Stryker smiled snidely. "I thought you might be missing your soul, Alexion. Of course, I don't have your original one. However, after a little search I did find you a substitute." His pitying tone was belied by the gleam of satisfaction in his swirling silver eyes. "Poor thing. She's a bit whiny and you'll find her extremely weak and helpless. She'll probably last no more than a day or two before she dies completely."
Stryker held the dagger out to Alexion that he'd used to stab him originally. "You know the rules. You're the only one other than a Charonte who can end your life. So be the good guy you claim you are. Give up the ghost. If you don't kill yourself to save her soul, you'll have to stand by and listen to her die. Imagine the poor little human, gone forever from this world. Her soul forever lost. Surely you're not that callous, are you?"
Danger saw the horror she felt mirrored on Kyros's face. But it didn't last long before he recovered his stoicism.
How could they do such a thing to him? Alexion didn't deserve this. Damn both of them for it!
Rage clouded her sight an instant before she ran at Stryker. "Vous encule!"
He lashed out to hit her. Danger ducked the blow, then spun low to swipe his feet out from under him. She launched herself on top of him, pulling out her dagger as she went.
Just as she would have buried it in his chest, Kyros pulled her back.
She sank her fangs into Kyros's arm. He let go, cursing. Immediately, she went for Stryker who vanished.
"You coward!" she screamed. "Come back here and get the ass-kicking you deserve!"
But he didn't return.
The three of them were alone now.
She turned on Kyros with a snarl. "Why did you stop me?"
"You can't kill him, Danger. No Dark-Hunter can."
"Bullshit. If he bleeds, he can die."
"He doesn't bleed, Danger," Kyros said. "He's a god."
"And you're a complete and utter asshole." She shoved him back, wanting to tear him limb from limb, "Ias came here to save you and look what you've done to him. I hope you sleep well tonight, but then people like you always do."
His face turned to stone. "You don't know anything about me."
"You're right. I don't. All I know is what Ias has told me and he's been living under the delusion that you were some kind of hero and friend. God save me from such delusions."
Shaking from the force of her anger, she sheathed her dagger, then left him to see to Alexion. He was covered in sweat as he leaned against the wall.
Her heart ached for him and for the pain he must be in. His skin was pale and clammy. He looked so lost and hurt. So tortured. She'd never seen anyone in so much pain.
"C'mon, sweetie," she whispered. "I'll get you out of here."
To her amazement, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned his weight against her. Danger staggered ever so slightly. It was a good thing that as a Dark-Hunter she was stronger than the average male. Even so, he was heavy and solid.
Kyros said absolutely nothing as they left his house. Not that she expected him to. He'd chosen his side already and she hoped he lived to regret what he'd done to a man who had come here to save him.
"No offense," she said as she staggered down the steps with Alexion, "Your taste in friends rivals my own. Now you know why I don't have any that I trust at my back."
Alexion didn't speak as she helped him into her car. His head was filled with the sound of a woman screaming for help. For direction. It echoed through him violently, making him nauseated and dizzy. He could barely focus his eyes. If only the woman inside him would stop screaming for just a few minutes so that he could think straight again.
He'd never felt anything like this before.
No wonder Acheron got so many headaches. How did he manage to cope?
Alexion only had one voice to contend with. Acheron had millions.
"It'll be okay, Alexion."
He felt Danger's hand on his hot face. That she was helping him... It went through him like a bullet, shattering something deep inside. No one had ever helped him like this. Not even Acheron. Of course he had never been ill like this since he'd died.
As a man, he'd only had his wife to care for him, and she'd had no use for him whenever he was ill. Having taken care of her ill parents for years before their deaths, Liora had only sought to escape him whenever he needed her.
And though Kyros would render aid in battle, he wasn't tender with it which was probably a good thing.
Yet Danger didn't shy away. She was kind and soothing. And in this moment that meant everything to him.
Danger didn't know what to do to ease Alexion's pain. She raced back to Tupelo as fast as she could, trying to think of something, anything, that might help end this.
Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything other than finding Stryker and beating him senseless.
She pulled into her garage and quickly got out and ran to Alexion's side of the car. He looked even worse now than he had when they'd left Kyros's house.
She brushed the damp blond hair back from his forehead and wiped the sweat off his brow.
"C'mon, sweetie, we need to get you in the house."
He nodded before he pushed himself out of the car, then doubled over as if in severe pain.
She hissed in sympathetic pain for him. "I know you hurt, sweetie, but please don't hurl on my new Manolo Blahnik boots, okay? Give me a little warning first."
