No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

Daimons.

There was no mistaking the feeling. It was hot and stinging. Turning the bike off, he put down the stand and listened carefully. If he knew Sam better, he'd flash into her house to check on her. But she was as likely to stab him as she was to thank him for that.

You're being stupid. There's nothing here.

Just his pathetic subconscious looking for an excuse to get invited into her house again.

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling.

Sighing at his own idiocy, he started his bike and peeled off.

Sam walked through a haze of memories she wasn't familiar with. Dozens of blond children and adults. They were laughing, playing...

Dying. It was awful. Men and women in the height of their youth were decaying into dust. Screaming in pain as their bodies aged and then disintegrated.

She was dreaming, she knew that...

Why am I seeing Apollites and Daimons? Worse than that, she was afraid and angry at the entire world. Vengeance scorched her every bit as deeply as it did when she thought about her own family. She wanted blood so badly she could taste it. Rage suffused every part of her being.

Wake up! her subconscious screamed out as it realized she was channeling the emotions of someone close to her.

Real close.

Why can't I move? She opened her eyes to find herself in her bed, trapped underneath a shimmering gold web. What the crud is this?

There was a gorgeous blond man standing to the right of her bed, staring down at her with a snide grimace. "Don't fight, Dark-Hunter. There's nothing you can do."

Ah, now that was like telling a snake not to strike. She pushed with everything she had.

Nothing happened.

The Daimon male who'd spoken to her laughed. "I told you, you can't fight. Your powers won't work against the diktyon."

Sam cringed as he identified the net covering her. It was a weapon of Artemis's and he was right. It rendered her powerless. Only a god could fight or break its hold.

And even then it wouldn't be easy.

He looked over to a woman on the other side of her bed. "Sophie, open the portal."

Sam inched her hand out from under the net. If she could just get to the knife she always put beneath her pillow before she went to sleep...

And all the while, their memories and emotions poured into her with a ferocity that was disorienting and confusing. But at least it gave her some insight into them and how to attack with words.

Sam met the man's gaze. "You know, you're right, Karos. Sophie's been cheating on you with your best friend...what's his name? Jarret? She's not really going to her sister's like she says. She's snaking on you, hon, and enjoying every minute of it. She thinks you're a pathetic waste of a Daimon."

His head snapped to the woman. "What?"

Sophie's beautiful features paled. "It's not true. She's lying."

"Bullshit!"

"I swear, Karos. I haven't gone near him."

Sam snorted. "Not in the last six hours anyway. But last night...it was definitely on, or off if you're talking clothing."

He curled his lip at his wife. "I knew you two were up to something. You lying bitch." He rounded the bed and slapped her hard across the face.

She came back with an impressive haymaker.

While they fought, Sam freed her hand enough that she could use her telekinesis to bring the knife into her grasp. She tried to cut the net, but big surprise there, it didn't work.

Suddenly, the knife flew out of her hand.

Cursing, Sam looked to find another Daimon--a young woman--standing in the shadows.

The Daimon tsked at her as she fingered Sam's knife. "Nice try, but it won't work." She glanced at the combatants. "If you two don't stop, I'm going to rip out both of your spines. Open the portal and let's get this trash to Stryker before it causes any more conflict."

Stryker. Sam remembered him from the demon's memories. Oh gods, they were planning to take her into Daimon central.

They would kill her there. Why else would they want a Dark-Hunter in their domain unless it was to gut her?

I'm going to be their entertainment.

Panic set in as she fought against the net. A shimmering green mist appeared in the corner of her room. It grew larger until it was big enough for them to walk through.

Sophie went in first while the man came over to pull Sam off the bed.

Sam jerked and struggled as hard as possible, but it was useless. The net wouldn't let her move. He picked her up like she weighed nothing at all and cradled her in his arms.

I'm going to die.

She knew it with everything she possessed. No one would ever know what happened to her. The Daimons would take her into their realm and do who knew what with her before they ended her life.

So this is how my life ends. Not in battle with me taking as many of them as I can. Not in a heroic act of sacrifice.

She was going to be carried to her grave in the arms of her enemies.