The Dark-Hunters, page 150
“Are you all right?” she asked quietly. “It’s not like you to be in such a hurry.”
Wulf closed his eyes as her words tore through him. Only Cassandra had ever known him. His habits. His likes and dislikes. And she remembered them. In all these centuries, she was the only lover who had learned those things.
What was he going to do without her?
A knock sounded on the door.
“Hey, Cass?” Chris called. “If you’re still up, I ordered a pizza for you since you said you wanted one. It should be here in a few minutes.”
She giggled at that as Wulf frowned at her. Their bodies were still joined. “I told him after you came down here that I would kill for one slice of pepperoni pizza,” she explained. Raising her voice, she said, “Thanks, Chris. I’ll be back up in a few minutes.”
Wulf’s frown deepened. “If you need to rest…”
“Are you kidding? I meant it when I said I’d kill for pizza.”
“You should have said something earlier. Chris would have had the cook make you one.”
“I know, but by the time I went upstairs, Marie had already started on the chicken and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She’s a really nice lady.”
“I know.”
She saw the stricken look on Wulf’s face.
Marie had been working there for almost eight years and she mistakenly thought Chris was her boss. Marie had given Cassandra the whole story of how Chris’s father had hired her and then three years ago, after Chris’s father’s heart attack in the living room, Chris’s mother had moved to a new home across town so that she wouldn’t have to relive her husband’s death every time she walked through the house.
His mother had tried to get Chris to leave as well, but for an obvious reason, he’d stayed behind with Wulf. The house had been left in trust to Chris by his father, so Chris’s mother couldn’t sell it and force him to move.
There was no telling how many times in the last eight years Wulf had met Marie.
“I’m sorry, Wulf.”
“Don’t be, I’m used to it.”
He withdrew from her and dressed, then helped her back into her clothes. But he wouldn’t let her walk back up the stairs for fear of her stumbling.
Instead, he carried her to the sofa and made her lie down while he fetched a pillow and blanket for her.
Cassandra smiled at his kindness as he returned and tucked the blanket around her, then snatched the remote from Chris.
“Hey!” Chris snapped indignantly.
“You’re not pregnant, Chris.” He handed it to Cassandra.
“Fine,” Chris said sullenly. “See if I ever have a baby for you.”
“Yeah, right. By the time you get around to it, my child will have grandchildren.”
Chris was aghast. “Oh, oh, oh, I don’t want to hear it from you, hornhead.” That was a familiar insult Chris used to nettle Wulf. Cassandra hadn’t understood it until Chris explained that it stemmed from the mistaken belief that Vikings wore horned helmets in the Middle Ages.
“That’s it,” Chris continued, “I’m switching schools to Stanford. I’m tired of all this snow anyway. I might not get laid there either, but at least the women in class won’t be dressed in parkas.”
Kat entered the room and rolled her eyes. “Is it just me or do these two argue like two little kids every time they get together?”
“They argue like kids,” Cassandra said. “I think they’re trying to make needling other people an Olympic sport.”
Chris opened his mouth at the same time the door buzzed. “Pizza,” he said, getting up.
A strange tremor went through Cassandra. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked around.
“You okay?” Kat asked.
“I think so.” She just felt … odd …
She leaned her head back against the sofa to see Chris with the pizza in his hand and the delivery guy outside. Chris paid him.
“Hey,” the guy said as Chris pulled back. “Do you mind if I come in for a sec and use the phone? I need to call the store about the next delivery.”
Chris cocked his head. “How about I bring you a cell phone for the porch?”
“C’mon, man, it’s cold out here. Can’t I come in to make a call?”
Wulf was on his feet, quickly heading for the door, as Chris pulled back even more.
“Sorry, dude,” Chris said more sternly. “No one unknown comes into this house, capische?”
“Chris,” Wulf snapped, his voice low and steely. “Get back.”
For once Chris didn’t argue.
Wulf grabbed a sword from the wall at the same time the Daimon on the porch pulled two huge daggers out from the insulated pizza bag.
The Daimon tossed one dagger at Chris, then turned to engage Wulf. Chris staggered back, his face pale as he fell to the floor.
Cassandra was on her feet headed for Chris when Kat caught her. “Think of the baby. Stay put.”
She nodded as Kat jumped the couch to go help Chris. Cassandra grabbed another sword off the wall, ready for battle, just in case.
Luckily, Chris was back on his feet unharmed by the time Kat reached him. The pizza, on the other hand, was DOA. Thank God the box had deflected the dagger.
Wulf and the Daimon continued to fight on the porch.
“Holy shit,” Chris breathed, running toward Cassandra with Kat behind him. “There are a shitload more of them headed for the house.”
“What?” Cassandra asked, her knees going weak with the thought of it.
Wulf killed the one on the porch and slammed the door shut.
“Dammit to hell, Chris, are you all right?”
Chris nodded.
Wulf crossed the room and inspected him anyway, then pulled him into his arms and held him fiercely.
“Hey, get off me, you homo.” Chris bristled. “You’re grossing me out. If you want to hug something, hug Cassandra.”
