Sins of the Night (26 page)

She turned his head so that he could look at her. “Tell me the truth, Ias.”

He sighed wearily. “Yes, there are times when I would give anything to be able to have one chance at being normal again. To have one moment when I was human and could eat and feel. But I'm just grateful that I have this time with you right now. You make me feel almost human. At least closer to it than I have been in a long time.”

She kissed his whiskered cheek, savoring the feel of his rough shadow against her lips. “I wish this could last.”

“I know, but it reminds me of a term Acheron uses a lot.”

“And that is?”

“‘Regret management'. You try to mitigate the regrets with the pleasure the moment brought to you.”

“Does it work?”

Alexion snorted. “Not really. At least not for me. Although Acheron seems to do well with it. At least he appears to cope with his regrets most days.”

She frowned. “What does Ash have to regret?”

“You'd be amazed.”

“And what about you?” she asked, needing to know the answer. “What is your greatest regret?”

His gaze burned her with its intensity. “That you weren't born nine thousand years ago.”

Tears welled in her eyes at words she'd never thought to hear from him or from any man. “I wish we'd met when we were both human,” she whispered.

“Yeah, but you would have probably killed me then.”

Huffing at him, she was offended by that. “How do you figure?”

His green eyes teased her. “You've stabbed me twice since we first met. That seems to be a bad record with me.” He shook his head. “There must be something really wrong with me that all the women I love want to kill me.”

Danger wasn't sure which of the two of them was most stunned by his words. “What?”

He pulled away immediately and started to get out of the bed.

Danger stopped him. “Talk to me, Ias.”

“Don't call me, Ias, Danger. I'm not that man anymore.”

“No, you're the man I let into my bed, and believe me, that's some feat. There haven't been many who've made it past my front door.” She held him to her side even though he was trying to pull away. “Now you finish what you started.”

“It doesn't matter what I feel. Or even what I think. Time is limited for both of us.”

“No, Alexion, it matters to me. I want the truth from you. I deserve it.”

Misery knitted his brow. “What good is the truth? Really? What good does it do us?”

But she didn't agree. She needed to know if he'd meant what he said. “Do you love me?”

He looked away and she had her answer.

Releasing him, Danger sat there with a knot in her throat as emotions swirled through her. She'd never thought to have another man say that to her. Never.

But what surprised her most was what she felt for him in return. It was warm and overwhelming and it filled her with both joy and fear.

She pulled him against her and laid her head on his shoulder. “I love you, too, Alexion.”

She felt his jaw tic against her scalp.

“This is an impossible relationship. You know that, right?”

“I know,” she breathed. “And when the time comes, I will kiss you on the cheek and bid you good-bye. I won't beg you to stay and I won't make this hard on you. I promise.”

Alexion ground his teeth at her words. But that wasn't what he wanted.

He wanted …

Damn you, Acheron.

Most of all, he damned himself. Had he not been so stupid as to go to his wife so soon after making a pact with Artemis, he would still have a chance to be human again.

Acheron would be able to barter for his soul back …

Then again, had he not wanted to return to his wife so desperately, Acheron wouldn't have made the pact with Artemis that allowed Dark-Hunters to go free.

None of them would have a chance for freedom from her service. His life and soul had been sacrificed for a much greater good.

One day, Danger might be free again.

Without me …

It was true. For him there was no way out. No future that included Danger or any woman. Not that he wanted any other woman. She was the only one he would ever love. He knew it.

“I shouldn't have come here to save Kyros,” he said in a hoarse tone. “Kyros is as good as dead and all I've done is make memories that can only serve to hurt in the centuries to come.” But at least she wouldn't know regret. She wouldn't feel his pain.

He clenched his hand in her hair. “I'll be able to see you, I could even pass you on the street and you'll never know who or what I am. I'll be a stranger.”

Tears swam in her dark eyes. “I don't want to forget you, Alexion. Ever.”

“You have no choice. You know too much about Acheron now. He'll never allow you to keep your memories intact.”

Anger snapped beneath her tears. “I don't care what he does. I won't forget you. Somehow I'm going to remember you, I know it. I don't care how powerful he is, he won't make me forget you.”

He wished he could believe that, but he knew better.

“You need to get some sleep, Danger. We have a long night ahead of us.”

She nodded. “Are you going to sleep too?”

“In a little while. You rest.”

She released him to lie back on the bed. Alexion got up and dressed while thoughts and regrets whispered through him.

Pushing them aside, he went to see Xirena, who was still asleep on the sofa.

Her feet were propped up over the back while her head dangled off the side of it. One arm was flung over her head and lay against the floor while the other was crossed over her chest. Smiling at the Simi-like pose, he grabbed the blanket off the armchair and covered her up.

His time here in Mississippi had definitely been his oddest assignment.

But at least time was on his side. Stryker would think he still had the soul within him and that it was incapacitating him.

Until the time that Stryker expected the soul to die, the Daimon should leave them alone. It gave him a few days to make contact with the other Dark-Hunters to feel them out.

He would call the Dark-Hunter meeting in three days and then the fate of them all would be decided.

His thoughts drifted back to Kyros and he wanted to curse out loud at the injustice. Kyros was lost to him.

But I found Danger.

And in the end, he would lose them both.

Life did, indeed, suck.

“Keep an eye on Dangereuse.”

Alexion froze as the soft, feminine voice whispered through his head. If he didn't know better, he would swear it was …

“Artemis?”

“The Daimon wants you dead. If he can't take you, he will take someone else.”

Alexion swallowed at her dire tone. “Why are you helping me, Artie? I know you hate me.”

