Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter #8)(33)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Stryker hesitated, looking at Urian for a long minute, before he jumped through and vanished.

His heart broken, Alexion gathered Danger into his arms while Xirena stared at them from where Kyros had set her down. Alexion pressed a cloth to Danger’s chest to stop the blood flow from her injury.

The demon was wounded but, unlike Danger, not fatally. Stryker hadn’t stabbed the demon in the heart.

Urian turned on him. "What the hell was that action, Shade? My life was supposed to be kept secret."

"Shut up, Urian," Alexion growled as he held Danger and fought against the tears that wanted to blind him. Fought against the debilitating pain that overwhelmed him.

His entire being was screaming out in pain as it refused to believe what had happened to her.

"Come on, baby," he whispered to her as he gently rocked her in his arms. "Don’t die on me."

"It should heal," Danger whispered softly in a voice that belied her pain. "Why isn’t the wound healing?"

"I’m sorry, akri," Xirena whispered. "Xirena didn’t mean to get stabbed and let your woman die."

Urian joined them, his face pale as he noted her chest wound. "Did Stryker stab her with his personal dagger?"

"Yes," Alexion choked, noting the haunted look behind Urian’s eyes. No doubt the man was reliving the death of his own beloved wife at Stryker’s hands.

"Is there any way to save her?" he asked the Daimon.

"Acheron!" Urian called.

Alexion tensed as he heard a summons he knew Acheron wouldn’t heed. He knew the rules of his mission. Acheron wouldn’t interfere.

Danger was going to die.

The pain of that thought lacerated his chest and shredded his heart.

It brought tears to his eyes that he couldn’t stop.

"I wish he would have had your soul," Alexion whispered against her cheek. "At least then I could have made you human."

"Can’t you call on Ash’s powers to heal her?" Urian asked.

Alexion shook his head. The power over life and death wasn’t one Acheron was willing to share.

Kyros fell to his knees beside them. "I’m so sorry, Danger. None of the Dark-Hunters were supposed to be hurt tonight. Dammit, this is all my fault."

Alexion glared at him and his stupidity as his anger swelled, wanting to kill his so-called friend. "How do you figure? You were trying to turn them against Acheron."

"I know," Kyros said with a sincere gaze. "I screwed up. I’m so sorry. Stryker was so convincing. At first he turned Marco, and the next thing I knew, Marco was dead. Stryker swore it was you who killed him. I should never have listened to him."

But Alexion wasn’t really listening to Kyros at the moment. All he could hear was Danger’s breathing getting lighter and lighter.

She choked as she struggled to continue breathing. She reached up and touched his cheek with a cold hand. "If anything is left of me, will you take it to France? There’s a mass grave in a park in Paris-"

"I know that park," Alexion said. It was where the victims of the guillotine had all been buried.

Danger took a deep breath. "My father, his wife, and my brother and sister are there. If I can’t be with you, I want to be with them."

Alexion nodded as tears choked him. "I promise, Danger. I won’t let you be alone."

She offered him a wan smile. "We had fun, didn’t we, mon coeur?" She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I’m so going to miss you."

Then he felt it… that last expulsion of breath from her body.

She went limp in his arms as her hand fell away from his face.

Alexion threw his head back and cried out as pain tore through him. In that moment, he hated Acheron. He hated Kyros. He hated Stryker, but most of all he hated himself for not being able to protect her.

Xirena and Kyros stayed back, their faces pale as they watched him, but Alexion didn’t care. Nothing mattered except the woman who lay limply in his arms.

A woman whose vibrancy had shown him how to live again. More than that, she had shown him how to love. She had reached inside his heart and made it beat for the first time in more than nine thousand years.

Now she was gone.

And his heart would never beat again.

No! his heart screamed in denial. She couldn’t die. Not like this. Not someone who had loved to live so much. Someone who had spent her life helping others.

She had believed in him and he had let her die…

Urian paced back and forth between Kyros and Xirena, and Danger and Alexion. "I can’t believe Ash just let her die," he growled. He looked up at the ceiling. "You are a f**king ass**le!"

"No," Alexion said as tears fell, while he held her cold, pale body to his chest. "It has to be this way. He can’t change fate."

"The f**k he can’t," Urian snarled angrily. "He brought me back and I was a Daimon. Why would he save me and not her?"

Alexion had no answer to that. He didn’t have any answers at the moment. All he could feel was the pain of her loss. The agony. It was raw and consuming.

How could she be dead?

How could he have allowed this to happen? Damn me, damn me, damn me!

"I’m sorry I failed you, akri," Xirena said.

Alexion didn’t speak. He couldn’t.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the room.

Acheron flashed into a corner, where he stood with a stoic expression.

Urian turned on him with a curled lip.

"Don’t even, Daimon." Acheron zapped him out of there before Urian could speak.

"Kyros," Acheron said gently. "Go home and rest."

Then he, too, was gone.

Acheron hesitated as the demon stared at him as if he were an apparition.

Her face was ghostly pale from her fear of him. "Will you kill Xirena now?"

"No." Ash knelt by her side and healed her wounds. "Return to your master for a little while and you will meet your sister soon."

The demon nodded, then ran up Alexion’s sleeve, to his chest.

Alexion still hadn’t moved as he cradled Danger to him.

Acheron cocked his head as he watched them with those all-powerful, swirling silver eyes. "Why don’t you question me?"

Alexion swallowed against the bitter lump in his throat that was choking him. "Because I know better." He looked up at Acheron so that he could see the sincerity in his eyes. "But I hate you right now."

"I know."

And then it happened…

Danger’s body evaporated into a shiny gold powder.

