No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

Cael tensed as if he wanted to slug Dev for daring to use sarcasm against his woman. "Actually we don't touch humans and never have. We feed on corrupt demons. They're much more palatable to all involved. Less calories. More filling."

Oh...now he felt stupid. Cael was right. No one could fault him for that meal.

"So they're Hellchasers like me?" Fang asked Thorn.

Thorn saluted him with his goblet before he handed it over to Shara to dispose of.

Fang exchanged a puzzled frown with Dev. "But why are they here?"

Thorn tsked. "You're asking things that are above your pay grade, Wolf. Stand down and don't worry about it. All you need to know is that they're your playmates. Share the sandbox or get spanked for it."

Yeah, there was an image Dev could have done without. Where was a gallon of eye bleach when you needed it?

But that still left Dev completely confused. "How can Cael serve both Artemis and you?"

Thorn scoffed. "Artemis doesn't care one way or another, especially now."

Dev was surprised by his cavalier attitude. The goddess could be extremely ruthless when crossed. "What do you mean?"

Thorn patted him on the shoulder. "Do you want to continue discussing them or would you rather talk about your girlfriend and her future well-being?"

"Sam's not my girlfriend."

"My mistake then." Thorn stepped back. "I will release her into your custody since it's what the two of you want. I think you're effing idiots. But it's your choice. God forbid I ever interfere with your free will."

Instead of relief, a tremor of apprehension went through Dev. "It's that easy?"

Thorn laughed. "Nothing is ever that easy, Bear. Stryker wants your honey so he can destroy the world as we know it. You arrogantly claim that you can protect her better than I can even though I command an army and live in a place they can't reach. I say we should put it to the test. Best beast wins and all that."

Dev's hackles raised as his suspicions mounted. This had to be a trick. He didn't trust Thorn enough to even blink with him in the same room--the weasel was that crafty.

Wait for it.... There was definitely a trick coming.

"What do you have in mind?" Dev asked.

Thorn snapped his fingers and a portal opened in the wall. "I have a task for you, Bear. Have you ever heard of Hippolyte's Girdle?"

"The one Hercules had to fight the Amazons to get?"

Thorn inclined his head to him almost respectfully. "An expected oversimplification, but yes. It's the one Hercules had to fight to claim. And I don't know if you realize this or not, but Samia just so happens to be Stryker's cousin."

Now there was an intriguing off-topic tidbit Dev really wasn't expecting to hear, and it was one he wasn't sure he hadn't misunderstood. "What's that?"

Thorn spoke more slowly, again in that patronizing tone that made Dev want to bury his fist straight in the man's jaw. "Hippolyte--Samia's grandmother--the fabled Amazon queen? Her father was the god of war, Ares. Since Ares is Samia's great-grandfather, it makes her and Stryker cousins, as it were."

That explained a whole lot about Sam's fighting skills. "Does Sam know this?"

"I should hope she knows who her great-grandfather is. Not like that was ever a secret. Hippolyte was quite proud of the fact she was a demigod."

Dev couldn't blame her for that. He'd spread it around too if he could claim such, but none of that was pertinent to what was going on right now. "What has this to do with me?"

"Nothing really, except that after Hercules stole the girdle, it fell into human hands for a time because they believed it would imbue the wearer with certain powers."

"Does it?"

Thorn's eyes turned a deep red. "Yes and no. It seems a vital piece of the tale was never recounted."

"And that would be?"

"That the wearer must be a descendant of Hippolyte for it to work." Thorn's tone changed from the refined gentleman to a deep demon baritone. "You want Sam back...get her that girdle so that it can protect her and I'll let her go with you."

Oh yeah, this mission was going to be a doozie to rival the one his sister had asked him for when she'd wanted to pull Fang out of demon hell. "And where is this girdle?" No doubt someplace that stank, was hot, and more lethal than a cobra venom farm.

Thorn let out a sound of profound aggravation. "What? You want me to draw a map for you? Take you there and point it out like a bird dog?" He snapped his fingers. The wall to his left shimmered before a giant black resin clock appeared. Its face was that of a dragon with vibrant red eyes that oddly matched Thorn's. Its hands were the dragon's wings.

Dev's prickly host pointed to it. "You have one day, Bear. Twenty-four hours from this very second. Return with the girdle or Sam stays here...and so do you." He paused before he added the last condition. "Forever."

That was a long time to stay anywhere and Dev had a feeling that Thorn was not going to make his stay here a day at Disney World--unless one counted the torture part of the Pirates of the Ca rib be an. "If I refuse to play this game?"

His expression was stone-cold evil. "You're already playing it. You stop now and I throw you out and Sam stays here until hell freezes over. Maybe even a day or two after that."

Dev didn't like the proposed terms and he wanted to take Thorn down a notch. He knew he didn't scare the demon lord, but he knew one person who might. "Acheron will most likely have something to say about that."

Thorn arched one regal brow. "Are you going to cry to him like a baby with a broken toy and ask him to fix it?"

Dev took a step forward and would have attacked him for that comment had Fang not caught him and stopped his suicidal charge.

"Don't," Fang whispered.

Don't, my ass....

But it did click his common sense back into play. Dead, he couldn't help her at all. Couldn't do much for himself either.

And that common sense begged him to tell Thorn to shove it up a part of his body he was sure Thorn kept clenched tight enough to form a diamond.

His mind flashed on an image of Sam's beautiful face. She didn't like being around unfamiliar things. Most of all, she wouldn't want to be locked in a cage no matter how gilded the bars were, any more than he would.

"So what's it to be, Bear?"

Dev lifted his leg and gave a sarcastic slap to his thigh. "By golly, I'll take Door Number Two, Bob. You know the one that calls for straight suicide with a side of mutilation and pain? Sign my hairy ass up for that and don't be late."

Fang cursed while Cael laughed.

Cael attempted to sober, but couldn't. "Damn shame you're going to die, Bear. I really think we could have been friends."

There was amusement in Thorn's eyes, but the rest of him didn't so much as quirk a muscle. "You have four clues to find the location and--" He glanced to the clock. "--the hands are ticking."

"You going to give the clues, hoss? Or do I have to guess?"

Thorn patted him on the cheek like a teacher with an errant child. "In plain sight on the banks of the Champs-Elysees, the girdle lies hidden away. At the brink of the darkest night, the location fills your sight. To see what can never be found, look for the circle round. To reclaim that which the gods rescind, you must face mightiest Whirlwind."

Dev had a sudden urge to punch that smugness right out of him. "You know, the migraine from all of that really isn't going to help me locate it."

"You have your clues, Bear. Good luck."