The Dark-Hunters, page 158
“That’s okay. I think Chris was recording it in the other room for posterity.”
She covered her face with her hands. “I hope you’re joking.”
“No, not really.”
Cassandra ran her hand through his silken hair and let the strands of it slide through her fingers. “Well, now that it’s over, I’m much more tolerant of you. So, come and snuggle up. I think I could use it.”
Wulf quickly obliged her.
Cassandra let out a long, tired breath and drifted off to sleep.
Wulf watched her as he let the warm softness of her body seep into his very heart. He took her hand in his and studied the delicate shape of it.
“Don’t leave me, Cassandra,” he whispered. “I don’t want to raise our son without you.”
But wishing for her to stay was as productive as wishing for his soul back.
* * *
On Thursday morning, Wulf couldn’t sleep. Cassandra and Erik were both blissfully unconscious. But his thoughts wouldn’t settle down long enough for him to rest.
Getting up, he donned his clothes and left the apartment. Since few Apollites were up and about, he didn’t have to endure many sneers or glares.
He knew he had no business headed where he was, but he couldn’t stop himself.
He had to say good-bye to Dr. Lakis. She had strangely become another member of their small troop over the weeks when she had kept vigil over Cassandra’s and Erik’s health.
Her apartment wasn’t far away from Phoebe’s.
Unsure of his reception, he knocked on her door.
A boy around the age of twelve answered it.
“Are you Ty?” he asked the boy, remembering Dr. Lakis talking about her oldest son.
“My mama’s not going Daimon. You can leave her alone.”
Wulf flinched at his angry words. “I know she’s not. I just want to see her for a minute.”
“Aunt Millicent,” he yelled without letting him in. “The Dark-Hunter wants to see Mama.”
A beautiful woman around Chris’s age came to the door. “What do you want?”
“I want to see Dr. Lakis.”
“He’s going to kill her!” the boy said from behind her.
She ignored the boy. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped back and let Wulf enter.
Wulf took a deep breath in relief as she led him to a bedroom on his left. The door opened to show him a room with five small children and one more woman around Millicent’s age. Dr. Lakis lay on the bed, but he barely recognized her. Instead of the young vibrant woman who had delivered his baby, she already looked as if she were fifty years old.
Millicent shooed the children and the other adult out. “You only have five minutes, Dark-Hunter. We want to be with her as long as we can.”
He nodded, and once he was alone with her, he knelt beside the bed.
“Why are you here, Wulf?” Dr. Lakis asked. It was the first time she had ever used his name.
“I’m not sure. I just wanted to thank you again.”
She blinked her tear-filled eyes and appeared to age another ten years. “This isn’t the bad part,” she whispered. “That comes later when our bodies fall apart while we’re still alive. If we’re lucky, our organs fail quickly and we die. Otherwise it lasts for hours and is excruciating.”
Her words tore through him as he thought about Cassandra going through this. Of her in even more pain than she had been in when Erik was born. “I’m so sorry.”
Dr. Lakis didn’t take pity on him. “Just answer me one question?”
“Anything.”
Her gaze bored into his with its molten heat. “Do you understand?”
He nodded. Yes, he knew what they went through and he understood why Daimons became what they did. Who could blame them?
Dr. Lakis reached out and touched his hand with hers. “I hope your son is spared this. I really, really do. For his sake and for yours. No one should die like this. No one.”
Wulf stared at the hand that now had wrinkles and age spots. A hand that had been as smooth as his just a few hours ago.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked.
“Take care of your family and don’t let Cassandra die alone. There’s nothing worse than going through this on your own.”
Her family returned to the room.
Wulf got up and left them to their loved one. As he reached the door, Dr. Lakis stopped him.
“In case you wanted to know, Wulf, my name is Maia.”
“Safe journey to you, Maia,” he said, his voice deep from his repressed emotions. “I hope your gods are far more merciful to you in the next life.”
The last thing he saw was her son falling into her arms and weeping.
Wulf left the apartment and headed back to his own. By the time he reached it, his anger was smoldering. He entered his room to see Cassandra lying asleep with Erik beside her.
They looked so beautiful like that. She was a young woman who should have the rest of her life ahead of her. She had a baby who needed to know his mother.
Most of all, Wulf needed her.
It couldn’t end like this. It couldn’t.
He wouldn’t let it.
Grabbing his cell phone, he went back to the living room and called Acheron.
To his surprise, Ash answered it on the first ring.
“Are you back?” Wulf asked.
“Apparently so.”
He ignored Ash’s usual sarcasm and went to the matter at hand. “Have you any idea what has happened while you’ve been gone.”
“I know, Wulf,” Ash said in a sympathetic tone. “Congratulations on your marriage and Erik.”
He choked at the mention of his son. He didn’t bother to ask Ash how he knew about either event. Ash wouldn’t answer and everyone knew the man was a freak.
“Is there any…” Wulf couldn’t even bring himself to ask whether or not they had any hope of a future together.
“You’re not ready for the answer.”
His anger exploded at that. “Fuck you, Ash. What do you mean, I’m not ready?”
