Alexion spent the entire day watching Danger sleep. He sat in the cream jacquard padded chair beside her bed, completely absorbed by the pale beauty of her. She was without flaw. Without guile. Without cruelty inside. She would never hurt someone she loved. Indeed, she'd died trying to save her family when it would have been easy enough for her to have turned her back on them and saved herself.
It was part of why he loved her so.
"I don't want to leave her." He whispered the heartfelt words knowing that in the end he had no choice. Damn him for not being able to control his emotions where she was concerned. All he had done was ruin his own future.
Why was that?
Why did such pain have to exist in this world? Love should be easy. It should be simple. A person should be allowed to find that one person they couldn't live without and just go on their merry way to happily-ever-after.
But it didn't work that way. He was living, or dead, proof of it. Liora had sworn she loved him and look how that had turned out. It was hard to trust another person not to hurt you. There was still a part of him, even now, that wondered if he could go free, would Danger drop the medallion to save herself?
Would her own personal pain be so great that she would help herself before him?
There was no way to know the answer. Especially not now.
He sighed. He knew from Acheron that it was useless to dwell on wants or what could have been. He had to deal with the present and that meant keeping Danger safe from whatever Stryker had planned.
He had Xirena with him now. Surely the two of them were capable of protecting one woman. Weren't they?
But when dealing with a crafty god bent on vengeance, it didn't pay to get cocky.
"C'mon, boss man," he said under his breath, "talk to me."
Alexion shook his head at the irony. In the past, he'd always hated it whenever Acheron had intruded into his thoughts or space. Now that he wanted him, the Atlantean was nowhere to be found.
It figured...
"Alexion?"
He got up and went to the bed where Danger was stirring. She stretched and yawned as she watched him. "Do you always rise so early?"
"Yes," he said, not wanting her to know that because he was more or less a ghost, he didn't need sleep. His rest wasn't quite the same as a human's.
She yawned again before offering him a smile. "So what's on the agenda for tonight?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Migraine, futility, possible death. Same as every night, I guess."
Danger laughed. "That sounds like my life, all right." She glanced toward the door. "So how's our demon doing?"
"I haven't been to the media room in about two hours, but last I checked, she was knee deep in Kirk's Folly orders. Good thing Acheron is loaded. Then again, the way these demons shop, I'm not even sure he has enough money to cover it."
Danger was amused by his words. It was so nice to wake up to see his handsome face smiling at her.
She took his hand in hers so that she could feel the masculine roughness of it. She didn't know what it was about the sensation of a man's skin that was so appealing, but there was no denying that she enjoyed how different it was from her own.
She breathed deeply against her fingers, delighting in the warm, pleasant scent of them. His hands were powerful and yet tender. Wonderful and delectable. Opening her lips, she gently nipped his forefinger.
He hissed in response. "You keep doing that, and I won't let you out of that bed."
"Then why don't you join me?" she said, pulling back the covers so that he could see her naked body. She'd never done anything so bold with a man before, not even her husband. But for some reason, she didn't mind sharing herself with Alexion.
Her sense of modesty had flown and she wasn't really sure why.
His eyes sparked green fire. "We have a job to do."
"And we have three more days to meet with the Dark-Hunters, who are going to insult and aggravate you." She ran her tongue over the pad of his thumb, then pulled back. "They're not going anywhere. Like you said, it's just an exercise in futility. I vote we take one night off and just enjoy it." She licked the back of his knuckles.
Pure pleasure darkened his gaze, but still he resisted her. "To what purpose?"
She sat up in the bed and wrapped her legs around his lean waist, pulling him closer to her. "You've changed since you've been here, Alexion. When you first arrived, you were so cold and distant. You're not like that now. You're warm and fun. I don't want to lose that. I don't want you to lose that."
Alexion swallowed. She was absolutely right. She had changed him.
Danger brushed the hair back from his face. "I want you to have memories of me that will help keep you warm after you leave."