She saw Wulf clench his teeth an instant before he mostly let go. He kept one hand fiercely locked on Chris’s shoulder as he lowered himself to look the boy eye to eye. “You ever answer that door again, Christopher Lars Eriksson, and I’ll rip your fool head off.” He shoved Chris toward the hallway. “Go lower the shields.”
“What is this, the Enterprise?” Kat asked as Chris sprinted to do Wulf’s bidding.
“No, we have bulletproof metal security shutters. I don’t know what the Daimons are up to, but I don’t want them to be able to toss a Molotov cocktail or anything else through a window.”
“Good thinking,” Kat breathed.
The whole house shook as Chris lowered the steel shutters.
Wulf was quaking in anger as he called security to check on them.
“Hello?” The voice was not only unfamiliar, but heavily accented. Granted, the guards never remembered him, but Wulf knew each member of the security force that the Council had sent to protect Chris.
Wulf had a bad feeling. “Who is this?”
“Who do you think it is, Dark-Hunter? My compliments to whomever sent out for pizza. We enjoyed the midnight snack.”
Wulf tightened his grip on the phone. “Where are my guards?”
“Oh, one is right here, but he’s not feeling very talkative. Death has a way of making even the chattiest of people rather quiet. As for the other … he’s … oh, wait, dead now. My boys just finished him off.”
“You are going to pay for that.”
“Well, then, why don’t you come out here and hand me the bill?”
“I’m on my way.” Wulf hung up and headed for the door, intent on skewering Stryker.
Kat caught him before he could reach the door. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked indignantly.
He glared angrily at her. “I’m going to finish this.”
She gave him an arch look. “You can’t. He’ll kill you the minute you leave here.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“Guard Chris and Cassandra. I’ll be right back.”
Kat flashed out of the house.
* * *
Kat honed into Stryker’s energy and found him in the guardhouse. She winced as she saw the two dead men on the floor. There were at least a dozen Daimons outside, opening boxes and preparing for an attack.
Only four Daimons were inside the guardhouse. Stryker, Urian, Icarus, and Trates.
Trates looked up from the monitors and went pale.
“How did you get in here?” Kat demanded.
Stryker turned slowly, methodically, around to face her with a sardonic grin. There was no fear in him, only wry amusement. “The guards came outside when we ate the pizza deliveryman and tried to stop us. We dragged them inside after they were dead.”
His words and lack of regard for what they’d done sickened her, but not half as much as when she caught sight of the ceredon with them on one of the monitors.
So Apollymi had changed the rules on her. Damn.
“You are so evil,” she said between clenched teeth.
He smiled as if her words complimented him. “Thank you, love, I pride myself on that.”
Kat opened the portal back to Kalosis. “It’s time for you to all go home.”
Stryker looked at the opening, then laughed. “’Fraid not, sweetie. Mama likes me better at the moment. So you can shove that portal up your very attractive ass. Me and my boys have work to do. Either join us or leave.”
For the first time in her life, Kat felt a tremor of fear. “You have to go. Those are the rules. The portal opens and you have to walk through it.”
Stryker came forward, his eyes sinister and cold. “No, we don’t.”
The portal closed.
She gasped as realization dawned. The Destroyer had given him a key, too, and placed him in control.
Stryker stood so close to her that it sent a shiver over her. He cupped her face with his hand. “It’s a pity she protects you so. Otherwise I would have had a taste of you centuries ago.”
She glared at him in fury. “Get your hand off me or lose it.”
To her surprise, he obeyed, but not before he kissed her rudely.
Kat shrieked and slapped him.
He laughed. “Go home, little girl. If you stay here, you might get hurt.”
Her body shaking, Kat flashed back into the house. Cassandra was in the center of the living room while Wulf was arming himself from a cabinet against the wall.
“What do you have that I can use?” Kat asked, joining him at the armoire.
Wulf looked at her drolly. “I take it things didn’t go well.”
“No. In fact, we need to batten down the hatches. Things are about to get really ugly.”
Chris came running into the room, his head covered by a football helmet.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kat asked as she caught sight of him.
Wulf looked over and frowned. “Now you wear the helmet?”
“Yes,” Chris said as he stuffed a pillow down the front of his sweatpants. “Now I wear the helmet. In case neither of you have been paying attention, our little Daimons are busy on the lawn.”
“We know.”
“Ah,” Chris said as he went to the armoire and pulled out a flak jacket. “So I have one question. I know the shutters can withstand fire and bullets. How are they against a LAWS rocket and dynamite?”
Before Wulf could answer, an explosion rocked the house.
Chapter 10
“Careful,” Stryker warned his men as they fired another round at the house. “Not that it’s likely, but give them a chance to come out before you blow the house apart.”
“Why?” Trates asked. “I thought the objective was to kill the heiress.”
Urian gave the man an irritated look that said, “Are you totally stupid?” “Yes, but if we hurt the Abadonna in the process, we’re going to find out what it feels like to be turned inside out. Literally. Like most beings, I actually like the fact that my skin is outside my body.”
“She’s immortal,” Trates argued. “What’s a bomb to her?”