“Listen to me, Wulf,” he said in the patient tone of a parent dealing with an upset child. “Listen carefully. Sometimes to have what we want most, we have to give up everything we believe in. You’re not ready to do that yet.”
Wulf tightened his grip on the phone. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Why can’t you ever answer a simple question?”
“Ask me a simple question and you will get a simple answer. What you ask me is extremely complicated. You’ve done what Artemis wanted you to do. You’ve saved your lineage and her brother’s.”
“Then why don’t you sound happy about it?”
“I don’t like to see anyone played with or used. I know you’re in pain right now. I know you’re angry. I understand it. You have every right to feel every emotion that’s churning inside you. But this isn’t over. When you’re ready, I’ll answer your question.”
The bastard actually hung up on him.
Wulf stood there feeling even more betrayed. He wanted Ash’s blood, but most of all he wanted Artemis’s and Apollo’s. How dare they screw with them like this, as if they were nothing.
The door to his bedroom opened to show him Cassandra standing there, her brow furrowed with concern.
“Hi,” she said, looking very tired.
“You should be in bed.”
“So should you. I was worried when I woke up to find you gone. Is everything okay?”
For some reason it was always okay whenever she was around him. It was what made it so hard being with her now.
He tried to imagine what it would be like holding her hand while she aged in front of him.
What it would be like when he watched her decay into dust …
Pain racked him so fiercely it was all he could do not to show it. Not to shout out until his anger shook the very halls of Olympus.
He wanted her then, wanted to be inside her so badly that he could barely think.
But it was too soon. She was still sore from birthing his son. And no matter how much he wanted the physical comfort of her body, he would never be so selfish.
Cassandra wasn’t expecting Wulf to pick her up and pin her to the wall behind her. His lips covered hers as he kissed her as if he’d never have another chance to kiss her.
Breathless, she breathed in the scent of her ancient warrior. Let the feel of his arms holding her steal her away from the reality of what was inevitable.
She knew he needed her. He wouldn’t admit it. She knew that too. He was too strong to ever admit he had a weakness. To ever say he was afraid, but how could he not be?
Neither of them knew if their son was human or Apollite. The preliminary test had been inconclusive. And it would be another three months before they would test Erik again to see which DNA was dominant in him.
Whatever the outcome, Wulf would be left alone to see to Erik’s needs.
He let go of her.
Cassandra took his hand and led him back to the bedroom. She sat him on the bed, then forced him to lean back.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She unzipped his pants. “After all these centuries, I would think you would be able to recognize a woman seducing you when you saw it.”
He sprang out into her hands. Cassandra ran her hand down the length of his cock. He was already hard and leaking. She traced the tip of him, letting his wetness coat her fingertips.
Wulf couldn’t breathe as he watched her. He cupped her face with his hands as she bent down to tease him with her sweet mouth.
His breathing ragged, he watched as she licked her way up to his tip while her hand gently cupped his balls. It was so nice to make love to someone who knew him. Someone who remembered how he liked to be touched and caressed.
Someone who remembered him.
For centuries, he’d only had strangers touch him. None of them felt like this. None of them warmed the cold place inside his heart and made him weak from it.
Only Cassandra did that.
Cassandra felt his body relaxing more with every gentle suck and lick she gave him.
He came with a fierce growl.
After he was completely sated and drained, he lay on the bed, panting, his eyes closed while she straddled him and lay down over his chest. His arms enclosed her as she listened to his heart pounding.
“Thank you,” he said softly, stroking her hair.
“You’re welcome. You feel any better?”
“No.”
“Well, I tried.”
He gave a bittersweet half-laugh. “It’s not you, love. It’s really not you.”
Suddenly Erik woke up crying. Wulf fastened his pants while Cassandra picked the baby up and comforted him.
Wulf watched as Cassandra lifted her shirt up to suckle his baby. He stared in awe at the sight, which touched every feral male part of him. This was his wife and his son.
He felt primal around them. Protective. He would kill anyone who dared to threaten either one.
He sat back on the bed and cuddled Cassandra as she fed his son.
“We’ve started freezing my breast milk this morning,” Cassandra said quietly.
“Why?”
“For Erik. Dr. Lakis said he would most likely need my milk until he’s six months old. The Apollites have developed a way of preserving it since so many of their women die before their children are weaned.”
“Don’t,” he whispered against her temple, unable to bear the thought of her dying. “I … I’ve been thinking about this. A lot.”
“And?”
“I want you to go Daimon.”
She leaned back to give him a shocked stare. “Wulf? Are you serious?”
“Yes. It makes perfect sense. That way—”
“I can’t do that,” she said, interrupting him.
“Sure you can. All you have to do—”
“Is kill innocent people.” She looked horrified. “I can’t.”
“Phoebe doesn’t kill anyone.”
“But she feeds from someone who does and she has to suck his blood. No offense, yuck! Not to mention the small fact that I am no longer equipped to suck anyone’s blood and the last person I want to bite into is Urian. And while we’re at it, let’s not forget that you and your cohorts will be after me if I ever step foot out of Elysia to hunt anyone else.”