Those memories would only hurt him more, and yet his heart was thrilled by the idea of it. He hadn't had a night of normality since he'd been human, and for some reason, being with this woman made him crave it viciously.
What would it be like?
"And what will we do?"
She gave him a seductive grin that made him harden while she trailed her hand down the front of his shirt. "Have you ever been to a real movie?"
He shook his head. Acheron and Simi went all the time, but the last time he'd been in the human realm, movies hadn't been invented yet.
"Then that's what we're going to do," she said in a tone that let him know she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Dinner and a movie... Just like everyday Jane and Jack."
Alexion shook his head. "I think you've lost your mind."
She was slowly unbuttoning his shirt as she talked to him. Every brush of her hand against his flesh sent chills over his body. "Perhaps, but do you know what Jack and Jane would do to start off their night?"
"I have no idea."
"They'd start it off with blindingly great sex."
Alexion hissed as she sank her hand down under his waistband to stroke his hard cock. His body was already throbbing and craving hers in the worst sort of way. Or maybe it was the best sort of way.
There was truly nothing better than her hands on his body. Nothing better than the feel of Danger.
Alexion laughed as that thought went through his mind.
"What are you laughing at?" Danger asked as she stopped her sweet torture.
"I just had a bad pun go through my mind."
"And that is?"
"That I live for Danger."
Danger's heart pounded at his corny words. They shouldn't please her and yet they did. Oh, yeah, there was really something wrong with her. She was head over heels for this man and sinking in deeper by the minute.
"How do you always know the right thing to say?" she asked him.
"I didn't know that I did."
"Take my word for it, you do."
He closed his eyes as she ran her fingertips over the tip of his shaft. She loved pleasing him. But as she watched the ecstasy on his face, it fired her desire even more.
Undoing his fly, she slid his pants down his legs, then pulled his lips to hers so that she could taste him.
Her tongue danced with his as she sank her hands into his thick, soft hair. His hard shaft rubbed against her bare stomach as she took her time exploring his mouth.
Delirious from that kiss, she pulled back ever so slightly. "I love the way you touch me," she breathed against his cheek. "I love the way you smell. The way you look... I need to feel you inside me, Alexion."
Alexion's entire being was on fire as he watched her recline naked on the bed. Her thighs were spread open in sweet invitation, allowing him to see the tenderest part of her body. He leaned over her to take her breast into his mouth so that he could tease the taut pink tip with his tongue. Her body was absolute heaven.
Closing his eyes to better savor her, he dipped his hand down to gently stroke her. He probed the tender flesh between her thighs, separating it so that he could feel just how wet and ready she was for him. It was the sweetest sensation he'd ever known.
He massaged her as she whispered encouragements to him in French. And when he sank his finger deep inside, she arched her back with a pleasurable cry.
Unable to stand it, he moved his hand so that he could enter her.
Danger moaned at the thick fullness of Alexion inside her. He took her hand into his and held it over her head as he thrust against her hips. He moved in and out, in the sweetest rhythm that pounded through her with absolute bliss. She met him stroke for stroke, aching in bittersweet pleasure.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as their passion took her far away from the present and all her fears about the future. It'd been so long since she'd felt like this with a man. There was a connection to him. A friendship.
More than that, there was love.
How she wished that she could keep it. But at least she had this moment to remember what it was that she'd lost. This one moment to pretend that they could stay together.
He moved faster, heightening her pleasure until she couldn't stand it any longer. Crying out, she felt her body splinter in ultimate ecstasy.
Alexion watched her face as she came for him. He loved the sight of her in the throes of climax. But more than that, he loved the way her body felt under his. She was so sweet, so tormenting.
She pulled him down to kiss him while he rode her even faster, seeking his own slice of heaven.
And when he came, he cried out her name. He leaned down over her as his body convulsed and throbbed, releasing itself deep inside her.
She ran her hands over his back, clutching him to her body. "So did I have a good thought about this, or what?"
He laughed at her question. "It was a great thought."
