Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter 4)

Chapter 17

Stryker snarled in outrage as he found himself in the Destroyer's throne room. "I was so close to killing them. Why did you stop me!"

Still the demon Sabina held him.

For once Xedrix wasn't in the room with his mother, but Stryker didn't have time to ponder the demon's whereabouts. His thoughts were too consumed by hatred and vexation.

His mother sat on her chaise completely poised, as if she were holding court and hadn't just destroyed all their years of careful planning.

"Do not raise your voice to me, Strykerius. I will not take insubordination."

He forced himself to level his voice even while his blood simmered in fury. "Why did you interfere?"

She pulled her black pillow into her lap and toyed with a corner of it. "You cannot win against the Elekti. I told you that."

"I could have beaten him," Stryker insisted. No one could stop him. He was sure of that.

"No you couldn't," she said firmly. She dropped her gaze again and ran her hand elegantly over the black satin. "There is no pain worse than a son who betrays your cause, is there, Strykerius? You give them everything, and do they listen? No. Do they respect? No. Instead they shred your heart and spit on the kindness you would show to them."

Stryker clenched his eyes shut as she voiced the very thoughts inside him. He had given Urian everything and his son had repaid him with a betrayal so profound that it had taken him days to come to grips with it.

Part of him hated Apollymi for telling him the truth. The other part thanked her.

He had never been the kind of man to cradle a snake to his bosom.

Stryker would never do to his mother what had been done to him. "I will listen to you, Mother."

She cradled the pillow to her breast and sighed wearily. "Good."

"So what do we do now?"

She gazed at him with a small, beautiful smile. When she spoke, her words were simple, but her tone was purely evil. "We wait."

Wulf sat on the couch with Cassandra beside him. Erik slept peacefully in his mother's arms, oblivious to the violence and deaths that had occurred tonight.

Oblivious to the fact that the world the baby was just coming to know had almost ended.

Since they had returned home, Wulf had refused to let either one of them out of his sight.

Chris was helping Talon bandage his arm, which had gotten shredded by one of the Daimons. Julian sat with an ice pack on the back of his head while Kyrian poured peroxide over his bloodied knuckles, into a bowl.

Zarek stood like a statue against the wall by the hallway that led to the kitchen. He, alone, appeared unscathed by the fighting.

"You know," Kyrian said, pausing long enough to hiss as he poured alcohol over the peroxide. "The fighting was a lot easier when I was immortal."

Talon snorted. "I still am immortal and I'm pretty banged up. That was a hell of a fight."

The phone rang.

Chris got up to answer it.

"That better not be Stryker," Cassandra said breathlessly.

It wasn't. It was her father.

Chris handed the phone off to her and her hand shook. "Daddy? Are you all right?"

Wulf held her against his chest as she wept and talked for a few minutes, then hung up.

"It was what you said," she breathed to Wulf. "They never had him. Stryker had used the same trick to get you to leave the city that he used on me to open the apartment door. Damn that bastard!"

The phone rang again.

"What is it?" Chris snapped. "A full moon?"

"Yes," all the men said at once.

"Oh." Chris answered it, then handed it over to Kyrian.

"Hello?" Kyrian said. "Oh, hi, hon. No, I'm okay." He cringed a bit. "No, hunting was good. We'll... uh... we'll be home tomorrow."

He paused, then glanced to Julian. "What head wound?" He cringed even more. "No, tell Grace, Julian is fine. Just a little bump. We're all fine."

Wulf laughed at the way the ex-Dark-Hunter was squirming.

"Yeah, okay, will do. Love you too. Bye." Kyrian hung up the phone and let his gaze go to everyone. "Jeez, never marry a psychic woman." He looked at Talon, then Julian. "Guys, we're so screwed. The women know we didn't go hunting."

Zarek made a rude noise at that. "You think? What idiot came up with that lie?"

"I'm not an idiot," Talon snapped. "And it's not like I lied. I just omitted what exactly we were hunting and where we were doing it."

Zarek made another noise of disagreement. "Like your wives wouldn't know better?" He glanced to Kyrian. "When was the last time Mr. Armani hunted something that didn't have a price tag on it?" His gaze then went to Julian. "Oh, and the loafers and trousers are perfect camouflage."

"Shut up, Zarek," Talon snapped.

As Zarek opened his mouth to retort, a knock sounded on the door.

Grumbling, Chris went to open it and let Acheron and Urian into the room. Wulf rose to his feet as they entered.

Urian looked bad. He was pale, his clothes still covered in blood. But the worst was the restrained fury and pain in his pale eyes.

Wulf didn't know what to say to the man. He'd lost everything and gained nothing.

"We were getting worried about you, Ash," Kyrian said.

"I wasn't," Zarek said. "But now that you're here, do you need me for anything else?"

"No, Z," Ash said quietly. "Thanks for coming."

Zarek inclined his head. "Any time you want me to help rip something apart, just give me call. But in the future, could you pick somewhere warmer to do it?" Zarek flashed out of the room before anyone could respond.

"You know," Talon said. "It really pisses me off that he's a god now."

"Just make sure you don't piss him off," Ash said in warning. "Or he might turn you into a toad."

"He wouldn't dare."

Kyrian snorted. "We are talking about Zarek, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Talon said. "Never mind."

Kyrian stood up with a groan. "Well, since I'm one of the few nonimmortals in the room, I think I'm going to head to bed and rest."

Talon flexed his bandaged arm. "Sleep sounds like a plan to me."

Chris threw the medical supplies back in the plastic box. "C'mon, guys, and I'll show you where you can crash."

Cassandra stood up with Erik. "I guess I should-"

"Wait," Urian said, stopping her.

Wulf tensed as the Daimon approached his wife and son. Ash put his hand on his arm to keep him from interfering.

"Can I hold him?" Urian asked.

Both Cassandra and Wulf frowned. Urian had barely looked at the baby before this.