Dream Warrior (11 page)

“Why did you do that?”

“It is by your own strength that you will be known. You can never rely on another for help. Everyone sinks or swims by their own effort. Never forget that.”

“In a lava pit?”

Her answer had come as a vicious backhand. “You will stand. You will fight and you will never shame me.”

Yeah …

His childhood had been great indeed.

Delphine shook her head as she twisted the straw wrapper in her hands. “I met your brother Zelos once. He was a total jerk.”

“You have no idea.” She should have tried growing up with the mean bastard.

Jericho paused as the waitress returned to take their orders.

Delphine hesitated when it was her turn. She looked at the menu uncertainly. “I don't know what to eat.”

Jericho leaned back in his chair. “Try the medley. It has some of everything. If you don't like it, you can always order something else.”

“Okay.” She ordered it, then handed her menu to the waitress. “So have you eaten here a lot?” she asked once they were alone again.

He glanced out the window at the small line of people that was forming, waiting to come inside and be seated. “No. Darice's girlfriend works here and she used to bring food over to Darice during lunch. It always smelled and looked good so I wanted to try it.”

Jericho paused as he became aware of what they were doing.… He was eating with a companion. He hadn't done this in centuries.

More than that, they were chatting. Sharing. Something he'd never really done with anyone.

How strange.

Delphine fell quiet as she waited for her food. She kept thinking of M'Adoc and Deimos, along with the others Noir had taken. What were they going through right now? She knew they were in pain and she couldn't stop dwelling on it.

And as she glanced around the restaurant, she wondered what would become of places such as this in the human realm if Noir succeeded with his plans. Would any of it be left standing or would he tear it all down?

It wasn't right or fair. None of the people who were laughing and talking had any idea that evil was around them. That they were on the brink of total annihilation and that one of the people who could stop them sat across from her not even caring.

She watched as a couple walked out the door with their arms draped over each other. Frowning, she couldn't take her eyes off them as they paused outside the window and kissed. They looked so happy and in love.

What would that feel like?

“You look like you've never seen people kissing before.”

She glanced back at Jericho. “I've seen it before. Just not in real life.”

He watched the couple until they vanished out of sight. Then that penetrating gaze came back to hers. “Have you never kissed?”

She gave him a droll stare. “Arik took me to the Vanishing Isle when I was fourteen. So no, I've never kissed. The Oneroi aren't really big on affection. It goes against that whole no-feelings thing.”

Jericho had to concede that point. Zeus had done a number on all of them. “Were you never tempted to go Skoti?”

“It has crossed my mind briefly, but no, not really. I would
never
become one of them.”

Her adamant vehemence surprised him. He'd struck a nerve with her. “Why?”

Her gaze saddened as she swirled ice in her glass with her straw. “There was a woman in my village when I was a young girl. Beautiful and sweet, she used to bring fresh bread to my parents and make doll clothes for me. Then one afternoon, I noticed how tired she looked. She hadn't been sleeping for days. Every night her dreams worsened. Within two weeks, she'd gone insane from them, and that was before the Skoti had lost their emotions. Back when they preyed for nothing more than cruelty.”

Delphine flinched; the memories were hard for her even now. “I can still remember the wails of her children when they found her. She'd killed herself to get away from the demons in her sleep. It wasn't until Arik came to me that I learned it was the Skoti who'd driven her mad and why it was so important that we fight and stop them. Any time I ever considered allowing my emotions to rule me, I thought of Nirobe. I would never harm someone the way they'd harmed her. It's wrong to prey on people.”

Wow, he wished he had those convictions. But truthfully, he felt vindicated for any action he took against mankind.

Still …

She shook her head. “I don't understand why people can't be nice to each other. Why someone always has to push someone else around.”

Unlike her, he got it completely. “It's intoxicating to feel that power. To know that in your hands is their life or death. That no matter what they do or how hard they fight, they're no match for you.”

Her gaze turned harsh and condemning. “Do you really feel satisfied when you've crushed them knowing they were weaker than you? That they couldn't fight back and win? Is that true victory?”

Jericho looked away.

“Tell me,” she said, her voice thick with conviction. “I want to understand because I really don't get it.”

Jericho swallowed, unable to meet her gaze as he remembered the times in his past when he'd gone after weaker enemies. There was one truth he kept coming back to, and it was one he didn't want to think about. “I was always still empty afterward. The exaltation of victory is momentary and fleeting. By the time it's felt, it's gone.”

“So why do it?”

Because it was better than the emptiness inside. At least there for a moment, he had some kind of feelings besides hate and pain. That was all he knew. It was why Nike had been so precious to him. She had made him feel something else.

But even that had always been fleeting. Nothing could take away or soothe the rage and hate in his heart. At least not for more than a few minutes at a time.

It was those minutes he craved.

He sat back as the waitress brought their food and set it down in front of them. Silently, he ate his oysters while Delphine picked daintily at her food. Her nose wrinkled ever so slightly as she bit into her gumbo.

“Is it not good?”

She wiped her mouth. “Yes. But very different. Spicy. I wasn't prepared for that.”

He pushed his basket of crackers toward her on the table. “That'll help absorb it.”

“Thank you.” She started to bite into the wrapped package.

“Wait,” he said, pulling it out of her hand. “You have to unwrap the plastic.”

“What?”

He shook his head, amused by her confusion. She could be so knowledgeable and yet so childlike. But then, her experiences in the world had been through dreams and not based in reality. It made a big difference.

“You don't eat the plastic part.” He opened the crackers and handed them back.

“Oh. Thank you again.” She smiled a smile that actually made his stomach tighten. Her hand brushed his as she took it.

That simple, innocent touch seared him. He wanted to take her hand and hold it to his face. To kiss his way up her arm and over her body.