She wiggled her hips against his, letting him feel the wetness of their play. It was something he savored. They didn't just have sex with each other, they made love. And it had been far too long since he'd felt that.
Danger nipped his shoulder. "Anyone ever tell you that you are an incredible lay?"
He laughed. "Well, they never phrased it quite that way."
She hugged him close to her, then kissed his cheek. "You are the best, Alexion. I mean that."
"I'm only as good as my partner is."
She offered him a smile that made his stomach jerk. And the kiss she gave him for those words set his entire body back on fire. "You keep this up and I won't let you out of the bed tonight."
She nibbled his chin. "Would that be so bad?"
No, it would be heaven.
Alexion gently cupped her breast, delighting in the softness of the skin, before he pulled back. How he wished he could love her the way she deserved. But even if he were able to be human again, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to trust fate with her by his side.
He was so tired of regretting the past. So tired of knowing that for him there could never be normality.
"What's wrong?" she asked, smoothing his frown with her fingers.
"Nothing."
Danger pulled back. He wasn't being honest with her, she knew it. His mood had turned around completely. There was such a deep sadness in his eyes that it tore through her.
She watched as his eyes turned to a dark emerald again. It was weird how they changed color. "Do you control your eye color?"
He appeared surprised by her question. Maybe he didn't realize they did that. "Huh?"
"They change colors constantly," she explained. "Kind of like a mood ring. Whenever we're around other Dark-Hunters and on the night you arrived they were black. Now they're a vibrant green. Do you decide or do they do that on their own?"
He squeezed her hand lightly. "The black I control. The green does what it wants to."
"Ew!" she said, wrinkling her nose. "That's kind of gross."
He laughed. "Good thing I have a strong ego, huh?"
She kissed him on the top of his nose and squeezed him between her thighs. "Like cast iron. Now let me up so that we can get our date started."
Date. There was a word Alexion had never thought to hear in relation to himself. Moving back, he let her get up to go shower as he thought over the strangeness of all this.
He was going on a date? He'd seen such things in movies and read about them in books, but to actually be on one...
How completely odd.
None of this is real. Don't get any more involved with her. You'll regret it later. There were only three more days until he'd have to return.
And then he'd never see her again.
Danger popped her head back in the bedroom door. Alexion was still lying naked on her bed. She had to admit that he looked incredible like that. Michelangelo would have a field day painting that divine Greek body. It was absolutely perfect in proportion. She'd never seen anyone with a better set of abs or a nicer rump. And when it came to his pecs and shoulders...
She was already getting turned on again.
Except that he continued to look sad and forlorn. "Hey? Want to join me?"
He looked startled by her question. "Really?"
She laughed at his shock. "It's not like you haven't already seen me naked... a lot."
He smiled, then scooted off the bed to join her. Before she could move out of his way, he scooped her up and carried her to the shower.
She yelped as he turned on the water, which was freezing cold.
"Sorry," he said. The water turned warm so quickly that she knew he'd intervened with the temperature.
His thoughtfulness never ceased to amaze her. Don't, Danger. She couldn't afford to let herself fall for him more than she already had.
Then again, why not? If he was to be believed, and she certainly did believe him, she wouldn't recall him at all by week's end.
And that made her want to cry. How could she forget someone who meant so much to her? That thought alone was terrifying.
Just my luck. After all these centuries I finally find the one person I actually want to be around only to find out that it really is impossible.
La vie n'est pas juste. How many times had her mother told her that? And unfortunately, her mother was right. Life wasn't fair. It was cruel and sad, but at times it was fun and miraculous.
And tonight it would be miraculous. She refused to let herself or anyone else ruin it. She might not remember him, but he would remember her and she didn't want his memories to be of a sullen-faced crybaby. He deserved one perfect night.
Everyone did.
Alexion picked up the cloth and soaped it before he turned to Danger. Her eyes were closed, her arms raised, as she parted her hair to let the water saturate it. To his amazement, he felt himself starting to harden again as he watched her. What was it about this woman that left him so hard and needful all the time?