Alexion cried out again as he felt her loss completely. "No!" he growled as he tried to scoop the powder up so that he could take it to Paris for her as he’d promised.

"Don’t," Acheron said gently as he reached out for him.

Alexion shoved him away. "Damn you, you bastard, I promised her. I promised-"

He covered his eyes with his hands as he sobbed, realizing it was hopeless. "There’s nothing left to bury. Nothing left to gather even."

Oh, gods, how could she be gone like this? How? It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

"We have to go, Alexion."

He nodded even though what he wanted to do was attack Acheron himself. He knew it wasn’t Acheron’s fault, but it didn’t matter. He wanted to strike out and hurt someone. Anything to ease the burning, aching hole inside him.

There was nothing left to stay for.

Danger was gone…

His heart shattered, he felt his human body melting as it shifted from the human realm to Katoteros. He found himself back in the throne room where Simi was waiting.

"Alexion!" she shrieked happily, running at him before she launched herself into his arms. "You’re back!"

She pulled away and frowned when he didn’t return her enthusiasm. Cocking her head, she scowled at him. "But you’re so sad. Why are you sad, Lexie? Was them Daimons mean to you? The Simi will eat them if they hurt you."

Acheron gently pulled her away. "He needs to be alone for a little while, Sim."

"But…"

"It’s okay." Acheron took her hand and gave him the space he needed.

Alexion didn’t speak as he walked the back hallway toward his chambers. He was so cold inside that he didn’t think he could ever be warm again.

For the first time ever, he hated this place. He hated everything about it. Most of all, he hated Acheron.

At least he did until he opened the doors to his room. He stopped short, his breath catching, as he saw the impossible.

It couldn’t be, yet it was…

There in the center of his room, dressed in a red chiton, was Danger.

He couldn’t speak as he caught sight of her there.

She was looking around as if disoriented. "Where am I?"

No words would come out of his mouth as he rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms. She felt real.

She felt alive…

Could it be? Did he dare believe that this was real?

Holding her close, he buried his head against her neck, inhaled her scent and wept.

"Alexion, you’re starting to freak me out."

He pulled back with a laugh. "How did you get here?"

"I have no idea. One minute I was in a lot of pain, then everything was dark, and then I was here." She leaned toward him. "Where is here?"

"My chambers. You’re in Katoteros."

She frowned up at him. "I don’t understand."

Neither did he.

"You didn’t really think I was going to let this end badly, did you?"

Alexion turned to find Acheron standing in the doorway, watching them with a smile.

"We learn from our pain," he said, using the words Acheron so often quoted to him.

Acheron shrugged. "But we are rewarded with pleasure." His gaze shifted to Danger before it returned to meet his levelly. "You’ve served me too long and too well for me to turn my back on you, Alexion. I couldn’t save her life without altering too much of the universe. But I can give you this."

Alexion was grateful and at the same time stunned by it. He had never expected Acheron to do something like this… ever. "You hate people in your house."

Acheron let out a weary breath. "What the hell? I got used to you. I’ll get used to Danger in time too."

Danger gaped. "I get to stay? Here? With Alexion? Really?"

"Only if you want to," Alexion said.

Danger swallowed as her eyes filled with tears. She wrapped herself around Alexion and held him tight. "I can’t believe this."

"I’m sorry for what you lost, Danger," Acheron said quietly. "This existence is far from perfect."

Alexion saw a panicked look darken her eyes. "Do I have to drink blood to live?"

Acheron shook his head. "Only Einstein over there has to do that. But like him, you won’t be able to taste food anymore."

Danger laughed. "That’s all right. Who needs taste buds anyway? I’ll just eat a lot of popcorn."

Acheron’s gaze softened. "If you want to release your demon, Alexion, I’ll go introduce her to Simi and give you two some time alone."

Alexion frowned. "How is it that you’re not stunned she has a sister?"

"I’ve known for a long time that she wasn’t the only demon out there. It wasn’t too big a leap of faith to figure she probably had some family too."

Still, Alexion was shocked that Acheron had kept such a secret from them. "Then why didn’t you tell us?"

"Simi likes the idea of being the only one. I was going to tell her the truth once she got a little older. But I guess now’s the time."

Alexion agreed. "Xirena, I summon you to human form."

The demon popped off his body and stood back, reserved. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Alexion assured her. "You’re going to meet Simi."

Her eyes sparked with happiness.

"Come, Xirena," Acheron said. "I’ll take you to her."

She hesitated. "You’re not trying to trick Xirena, are you?"

"No."

"It’ll be all right," Alexion said. "You can trust him."

Xirena went to Ash hesitantly before the two of them left the room.

Danger waited until they were alone before she turned back to Alexion and pulled him into her arms. "Is this really real?"

"Yeah," he breathed as he held her close. "I still can’t believe you’re here."

"You can’t? I thought I had lost you forever."

"At least I didn’t die on you."

"No, but that’s not a problem for either one of us again, is it?"

Alexion smiled as he savored the sight of her bright brown eyes shining up at him. "Not unless we piss off a Charonte."

"Then I will make sure I never do."

He hugged her tight and picked her up in his arms, grateful that he had her back. This time, he was going to make damn sure that nothing happened to her again. "I love you, Danger."

Danger kissed him as her heart swelled with joy. "I love you too," she breathed.

And though this life with him wasn’t going to be perfect, it would be really, really close. So long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

Epilogue

Standing in the throne room, Simi stared at the other demon suspiciously as she moved her head back and forth much like a snake eyeing something it wanted to strike at. "What do you mean, she’s my sister?" she asked Ash.