She nodded. "Vaya con Dios, Sebastian," she said, using Viper's real name.
"Hasta la vista, frances." He looked at Alexion. "Y tu, weirdo."
Alexion laughed. "Adios, mi amigo."
Danger watched as Viper returned to his car. As he drove away, a deep sadness claimed her.
Euphemia was dead...
The pain of the thought ached deep inside her. "How many more Dark-Hunters are they going to kill?"
Alexion came to her and held her close. "It'll be all right."
"Will it?" She held on to him as morbid thoughts and grief for her comrades poured through her. "What bothers me most is that they got to her in Memphis. How could Stryker attack there and be here to-"
"Bolt-hole," Alexion said, interrupting her. "He can command them any place and any time. One minute he can be here at your house and in the next, Moscow."
"Then how do we stop him?"
He gave her a tough stare. "You don't. That's my job."
"And if you fail?"
"Not an option. We'll get him. I promise."
And yet even as he said those words, Danger had an awful premonition that they wouldn't. She felt something cold and sinister deep down inside.
Good didn't always win. She knew that better than anyone.
Ash paced the floor of his throne room restlessly. His emotions in turmoil, he tried to block out the images that haunted him.
"I will not interfere." It was a mantra he'd been chanting all day, and yet how could he not?
The lives and well-being of people he cared about hung in the balance.
He held his hand out and the monitors on his left flashed images of his human life. The horror of it all. The humiliation. The pain and terror. And all because two women had sought to "save" him.
He wouldn't do that to Ias. To interfere with fate or human free will...
It was disastrous.
"Acheron?"
The monitors went blank and he froze as he heard a voice in his head that he wasn't expecting. "Savitar?"
"How many people you got in this head of yours that you have to ask that question?"
He laughed at the man's dry humor. Savitar knew better than anyone else exactly how many voices Acheron heard at any given time.
An eerie blue mist hissed in front of him. Two seconds later, it coalesced into a man who stood almost even in height to him. Only Savitar would dare enter his domain without an invitation... well, he and Artemis, but Artemis was a whole other nightmare.
Physically appearing around the age of thirty, Savitar stood before him with a wry grin and his arms crossed over his chest. Dressed in a pair of white beach pants and a short-sleeved blue shirt that was worn over a white T-shirt, he looked nothing like what he really was. Nothing like a being who held the wisdom of the ages and enough power to give Ash a good run for his money. Then again, Savitar might actually be even more powerful.
There was only one way to know for sure, but Ash respected him too much to find out.
Lean and muscular, Savitar hadn't changed much since the day they'd first crossed paths-except for his wardrobe, but Ash's had changed a lot more.
Colorful tattoos covered Savitar's forearms. His wavy black hair hung just past his ears, and he wore it in a casual, easy style. His eyes were a vibrant shade of lavender. Those eyes were timeless, powerful, and even a little corrupt.
No, they were a lot corrupt.
Ash was never sure which side Savitar would fall on. Only Savitar knew that one and he didn't always share it.
"How's Simi?" Savitar asked.
Ash pulled a corner of his formesta back to show him Simi's tattoo. "Fine. She's resting now. I kept her out too late."
"You shouldn't abuse your demon so. She needs her rest."
Ash ignored his comment. They both knew he would never really abuse Simi.
Savitar walked around the room, his gaze seeking out every corner and crevice. "Very sterile place you have here."
"I'm sure yours is a study in hedonism."
Savitar laughed, then sobered. "You can't go to them, Atlantean. If you do you will kill Stryker."
Ash closed his eyes, wishing he could see his own future as easily as Savitar did. But at least Savitar was willing to share his visions for once. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I'm standing here." Savitar flashed from before the throne to stand directly behind Ash's back. "Maybe I'm not there after all."
Ash immediately turned around so that Savitar wasn't at his back-more than anyone, Savitar knew how much he hated for anyone to come up behind him. "Don't push me, Savitar," he growled. "I've long ceased being a neophyte."
"No, you're not. But if you want to attack me, so be it. I can't interfere with your free will any more than you can interfere with theirs."
Savitar held his hand up and spread out his fingers. Colors danced and swirled in vibrant patterns in the air around it. They danced around his fingers. "Everything in the universe is changing right now. Realigning. But then you know that. I know you can feel it."
Ash ground his teeth as pain swept through him. He knew exactly why the universe was still shifting to accommodate what never should have happened. "I made a mistake."
"Nick Gautier."
Ash nodded. "I cursed him to die and I altered numerous other lives in the process. Lives of people I love."
Savitar gave him a hard stare. "And now you know why I love no one. Why I never have and never will." He lowered his voice. "Heed my words well, little brother. Love only destroys."
Ash refused to believe it. He knew better. "Love saves."
Savitar scoffed. "Love has destroyed you how many times now?"
Ash smiled bitterly at those memories. "That wasn't love. It was stupidity."
"You still haven't learned your lesson, Atlantean. So long as you feel like a human and love, you are crippled. That is why, eleven thousand years later, the Greek bitch still has her claws into you. Scrape her off and seize your destiny."
"No," Ash said emphatically. "My compassion is what keeps me from doing something even more imbecilic. Without it... You don't want to live in the world that would exist if I ever seized my destiny."
"Are you so sure?"
No, he wasn't. Savitar could be brutal and callous at times. "Love is always salvation."
"Then you can keep it. I have better things to do than pace a room, debating what to do." His form started to fade.
"Wait," Ash said.
He reappeared. "Yes?"
Ash hesitated, but he needed to know. "How's Nick doing?"
Savitar shrugged nonchalantly. "He's away from all he has ever known. He's scared and grieving. I think it's safe to say he has had better days."
Ash didn't want to think about that. It was all his fault that Nick was dead and suffering. And it was why he'd sent the Cajun to Savitar for training. The Cajun needed compassion right now that Ash wasn't sure he could give him.
"Thank you for training him."
"There's no need to thank me, Atlantean. One day, I'll ask you for a favor."
"And I will return it."
"I know." Suddenly the stoic veil dropped from Savitar's face. "I don't mean this to be patronizing, Acheron, but I am proud of what you have become. You have learned much and used it wisely, unlike some people I know..."
Ash nodded. Savitar had his own demons that he hid. But then everyone did.
"I hope you find peace, my brother," he said to Savitar.
Savitar scoffed. "Peace walks hand in hand with a quiet conscience."
"Then we're both seriously screwed."
Savitar laughed. "Yes, we are."
Ash fell silent for a minute as thoughts and scenarios played through his mind. "Question?"
"Answer?"
He gave Savitar an irritated grimace. There were times when Savitar enjoyed provoking him. "Would killing Stryker be such a bad thing?"
"Only you can answer that."
"I hate it when you play prophet with me. But I suppose I deserve it."
Savitar shrugged. "All of us answer to someone."
Those words surprised Ash. He found it hard to believe that Savitar would allow anyone to have any power over him. "And who holds your chain?"
"If I told you that, you'd know too much about me."
"You already know too much about me."
Savitar didn't comment on that. "Life is what we make it," he said slowly. "You don't need me to tell you what would happen if you killed Stryker. You know that answer." He moved to stand to Ash's side. "You let your emotions control you in New Orleans and what happened?"
Complete and utter disaster.
Ash bit his tongue to keep from asking if Alexion would survive the coming battle with Stryker. If the answer was no, then there was no way he could not interfere.
I have to stay out of this.
"Don't worry, Atlantean," Savitar said quietly. "The one thing I can assure you... through your own actions, you will be saved."
"And Alexion?"
"Through his, he will be damned. But then you already knew that."