She opened her eyes and pinned him with a tender gaze that left him breathless and aching. He kissed her before he started bathing her.
Danger sighed at the sensation of Alexion's hands on her body, soaping her skin.
"There has to be some way around this." She hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud until he straightened.
"There isn't, Danger. When I leave, it's over."
She wanted to curse in frustration. "I can't believe that we can't make it work. Surely there's some way we can fix this."
"I'm not real. I'm not even human anymore."
He kept saying that, but everything about him refuted those words. How could someone let go of the best thing they'd ever found simply because... Well, there was a lot of "becauses" in this relationship. Still, love could conquer all, right?
But she knew better. Love couldn't conquer death. Ever.
Sighing, she didn't say anything else as they bathed and dressed.
After they were ready, Alexion opened the door to the hallway to find Xirena there.
Standing in the hallway, she had her head cocked as she gave him a look reminiscent of a hawk sighting prey, "I have been thinking much this last day. I know you care for my sister and I want to stay with her. But I don't want to bond myself to the cursed god for it. His mother is unkind and vicious, and no matter what you say, I don't trust her son to be any better. But if I don't bond, the bitchtress can reclaim me and make me go back to Kalosis and serve her. My brother has left there and gone I know not where, and my sister was sent away countless centuries ago."
Her eyes were troubled and sad, and they showed the full depth of her heart. "I only want to be with my family, Alexion. Will you let me bond to you so that Xirena can't be forced back to Kalosis?"
Alexion exchanged a shocked look with Danger as Xirena's words rang in his head. That was one hell of a request she was making.
To bond with a demon was irreversible. At least as far as he knew. Xirena would become a part of him in much the same way that Simi was part of Acheron. She would live on his body and be his to command.
Could he even do that?
"I'm not human or a god," he said to her. "I don't really even have a body for you to bond to."
"We bond to the ousia. Not the flesh."
He looked back at Danger. If he took Xirena up on her offer, he would have one more entity who could guard her at all times. No matter when or where Stryker attacked, Xirena would be with him.
But he couldn't take advantage of the demon for his own peace of mind. That would be selfish and cruel, and there was no way he would ever be like that to another living being. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Xirena nodded. "I have to. Please don't make me go back there. The bitchtress will kill me and I only want to stay with my sister. Please."
"Will Ash be mad?" Danger asked.
Xirena hissed like a cat. "I don't care what the cursed god says. He doesn't control me."
Truthfully, Alexion didn't know how Acheron would react, but he couldn't imagine him getting angry over this, especially not if it made Simi happy.
In a weird way, it made total sense. The last thing he wanted was to see Xirena pulled back into Kalosis where she might be punished for helping him. He didn't know much about Acheron's mother, other than the fact that she wasn't known for her understanding or compassion. Alexion had already had Simi for nine thousand years-at least this one was an adult.
"I guess it's okay," he said.
Danger gaped. He was bonding with a demon? She didn't know what that was, but it didn't sound good. "Are you two getting married?"
He laughed. "No."
Still not sure, she watched as Xirena's body became a bizarre shadow that shrank in size until it was no larger than half a foot. She took on the shape of a dragon.
Alexion lifted his shirt and she laid herself across his ribs to form a brightly colored tattoo there.
Completely stunned, Danger reached out to touch the demon tattoo. "Does that hurt?"
"Burns a little," he said as he looked down at the demon on his skin.
"What did she do?"
"I'm not exactly sure how they do it, but she's now a part of me. She can feel my emotions. If she senses I'm in danger, she'll manifest back into her demon form and protect me."
Wow, mat was impressive... and scary. "Can she hear us?"
"No," he assured her. "I can hear her thoughts, though, and if I allow her to, she can hear mine."
"That's just so weird."
"I know. Apparently, the ancient Atlantean gods used to pick one demon they favored above all others to become their companions."
"So Simi is Ash's?"
"Yes."
Her face lightened as if she finally understood something. "So that's why Ash's tattoo changes shapes and positions? It's not really a tattoo. It's his demon."
