The Dark-Hunters, page 385
“Aphrodite!” Xypher shouted at the ceiling. “Get your skinny ass back here!”
Simone scoffed. “I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t respond to that.” She narrowed her gaze at Xypher. “Where did you go to charm school, anyway? Prison?”
He glared at her as if he could imagine his hands wrapped around her throat. That was okay by her since she currently held the same fantasy about choking him … preferably with one of the bracelets they were joined by.
Julian let out a tired breath as he put his hands on his hips. “I hope you’re friends with Acheron. He’s the only Atlantean I know of.”
Xypher didn’t looked overly thrilled by that prospect. “Give me his number.”
Simone arched a brow at Xypher. “Can’t you just call him out of thin air?”
Julian laughed. “Good luck. He’s the only person I know who can be crankier than my mother or Xypher. You don’t summon Acheron. You ask nicely.”
“I’m so sick of the gods playing with my life,” Xypher snarled as Julian handed him a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it.
A glimmer of something flashed in Julian’s eyes. “I know the feeling. But sometimes salvation from them can come at the most unlikely time.” His gaze went to Simone. “And from the most unlikely people.”
Xypher rolled his eyes. “Don’t sell me your bullshit. I’m on a countdown here. In twenty-two days I go back to hell. My only goal is to make sure that this time, I don’t go alone.”
“Then I wish you luck.” Julian showed them to the door. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
Simone thanked him before she led the way across the porch. She handed Xypher her cell phone as they walked to the car—she was actually surprised he didn’t poof them back into it.
Then again, he was distracted. He didn’t say a word. He merely took the phone and dialed the number with an irritable expression that was somehow inviting.
“Of course you’re not answering…” he said in a guttural tone. Then in a more normal voice he said, “Acheron, it’s Xypher. When you check messages, I need you to call me back at this number. I have a situation and I need you to contact me ASAP.” He closed the phone and returned it to her.
Simone put it in her back pocket. “You think he’ll be in touch?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She pulled him to a stop on the walkway. “Do you have to be so surly over every question?”
“Do you have to be so damned perky? Was it too much to ask that I get chained to a depressed mute or one of those chicks who dresses in black and writes bad poetry?”
She’d never been more offended in her life. “What is wrong with you?”
His eyes flared in the darkness. “Be grateful, human, that you could never understand.”
Understand what? That he was an asshole? There was no excuse in that.
“You know, you’re not the only one with problems in this equation. I happen to have a life and a job. The last thing I need is to be pulling around a three-hundred-pound gorilla with a chip on his shoulder so big it’s a wonder he’s not hunchbacked from it.”
“I don’t weigh three hundred pounds.”
She arched a single brow at his retort. “No denying the gorilla part?”
“No.”
That took a lot of the bravado out of her. It was hard to get the upper hand when he seemed so content to be a monster.
“Um, Simone?” There was a note of fear in Jesse’s voice.
She turned toward him. “Yes?”
“What is that?”
She looked to see what he was pointing at. Tall and lithe, it had eyes that were glowing red in the darkness.
And it was headed straight for them.
THREE
Xypher jerked her toward Jesse. “Both of you stay back.”
Simone wasn’t about to argue given the size of the creature headed toward them and the fact that his skin appeared to be boiling and smoking.
He was dressed in a flowing black cape that obscured everything but those creepy red eyes. He went for Xypher so fast, she could barely see it.
The two of them tore into each other.
Xypher flipped the demon, who rolled and shot a blast of fire at him. He deflected the fire, then flung his hand out as if to return it to Smokey the Demon.
It didn’t work.
The demon laughed. “Poor Xypher. Having trouble?”
“At kicking your ass, Kaiaphas? Never.”
The cloak vanished. In the darkness, the demon’s boiling skin articulated into something that looked like leather. His face mutated into that of a gargoyle while the cotton of his clothes turned into sleek black armor that clung close to the muscular contours of his body. Still those eyes glowed like bright embers from a fire.
Kaiaphas pulled out a short sword and twirled it around his body before he lunged at Xypher who sidestepped the blade. A silver vambrace appeared on the arm that wasn’t wearing the bracelet. Xypher used it to twist the blade out of the demon’s hand. But before he could capture it, Kaiaphas caught it in his left hand and stabbed at him again.
Spinning around, Xypher shoved the demon. Kaiaphas staggered, then caught himself.
Kaiaphas laughed. “You’ve improved.”
“Yeah, little boys grow up eventually.” Xypher kicked at him, but Kaiaphas caught his leg and snatched it up.
Xypher turned a midair somersault to land on his feet. He ran at the demon and caught him about the waist. They fell back, still fighting.
