DH 05 Kiss Of The Night (12 page)

The only reason they were tolerant of being cal ed Were-Hunters was the fact that they did in fact hunt and kil the Arcadians, who were humans capable of taking animal form. Not to mention the fact that the male of their species often hunted human females for sexual purposes. Apparently, sex was much more enjoyable to them in human form than in animal, and the males had voracious appetites in that department.

Unfortunately for Wulf, the female Were-Hunters who could remember him never looked outside their species for partners. Unlike the men, the females had sex in hopes of finding mates. The men were simply after the pleasure of it.

“What are you going to do to him?” Wulf asked as Dante’s bouncer dragged the Arcadian away.

“What’s it to you, Dark-Hunter? I don’t screw with your business, you don’t screw with mine.” Wulf debated what to do, but then if the other man real y was an Arcadian spy, most likely he could handle the situation on his own and wouldn’t relish the thought of help, especial y from a Dark-Hunter. The Weres were extremely independent and hated for anyone or anything to interfere with them.

So Wulf changed the subject. “Any Daimons in the club?” he asked Dante.

Dante shook his head. “But Corbin’s inside. She came in about an hour ago. Said it was slow tonight. Too cold for the Daimons on the street.”

Wulf nodded at the mention of the Dark-Huntress who was also assigned to the area. He wouldn’t be able to stay long then, not unless Corbin was ready to leave.

Going inside, he went to say hi to her.

There was no band on stage tonight. Instead a DJ played loud, operatic music he vaguely remembered Chris cal ing Goth Metal.

The club was dark with bright strobe lights flashing. It played havoc with his Dark-Hunter sight, an attempt on Dante’s part to keep Dark-Hunter interference at a minimum while they were in the club. Wulf pul ed out his sunglasses and put them on to help al eviate some of the pain it caused him.

People danced on the floor, oblivious to everything around them.

“Greetings.”

He jumped at the sound of Corbin’s voice in his ear. The woman had the power of bending time and teleportation. She lived to surprise people by sneaking up on them.

He turned to see the extremely attractive redhead behind him. Tal , lithe, and deadly, Corbin had been a Greek queen in her human lifetime. She stil had that regal bearing and a look of such haughty supremacy that it could make anyone feel like they should wash their hands before they touched her.

She’d died trying to save her country from invasion by some barbarian tribe who were no doubt the forerunners to his own people.

“Hi, Binny,” he said, cal ing her by a nickname she only al owed a chosen few to use.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You okay? You look tired.”

“I’m fine.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I ought to send Sara over to replace Chris for a few days and take care of you.” He covered her hand with his, warmed by her concern.

Sara Addams was her Squire. “That’s al I need. A Squire who can’t remember she’s supposed to serve me.”

“Oh, yeah,” Corbin said, wrinkling her nose. “I forgot that one drawback.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not Chris. I just haven’t been able to sleep wel .”

“Sorry to hear that.”

Wulf noticed several of the Weres were staring at them. “I think we’re making them nervous.” She laughed as she looked around the club. “Maybe. But my money says that they sense what I do.”

“Which is?”

“Something is going to happen here tonight. It’s why I came in. Don’t you feel it too?”

“I don’t have that power.”

“Be grateful then, it’s a bitch.” Corbin stepped away from him. “But since you’re here, I’l step out for a breath of fresh air and leave the club to you. I don’t want my powers drained.”

“Later, then.”

She nodded and in a flash vanished. He only hoped no human had seen her do that.

Wulf walked through the club feeling odd, detached. He didn’t know why he was here. It was so stupid.

He might as wel leave too.

Turning around, he froze…

Cassandra had felt so weird being in the Inferno tonight. Her mind kept flashing back to the night before.

Even Kat was sensing her discomfort.

There were two warring voices in her head. One tel ing her to leave immediately and one tel ing her to stay.

She was beginning to fear that she might be schizophrenic or something.

Michel e and Tom came up to them. “Hey, guys, I hate to bang out on you, but Tom and I are going someplace quiet to talk, okay?”

Cassandra smiled at them. “Sure. You two have fun.”

As soon as they left, she looked at Kat. “No need in us staying, huh?”