He nodded.
"Well, that's just a total freak. So what happens if one of you dies? Does it kill the other?"
He felt the color drain from his face. "Now there's something I never thought about. Let's hope we never find out."
"Yeah, it could seriously stink, huh?"
Before Alexion could answer, Xirena started crawling up his chest, toward his shoulder. He jumped as her path burned him and caused him to shiver. "Xirena, stop moving!"
"Sorry, akri."
"Don't call me akri, Xirena. I'm not a control freak."
"You are good, quality people, Alexion. Xirena will sleep now."
"You two talking?" Danger asked.
"For only a second. She's going to sleep for a while." He rubbed his chest where Xirena now rested as a permanent part of his being. "Now I understand why Acheron jumps every now and again for no reason. Simi must be twitching on him."
Danger laughed. "I hope you don't start doing that. People around here might think you're having a seizure. Next thing you know, they'll be throwing you down on the ground and putting a stick in your mouth."
"Really?"
She laughed again. "No. C'mon, gullible. Let's go eat."
"So why aren't you eating this time?" Danger asked as they sat in a small family-owned Italian restaurant down the street from her house, looking over the menu.
"I told you, I can't taste anything."
She gave him a piercing glare. "C'mon, Alexion, don't lie to me. With the exception of the popcorn, you haven't eaten anything since you've been here, have you?"
He looked away from her.
Danger reached across the table and took his hand. She wanted an answer to this. "Please tell me the truth."
Alexion considered the ramifications of being honest with her. But then she wouldn't remember it, so why not? She already knew more than she should.
But what if it disgusted her?
Then again, that might be beneficial. She might find the truth so repellent that she'd leave him to do this alone, and not be in danger anymore.
He didn't know, but in the end, he found himself confiding in her. "Have you ever studied Greek myth at all?"
"A little."
Good, that would make this a little easier on him. "Do you remember when the heroes would travel to the Underworld what they had to do to be able to speak with Shades?"
She thought it over for a few minutes before she answered. "They made a blood sacrifice."
He braced himself mentally for her possible reaction. "And what did the Shade do with their sacrifice?"
Her face went pale as she realized the truth of him. "It drank the blood so that it could speak."
He nodded.
Danger sat there horrified at what he was telling her. "You live on blood?"
Again he nodded.
She went completely cold at the next thought that entered her mind. There was only one person he could feed from. Only one person he was ever around. "You drink Ash's blood?" .
"Yes."
"Ew!" she said, scooting her chair back. She had a horrible image in her head of the two of them feeding each other. "So you suck on Ash's neck?"
"Hell, no!" he said in an offended tone. "A, never in a million years-I'd rather be dead and tortured, and B, you go near that man's neck and you better have a will made out. He can't stand for anything to touch his neck."
"Then how do you feed?"
"He literally opens a vein, drains his blood into a cup, and gives it to me to drink. I know it's disgusting. I know you're horrified. But if I don't feed, I return to what I was and I don't know if it's true or not, but Artemis claims that if I return to a Shade, there's no way to bring me back again."
She thought about that until she remembered something he had told her yesterday. "But you said you were different from the other Shades. Do they drink blood too?"
"No. Acheron brings them back another way."
"And that would be?"
"I don't know. Acheron never shared that secret with me, probably because he knows I'd want to kill him for the injustice of it."
She couldn't blame Alexion there. Ash really had screwed him up. "So how did he learn this other way?"
He sighed. "About three hundred years after he brought me back, he met a..."-he hesitated as if searching for the right word-"teacher who taught him how to use his god powers. Savitar is the one who showed Acheron how to bring back the dead without using blood for it. But it was too late for me. Because I live off his blood, he and I are bonded much like two classic Hollywood vampires."
Now they were back to being gross again. "So he has to feed from you too?"
"No. Well, actually I guess, in theory, he could. But I think he'd rather die than feed from a man."
