Sherrilyn Kenyon: Seize The Night

"See? You are a flibbertigibbet. If not for us taking care of you, you'd be one of those homeless people you feed every night and you know it. It's why you feed them."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, right. How many jobs did you have until Irena left you the store? She didn't want to retire, by the way. Dad paid her to because it was the only job you ever held on to for more than a few days."

"You bitch!" Tabitha lunged for her sister, only to have Valerius intercept her.

"Tabitha, calm down," he said, holding her back.

"No! I'm tired of being treated like the village idiot by those who claim they love me."

"We wouldn't treat you that way if you didn't act it. My God, Tabitha look at yourself. Look at why Eric left you. I love you, I really do, but you have done nothing but cause strife all your life."

"Don't you dare speak to her that way," Valerius snarled as he moved away from Tabitha to confront Amanda. "I don't give a damn who you are, I'll throw you out. No one talks to her like that. No one. There is nothing wrong with Tabitha. She's nothing but kindness to anyone. If you can't see all her good qualities, then there's something seriously wrong with you."

A smile instantly broke across Amanda's face. "And that really was what I needed to know."

"You were playing with me?" Tabitha snapped.

"No," Amanda said sternly. "This is no playing matter. But before I go make my husband absolutely miserable, I have to know that you two are serious and that Valerius isn't just another one of your 'let me make my family crazy' fixations."

Tabitha glared at her as her volatile emotions swirled. "There are times, Mandy, when I think I hate you."

"I know. Bring him by the house tonight and we'll try this again."

"I can't believe you're doing this for us," Valerius said.

Amanda took a deep breath. "No offense, I'm not. I'm doing this for Kyrian. Ash told me something and I'm here to make sure it happens."

And with that, she turned and headed for the door.

"Mandy?" Tabitha called, stopping her before she left. "Do we have a truce?"

"No. We have a volatile, homicidal family. But at least it won't be boring. I'll see you tonight."

Tabitha watched as her sister left. Deep in the pit of her stomach, a strong sense of foreboding settled. It was bleak and harsh. Frightening and cold.

It was almost as if she knew instinctively that tonight one of them would die.

Dressed all in black lace, Apollymi sat looking to the uninitiated like a beautiful, ethereal blonde angel on her settee. She stared out of the open grand French doors onto her garden, where only black flowers grew in memory of her one true son who had been brutally taken from her.

Even after all these centuries, her mother's heart ached with the loss of him. With the feral, unending need she had to hold her child to her. To feel his warm touch.

What good was it to be a god when she couldn't have the only wish that had ever burned inside her?

This day was the most painful of all days. For this was the very day when she had given birth to her beautiful, perfect son.

And this had been the day they had taken him from her forever.

Tears glittered in her eyes as she lifted the small black pillow from her lap to her face and inhaled the spicy scent of it. Her son's scent. Closing her eyes, she summoned an image of his precious, most beloved face in her mind. Heard the sound of his commanding voice.

"I need you back, Apostolos." But her whisper went unheard and she knew it.

"He is here, Benevolent One."

Apollymi paused as she heard Sabine's voice from behind her. Sabine was her most trusted Charonte servant, since Xedrix had vanished on the night the Greek god Dionysus and the Celtic god Camulus had sought to free her from her prison in Kalosis.

Apollymi returned the pillow to her lap as she dismissed the orange-fleshed, winged demon.

"You summoned me, Mother?" Stryker asked as he came toward her.

She forced herself not to betray the fact that she knew he had turned on her. He thought himself clever.

It was enough to make her laugh.

No one could ever defeat the Destroyer. It was why she was imprisoned. She could be contained, but never annihilated. It was a lesson Stryker would learn one day all too soon.

But not today. Today, she still needed him.

"It is time, m'gios" The Atlantean term for "my son" was bitter as always on her tongue. He was a very poor substitute for the male child she had birthed. "Tonight will be the perfect time to strike. It is a full moon in New Orleans and the Dark-Hunters will be distracted."

And she wanted that human child! It was time to put an end to her captivity once and for all.

Marissa Hunter was a mild sacrifice she needed to return her son to his real, living state. And by all the power of Atlantis, she would restore her son.

No other life, not even her own, was worth one tiny part of his.

Stryker inclined his head. "Indeed, Mother. I've already set loose my Daimons to wreak carnage. Desiderius will return with the child at midnight and when they leave tonight, there won't be a single Dark-Hunter left breathing."

"Good. I don't care how many Spathi die or anyone else. I must have that child!"

She felt Stryker starting to leave.

"Strykerius?" she called.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Serve me well and you will be rewarded beyond measure. Betray me and there is nothing that can save you from my wrath."

Stryker narrowed his eyes on the goddess, who refused to even look at him. "I would never dream of betraying you, Mother," he said, masking the rancor of his tone.

No, he wasn't going to betray her tonight.

He was going to kill her.

After leaving her temple, Stryker summoned his Illu-minati together before he opened the bolt-hole that would take his men to New Orleans. There they would do his will while he stayed safely tucked away from the Destroyer's notice. It was time he stopped the age-old conflict between human and Apollite.

A new era was dawning, and mankind.

It was time they learned their inferior place.

As for Acheron, now that he knew what the man really was, he knew how to neutralize him.

After all, not even the great Acheron could be in two places at once, nor could he stand against the assault that was about to begin.

Desiderius paused outside of a small voodoo shop. It was quaint and charming, and to most tourists, it looked like all the others.

The only thing that separated this store from all the rest that occupied designated areas of the French Quarter was the fact that here he sensed real power.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled the rich, musty scent of it. As a Daimon, he'd need her soul to live, but since he was in the body of a Dark-Hunter.

Killing humans was done for simple pleasure now, not for sustenance.

He smiled to himself as he stepped inside to find his target. It only took a second to locate her behind the counter, where she was waiting on a tourist who was buying a love potion.

"Hi, Ulric!" his victim said excitedly as the customer walked out of the store and left them alone.

Ah, good, she knew the Dark-Hunter. It would make killing her all the easier.

"Hi," he said, stepping up to the counter. "How are you tonight?"

"I was just about to close. I'm really glad you came by. After everything that's been happening around here, well. it's good to see a friendly face."

Desiderius's gaze went past her shoulder to a small snapshot hanging on a calendar that advertised scented candles. It was of nine women, two of whom he knew instantly.

His gaze darkened.

"How are Tabitha and Amanda?" he asked.

"They're doing okay. All things considered. Mandy's afraid to leave the house and Tabby. you've probably met her on the street."