“Are you sure you want to leave?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Cassandra got up from her chair and grabbed her purse. Shrugging on her coat, she wasn’t paying attention to anything until she walked into someone who was standing as stil as a wal .

“Oh, I’m sor—” Her words broke off as she looked up a good four inches into the face that had haunted her dreams.

It was him!

She biblical y knew every inch of that solid, gorgeous male body.

“Wulf?”

Wulf was stunned beyond comprehension as he heard his name on her lips. “You know me?” A becoming blush stained her face and it was then he knew…

Those hadn’t been dreams.

She started away from him.

“Cassandra, wait.”

Cassandra froze as she heard her name on his lips.

He knew her name…

Run
! It sounded like her mother’s voice in her head, but the order was drowned out by the part of her that didn’t want to run away from him.

He reached his hand out toward her.

Cassandra couldn’t breathe as she stared at it, wanting his touch. His
real
touch.

Before she could stop herself, she reached out to him.

Just as she was about to touch him, a shimmer over his shoulder caught her eye.

She looked past him to see a strange mirrorlike image appear on the dance floor. Out of its midst stepped a man who was evil incarnate.

Standing at least six feet eight, he was dressed al in black with short ebony hair that framed the face of perfection. He was every bit as handsome as Wulf. And like Wulf, he wore a pair of dark sunglasses. The only color on him was a bright yel ow sun with a black dragon in its center that was painted on the front of his motorcycle jacket.

In spite of his black hair, he was a Daimon. She knew it with every Apol ite instinct she possessed. What’s more, he was fol owed through the opening by more Daimons. Al of whom were blond and dressed in black.

They oozed an unnatural attraction and virility. Most of al , they oozed deadly precision.

They weren’t here to feed. They were here to kil .

She stepped back with a gasp.

Wulf turned to look at what had startled Cassandra. He felt his jaw go slack as he watched the Daimons coming through a bolt-hole in the center of the club.

Dante came running from the front in human form that shifted to panther as he ran. Before he could get near them, the Daimon with black hair shot a god-bolt straight at him.

The Katagari hit the ground with a yelp as the electrical y charged bolt shifted him from panther to human and back again.

The bar went wild.

“Mind-shield the humans!” the DJ shouted over the intercom, alerting the Katagaria who were present that the humans needed to be gathered and their memories of the night reorganized and/or purged, just as they routinely did anytime something “strange” happened in their club.

Most of al , the humans needed to be protected.

The Daimons fanned out, circling the club and attacking any Katagari who came near them.

Wulf rushed through the crowd to attack.

He caught the Daimon with a blond ponytail and swung him around. The Daimon jumped back out of his reach. “This isn’t your fight, Dark-Hunter.”

Wulf pul ed two of his long daggers out from his boots. “I think it is.” He attacked, but to his amazement, the Daimon moved like lightning. Every move Wulf made to attack was countered and returned.

Holy shit. He’d never in his life seen Daimons move like this.

“What are you?” Wulf asked.

The blond Daimon laughed. “We’re Spathis, Dark-Hunter. We are the only thing that is truly deadly in the dark of night. While you…” He raked a repugnant look over Wulf’s body. “You’re just a pretender.” The Daimon caught him by the neck and threw him to the ground. Wulf hit the deck hard. His breath left his body with a vicious
woof
as his knives flew out of his grasp.

The Daimon jumped on top of him, slugging him as if he were a helpless babe.

Wulf knocked him off, but it was hard. There were fights al over the room as the Were-Hunters engaged the Daimons.

Worried about Cassandra, he looked to see her hiding with a blond woman in a far corner.

He had to get her out of here.

The Daimon he was fighting looked to where Wulf had glanced. “Father,” he cal ed out. “The heiress.” He pointed straight at Cassandra.

Wulf took advantage of the distraction to kick the Daimon back.

As one cohesive unit, the Spathis disengaged their opponents and jumped from their locations to where Cassandra and the blond woman were hiding.

They literal y dropped out of the sky and landed in formation.

Wulf ran for them, but before he could reach the women, the blonde with Cassandra came out of her crouch.

