Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

Ash recovered his features to the typical stoicism he wore around her. Fine. Now that he knew the rules, he could turn them on her. Rising from the bed, he went to the hourglass and turned it over.

Artemis watched him with a curious frown.

Ash returned to her side and reached for the brooch that held her dress over her body. He opened the brooch and let her dress fall in a puddle at her feet. "Now where were we?"

Susan caught herself as her head dropped down. Blinking, she stifled a yawn. Ravyn reached around her and took her hand from the keyboard.

"Let's call it a night."

"But-"

"Susan, you've been a trooper, but it's already dawn and you look like you're ready to keel over from exhaustion. You can't keep going like this. You're as likely to overlook something as you are to find it."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She'd read the last paragraph at least a dozen times and she still wasn't sure what it said. Her head hurt and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. "I guess you're right."

This time she didn't bother to hide her yawn as Ravyn shut down the computer for her.

"Did you find anything?" he asked her.

"Not yet. There are a couple of entries about some of the missing students whose parents called trying to locate them. Jimmy wrote that he took the inquiries to his chief only to be told not to worry about runaways. The chief told him he needed to focus his attention on other cases. That's odd, right? I mean, if he's covering up for Daimons, it makes sense. Otherwise why wouldn't he let Jimmy keep investigating their whereabouts?"

"I have no idea. Dealing with the police force isn't something I have much experience with. I tend to avoid them as much as possible."

Susan rubbed her eyes before she helped Ravyn pick up the files he'd been reading through. "What about you?"

"Not much to say. Just case notes. There are a few that mention a couple of witnesses who changed their testimony about an investigation he had that involved some woman he'd been trailing. But no real names or information. It's so vague that I'm not even sure what he was referring to. "

"C'mon, Jimmy," she breathed as she put away the file folders. "Tell me something we need to solve this."

Ravyn pulled her up against his hard chest. It was the most soothing thing she'd ever known. And if she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend they were something more than strangers. But that was stupid. She knew better. "Enough, Susan. You need sleep."

"I know." She looked down at the uninviting mattress.

Ravyn got up and started for the door.

She frowned at him. "Where are you going?"

"To tell Dorian to set you up in a bedroom upstairs where you can get a decent day's rest."

"Why?"

He gave her a "duh" stare. "You're not allergic to daylight. There's no need for you to stay down here in this disgusting hole with me. At least one of us should get a good sleep."

His thoughtfulness warmed her. Susan caught his hand and pulled him back into the room. "It's okay. I'd rather be here with you."

"Susan-"

"Sh," she said, placing a finger over his lips. "Don't argue. Besides, I'm too tired to climb those stairs one more time and I'm sure you are, too." She pulled him back into the room and closed the door. "We can be grown-ups about this."

Ravyn wasn't so sure about that. All he could focus on was those lips that begged him for a kiss. He glanced down at her body and felt his own stirring in response. Not to mention the scent of her hung heavy around his animal's senses.

Yeah, he could be grown-up about this...

Switching off the light, he allowed her to pull him down on the mattress. He grabbed the blanket and covered them. Then he turned his back to her, hoping that might ease some of the temptation.

She sneezed. "Ravyn?"

"Yes?"

"Could you roll over?"

His heart skipped a beat at her question. "Why?"

"I'm allergic to your hair and I have to sleep on my left side. I don't know why, but it's the only way I can rest. "

That really wasn't the answer he'd been looking for. He was actually hoping she'd wanted him to flip over for her to molest him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky. "Are you serious?"

She sneezed again. "Yeah. I'm rather positive."

Great. Just great. She was allergic to him. Well, that was a new one. Sighing heavily, he rolled over only to realize that facing her was a big mistake. It brought the soft, delicate scent of her skin right up to him. Not to mention that his hand was dangerously close to the breast he wanted to explore.

She opened her eyes to look up at him with an expression that said she wasn't any more immune to him than he was to her. Normally that invitation would kick him into action.

But she was a Squire, completely forbidden fruit, and the last thing he needed was to be physical with a human he had feelings for. Not that he was completely sure what those feelings were, but she wouldn't be a one-night stand for him. He couldn't just sleep with her and leave. It was wrong, and it was the last thing either of them need.

Which meant he had to keep his hands to himself. Frustrated, he moved to the other side and lay back-to-back with her. "Is this okay?"

"Perfect," she said in a voice that was so laden with sleep he wasn't even sure if she was awake.

He smiled at the grogginess of her voice. "Night, Susan."

"Night, gorgeous." The words were barely out of her mouth before he heard her fall into a deep sleep.

