Sherrilyn Kenyon - Sins of The Night

He just wanted one more day with her.

No, that was a lie and he knew it. One day would never content him.

He wanted it all.

He took a deep breath and expelled it. If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride . It was a saying he'd learned from a Dark-Hunter three hundred or so years ago.

In every incarnation, he'd learned something new.

In this one, he'd learned how to love… no, that wasn't true. He'd finally learned how to live.

And tonight he would learn how to leave.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to follow Danger. And with every step he took, he reminded himself of the greater good.

That was what sustained Acheron. It was what had kept his boss going for thousands and thousands of years. It was what made the unbearable tolerable.

Closing his eyes, he summoned the numbing calm. Later, he would weep for what he had lost. But tonight, he would keep Danger safe and do his job.

May the gods show their mercy to Kyros and Stryker. The Alexion would not.

Danger paused outside the building where the Dark-Hunters were gathering. By the cars in the parking lot, the total cost of which would amount to the GNP for a small nation, she would say they were already here and yet…

"I don't feel my powers draining," she said to Alexion. "How can that be?"

"It's a trick. Somehow Stryker must be disguising it."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Maybe he knows some way to keep us from draining each other's powers."

The look on his face chilled her. "Trust me, Danger," Alexion said as he paused to look at her. "There is no way a group of Dark-Hunters are together without draining each other. Stryker would never be able to gain that ability. The only way for it to happen would be if Acheron were here himself. Since he's not… It's not possible. The gods would never allow it."

She wasn't so sure, but she trusted him. If anyone knew the truth, it was Alexion.

As they walked in the front door, she half expected someone to stop them. But there were no guards, no Squires…

Nothing.

Since it had been vacant for a number of years, the building wasn't the cleanest thing in the world. There were cobwebs and other things she didn't want to think about littering the floor. The air was stale with a rancid quality to it that left her breathing through her mouth in an effort not to pinch her nose closed.

She found it strange that there were working lights in the building.

But then Stryker was a god…

"Where's the light coming from upstairs?" she asked Alexion.

"I don't know. Maybe they have a generator hooked up, or again, Stryker is using his powers to light it."

They found the stairs in the back and started up. As they headed up, they could hear faint voices, but the words were unintelligible.

Danger tried not to breathe deeply as she wondered what lies Kyros and Stryker were telling the others.

How many of them would buy into it?

As they reached the door at the end of the upstairs hall where the others seemed to be gathered, she pulled Alexion to a stop to listen to what was going on inside before they entered. She was only now beginning to feel a pull on her powers, but it was still very mild.

"So how do we defeat Acheron?"

Danger winced as she recognized Squid's voice. That little rat-bastard. But she'd suspected as much. He'd been vehement in his hatred of Acheron.

She looked up to see a cold, determined look on Alexion's face.

"He is a Daimon," Stryker said. "You kill him as you would any of our people."

Kyros was the next to speak. His voice rang out. "Are you with us, brothers and sisters?"

She cringed as she heard the sound of unanimous agreement.

Alexion pulled her back. "I'll take it from here." He kissed her lightly on the lips before he turned, held his hand out, and blasted the steel door into oblivion.

Alexion strode confidently into the room, even though he knew Stryker probably had some means to kill him. Let the bastard try. If he did, then he was in for a fight.

It was time now to do his job.

There were twenty Dark-Hunters in the room—eighteen men and two women, along with several dozen Daimons. It was a good thing Dark-Hunter blood was poisonous to the Daimons, otherwise they would most likely be feasting by now on the fools who had gathered here to die like sheep being led blithely to the butcher.

But it was Kyros who held his attention. He stood before the group, his eyes burning with hatred.

Sighing, Alexion shook his head. "What fools these immortals be," he said. "To listen to a Daimon and fall victim to his lies."

"We fell victim to those centuries ago," Squid snarled. "There's not a one of us here who hasn't been used by Acheron."

Alexion pitied him. "I'm not here to argue with any of you anymore. I'm here to give you your last chance to save yourselves. Those of you who want to live to see another night, step to the right. Those of you who wish to believe in Stryker's bullshit and die tonight stay where you are."

"Don't be afraid of him," Stryker said. "What can one man do to all of you?"

Alexion gave him a wry grin. "If I'm so little a threat, Stryker, why haven't you killed me?"

He looked around at the gathered crowd of Dark-Hunters. "Don't throw your lives away so needlessly. All of you have survived too much to be so damned stupid."

He paused to stare at Kyros. "And you, adelfos , I carried you on my back when you were wounded. I gave you bread when it was the last bite I had to sustain me. Look me in the eyes now and tell me that you are willing to back a Daimon over me."

Kyros looked to Stryker, who began clapping sarcastically. "Great speech. Practice long?"

Alexion raised his hand and threw Stryker back against a wall. "Decide, Hunters. Now!"

The Daimons rushed at him, only to rebound off the wall he raised around himself. Still, they continued to attack as if seeking some way to break through his hold.

He watched as the Dark-Hunters exchanged nervous looks with each other. Then, to his relief, sixteen of them moved to the right.

The instant they did, he saw the confusion on their faces.

"What the hell?" Eleanore, one of the Dark-Huntresses, said. "I feel so weak suddenly."

No doubt the break in Stryker's hold allowed them to feel the fact that their powers had been significantly drained.

Kyros took one step, then paused as Stryker broke Alexion's hold and shot a blast at him. It pierced the force field and sent him flying backward.

Alexion hissed as pain cut through him. Stryker blasted him again and again. The pain was searing. He tried to push himself up only to find Danger by his side, helping him.

A bad premonition struck him hard. "Get the Dark-Hunters and get out of here," he said to her.

But before she could move, Stryker attacked her with the bolt as well.

Alexion turned on the demigod with a curse as he returned fire with fire.

"Spathis!" Stryker snapped to his men as he ducked Alexion's blast. "Kill the Dark-Hunters! All of them."

The Daimons attacked en masse. Danger drew the dagger from her boot as she ran to join the fray.

"Danger, stay back!" Alexion shouted as he blasted the Daimons away.

He tried to shatter them with his powers, but couldn't.

Stryker laughed at him. "They're stronger than you are, Alexion. We're not the wimpy little Daimons you normally fight. We are so much more."

Alexion's gaze narrowed on him before he called out, "Xirena, take human form."

The demon came off him and transformed.

Danger smiled at their ace in the hole. The Daimons would never be able to stand against Xirena.

"You traitorous bitch," Stryker snarled at the demon as he raked a disgusted sneer over her.