Oh, yeah, like the alternative was any better. "So he feeds off women? Stryker was right, he is a Daimon."
"Calm down," Alexion said, taking her hand in his. "He's not a Daimon or an Apollite. And he doesn't prey on people. He only feeds from one person and she's not human either."
And in that instant she understood who. "Artemis."
He nodded.
Everything made sense now. No wonder Acheron put up with all of them. He really had no choice. "So neither one of you can eat?"
"We can eat. We just don't have to. I don't eat out of habit. Since I can't taste food, it's rather futile."
"Then why are we here?"
"Because you do need food to fuel your body, and I want you to live a long and happy immortality."
"You summoned me, akri?"
Stryker turned away from his window, which looked out onto the city in Kalosis where daylight never shone. The lights there sparkled like diamonds in the darkness, while his people lived in fear of the gods who had cursed them and the one god who had saved them.
Being one of the first who was cursed, he, unlike the majority of the others here, knew what it had once felt like to have sun on his skin. He remembered the time when he'd loved his father, Apollo, when he would have given his life for him.
And then in a fit of anger over a Greek whore, his father had cursed the entire race he'd created. Every Apollite adult, every Apollite child... even Apollo's own son and grandchildren had been cursed so that they could never walk in daylight again.
Stryker's wife, who had been Greek, had been spared the curse. But his sons and daughter hadn't.
Strange how after eleven thousand years he couldn't remember what Dyana had sounded like, but he still recalled his daughter's precious face. She'd been lovely until the day she had died on her twenty-seventh birthday, cursing her grandfather's name as she disintegrated into dust. To his eternal pain, she had refused to turn Daimon and be saved.
His sons hadn't. They had followed in his footsteps and had sworn allegiance to Apollymi, the Atlantean god who had shown them how to feed on human souls so that they didn't have to die. For centuries his family had been virtually intact.
Until his aunt Artemis had created her damned Dark-Hunters.
One by one, his sons, her blood nephews, had been destroyed by the Dark-Hunters she sanctioned.
Except for Urian...
The pain of that thought was enough to drive him insane. He wanted his son back with a need and grief so strong that it was crippling.
Now it was just him. He, alone, was left. So much for his dreams of eternity spent with his family.
But life seldom turned out the way one planned.
"Akri?" Trates said again, drawing Stryker's attention back to his second-in-command.
Stryker focused his gaze on the tall Daimon. "I want you to gather together the Illuminati." They were the strongest and bravest of the warrior Spathi Daimons. "Tell them they are going to have a treat."
Trates looked confused by that. "A treat?"
He nodded. "If I know the Alexion, and I do, he will pull all the Dark-Hunters together to deliver his ultimatum before he dies. I think we should have a little surprise waiting for him when he does."
"But if all the Dark-Hunters are together... they'll kill us."
Stryker laughed evilly as he patted Trates on the shoulder. The poor fool was not half the strategist Urian had been. "You forget, Trates, that when they are together, the Dark-Hunters weaken each other. In that form, they will be easy pickings for us."
Still Trates didn't join his humor. "What if the Alexion doesn't kill himself? He has the power to kill us even without Artemis's servants."
Stryker clenched the hand on Trates's shoulder, digging his fingers into the Daimon's flesh.
Trates pulled away with a hiss.
"Don't you think I've thought of that?" he asked Trates, who stood rubbing his bruised shoulder. "The Alexion has one major weakness."
"And that is?"
"The Dark-Huntress he travels with. She is our key to destroying him."
He looked horrified. "She's a Dark-Hunter, she'll kick our ass."
"I don't think so."
"And why is that?"
Stryker went to his desk where a black wooden box sat. He opened the box and pulled out the deep red stone medallion, then cradled it in his palm. "Because I have something I think she'll want returned to her."
The Daimon's eyes widened at the sight of what should never have fallen into Stryker's hands. "How did you get her soul?"
"I have my ways." Stryker laughed again. "If she interferes or if the Alexion refuses to do the right thing, then they can both suffer eternal torment."