Upon the Midnight Clear (Dark-Hunter 12)

He looked at Leta and Deimos. "Now I know who I can depend on. I understand what real love is and what it means to put someone else above my own pettiness. I'm grateful to God that you're wretched and in trying to ruin me, all you did was make my life a hell of a lot better. Thank you."

He screamed and Aidan laughed.

The minute he did, Dolor looked up with a frown.

Donnie gestured toward the god. "Kill the bastard!"

Aidan braced himself for the fight, but didn't feel his anger rekindle. All he felt was pity for the brother who'd allowed his petty jealousy to ruin his entire life. More than that, Donnie's jealousy had caused him to kill the very people who loved him most.

His stomach wrenched at the thought of what Donnie had done to himself.

There was no more pain inside him now. No bitterness or hatred. Aidan felt nothing except gratitude that he wasn't Donnie. More than that, he was grateful that Leta had kept him from becoming his brother's shadow.

Dolor, who looked exactly like Donnie had when Aidan had left home to seek his fortune, stepped forward. Aidan wanted to weep over the fact that his nephew was dead. But there were no tears. Again, it was pity he felt for Donnie. For the first time since Donnie had turned on him, he didn't want revenge.

He was through with it.

"You're not fighting me," Dolor growled.

Aidan shook his head slowly. "I'll fight only for what matters." He looked over his shoulder at Leta. "Her safety."

Dolor's gaze followed his until it rested on Leta. Rage darkened his brow. He stepped forward, then froze.

Aidan frowned as he saw the god struggle, as if held in place by some invisible force. Dolor reached for him, then shattered into a shimmery dust that drifted down to the ground where it sparkled against the floor.

He looked around the room, expecting the god to rematerialize.

Dolor didn't.

Confused, Aidan turned to Leta. "What happened?"

"He's gone," Deimos said, brushing his hands against his pants. "You defeated him."

"How?"

Leta spoke in a quiet tone. " 'Pain is here,

" 'sharp and clear.

" 'Even so, it must fade,

"And a new way should he made'"She stepped forward. "That's what Lyssa was trying to tell us. You released the pain and betrayal inside you... the fear... and it left him powerless to fight you."

"No!" Donnie shouted, rushing at Aidan.

Aidan turned to face him, but before he could he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his shoulder. He flipped his brother over his arm, and pinned him to the ground. It was only then he saw the knife in Donnie's hand. With a feral grimace, Aidan disarmed him.

Fury gripped him, but it didn't stay. Donnie wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth anything.

Deimos picked the knife up from the floor. "You want me to kill him for you?"

Aidan shook his head. "I want him to live with the knowledge that he destroyed everything and everyone in his life who loved him." He caught Donnie's hand as he tried to hit him and held it in his fist.

Donnie tried to spit, but Aidan dodged it.

Aidan swallowed against the lump in his throat that choked him. Even after everything that had gone on between them, there was still a part of him that wanted to love Donnie... to forgive him.

But in the end, he couldn't. Donnie would never allow that and he knew it.

"You were my brother, Donnie. I would have died for you. Done anything in this world you asked. But the problem is, you weren't satisfied with that. You had to take. May God have mercy on you."

"I don't need your pity, you prick."

Those words squelched any mercy that was left inside him where his brother was concerned. There were people out there that no amount of compassion or love could save and it was time he faced the fact that Donnie was a lost cause. "And I don't need trash in my life." He glanced to Leta. "Any chance the cell phone will work?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I want to call the cops to come get this sack of shit out of my house."

"This isn't over!" Donnie snarled.

Aidan shook his head. "Oh, yes it is. You're going to leave here in a few minutes and I will never again think about you and what you've done. I really don't care about you. You're not worth the salt in my tears or the brain power it would take me to even conjure your face."

"I won't let you rest."

Aidan snorted. "Believe me, I will sleep well at night. I have the resources and the drive to fight you to the bitter end for what matters most-my life and"-he looked at Leta-"my heart... I'm through with you."

"You-"

Deimos ended his words with a swift kick to his head that rendered Donnie unconscious. "Anyone else getting bored with his crap?"

Leta raised her hand.

Aidan stood up. "Did you kill him?"

"Nah. Against my better judgment, he's breathing. Still say you should let me cut a few parts off his body."

"No. I want him intact so that the only thing he'll focus on is what he's done to himself. Sooner or later his lies will fade and he will see the truth. I'm not the one who hurt him. He is."

Deimos looked disappointed by the fact he couldn't kill Donnie. "Since this appears to be over, I'm going to head back and force Phobos to play another round with me. Later." He vanished.

Aidan let out an irritated breath at his abrupt departure. "I didn't have a chance to thank him."

"Don't worry about it. Demon hates thank-yous."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Like someone else I know, he gets uncomfortable whenever he's praised."

Aidan felt one corner of his mouth lift as he pulled her closer to him. "I think I'm getting over that."

"Are you?"