How he wished it were that easy for him, but his erection was throbbing so badly that it was all he could do to lie still and not attend to it in some way.

Closing his eyes, he imagined Susan in his arms, her naked body pressed up against his as he sank himself deep inside her. Or better yet, her on top of him, riding him slow and easy as they both sought their own piece of paradise...

It was an image that both tormented and soothed him as he felt sleep slowly overtake him.

"Who exactly is Savitar?" Satara asked as she faced an angry Stryker in the main hall at Kalosis. The dark hall was empty except for her and her brother, who sat on his throne, thrumming his fingers against the carved arm as he eyed her with malice.

"That would be the question d'eternite, little sister. Basically he is what makes everything evil and otherwise quake in its boots. I've never met a god yet who didn't flinch at his approach, and that includes the bastard who donated his sperm to create us. Savitar scares the gods so much that they won't even speak his name for fear of drawing his attention to them. Ironically, the only person who doesn't fear him is Acheron. No idea why."

That didn't bode well for her plans. As a handmaiden to Artemis, Satara had never even heard of this man, but then given what her brother said, that made sense. Artemis liked to keep her head down low. "How do we fight him?"

"We don't. I already told you, we don't screw with him."

She wanted to choke him for his obstinacy and fear. If there was anything she loathed it was weakness. "Then how do we get inside the Serengeti to drive out Ravyn?"

"Again, we don't." Stryker rose to his feet and stepped down from his dais. He strode forward with an eerie, silent gait until he was beside her. "My plan, such as it was, for Seattle has fallen apart. Now that the Dark-Hunters know what we're up to, there's no point in pursuing it. The game is over."

"Not so fast," she said as her mind played through everything that had gone wrong. "What was your original plan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before Seattle opened its doors to you, what did you have planned?"

He didn't answer. But even so, Satara knew. "You're after Acheron. You want to see him suffer." She stepped closer to him so that she could whisper faintly in a voice that the goddess who ruled this realm wouldn't hear. "More than that, you're after Apollymi herself for all the pain the two of them have caused you."

He didn't react, but still she knew the agony Stryker harbored. To prove his devotion to Apollymi, he'd cut his son's throat and made Urian a bitter enemy.

Urian had been the only thing Stryker had ever loved. And that included her. He kept her around only because he didn't like to be totally alone, but at the end of the day, she didn't have any delusions about where she fell in his affections. If she died this instant, he would shrug it off and move on.

Urian, on the other hand, was a constantly festering wound that ate at him.

"Do you have a point?" Stryker asked from between clenched teeth.

She nodded as a new idea formed. "There are still ways to damage Acheron here and now."

"Such as?"

"Oh, Stryker," she said in a pitying voice. "Of all men, you should know exactly how to cripple someone. What hurts more than having someone you trust beyond measure turn on you?"

His face hardened and she knew he was thinking of the day he'd learned Urian had been lying to him while protecting the family Stryker was sworn to kill.

"Yes," she whispered in his ear. "Now imagine turning one of Acheron's men to our side without his knowing it? We can do to him exactly what he did to you..."

Suspicion darkened his eyes. "How?"

She laughed low and evil. "What has always been the downfall of man, my brother?"

He didn't hesitate with his answer. "Pride."

"Hardly." She held her hand up to her face and blew a deep breath across her nails before she pinned him with an evil stare. "Love, my brother. It is the one thing that men will kill to possess. The one thing that will make them do things that they would never normally do. Things they can't even conceive of. And it will be the one thing that will ultimately bring Acheron to his knees. His Dark-Hunters are the one weakness that we can reach and exploit. We haven't lost Seattle yet. There are still ways to claim the city and drive a spike straight through Acheron's heart."

"And if you're wrong?"

"What have we got to lose? Honestly?" Satara stood on her tiptoes so that their gazes were locked and level. She offered him a tiny hint of a hopeful smile even though his face was still hard and unforgiving. "But if I'm right?"

He blinked and looked away as if considering her words. When his gaze came back to hers, it was filled with all the raw, aching need he had to win this war against Acheron and Apollymi. "If you're right, Satara, I'll deliver the Atlantean up to you on a silver platter and hand you the dagger you need to cleave his heart out of his chest."

"That's not what I want, Stryker. That's your dream."

His eyes flashed in greedy expectation. "Fine then. You get this for me and I'll give you the secret to kill Artemis and free you from her service forever."

Satara closed her eyes as she tried to imagine it. If she never saw that bitch another day in her life, it would be too soon.

Freedom...

It was too good to be true. Her heart racing at the prospect, she held her hand up to Stryker. "Have we a deal then, Brother?"

He took her hand in his and held it over his heart. "Yes, we do."