Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter 7)

Stryker laughed at him as he passed a pitying look to Danger. "How wonderful. Your lover thinks to call my bluff."

"It's not a bluff," Alexion said assuredly as he faced the Daimon coldly. "I don't know what you have, but it's not her soul."

Stryker's gaze was cold, sinister, and if he'd actually had Danger's soul, Alexion might have been scared. "Are you willing to take that chance?"

Alexion didn't blink. "Yes."

"Alexion!" Danger snapped, her voice filled with fear. "If it is my soul-"

"It's not," he said, looking at her. "Trust me in this. Artemis holds those souls too closely and there's only one man alive who can get them from her. You can bet your life, your ousia, and everything else you have that Stryker's not him."

"Are you so sure?" Stryker asked as he toyed with the medallion in his hand. He tightened his grip around it. "Artemis is my aunt, after all."

Alexion scoffed. "Yeah, and she hates your guts with a blazing passion. The only way for you to get a soul is for Acheron to hand it over to you and we both know the chances of that."

Cursing, Stryker threw the medallion down and crushed it under his heel.

Danger cringed until she realized that nothing had happened to her.

She felt her chest just to make sure...

Nope, she was still intact. Breathing in relief, she returned to Xirena, who was still holding her chest where Stryker had stabbed her.

"I told you to kill them all," Stryker commanded his Daimons.

Danger stood before the demon to protect her. As the Daimons attacked and she fought them, she realized something terrifying. Her powers weren't there in full strength.

With every strike and blow, she seemed to weaken.

The Daimon she was fighting kicked her backward. Danger hit the ground so hard, it knocked the breath from her. She rolled, trying to get away, only to find herself at the feet of another Daimon. He laughed as he raised a sword to behead her.

Just as she was sure she was dead, the Daimon was thrown back. She looked up expecting to see Alexion.

Instead, it was Kyros who stood over her.

He had killed the Daimon, and was holding his hand out to her. "I've been a stupid fool," he breathed as he pulled her to her feet. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

He glanced to Alexion who was fighting Stryker. "I know." He pushed her toward the door. "C'mon. We have to get the other Dark-Hunters out of here before it's too late."

Before she could say anything, he bent over and picked Xirena up to carry her away from the Daimons.

Alexion paused as he saw Kyros and Danger working together to get the others to safety. She'd been right-he had come around in the end. Gods, he owed that woman more than could ever be repaid.

He did a quick head count of the Dark-Hunters who were leaving and realized that only three Dark-Hunters had been killed by the Daimons so far.

They'd been the ones who hadn't moved to the right.

Kyros and Danger were fighting the Daimons as the rest of them rushed to make it out of the room.

To buy them more time, he lunged at Stryker again.

The Daimon turned with a snarl. "You can't stop me," Stryker said ominously.

He tossed the dagger at Danger.

Alexion threw his hand out to deflect the dagger's path. The dagger should have shot to his hand. It didn't.

Just as it started for him, one of the Daimons hit him in the chest. He staggered forward, then regained his balance. Before he could reclaim the dagger, it returned to Stryker who tossed it faster than he could blink.

It buried itself deep into Danger's chest.

Alexion couldn't breathe for a full heartbeat as he saw it hit her so hard it knocked her off her feet before sending her twisting to the floor.

Kyros turned with a curse as he ran for her.

No! Alexion's mind screamed in denial.

It couldn't be...

"You should have backed off," Stryker said between clenched teeth as the dagger flew back into his outstretched hand. "But that's all right. The best way to kill someone is to always aim for their heart. She dies because of you and you die because of Acheron."

The Daimon threw the dagger at him.

Strike at the heart...

Catching the dagger in his fist an instant before it would have embedded itself in his chest, Alexion finally understood what the unknown feminine voice had been trying to tell him. He felt his powers surging at those words.

He turned on Stryker with a snarl. "You want a heart, Stryker? I'll give you yours..."

He knew his eyes were glowing green as he shouted, "Urian!"

"Don't you dare defile my son's name with-" Stryker's words broke off as the air around them stirred.

Two seconds later, Urian appeared. Tall and blond, the man looked eerily similar to his father except Stryker dyed his hair black while Urian's was white-blond. As always, he kept it long, and in a ponytail that was secured with a black leather cord.

Urian looked less than pleased to have been summoned. His jaw went slack as he glanced around the room at the Daimons who were staring at him in disbelief.

"Nice way to keep me incognito, Lex," Urian said, until his gaze fell on his father.

His eyes narrowed in hatred.

"Urian?" Stryker breathed the name like a sacred prayer.

"You bastard!" Urian snarled.

"Kill him," one of the Daimons shouted.

"No!" Stryker said. "He's my son."