“Immortal like us, bone-head.” Urian snatched the rocket launcher from Trates’s hand and handed it to Icarus. “Blow her body apart and she will die. None of you want to know what the Destroyer would do to us if that happens.”
Icarus aimed more carefully.
Stryker nodded his approval to his son, then projected his thoughts to the rest of his team. “Watch the exits. I know the Dark-Hunter will have a back way out of this place. When they run, you’d better catch them. Stand ready.”
* * *
Cassandra frowned as Chris packed another pillow down the front of his sweatpants. “What are you doing?”
“Protecting my assets. After what Kat said about Stryker and that near miss with the pizza knife, I don’t want to take a chance with my prized jewels.”
“Hallelujah,” Wulf said under his breath. “The boy finally developed some brains.”
Chris directed a sullen stare at him that Wulf ignored.
Wulf turned the TV on and switched it to the parameter cameras so that they could see the Daimons’ positions. Several of them were running across the lawn.
“It looks like that blast took out some of the east wing,” Wulf said quietly.
Another blast went into the garage.
Chris let out an excited whoop. “I think they just nailed the Hummer. Yes!”
“Christopher!” Wulf snapped at him.
“I can’t help it,” Chris said, calming a degree. “I really hate that thing. Besides, I told you it wouldn’t protect me from everything. See. It was worthless against the grenades.”
Wulf shook his head at his Squire, then noticed Cassandra picking up weapons from the armoire. “What are you doing?” He moved toward her lightning-fast to keep her from touching the weapons.
She let out an irritated breath. “Arming myself.”
“Like hell. Your job is—”
“To stay alive,” she said, her face determined. She touched him gently on the arm in a light caress that sent chills over his chest. She was so beautiful standing there, ready to take on the world.
“Don’t worry, Wulf, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to engage them and take a chance on one of them kicking me in the stomach. Likewise, I’m not going to just stand here and let them take me without something to fall back on. I’m no more used to being without a weapon than you are.”
“She’s right about that,” Kat said, moving to stand behind Cassandra. “Her teddy bear is a six-inch retractable knife and a snub-nosed .38 Special.”
Wulf stared at Cassandra and the raw determination in her eyes. He admired her more in that moment than he ever had anyone else.
Stepping back, he took her to the cabinet and fastened wrist blades on each of her arms. He showed her the release for the blades and how they swung out.
“And this one…” He pulled out a small-caliber Beretta Panther. He slid the fully loaded clip into the handle and switched the safety on. “Is just to get their attention.”
He placed it in a concealed holster, then fastened it to her hip.
Cassandra’s face softened as she looked up at him. For some reason, that look made his entire body hot. “So what’s the plan?”
“Run for it.”
“Run where?” Chris asked. “If we head to another Dark-Hunter’s house, it’ll just drain your power and theirs. No offense, but I think these guys are a little stronger than the average Daimon and I don’t want to see your butt kicked. At least not tonight while I got things to protect.”
Another explosion shattered the glass windows that were covered by the shields.
“We don’t have a choice, Chris,” Wulf said as he put more distance between Cassandra and the windows. “They’re not going to wait until morning and give us a chance to evacuate in the daylight, and if we don’t leave, they’ll blow the house apart around us. We’ll just have to have an open evacuation plan.”
Chris appeared less than convinced. “I really, really don’t like this open evacuation plan idea. Anyone got something better?”
They looked at Kat, who stared back bemused. “I’m not of this world. I have no idea where to hide. I say we go with Wulf.”
“What about Artemis?” Cassandra asked. “Will she help us?”
Kat shook her head. “Sorry. She’s occupied at the moment and honestly couldn’t care less if the world did end. If I disturb her over this, she’ll have a raging tantrum.”
“All right then,” Wulf said. “I suggest everyone get their heaviest clothes on and be prepared to jump ship as soon as possible.”
* * *
Stryker watched the security cameras closely. He knew the heiress and her guards wouldn’t stay inside much longer. His men had already blown up the entire garage and were now slowly shooting into the house, section by section. There was a lot of exterior damage, but he couldn’t really tell how much was being done internally.
Not that it mattered. If this didn’t work, they’d burn it down. He already had the flamethrowers on standby.
Anyone worth his salt would have exit tunnels. And Wulf was certainly worth his salt.
Urian had found several exits so far.
His son just had to make sure they had found them all before their prey left the premises.
“Urian?” he asked his son telepathically. “Are you in position?”
“Yes. We have all of the exits covered.”
“Where are you?”
“The back lawn. Why? Is something going wrong?”
“No, I just want to make sure we can get to them.”
“They’re ours, Father. Relax.”
“I will after she’s dead.”
* * *
Wulf took one last inspection of his charges. They were bundled up and ready. He, on the other hand, was scantily clad. He needed to be able to move freely in case he had to fight more.
“Okay, children,” he said in warning. “Remember, we have to move silently. They can see better at night than…” He paused as he realized who he was talking to. “Well, better than Chris can anyway. I’ll lead the way. Kat, you pull up the rear and, if anything happens, shout and don’t vanish on us.”
“You got it.”
Wulf offered Cassandra an encouraging smile. He took her hand into his and kissed her knit glove, wishing he could feel her skin under there.
