Sherrilyn Kenyon: Dream Chaser

"Why did you do that?"

"For the same reason you dance with Jesse. Dreams were the only place where I could have emotions. Whenever Satara joined me there, I felt like a man. And I thought I felt love for her. At the time, I was willing to do anything to make her happy."

"But you didn't love her?"

He sank his hand in her hair and spread it out aver his chest. He savored the cool, tickling sensation of it. "No. And she didn't love me, either, even though she said she did. She was using me and my powers so that she could attack people and torture them while they were helplessly asleep."

Simone's heart sank at what he described. "What?"

"That's the curse of the Skoti. If we visit one person too much, we can burn them out and either kill them or make them go insane. Satara was using my powers as a way to assassinate those she didn't like."

Xypher drew in a sharp breath as he remembered that fate fill day. Satara had been dressed in red, her blond hair flowing around her like an angel as she ran to him and threw herself into his arms.

"Xypher, help me, please . . ." Her eyes had sparkled with her tears.

He’d never seen her cry before.

"What's wrong?"

"Zeus and Hades are going to kill me. You can't let them."

"Kill you for what?"

"For the dreams you taught me. They . . . they said I was doing something wrong, but the people I killed deserved it. You believe that, don't you?"

"Of course."

She'd smiled at him then and he'd been lost. "Please don't let me die, Xypher. I love you. I'll always love you."

Gods, what a fool he'd been to believe her.

Simone swallowed as the knot in her stomach tightened. She knew what he'd done. "You summoned Jaden."

He nodded. "I gave him my soul if he would make the other gods believe I was the one who'd tortured the humans. Satara had promised me that once I was dead, she'd come to Tartarus and feed me seeds from the Destroyer's garden."

Simone frowned as she tried to understand. "Why eat seeds?"

"They would have killed me completely. Every facet of my being would have been wiped out of existence."

Simone gasped at the horror of what he described. "Why would you want that?"

He took her hand and rubbed it down the scars that marred his chest. "I didn't want to bleed for all eternity for something I didn't do. I was willing to die for her and I wanted her to make sure that I didn't continue to suffer.

Simone winced at the pain she felt for him. "She didn't carry out her part of the bargain."

"No. Instead she came and laughed at me for being so stupid." His eyes flared red. "There for a time, she'd even helped them to torture me. I would stare at her, wanting a part of her flesh so badly that I could taste it."

Simone covered her mouth with her hand as bile rose in her throat. "How could she do that?"

"She's a soulless bitch, and now you know why I can't go back to hell without taking her with me. I'm not the only man she's fucked over, but by the gods on Olympus I want to be the last."

Yeah, now she understood, but the understanding didn't change the fact that she didn't want him hurt. Or worse, dead.

"I would never betray you like that."

His gaze softened, but deep inside his eyes, she saw the doubt that tore at her.

How could she ever prove herself to a man who'd been so deeply behaved?

Simone laid her head against the worst of the scars on his chest and took his hand into hers. Somehow she was going to prove it to him. He wasn't going to be alone in this fight anymore.

"Satara deserves to pay for what she did." How could anyone, after having been given so much, turn on the very person who gave it? It was cruel beyond cruel.

"Believe me, she will. If I have to descend into hell and drag her out by her throat."

Simone shook her head at him. "There's the little ray of sunshine I know so well. Ever out to cheer people up."

"Well, it could be worse."

"How so?"

"I honestly don't know. But it's something humans say so I thought it would be appropriate."

Simone laughed until she saw the writing on his arm. "What is this?"

He covered the hand she held there. "It's a reminder I wrote of why I have to have Satara's blood. Why I can't give up my quest no matter the temptation."

Simone tightened her hand over the words. How sad that he had marked them there. And she wondered if there would ever be any way to erase them and replace them with something far kinder.

Stryker paused as he caught sight of his sister at his desk, writing. "What are you doing?"

She jumped, then pulled a book down over her paper. "Writing a letter."

"To whom?"

"It's personal." She got up and sauntered over to him. "I have good news for you. The gallu have found the Dimme."

Stryker lifted a single brow in interest, "Really?"

She nodded. "One Dimme could take out the Destroyer, yes?"

That was the theory. "We need her."

"No ..." Satara said with an evil smile, "you need her. But there's one small problem."

"Do you remember when Dionysus almost opened the portal to Kalosis and Apollymi sent her Charonte out to stop him?"

Of course he did. Apollymi had been livid that day. "They were sent to keep Acheron from dying, but yes, I remember. What of it?"

"The Charonte didn't all die. Apparently a large number of them survived and they're guarding our Dimme."

Stryker choked. "Charonte are guarding a Dimme? Is the world coming to an end and I missed the memo? How the hell did that happen?"

"I'm not sure. But if someone . . ."—she gave him a meaningful look—"will loan me some of his Spathi Daimons, I might be able to get my hands on the Dimme. Then we can use her to kill my Xypher problem and your Destroyer problem. What do you think?"

It sounded like a good idea, but also a risky one. While his Spathi were highly trained and excelled at killing, so were the Charonte. The last thing he wanted was to deplete his army. However, if he could kill Apollymi and claim her powers as his own, it would be worth losing a few dozen soldiers.

"Very well, sister. You'll have your pick of my soldiers. Just remember that if you fail in this, it's all on your head. I know nothing about your plan."

"Don't worry, Stryker. I'm not about to fail, and by tomorrow both of our problems will be solved."

Xypher came awake to die oddest sensation of his existence. A woman snuggled against him. He lay there on his side in silence, just feeling her against his spine. Her right arm was draped over his waist, while her thigh was nestled between his. Her cheek lay against his shoulder and her breath tickled his skin.

He closed his eyes, savoring every nuance of her against him. Was this what being human felt like? Did human males take this for granted?

How could they? To have someone trust you enough to lie unconscious against you while you did the same, and for both of you to awaken unharmed . . .

It was heaven.

No, Simone was heaven.

Why couldn't he have been born human? Born to this time and place so that he could stay with her. The fact that he couldn't was even more cruel than the torture he'd endured in Tartarus. He wanted to crawl inside her and stay there forever.

But it wasn't meant to be and all the dreaming in the world wouldn't change the fact that once this reprieve ended, he'd be right back in hell where memories of her would torture him forever.

How would he be able to stand it?

His heart heavy, he carefully rolled over so as not to hurt her. She whimpered in her sleep before she moved and smacked him in the nose with her elbow.

Ow! He rubbed die up of his nose and blinked back involuntary tears.

"You're going to pay for that," he whispered against her skin.