Dark Bites (Dream-Hunter #1)(64)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

“Because that is what you are now. Immortal.” She touched the bite mark on his neck. “My little Nicky is gone. Buried by emotions so great they mock the depth of the ocean. Can you tell me if my baby boy will ever come home again?”

Nick wanted to curse at her. He wanted to shout, but in the end he felt like a lost child who only craved his mother’s touch. A deep-seated sob escaped and before he could stop it, he did what he hadn’t done since the night he’d found his mother dead.

He cried. All he wanted was for the unrelenting pain inside him to cease. Just for one heartbeat. He wanted time to go back to the way it’d been before – when his mother had been alive and Ash had been his best friend.

But how could it?

Everything was destroyed and every day he hated more. Not just Acheron, but everything and everyone. There was no peace for him anymore. It was as if a part of him had died with his mother.

A part of himself he feared he’d never have again.

His heart.

Menyara pulled him into her arms and held him close. She didn’t speak. Still, her touch soothed him even more than words could.

She pressed her lips to the top of his head and gave a light kiss. “You were a good boy, Ambrosius. Cherise still believes in you and so do I. She wants you to let go of your anger. Be happy again.”

He pulled back with a curse at her words that reminded him of something his mother would say. “How can I let everything go while my mother is dead?”

“How can you not?” she insisted. “It was your mother’s time to leave this world. She is happier now that she can watch over you and – ”

“Don’t say that to me,” he growled from between clenched teeth. “I hate it when people say that shit. She’s not happier dead. How could she be?”

Menyara pushed him toward the walkway. “Then go from this place and don’t taint her peace with your hatred. It doesn’t belong here. Your mother deserves better than that from you.”

He opened his mouth to speak.

“I don’t want to hear it and neither does your poor mother, God rest her soul. You go on now and get out of here. Don’t come back until you get your head on straight and think of someone other than yourself. You hear me? You show your mother the respect she deserves for the decision she made.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. He’d argue with her, but he knew her better than that. There was no talking to Menyara when she was in a mood like this.

Disgusted with the whole thing, he turned and left, with no real destination in mind. He merely slinked off toward Conti. The streets were eerily familiar, and at the same time they, like him, were so empty. This time of year, there should have been tons of tourists about. Shopkeepers should be hosing off the balconies and streets.

Instead there were orange barrels and construction sites all around. The sound of jackhammers had replaced that of morning jazz and beeping horns.

Pain infiltrated every particle of his body…

Until he crossed over to Acme Oyster House on Iberville. God, how many times had he eaten here? How many laughs and beers had he shared with his mother and friends?

It looked the same, only fresher from reconstruction. He stood beside the window, watching the waiters take orders and people chat… until his gaze fell to the table in a corner, near the back.

His heart stopped beating. It was Kyrian Hunter and his wife with their daughter Marissa and a baby boy Nick had never seen before. They were laughing and chatting with other people Nick had once called friends – Vane and Bride, Julian and Grace. But what absolutely floored him was the fact that they were sharing a table with Valerius and Tabitha. Since Tabitha was the twin sister of Amanda, that wasn’t the shocker.

Valerius was what stunned him.

A mortal enemy of Julian and Kyrian, Valerius’s family had tricked and killed Kyrian – then destroyed the people and country the two of them had fought and died to protect. For centuries, they had nursed bitter hatred toward each other.

And now Kyrian was handing his son over to a man he’d once sworn to decapitate…

How had this happened?

When had this happened?

How could Kyrian ever sit down at a table with a man whose family had taken Kyrian’s wife, destroyed Kyrian’s country and caused Kyrian’s father to kill himself? Never mind laugh with the bastard.

How could anyone forgive that?

“Nick?”

He jerked at the quiet whisper from behind him. It was Stryker’s half sister, Satara. Tall and dazzling, she was the epitome of feminine beauty and grace.

He stepped back so that the others couldn’t see him on the street. “What are you doing here?”

“I felt a strange sensation coming from you and I wanted to see what caused it.”

He hated that sharing blood with her allowed her to feel his emotions. It was irritating to have someone, other than Menyara, read him so easily. “Nothing. Go home, Satara.”

She tilted her head as if looking to see Kyrian and the others inside. “It’s interesting, isn’t it? Why Acheron brought them back to life after they’d died, but refused to do the same for your beloved mother. I wonder why he chose them over her?”

He ground his teeth. “I don’t need you to poke that scab.”

“True. I’m sure it’s still raw and bleeding.”

She had no idea.

“But,” she said, stepping close enough to whisper in his ear. “Why should they be here, living happily, while your mother is dead?”

He knew she was intentionally kicking at his groin. Making him bleed internally. “Don’t start with me, Satara. That man and his family are all I have left.”

She cocked her head. “Are they? What do you think they’ll say when they find out you’re a Daimon Dark-Hunter? That through you, Stryker can see and hear all they do?”

He started away from her, but she pulled him to a stop. Her long nails bit into his forearm.

“The old Voodoo bitch told you that Acheron helped here in New Orleans after the hurricane, but did she tell you who his mother is?”

Nick froze at her words. “Ash has a mother? Alive?”

She smiled. “Ooo, another secret he kept from you, huh? So much for being best friends. Makes you wonder what other things you don’t know, doesn’t it?”

Yes, it did. He snatched his arm from her grasp. “Who is his mother?”

“The Atlantean goddess Apollymi. But she’s better known to the immortal world as the Great Destroyer.”

He gaped at her disclosure. “Destroyer?”