“I'm not Artemis. I'm just a friend who doesn't want to see Stryker hurt anyone else.”

“Then how do I defeat him?”

“To defeat the invincible you can never strike at them. You must always strike at their heart.”

“I've tried striking at his heart. He's a little swift on his feet.”

The voice said nothing.

“Hello?” Alexion asked, but she was gone.

“Great,” he said, clenching his teeth.

Stryker was going to make a move on Danger and the only way to save her would be to strike at a god who had no heart whatsoever.

“Shit, we're screwed.”

Chapter 19

Alexion spent the entire day watching Danger sleep. He sat in the cream jacquard padded chair beside her bed, completely absorbed by the pale beauty of her. She was without flaw. Without guile. Without cruelty inside. She would never hurt someone she loved. Indeed, she'd died trying to save her family when it would have been easy enough for her to have turned her back on them and saved herself.

It was part of why he loved her so.

“I don't want to leave her.” He whispered the heartfelt words knowing that in the end he had no choice. Damn him for not being able to control his emotions where she was concerned. All he had done was ruin his own future.

Why was that?

Why did such pain have to exist in this world? Love should be easy. It should be simple. A person should be allowed to find that one person they couldn't live without and just go on their merry way to happily-ever-after.

But it didn't work that way. He was living, or dead, proof of it. Liora had sworn she loved him and look how that had turned out. It was hard to trust another person not to hurt you. There was still a part of him, even now, that wondered if he could go free, would Danger drop the medallion to save herself?

Would her own personal pain be so great that she would help herself before him?

There was no way to know the answer. Especially not now.

He sighed. He knew from Acheron that it was useless to dwell on wants or what could have been. He had to deal with the present and that meant keeping Danger safe from whatever Stryker had planned.

He had Xirena with him now. Surely the two of them were capable of protecting one woman. Weren't they?

But when dealing with a crafty god bent on vengeance, it didn't pay to get cocky.

“C'mon, boss man,” he said under his breath, “talk to me.”

Alexion shook his head at the irony. In the past, he'd always hated it whenever Acheron had intruded into his thoughts or space. Now that he wanted him, the Atlantean was nowhere to be found.

It figured …

“Alexion?”

He got up and went to the bed where Danger was stirring. She stretched and yawned as she watched him. “Do you always rise so early?”

“Yes,” he said, not wanting her to know that because he was more or less a ghost, he didn't need sleep. His rest wasn't quite the same as a human's.

She yawned again before offering him a smile. “So what's on the agenda for tonight?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Migraine, futility, possible death. Same as every night, I guess.”

Danger laughed. “That sounds like my life, all right.” She glanced toward the door. “So how's our demon doing?”

“I haven't been to the media room in about two hours, but last I checked, she was knee deep in
Kirk's Folly
orders. Good thing Acheron is loaded. Then again, the way these demons shop, I'm not even sure he has enough money to cover it.”

Danger was amused by his words. It was so nice to wake up to see his handsome face smiling at her.

She took his hand in hers so that she could feel the masculine roughness of it. She didn't know what it was about the sensation of a man's skin that was so appealing, but there was no denying that she enjoyed how different it was from her own.

She breathed deeply against her fingers, delighting in the warm, pleasant scent of them. His hands were powerful and yet tender. Wonderful and delectable. Opening her lips, she gently nipped his forefinger.

He hissed in response. “You keep doing that, and I won't let you out of that bed.”

“Then why don't you join me?” she said, pulling back the covers so that he could see her naked body. She'd never done anything so bold with a man before, not even her husband. But for some reason, she didn't mind sharing herself with Alexion.

Her sense of modesty had flown and she wasn't really sure why.

His eyes sparked green fire. “We have a job to do.”

“And we have three more days to meet with the Dark-Hunters, who are going to insult and aggravate you.” She ran her tongue over the pad of his thumb, then pulled back. “They're not going anywhere. Like you said, it's just an exercise in futility. I vote we take one night off and just enjoy it.” She licked the back of his knuckles.

Pure pleasure darkened his gaze, but still he resisted her. “To what purpose?”

She sat up in the bed and wrapped her legs around his lean waist, pulling him closer to her. “You've changed since you've been here, Alexion. When you first arrived, you were so cold and distant. You're not like that now. You're warm and fun. I don't want to lose that. I don't want
you
to lose that.”

Alexion swallowed. She was absolutely right. She had changed him.

Danger brushed the hair back from his face. “I want you to have memories of me that will help keep you warm after you leave.”

Those memories would only hurt him more, and yet his heart was thrilled by the idea of it. He hadn't had a night of normality since he'd been human, and for some reason, being with this woman made him crave it viciously.

What would it be like?

“And what will we do?”

She gave him a seductive grin that made him harden while she trailed her hand down the front of his shirt. “Have you ever been to a real movie?”

He shook his head. Acheron and Simi went all the time, but the last time he'd been in the human realm, movies hadn't been invented yet.

“Then that's what we're going to do,” she said in a tone that let him know she wouldn't take no for an answer. “Dinner and a movie … Just like everyday Jane and Jack.”

Alexion shook his head. “I think you've lost your mind.”

She was slowly unbuttoning his shirt as she talked to him. Every brush of her hand against his flesh sent chills over his body. “Perhaps, but do you know what Jack and Jane would do to start off their night?”

“I have no idea.”

“They'd start it off with blindingly great sex.”

Alexion hissed as she sank her hand down under his waistband to stroke his hard cock. His body was already throbbing and craving hers in the worst sort of way. Or maybe it was the best sort of way.

There was truly nothing better than her hands on his body. Nothing better than the feel of Danger.

Alexion laughed as that thought went through his mind.