“No they won’t,” he said emphatically. “I won’t let them. I can keep you safe, Cassandra. I swear it. You can stay in the cellar with me. No one ever has to know.”
Her features softened. She laid her soft, warm hand against his cheek. “I would know, Wulf. Erik would know. Chris…”
“Please, Cassandra,” he begged, thinking of Dr. Lakis and what she had looked like. How she had aged. The pain on her face. “I don’t want you to die. Most especially not like—”
“Neither do I,” she said, interrupting him. “Believe me on that one.”
“Then fight for me. Fight for Erik.”
She flinched. “That’s so not fair. I don’t want to die any more than you want me to, but what you’re asking me is impossible. It goes against everything you have fought for and believed in. You would hate me.”
“I could never hate you.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “The divorce courts are full of husbands who thought that when they married their wives. How would you feel a year from now after I have taken several innocent lives?”
He didn’t want to think about that. He only wanted to think about them. For once in eternity he wanted to be selfish. To hell with the world. For twelve hundred years he had defended the humans.
All he wanted was one year of happiness. Was that so much to ask, for all he’d done for humanity?
“Would you at least think about it for me?” he asked quietly, even though he knew she was right.
“Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Talon’s words haunted him.
“Okay,” Cassandra whispered, but even as she said the words, she knew better.
They both jumped as the phone rang.
Thinking it was Ash since it didn’t register a caller ID or number, Wulf pulled it off his belt and answered it.
“Hi, Viking.”
His blood went cold at the sound of the thick Greek accent he remembered all too well. “Stryker?”
“Yes. Very good. I’m proud of you.”
“How did you get my number?”
If Urian had betrayed them, so help him, Wulf would rip his Daimon heart out and feed it to him.
“Ah, that’s an interesting question, isn’t it? I’ll give you credit. You have led me on quite a merry little chase around town. But I do have my resources. Luckily one of them lives right here in town.”
“Who?” Wulf demanded.
Stryker tsked at him. “The anticipation must be killing you, no? Who do I have? What do I want? Will I kill this person I hold?” He paused to make a delighted noise. “Well, I’ll have mercy on you. I think you’re smart enough to know what I’m after.”
“I won’t give you Cassandra. I don’t care who you hold.”
“Oh, it’s not Cassandra I want anymore, Viking. Use your head. She’s as good as dead in a few weeks anyway. What I want is your son and I want him now.”
“Fuck you!”
Again the Daimon tsked at him. “Is that your final answer? Don’t you even want to know whose soul I’m going to devour?”
Not when compared to his son or Cassandra. It really didn’t matter. No one on earth was more important to Wulf. But he had to know. “Who do you have?”
The phone went silent for several seconds while Wulf held his breath. It couldn’t be Cassandra, Erik, or Chris he held. Who was left?
The answer made his blood run cold.
“Wulf?”
It was Cassandra’s father.
Chapter 16
Wulf hung up the phone, his thoughts whirling. He looked at Cassandra who had gone pale. “What did he say?”
Part of him wanted to lie to her, but he couldn’t. Their relationship was beyond that. He’d never kept anything from her. He wasn’t about to start now. She had a right to know what was going on.
“Stryker wants to exchange your father for Erik. If we refuse, your father dies.”
What he didn’t tell her was that her father would probably die anyway. Given what he knew about Stryker. It was pretty much a given.
But maybe Urian would be able to keep Jefferson Peters alive since he had a vested interest in the man’s health.
Cassandra covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were large, terror filled. “What do we do? I can’t let him kill my father and I damn sure can’t give him my baby.”
Wulf stood up and kept his voice calm so as to not alarm her any more. She had her own health and Erik’s to worry over. He would take care of the rest. “There’s only one thing I know to do. I’m going to go kill Stryker.”
She looked less than convinced. “We’ve tried that. Remember? It didn’t exactly work. I seem to recall he and his men cut a swathe through you, the Were-Hunters, and Corbin.”
“I know, but the thing about us Vikings, we know how to take advantage of surprise attacks and disorient our opponents. He won’t be expecting me to attack.”
“Sure he will. He’s not stupid and he knows who he’s dealing with.”
“Then what do you want me to do?” he asked in frustration. “You want me to give him Erik and say bon appétit?”
“No!”
“Then offer me another solution.”
Cassandra tried desperately to think of something. But he was right. There was no other way.
Maybe if they could reach Urian, but he’d been gone for several days now and no one, not even Phoebe, had seen hide nor hair of him.
“When and where are you supposed to meet him?” she asked.
“Tonight at the Inferno.”
“We’ll think of something by then.”
Wulf hoped so. The alternative was completely unacceptable to him.
* * *
“I’ll go and help.”
Both Wulf and Kat looked at Chris as if he’d lost his mind.
“What are we supposed to do with you, Chris?” Wulf asked. “Lob you at them?”
Chris bristled, offended. “I’m not a baby, Wulf. I happen to know how to fight. Hell, I’ve been sparring against you for years.”
