Chapter 12
Danger's gaze narrowed angrily at the sound of the Daimons' taunting. How rare for the Daimons not to try and run away. Could they be the Spathis Alexion had mentioned?
Then again if they really had killed one Dark-Hunter already, they were probably drunk on their own power and looking to kill more.
"Oh, I so don't like you people," she growled.
"The feeling's entirely mutual," the lead Daimon said.
The Daimon glanced over to Marco's body. "We do nice work, don't we?"
She shrugged, unwilling to give them any sort of reward or praise for their barbarism, which brought back one too many nightmares from her human life. "Looks like he committed suicide to me. He probably took one look at your ugly face and went blind, so he decided it was better to be dead than have your heinous form be the last thing he'd seen."
Alexion actually laughed out loud at that.
The Daimon glowered at her. "I assure you he died screaming like a girl."
She looked over at Alexion and shook her head in disgust. "Oh, I am so offended by that. What is the deal with that sexist statement? I'm a female and I don't scream. But I've killed many a male Daimon who did."
Alexion didn't comment.
Danger turned back toward the Daimons, who were still eyeing her as if she were a main course. She was definitely going to beat the life out of them, but before she did, she had one question. "So why did you kill him?"
The Daimon shrugged. "He had a victim he didn't want to share. Seems he thought he could take the soul into his own body like we do. We thought turnabout was fair play so we staked him to free it. You know, Dark-Hunters don't burst apart when a soul is freed. Why is that?"
"We're not scum?"
Alexion laughed again.
She looked at him over her shoulder. "You're enjoying this whole thing way too much." She gestured toward the Daimons. "Keller said you could make them poof?"
"Normal Daimons, yes."
"And let me guess, these are Abby Normal kind of Daimons?"
He shook his head. "You watch way too many DVDs, and yes, they're Abby Normal." She was amazed he understood her reference to the movie Young Frankenstein.
"Oh, goodie," she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "And here I am without my favorite stake and why is that? Because the ugly winged demon from hell-literally-came after us." She looked back at the Daimons and sighed heavily. "Now we got these guys to fight. Well, at least they're not scaly."
"And they are blond," Alexion added. Danger found it amusing that he was adopting her light tone. "You like blonds."
"True, but after looking at them, I think my tastes just changed. I think I'd rather do the demon than one of them." Danger spun, grabbed the dagger out of Alexion's hands, then rushed the Daimons with it.
Alexion watched in awe as she took the Spathis on. She was an incredible fighter with more daring than skill. Not that she lacked skill by any means. She didn't. It was just that her daring outdistanced it by a long shot.
She cut one Daimon across the chest as she ducked a second one. Her smaller size gave her a distinct advantage over the much larger Daimons.
She stabbed one.
He burst into dust.
It was then she turned to face Alexion with a scowl. "You just gonna stand there and look impressed or are you actually going to help me with this little situation?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "You seem to have it under control."
She glared at him as she jumped away from another attacking Daimon. She kicked him back. "I really hate men most nights," she mumbled.
It wasn't until one of the Daimons went for her back that Alexion rushed forward. He caught the Daimon with a fist to his jaw.
Danger twisted around like she was about to stab him. Alexion caught her hand, kissed her clenched fist, then pulled the dagger from her grip.
"I'll give this right back," he said, an instant before he plunged it into the Daimon. Golden powder shot all over him before it drifted to the ground.
He turned and then tossed the dagger into the chest of another Daimon who was about to attack Danger.
The Daimon froze mid-motion, mouthed the word "damn," then burst apart.
The last remaining Daimon ran.
Danger grabbed the dagger from the ground, then launched it at his back. It caught him dead between his shoulders. Like the others before him, he shattered into dust.
Alexion held his hand out for the dagger to return to him. It flew through the air until he had it firmly in his grasp.
Danger gave him a peeved stare. "You know, those parlor tricks would be much more impressive if they had actually helped me."
With a wry twist to his lips, he handed her the dagger. "I wanted to see what you had in you."
"Piss and vinegar. Next time you don't help me, I'll unleash it fully against you."
He had to admit that he loved seeing the fire in her eyes whenever she was angry. The passion pinkened her cheeks and made him wonder what she would look like naked beneath him. She would definitely be a wildcat and that made him smile even against his will.
What he wouldn't give for a taste of Danger.
"I don't find it funny," she said testily.
"Believe me, I don't find the idea of you getting hurt funny either."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"I'm smiling because you are absolutely beautiful."
Danger couldn't have been more stunned had he told her to take a flying jump off the Eiffel Tower. It'd been a long time since a man, especially one as handsome as Alexion, had complimented her. She'd almost forgotten the weird fluttering such a thing caused in the stomach. The little bit of embarrassment that was counterbalanced by a slice of pride and gratitude. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The weirdest part was, in that moment, she wanted to kiss him. Badly.
But that was nuts and she knew it.
He's not even human.
Neither are you.
Well, her mind had a point, but still... This was neither the time nor the place.
Alexion glanced at Marco, then off into the direction Kyros had fled. The familiar look of torment came back into his hazel-green eyes, as if he wanted to go after his friend. It was followed by a look of reservation that said he knew how futile that action would be.