His groan turned into a pain-filled half-laugh that was very short-lived. He leaned against her heavily and together they made their way into her house. But it wasn't easy. He seemed unbalanced and kept staggering as they went.
They met Keller in the kitchen who was busy making what appeared to be a vat of chili. He looked at them with a stern frown. "What happened?"
"Long story," she said as she started for the hallway. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to stay home."
"Yeah, I know, but I just stopped by and there was this really hot woman watching QVC. I didn't know you had friends like that who weren't Dark-Hunters."
If it wasn't the middle of an emergency, she'd have corrected him.
"Why are you making chili?"
"Xirena was hungry. She wanted something spicy."
Alexion hissed as she accidentally bumped him into the wall. "Sorry," she said.
He didn't answer.
Keller followed them through the house, up to the guest room, where she laid Alexion down on the bed.
"He doesn't look good. He gonna puke or something?"
"I hope not." But she moved the small plastic trash can over to the bed just in case.
Keller was totally bemused. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's hearing a voice in his head."
"Is this like the one that I never listen to because it's usually telling me that getting naked with women I don't know is a bad thing?"
Danger snorted at him in disgust. "TMI, Keller. I don't want to know that much about your depraved private life."
He took her words in stride. "In that case, I have a hot babe waiting for me."
"Do yourself a favor, Keller," she called after him as he left, "and don't get too close to her."
He paused in the doorway. "Why?"
"She's not human."
"Yeah, well, neither are you and I'm around you all the time."
"No, Keller," she said, stressing the words, "she's seriously not human. Never was, never will be."
He frowned at that.
"Just keep her fed and happy," Alexion said from between clenched teeth, "and make sure you both keep your clothes on and that she doesn't leave the house."
Keller nodded, then left.
Danger turned back to Alexion who was squirming from pain. "Can I get you anything?"
"I need to be still and quiet."
She didn't think pointing out that he was being far from still would be good at this moment.
"Okay." Danger left the room to get a cold compress for him. When she returned, Alexion was still lying prone on the bed. It had been a long time since she'd ached like this for someone else. She hated the pain he was in and she wanted to kill Stryker and Kyros for it.
She touched his strong shoulder, feeling the muscles there, before she brushed the hair back from his face and placed the cloth to his forehead.
Alexion opened his eyes as soon as he felt the cold cloth on his brow. He'd never seen a more beautiful sight. She was exquisite.
Her dark eyes showed him more care and concern than he'd ever seen before and yet after tonight...
He dared not trust anyone. How many times in his life did he have to be betrayed before he learned his lesson? No wonder Acheron kept him away from people.
After all this time, he was still naive.
He had to be one of the worst judges of character ever born. When would he learn?
And yet a part of him that he dared not listen to wanted to trust Danger. She'd attacked on his behalf. She'd gotten him to safety. But then so had Kyros. Countless times when they'd been human. He'd even called tonight to warn him and still he had betrayed him.
No, Danger helped him now because they'd slept together. It didn't mean that she had feelings for him. Or that tomorrow wouldn't find her siding with his enemies. How many times in the past had he thought a Dark-Hunter was safe, and then at the last minute, he or she had chosen to fight against Acheron and die?
No one could be trusted.
And still the woman's voice in his head screamed for mercy and release.
"Shut to hell up!" he snarled both mentally and audibly.
Now she started crying a piercing wail that cut through his head like a machete. The agony of it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
How the hell did Daimons stand this?
Alexion groaned in pain as he balled himself up into a fetal position, trying to make it stop. He held the heel of his hand against his right eye and still his head throbbed from the woman's banshee cries.
Danger crawled into bed with him and held him close, rocking him gently. She brushed her hands through his hair, making his resistance to her falter. No woman had ever held him like this. Not even his mother.
It was the tenderest moment of his life. And the most painful.
Danger leaned her cheek against the top of Alexion's blond hair. It felt so good to be this close to a man she knew. The curves of his hard masculine back pressed against her breasts and thighs, reminding her of how different their bodies were. He was all sinewy steel. Prickly flesh. Rough skin. And she loved the feel of it. The feel of him.
She just wished she knew how to help him through this.
Leaning forward, Danger inhaled his warm scent while singing an old French lullaby that her mother used to sing to her whenever she was upset. How she wished she could silence the voice inside him. She brushed her hand against his cheek, letting his whiskers tease her palm.
There was something incredibly intimate about this moment even though they were both fully dressed.
"Danger?"
She mentally cursed Keller as he swung open the door to their room, but she didn't withdraw from Alexion. "Yes?"
"You got a call from Rafael and he says you have to answer it right now. He says it's urgent."