The Daimon leader froze instantly.

The blonde held her arms straight out as if to bar the Daimons from Cassandra. Suddenly, a wind of unknown origin whipped through the club.

The Daimons froze.

Another shimmery doorway opened on the dance floor.

“It’s the
laminas
,” the Daimon who had been fighting Wulf said, sneering. He turned toward the blond woman and glared.

Their faces angry, the Spathis disengaged the formation and walked one by one back through it.

Except for the leader.

His gaze unwavering, he glared at the blond woman. “This isn’t over,” he snarled.

She didn’t move or flinch. It was as if the woman were made of stone. Or comatose.

The Daimon leader turned around, and walked slowly through the portal. It vanished the instant he was through it.

“Kat?” Cassandra asked as she rose to her feet.

The blond woman staggered back. “Oh, God, I thought I was dead,” Kat breathed, her body trembling. “Did you see them?”

Cassandra nodded as Wulf joined them.

“What were they?” Kat asked.

“Spathi Daimons,” Cassandra breathed. She stared in disbelief at her companion. “What did you do to them?”

“Nothing,” Kat said, her face innocent. “I just stood here. You saw me. Why did they leave?” Wulf looked at Kat suspiciously. There was no reason for them to leave. They had been winning the fight.

For the first time in his life, he had actual y felt a momentary doubt in his ability to defeat them.

Corbin came up to them. “Did you get any of them?”

Wulf shook his head, wondering when Corbin had returned. He hadn’t even noticed the drain on his powers but then, given the way the Spathis were kicking his ass, it was no wonder.

Corbin rubbed her shoulder as if she’d been injured in the fighting. “Neither did I.” The impact of that statement wasn’t lost on either of them.

The two of them turned to Cassandra.

“They were after you?” Wulf asked.

Cassandra looked extremely uncomfortable.

“You see to Dante and his crew,” Wulf told Corbin. “I’l handle this one.” Corbin headed off while Wulf turned back to the women. “How can you remember me?” But then the answer was so obvious that he already knew. “You’re Apol ite, aren’t you?” She damn sure wasn’t a Were-Hunter. They had an unmistakable aura to them.

Cassandra dropped her gaze to the floor as she whispered, “Half.” He cursed. It figured. “So you’re the Apol ite heiress they have to kil to lift their curse?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you’ve been fucking with my dreams? You thought I’d protect you?” Offended, she raked him with a furious glare. “I haven’t been doing anything to you, bud. You’re the one who’s been coming to me.”

Oh, that was a good one. “Yeah, right. Wel , it didn’t work. My job is to kil your kind, not protect you. You’re on your own, princess.”

He turned and stalked away.

Cassandra was torn between the desire to slap him and to cry.

Instead, she went after him and pul ed him to a stop. “Just for the record, I don’t need
you
or anyone else to protect me, and the last thing I would do is ask the Satan of my people to help me. You’re nothing but a kil er and not a bit better than the Daimons you hunt. At least they stil have their souls.” His face hardening, Wulf jerked his arm free of her grasp and left.

Cassandra wanted to scream at the way this had turned out. And it was then she realized some part of herself had actual y started to like him. He’d been so tender in her dreams.

Kind.

So much for her thoughts of asking him about her people. He wasn’t the same man she’d dreamed about.

He was horrible in the flesh. Horrible!

She looked about the club where tables were overturned and the Katagaria were trying to clean up the mess.

What a nightmare al of this had turned into.

“C’mon,” Kat said. “Let’s get you home before those Daimons come back.” Yes, she wanted to go home. She wanted to forget this night had ever occurred and if Wulf came to her tonight…

Wel , if he thought the Spathis were tough on him, he hadn’t seen tough.

Stryker left his men in the hal and went to see Apol ymi. He alone of the Spathis was al owed in her presence.

Her temple was the grandest building in al of Kalosis. The black marble glistened even in the dim light of their netherworld. Inside, the temple was guarded by a pair of vicious ceredons—creatures with the head of a dog, the body of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion. The two of them snarled at him, but stayed back.

They had learned long ago that Stryker was one of four beings the Destroyer al owed to come near her.