Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

Ravyn ran at them only to have them drag him down the stairs to stand by her side.

She didn't even try to fight, since it was obvious the Spathis were more than able to kick their butts and take their names.

Stryker turned to Paul and opened his mouth to expose his fangs. "Before I kill you, I want you to know that the minute the sun sets tonight, I'm turning my warriors loose on every human who has helped you. Every single one, as punishment for your betrayal. No pathetic human slaughters one of my Daimons. Ever."

Paul's eyes were bulging. "No. How can you do this? We were going to combine our men and rule Seattle. We were allies!"

"Are you serious? After you killed Trates? But now I have an even better ally than you."

Without another word, Stryker removed his glasses and then sank his fangs into Paul's throat.

Revolted by the sight, Susan turned her face away and clenched her eyes shut an instant before she heard Paul's painful scream. It rang out through the house and chilled her all the way to her soul. In spite of everything he'd done, she still felt sorry for him. No one deserved to die like this...

She could even hear his feet kicking the wall as he continued to beg for mercy while Ravyn tried to fight his way past the Daimons to help Paul. But it was useless.

Suddenly there was utter silence.

It echoed through the house and set her nerves on edge. Were they next?

There was a sharp thud on the landing above.

Feeling sick, she looked back to see Paul lying on the floor at Stryker's feet as he wiped his forearm across his face to remove Paul's blood from his lips and chin.

Putting his glasses back on, he stepped nonchalantly over the body and walked leisurely down the stairs until he was in front of Ravyn. Stryker smacked his lips with his face twisted as if the taste didn't agree with him. "What a wuss. His pathetic soul barely qualifies as an hors d'oeuvre."

"You bastard!" Ravyn tried to reach him, but the Daimons wouldn't let him.

Stryker merely laughed. "Yes, and I revel in that title."

"Do we kill him, my lord?" one of the Daimons asked.

Stryker cocked his head as if considering it. "Not today, Davyn. Today, we show a bit of mercy to our worthy opponent. After all, he taught me that you don't trust the human cattle. Only other immortals understand the rules of war."

He broke through the ranks of Daimons to stand before Ravyn. "I have to say you've impressed me, Kontis. You've survived everything I've thrown at you. And the way you handled yourself here... really, I was wondering how you'd get out of this."

He looked at Susan then and his harsh features actually softened. "You remind me of my own wife. She was one hell of a lady, and like you she'd fight with me even while we were battling others."

For some reason she couldn't even begin to understand, she actually felt a pang of compassion for him. It was obvious he'd loved his wife a great deal.

"There's only one thing I have ever respected. Strength." He returned his attention to Ravyn. "We'll fight this battle another night, Cousin. For now... peace."

And with that, the portal opened and Stryker stepped through it. The Daimons released her and Ravyn and quickly followed after him.

Susan stood there, completely stunned by what she'd seen and heard. "This par for the course?"

"No." Ravyn looked every bit as baffled as she felt. "I think we may have witnessed an all-time first for the Daimons."

Susan expelled a long breath. "Damn. It's been one hell of a day and it's not even six thirty yet."

"Tell me about it."

Just grateful that they were both alive, she smiled at him and walked herself into his arms. Closing her eyes, she held him tight... until his earlier words repeated themselves in her head.

"You think you love me?"

"We're not going to go into this again, are we?"

"Yeah, we are. How heartless is that? Here I was thinking I meant something to you because you were willing to die for me and the next thing I know, you tell me that you don't even know whether or not you love me. That you'd rather kill yourself than stay alive and what? Be mated to me? Thanks a lot. You weren't making some declaration of loyalty. You're willing to die for any bimbo you meet. "

He scowled at her. "That's not true. If you were just some bimbo I wouldn't have tried to make it meaningful. "

"But you would have died for her anyway?"

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it!" As she opened her mouth to continue her argument, he captured her lips with his and kissed the daylights out of her.

Susan melted as his tongue teased hers. Her head spun as all her conflicting emotions settled down into just one...

The one that loved this man.

Ravyn licked her lips playfully before he pulled back to press his forehead to hers. "You feeling better yet?"

"I don't know. I think I need another kiss to be sure."

Laughing, he picked her up in his arms and kissed her again.

Yeah, that was doing it. She was definitely feeling better. At least until she realized something.

"How are we getting home?"

"Looks like you'll be driving." He glanced up the stairs to where Paul was. "We need to head out and call the police."

"Yeah, I don't want to be here anymore. I've seen enough death for a while."

He kissed her one last time before he stepped back and turned into a leopard.

Susan paused as she looked down and laughed. So this was her life now...

It was too bizarre even for her. "You know," she said quietly, "I've always wanted to pet a wild cat."

"Babe, you can pet me anytime you want. "

It was so strange to have his voice in her head. "You're not like Ash, where you can read my thoughts or anything, are you?"

"No."

Oh thank God. She didn't know why, but the idea of that really screwed with her head. Relieved, she bent down and sank her hand in his soft pelt. And then she sneezed, and sneezed again.

"Remind me. Benadryl. I think we may need to buy some stock in the company." Sniffing, she straightened up and headed for the door only to realize that the sun was still painful to Ravyn even in leopard form.

He actually stepped back with a hiss instead of going through the door.

Susan's heart ached as he pulled her coat off to wrap it around him.

"It won't help."

She gasped at the sound of Dorian or Phoenix's voice. Looking up, she found the twins in the living room, along with their father. Afraid of what they were going to do to Ravyn since he didn't have the protection of sanctuary here, she put herself between them. "What are you doing here?"

Gareth moved forward with that lethal predatorial lope that reminded her so much of Ravyn. Narrowing his gaze, he sniffed the air around her as if he caught a whiff of something he found puzzling.

Ravyn immediately flashed to human form. "Let her go. Your fight is with me, not her. "

Before Ravyn or she could move, Gareth grabbed her hand and turned it over to see the mating mark. His grip bit into her wrist. "Do you love him?"

"That's none of your business."

"Let her go," Ravyn growled.

Gareth didn't. Instead, he turned that cold gaze to Ravyn. "It would be so easy to kill you here and now." And then something odd flashed into his eyes. "In spite of what you think, I loved your mother more than my life. I wanted to bond with her, but she refused. Her worst fear was that we would die and leave all of you orphaned. I think about that at night. How angry she'd be to know what we did to you."

Susan looked to see the anguish in Ravyn's eyes.

Gareth turned his gaze to her. "You were right and I'm glad he has you." He let go of her wrist. "I don't expect you to forgive us. But now you need us to get you home in the daylight. "

Gareth held his hand out to Ravyn.