He would. Damn that man's timing. You would think a pirate would have a better sense of when to leave someone alone. At one time, his life had depended on such instincts.
"I'll be right there." She reluctantly pulled away from Alexion. "I won't be gone long," she said softly in his ear.
She wasn't sure if he heard her or not. Her heart heavy, she left him on the bed and went to take the call.
"All right," Alexion said after a few minutes, trying to talk to his newfound soul. What the hell? He didn't have anything to lose and staying here in the bed until she died didn't seem productive for either one of them. "If you want to be free, lady, you and I have to make a pact."
She continued to wail.
"Woman, listen to me," he snarled out loud. "I can't even function if you don't stop doing that. You're going to get us both killed unless you get control of yourself."
"I want to go home. Where am I? Why am I here? Who are you? Why is it so dark? I don't understand what happened to me. I need to go home now. Why can't I go home ... ?"
Her questions came at him in rapid succession. So many that he could barely focus on any one of them.
"If a Daimon can do this, I can too," he growled, forcing himself to sit up. The room swam around him.
He shook his head, trying to clear it. He had to take control of this situation. He had to.
"Who are you?" he asked the woman.
"Carol."
The wailing lessened a degree, as if she were trying to get hold of herself. "All right, Carol. Everything will be all right. I promise. But you have to calm down and be quiet for a little while."
"Who are you? Why are you telling me to be quiet? "
How did he answer that one? "It's a bad dream you're having. If you rest quietly for a while, it'll get better."
"I want to go home! "
"I know, but you have to trust me."
"Is it really a bad dream?"
"Yes."
"It will get better?"
"Yes."
To his relief, she settled down. Alexion took a deep breath as his vision cleared a degree. He could hear the soul rustling around inside him, but at least she was no longer crying or screaming.
Rubbing his eyes, he continued to breathe deeply, and hoped that Carol stayed calm for a while.
He got up slowly from the bed and shrugged his coat off. Stryker had given him only a few days to live or Carol's soul would die...
There was no choice. He would have to kill himself to free her. But he had a lot of work to do before then.
It was time he put all the foolishness with Danger behind him. He was here to do a job.
And thanks to Stryker, it would be the last thing he ever did.
After hanging up, Danger took a minute to check on Keller and Xirena, who seemed to be hitting it off famously. They were watching a movie and eating chili while Keller talked a mile a minute.
Apparently the demon didn't share Danger's need for silence while watching TV.
Satisfied the demon wasn't going to eat her Squire, Danger headed back to the guest room. She opened the door quietly, expecting to find Alexion still on the bed.
Her jaw went slack as she found him at the writing desk, making what appeared to be notes.
"You okay?" she asked, entering the room slowly.
He nodded as he continued to write.
Danger moved closer only to realize he was writing in Greek. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
She frowned at his curtness. There was something very different about him now. He was like he'd been the first night they'd met. Curt. Unfeeling. Distant.
Even the air around him was cold.
"Hey," she said, reaching out to stop his hand. It, too, was icy cold. "What happened?"
He looked at her, stone-faced. "I'm not here to make friends, Danger. I'm here to deliver an ultimatum. I need you to call together the Dark-Hunters on this list."
He handed her the top sheet of paper. "I can't read-" Before she could finish the words, the writing changed from Greek to English.
Whoa. That was impressive.
She saw that he was still jotting things down. "What's that over there?"
"My own personal list."
Her frown deepened, especially after she glanced over the names on her paper and found one in particular missing.
"Where's Kyros?"
Alexion didn't answer.
Danger grabbed his hand and waited until he looked at her. "What is going on with you?"
"I'm getting down to business. If Stryker was telling the truth, and in this I believe he was, I only have three days to get to the Dark-Hunters who are on the fence and convince them to side with Acheron."
"And Kyros?"
His eerie green eyes were dull and as cold as his skin. "I'm writing him off."
She shook her head in disbelief. "You can't do that. You were friends."
"Yes, we were friends. Now we're enemies."
She was aghast at his words. "How could you-"
"I don't have anyone in this world I can trust," he said harshly, cutting her deeply that she was included on the list after everything she had done for him. Dear Lord, she had even given him her trust and that was something she did for no man.
"I should never have tried to save him," Alexion said. "Artemis is right, compassion is for the weak."
"So that's it?" she asked, disgusted by his sudden turnaround. "You're going to give up on your best friend?"
"I'm not giving up. I'm dying. I have a soul inside me that will have to be freed in-"
Danger narrowed her eyes two seconds before she pulled the dagger out of her boot and plunged it straight into Alexion's heart.
He burst apart.