But he didn't dare. Tenderness for her could weaken him. He'd already sacrificed enough for her. He had no intention of giving anything more.

Her eyes sparkled as she continued to eat her meal. She was enjoying it. He didn't know why he took pleasure in that, but he did.

But his pleasure died as he glanced out the window to the street.

There in the darkness, he saw a shadow he recognized. Inhuman and evil, it was after two girls who had just left the Fire of Brazil restaurant across the street.

Damn it! Couldn't he even eat in peace?

What do you care? Let him have them.

He looked down at his plate, telling himself it was none of his business.

Then he looked at Delphine, who hadn't seen what he had. She would be so disappointed in him if she ever learned that he'd sat here and done nothing to help those girls.

And the truth was, so would he.

Cursing, he pulled his wallet out and used his powers to create enough money to put on the table to pay for their food.

Delphine frowned at him as he stood up. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” he growled. “I'm about to kill someone.” Without another word, he headed outside to confront the creature.

No doubt this was going to be the second-worst mistake of his life.

CHAPTER 6

Delphine was more than ready to lay into Jericho for his cruel intentions as she followed him outside the restaurant. Whoever he was going after didn't deserve to die, and from what she could see, it was one of two young women.

Or, Zeus forbid, both of them.

What was it with him that he'd forgotten all compassion? What could those girls have done to him to make him want to kill them? They looked as harmless as could be.

At least that was her thought until she saw the demon rush into a dark alley to attack the two young women they'd been following.

She tried to blast the demon, only to be reminded that her powers were completely gone.

Jericho ran at the demon and grabbed him from behind. No more then five-eight in height, the demon had dark skin, flashing black eyes and a bald head. Lean and wiry and extremely handsome, he struggled against Jericho.

Jericho pulled the demon off the screaming co-ed. “Get the girls out of here,” he shouted at her.

She did as he said, knowing he wouldn't be able to fight the demon with witnesses present. Humans really didn't want to know what was out in the world, preying on them.

As soon as she had the alley clear and the crying girls were running toward safety, Jericho let loose the demon, who turned on him with flashing fangs. Jericho caught the demon's shoulders as he came at him and flipped him onto the ground.

In one fluid move, he pulled the dagger out of his boot and held it against the demon's throat. Unable to move now without hurting himself, the demon's eyes turned red and his demon's marks appeared on his bald head.

“What are you doing here, Berith?” Jericho demanded in a cold, lethal tone.

The demon's eyes bulged as he realized who Jericho was. “Kyrios?” he asked excitedly, using the term meaning “master.” “It's so good to see you again. I'd heard you were banished. Stripped of your powers.”

Jericho kept him in place. “I'm sure my father's filled your head full of bullshit. As you can see, I'm hale and whole, and willing to gut you. Now why were you after those girls?”

“Bidden.”

“By?”

Berith shrugged. “Dunno. Some boy-man who says he bought my ring in an antique store. You know the rules. I can't question my orders. I only carry them out.”

Delphine was completely confused by what was going on but didn't want to interrupt them.

Jericho pulled his knife away from the demon's throat and sat back on his haunches. “Where is this boy who owns your ring?”

“In something called a dorm room not too far from here. It's a small place. After I bring him the girl he sent me after, he wants me to put him in a house. A big one in something called the Garden District. Not sure what that is. I'll have to do research on it.”

Delphine finally interrupted. “I take it you know this demon?”

Nodding, Jericho rose to his feet, pulling the demon up with him. “He was one of my father's generals until he pissed him off. For that aggravation, my father bound him into slavery to a ring. You own the ring, you own Berith.”

Berith straightened his clothes with exaggerated jerks. “And it hurts every time they conjure me. I swear it feels like someone peeling my skin off.”

She shook her head in pity for both of them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked at Jericho. “You must have had such a great childhood with a man like that for your father.”

“Yeah. All puppy dogs and rainbows and those weird furry people with padded coat hangers on their heads that look like space aliens on acid.”

Berith paused as he brushed debris off his clothes to frown. “You mean the Teletubbies?”

Jericho gave him a smirk. “The fact that you know what they're called, Berith, truly scares me.”

Berith shrugged. “As a demon of torture, it behooves me to know all things that are deeply annoying. You'd be amazed how many people in the modern age no longer fear zombies as much as Teletubbies.”

Jericho snorted. “Not really. I'd rather battle a brain-eating zombie any day than hear them sing.”

“You're both sick individuals,” Delphine said, yet she was oddly amused by their conversation.

Jericho ignored her. “So what were you going to do with the girls?”

Berith rubbed his eyes before he answered. “One I was going to eat, the other the kid wanted for his girlfriend. You do know I still have to take her to him, right?”

“No, you don't,” Jericho said in a flat tone.

“What do you mean?” Berith's voice was filled with fear. He took two steps back. “You plan to kill me?”

“No. I'm going to liberate you.”

Berith backed up another step, his face contorted with suspicion. “That's the demon euphemism for death…”

“I'm not going to kill you, Berith.”

“Really?” He dragged the word out slowly. “Why not?” The way he said that was comical. It was almost as if he were disappointed.

“Because I need an ally and I can think of no one better.”

Berith scoffed. “Sure you can. I can think of a lot of gods with more power than a bound demon.”

“Yes, but I know your weaknesses, which means you'll think twice before betraying me.”

“Very good point. You get the ring and I'm yours to command.”

Jericho looked at Delphine. “Shall we?”

“Have I any choice?”

“Not really.”

“Didn't think so.”

Berith took them straight to his master, who turned out to be a pimple-faced nineteen-year-old college student. Some master he was. He actually wet his pants the moment they flashed into his room.