Acheron (Dark-Hunter 14)

Nick moved away from Tory before she could thank him.

Another flash of light heralded an even larger group of demons and Daimons.

Tory stepped back, her jaw dropping. They were so outnumbered . . .

The guys on her team were brilliant fighters, but they were being overrun by the sheer number of enemies. "This is bad . . ."

Ash froze as he saw one of the Daimons sink his fangs deep into Vane's arm at the same time more demons joined them.

He couldn't let his friends be hurt. Closing his eyes, he summoned his staff from Katoteros. He'd just tightened his hand around it when he felt someone stumble into him.

He opened his eyes to see Styxx there with an Atlantean dagger stuck completely through his stomach. Stryker cursed as he jerked it free, then went for Ash again.

Ash caught the Daimon overlord with the blunt end of his staff and shoved him back. "Flee or die," he growled.

"Fuck you."

Narrowing his gaze on Stryker, Ash shoved him back, then slammed the staff to the pavement. A wave of raw, unfettered power shot out from it to the demons and Daimons around him. Every one of them turned to dust.

Except for Stryker. He hovered above the ground in his dragon form, snarling and flapping. Bellowing, Stryker spewed fire.

Ash lifted his arm, barely in time to keep it from burning him. He shot another god bolt at Stryker who dodged it.

"This isn't over, Acheron. Next time you won't be able to use your powers." With another blast of fire, Stryker vanished.

Vane shook his bleeding arm in an obvious effort to alleviate the pain of the Daimon's bite. "Why were we fighting if you had that kind of power?"

In unison, every ex-Dark-Hunter and Nick said, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

"And sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right," Wulf said. When the other guys looked confused by his solo outburst, he added, "I guess I'm the only one he ever said that one to."

Fury made a strange wolf-like noise. "I still don't see why we were fighting when you could have just kicked their asses without us."

"Because I believe in giving everyone a fighting chance . . . until they piss me off." Ash cast Vane a quick stoic glance. "Bringing in reinforcements was Stryker's mistake."

"And be glad it wasn't yours," Fury said with a nervous laugh to Vane. "I know I'm thrilled it wasn't mine." The wolf looked around at the Daimon and demon remains, or rather what little of it there was. "Acheron. When it absolutely, positively must be destroyed overnight."

Ash knelt by Styxx's side to inspect the damage done. He wasn't overly worried since Styxx couldn't die unless he did. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. The dagger Stryker had held would have killed him had Styxx not stopped the attack.

His brother, who had wanted to die as much as he had, had saved his life.

He could barely even fathom that.

Styxx met his gaze levelly, even though he was shaking from the pain of his wound. "You know, brother, you're never supposed to close your eyes in battle."

Ash laughed at his ill-placed humor. "I wasn't the one training to be a general."

Styxx glanced around at the men surrounding them. "Perhaps. But you do a much better job of leading than I ever did. I definitely think Father trained the wrong one of us."

That was the kindest thing Styxx had ever said to him. Ash didn't speak as he placed his hand over Styxx's wound.

Styxx's gaze didn't leave his. But when Ash sealed the wound closed, Styxx let out an expletive about Ash's "kind" touch that would have made Stryker proud.

"Am I dead yet?" Styxx asked sarcastically.

"Not yet. You still have a few years left to seriously piss me off."

Styxx smiled. "I look forward to it."

For once, so did Ash. "You did a good job for me. Thank you."

"Yeah well, next time you need someone to descend into a Daimon sanctuary, pick one of your other assholes to do it. I don't have the powers of a god when they come at me and it puts me at a definite disadvantage."

Still, he'd thrown himself in front of Ash to protect him . . . It went a long way in allowing him to put the past to rest and to accept his brother. Grinning, Ash helped Styxx to his feet.

Talon scratched his head as he watched them. "Hey T-Rex? Remind me next time I want to get smartass with you that it's a really stupid move on my part."

Wulf gaped. "Oh no you don't, you wuss. You told me the next time you saw Ash you were going to ask him if he'd seen the movie 10,000 BC and if it'd made him homesick."

Talon made a cut-off gesture at Wulf. "Do you mind not getting me fried tonight? I'd like to use some of my body parts later if you know what I mean and since you're married with a brood of kids I know that you do."

Ash looked at Tory and any semblance of agitation he might have felt evaporated. She was safe and that was all that mattered to him.

He looked around at the group who'd come to help him and marveled at it. "Thank you, guys."

Kyrian offered him his hand. "Anytime you need us, Acheron, we're here for you."

And one by one, they shook his hand and made a like declaration.

Until he got to Talon. "One day, you've got to tell me how you did that stick thing. That could come in handy not only with Daimons, but stray alligators and annoying neighbors."

Ash laughed. "One day I might."