.

It was Phoebe. She ignored Wulf and moved to where Cassandra sat on the bed. "I thought you might want some fresh clothes."

Cassandra thanked her as Phoebe placed the bundle of clothes on the bed at her feet. "Have you heard anything from Urian?" she asked her sister.

Phoebe shook her head sadly. "But sometimes it takes a few days before he can talk to me. Sometimes a few months..."

Cassandra felt for her sister. She hadn't known Wulf very long and yet she couldn't imagine not being able to talk to him everyday. Not having him make her laugh at something he said. It must be much worse for her sister. "Why don't you live with him?"

Phoebe gave her a "duh" stare. "His father tried to kill me, Cassie. He knows what we"-she indicated herself and Cassandra-"look like. He would kill Urian if he ever caught us together."

Wulf moved to stand near Phoebe. "Since you're still alive and married, Apollo's lineage is safe, right?"

"No," Phoebe said wistfully. Her face was dark and sad. "Daimons can't have children. Like Dark-Hunters, we're walking dead. It's why I allowed my father and Cassie to think I was dead too. There was no need to make them even sadder about who and what I've become."

"Did it change you much?" Cassandra asked. "Is it like we always heard?"

"Yes and no. The craving for the kill is hard to resist. You have to be careful of the soul you take because a part of it blends with you too. I think it's different for Daimons who kill than for those like me."

"What do you mean 'those like you'?" Wulf asked.

"You're an Anaimikos Daimon," Cassandra said.

Phoebe nodded.

Wulf was completely confused now. He'd never heard that term. "What's that?"

"A Daimon who feeds from another Daimon," Phoebe explained. "I take my nourishment from Urian."

Wulf was stunned. "You can do that?"

"Yes."

Wulf moved back, away from the women, as he digested that. In his world there were only two kinds of Daimons. The regular ones who ran when they were chased and the Spathi who fought back. Since meeting Cassandra he'd learned of two more; the Agkelos, who only preyed on evil humans, and the Anaimikos, who preyed on other Daimons.

He wondered if any of the other Dark-Hunters knew of this and why no one had ever bothered to tell him about the different classifications.

"How did you meet Urian?" Cassandra asked as she put away some of the clothes Phoebe had brought for her in the large dresser by the door.

"Back when we lived in Switzerland, Urian was the one watching us. He was supposed to be gathering information to kill us, but he says that as soon as he saw me, he was in love." Her sister's face practically glowed. Cassandra was happy to see Phoebe so in love. "One night we met by accident when I was escaping the house after that big fight with Mom about college. I stepped right on top of him in his hiding place."

Cassandra remembered that night well. It wasn't often Phoebe and her mother fought, but that night had been a particularly nasty one. Phoebe had wanted to go off to take night classes in the semblance of being a normal teenager. Their mother had refused her request.

Phoebe sighed. "He was so beautiful. I knew he was a Daimon, but I wasn't afraid. I stayed with him for hours that night. We started meeting every night after that."

"So that's where you would sneak off to," Cassandra said, remembering the times she had covered for Phoebe's midnight escapes.

Phoebe nodded. "I'd only known Urian for about six months when his father grew impatient and bombed the car. I wasn't supposed to go that night. I was supposed to stay home with you, remember?"

Cassandra remembered that night well. Every detail of it was emblazoned on her memory with crystal clarity. She'd stayed at home that night only because she was sick and her mother had refused to let her out of bed.

"You wanted to go to the airport with Nia," Cassandra said, her throat tight. Their older sister had been going to take a charter flight to see their father in Paris. Nia had planned on staying a week there and then she and their father were supposed to fly back together to stay in Switzerland with the rest of them for a little holiday.

Phoebe nodded. "Urian pulled me out of the car and used his own blood to restore me."

Cassandra flinched at her sister's words. "He made you a Daimon against your will?"

"It was my choice. I could have died, but I didn't want to leave him."

Wulf cocked his head. "How did he make you a Daimon?"

Both of the women looked at him in disbelief.

"If an Apollite drinks the blood of a Daimon, it automatically converts them. Didn't you know that?" Cassandra asked.

"No, I didn't. I thought the only way to become a Daimon was to take a human soul."

"No," Phoebe said. "I've never killed a human. I doubt that I could."

Cassandra was glad to know that, but it was hard for a Daimon to live that way. Dangerous too. "What do you do if he's gone too long?"

"One of the Apollites gets word to him to come to me. He's so strong that I can go a long time between feedings and the infirmary keeps a pint of his blood in case of emergency. He always makes sure to replenish it with a new supply every time he visits."

"Does that work?" Cassandra asked. Unlike with Apollites, it wasn't blood that sustained Daimons, it was the life force or strength in the blood that kept them living.

"It won't last long, but it will tide me for an hour or two until he can get to me."

"So he kills for both of you?" Wulf asked.

She nodded, and took Cassandra's hands into hers. "Don't feel sorry for me, Cassandra. I have a man who loves me more than anything else on this earth. If he didn't, you would be dead now. I just wish you could know the love I have with him."

Phoebe kissed Cassandra on the cheek. "You need to rest now. It's been a long night. Would you like me to have someone bring you food?"

"No, thanks. I just need to sleep for a bit."

"Good day to you both." Phoebe left their bedroom.

Wulf locked the door behind her, then stripped his clothes off while Cassandra pulled on a dark green silk nightgown that Phoebe had brought to her. To her surprise, it fit perfectly, even over her slightly bulging belly.

Wulf climbed into bed and gathered her into his warm arms. "How are you doing for real, villkat?"

"I don't know. It's been an exciting, strange night." The events replayed through her mind. She'd learned a lot and had had one too many surprises. Now she was exhausted. "I'm very sorry about your house."

She felt him shrug. "Houses can be rebuilt. I'm just glad no one was hurt."

"Me too."

Wulf felt her relaxing as she closed her eyes and snuggled into him. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled the soft womanly scent of her. His mind whirled with everything that had happened tonight.

Most of all, it whirled with thoughts of the baby he had seen on the monitor. He laid his hand on Cassandra's stomach and imagined the baby thriving in there. His baby.

Their son.

A part of both of them. The child of a Dark-Hunter and an Apollite. Two beings who should never have united and yet here they were. No longer enemies, he wasn't sure what to call her. She was his lover. His friend.

He froze as realization dawned on him. She really was his friend. The first one he had made in centuries. He had laughed with her often these last three weeks. Listened to her stories, her fears. Her hopes for the baby's future.

And he was going to lose her.

Anger and pain swelled up inside him. Jealousy, too, as he thought of the other three Dark-Hunters who had been given a second chance.

He was glad Kyrian and Talon had found their wives. They were good men.

How he wished he could be granted such a blessing.

The pain of losing Cassandra would be excruciating, and he had to admit that he was selfish. He wanted Cassandra and his baby both.

Alive and healthy.

If only he knew of some way to make her live past her birthday.

There had to be something. The gods always made a loophole. This couldn't be the end of their relationship. No matter what it took, he was going to find that loophole.

The alternative was unacceptable to him.