“Yes. For no other reason than she was having a bad hair day, she has unleashed unrelenting storms against civilizations for centuries, and she was highly upset that night when Desiderius played havoc here in New Orleans.”

Nick couldn’t breathe as he recalled that night. Desiderius had been Stryker’s agent and he had been the one who had killed Nick’s mother.

Satara leaned in to him to whisper again. “She’s also the mother of my brother Stryker. You know him. Leader of the Spathi Daimons. Who do you think pulls my brother’s leash? Who do you think controls Stryker’s army and what they do? Apollymi commands them all to action.”

Including the one who murdered my mother…

Nick felt rage swell up inside him at all the truths Ash had kept from him and the others. “Ash’s mother is the leader of the Daimons?”

“Yes, she is. Now you know why Ash keeps so many secrets from everyone. How would it look to all of you to know his beloved mother is the one who controls your enemies? The enemies who come out every night to prey on you and humanity. That’s why Ash hasn’t told any of you about the Spathi Daimons, such as Desiderius. Why Ash will always stay out of such conflicts. He’s not the big bad. His mother is.” She smirked at him. “Face it, Nick. Ash has been lying to all of you from the very beginning. Artemis doesn’t control him. He controls her. She lives in complete fear of him.”

And as Artemis’s niece and handmaiden, Satara would know.

Nick remembered the night he’d killed himself in front of Artemis. Satara was right. The goddess had been terrified of Acheron and his reaction to Nick’s death. That alone had caused her to bring Nick back to life.

Still, he couldn’t get Menyara’s words out of his mind. She was the one person he did trust. Without question or fail. “Menyara has never been wrong about anyone.”

“Menyara has never met a god who can alter someone’s thoughts and perceptions. Think about it, Nick. How many times have the Were-Hunters tampered with someone’s mind to make them forget they saw something preternatural?”

More times than he could count. “But Ash has always profraned doing that.”

“That’s what he says. Yet how often do people preach one thing then do another?”

Again, she was right.

She leaned against him and rubbed his biceps. “You are blessed with the truth, Nick. Nothing in the Dark-Hunter world is what it seems. Acheron has duped everyone… but you. The question is, are you going to let him continue to get away with hurting people for his mother or are you going to stop him? How many more people must die because Acheron is a cruel, sadistic bastard? It’s him or us, Nick. Whose side are you on?”

His own. To hell with the rest of them. But he didn’t want her to know that. Not yet, anyway.

She toyed with his hair. “Stryker has given you the means for vengeance. The only question is, are you man enough to take it?”

He curled his lip at her. “I’m not a man, Satara. I’m an immortal with god powers.”

She inclined her head to him. “And as long as you don’t forget that, Acheron is yours.”

Nick glanced back at the restaurant and the truth pierced him hard. He would have gladly sacrificed Kyrian and his family to have his mother back. Friendship was one thing. Family was another. Though Kyrian had been like a brother to him, he wasn’t blood. Nick had been willing to sell his soul for vengeance and he still was.

“Be true to us, Nick, and we can give you what you want most.”

Nick sneered at her. “You don’t know what I want.”

“Yes, I do. You want revenge and you want your mother back.”

“I can get my own revenge.”

“True, and we can give you your mom.”

He scowled at her. What the hell was she talking about now? The bitch was crazy. “Don’t be stupid. My mother’s dead. There’s no way back from that.”

She arched her brow at him. “Isn’t there? You’re here and yet you were once dead. As was Desiderius.” She snapped her fingers. An instant later, a tall, dark-haired man appeared beside them. At six foot four, Nick wasn’t used to many men who made him crane his neck, but this one did. And by the luminescent blue eyes, Nick knew exactly who and what this man was.

A Dream-Hunter.

Gods of sleep, they were sent from Olympus to help and protect dreamers. And through a pact with Acheron, many of them were sent to aid Dark-Hunters. To help them heal, especially when they were asleep, so that they could continue to protect mankind from the evil that preyed on them.

This wasn’t the first Dream-Hunter to approach him. Nick had sent M’Adoc away as soon as the god had offered to help Nick forget the pain of his mother’s death.

He never wanted to forget his mother or what had happened to her.

Nick jerked his chin toward the newcomer. “I don’t need his help.”

“Of course you don’t, Nicky. But Kratos can do the one thing even Acheron can’t do.”

“And that is?”

“Bring a soul out of its eternal rest and return it to the land of the living.”

Nick wasn’t stupid enough to buy what she was selling. “At what price?”

“An act of loyalty to us. You bring Kyrian’s child Marissa down to Kalosis and we will return your mother to this world.”

Still, he was skeptical. “You can’t do that.”

Satara gave him a smug smile. “Kratos. A demonstration, please.”

Before Nick could move, the Dream-Hunter touched him. His grip seared Nick’s skin, making it burn and crawl as images tore through him. He saw his mother in a garden, surrounded by roses. Her shoulder-length blond hair was glistening in the light while she laughed at a group of children who were playing around her.

A tear slid down his cheek as he saw her kind face again. “Mom,” he whispered.

His mother cocked her head as if she could hear him. “My Nicky,” she breathed. “I miss you.”

“I can take you into the Underworld,” the Dream-Hunter said. “But it won’t be easy.” He released Nick and the image of his mother instantly vanished.

Nick struggled to breathe. “How do I know I can trust you?”

Kratos shrugged. “I have no emotions. I only do as I’m told. Betrayal is for those who have something to gain.”

It was true. The Dream-Hunters had been cursed by Zeus to feel nothing.