Simone wanted to run, but remembered that so long as she wore the bracelet she couldn’t go far without killing them both. “Find a weapon,” she whispered loudly to Jesse as she started looking around for a tree limb or something she could use to help Xypher beat back the demon.
Suddenly Jesse cursed.
Simone turned to look at the combatants to see what had caused Jesse’s reaction. Faster than she could blink, Kaiaphas twirled the sword in his hand and stabbed Xypher in the stomach so deep, the point of it came out his back.
Xypher gasped as blood pooled around the sword hilt and flowed over Kaiaphas’ hand.
The demon laughed. “Apparently your skills didn’t improve enough, eh?” He head-butted Xypher. The motion of it caused Xypher to stagger back. As he did so, the sword was jerked out of his body.
He fell to one knee on the ground while Kaiaphas lifted his sword for the coup de grâce.
Simone ground her teeth as she saw her mother and younger brother dying in her mind all over again. An unfounded rage consumed her so that she could no longer think rationally.
In that moment, the demon became the focus of twenty years of hopeless frustration with a justice system that had failed her and a rage so bitter, she could taste it.
Her only thought to save Xypher, Simone grabbed the pepper spray from her coat pocket and ran at the demon. Shoving him back with all her strength, she held her breath and doused him with the spray.
Kaiaphas coughed and spat. His eyes flashing, he started for her.
Simone braced herself for his attack, intending to fight back with her bare hands. But before he reached her, something knocked him away.
A flash of blond hair confirmed it was Julian with a sword in his hand. He put himself between them and forced the demon away from her and Jesse.
While he engaged the demon, she ran to Xypher, who lay on the ground covered in blood. His face was pale as he visibly shook. Blood poured over his hands without slowing.
“Shh,” Simone said, pulling his hand away so that she could see the jagged wound. “I’ve got you, Xypher. Don’t worry.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Jesse, pop the trunk and bring me my medical bag.”
Jesse ran to the car while she examined the wound in Xypher’s stomach. It looked gruesome. And the instant she touched it, he cursed. His nostrils flared and she was sure he’d hit her.
Fortunately for her, he passed out before he could make good on that unspoken threat.
She glanced up to see Julian engaged in an impressive swordfight. They moved so fast, all she could see was the sparks that flared whenever their blades met. The sound of metal on metal was deafening and drowned everything but their grunts and insults.
Then in one fluid motion, Julian dodged the demon and shoved him sideways before he stabbed him in the ribs.
Staggering back, the demon hissed, showing a full set of jagged teeth before he dissolved into the darkness. All that was left behind was the stench of sulfur and something that reminded her of treacle.
Julian cocked his head as if trying to sense something. He turned in her direction at the same time Jesse brought the bag to her. She focused on stanching Xypher’s blood. It wasn’t easy, especially since she was starting to get light-headed herself.
“You okay?” Jesse asked.
“I’m not really sure.”
Julian knelt beside her. “We need to get him out of the public eye, if you take my meaning.”
She certainly did. They’d been lucky no car had driven by during their fight … or worse, that a neighbor’s dog hadn’t needed walking. “I couldn’t agree more.”
A heartbeat later, they were inside Julian’s house again, in an upstairs bedroom that was decorated in greens and cream and furnished with nice Victorian antiques.
She and Julian stood to the side of the queen-size bed while Xypher lay on top of it.
Jesse popped in a second later and wrinkled his nose. “That is one grody wound. It gotta hurt.”
Julian grimaced as he saw the blood pouring out of Xypher’s side.
Without a word, she ripped open Xypher’s shirt. She sucked her breath in and remembered one of the advantages to her job. Decedents didn’t bleed like this on the examination table. She hadn’t tended a living patient since she’d been an intern in college.
Julian looked over her shoulder. “How’s he doing?”
“That … thing, whatever it was, made a mess of him. The sword went all the way through his body.”
Julian grimaced. “Yeah, wounds like that seriously hurt. Had a few myself back in the day.”
She decided to let that remark pass without comment while she checked the blood flow as best she could. “I really need to take him to a hospital, but having worked in the ER for four years, I know the questions they’ll ask that we can’t answer.”
“Hang on, I’ll take you to one.”
She opened her mouth to protest.
Julian held his hand up to silence her before she could even start. “It’s a safe place, called Sanctuary. The hospital ward was set up just for situations like this. It’s a place where those who aren’t quite human can go to for help. It’ll have everything you need, and there won’t be any questions about where either one of you came from.”
That made her feel much better. “Good. ’Cause unless he starts healing by himself immediately, he needs surgery … quickly. Or he will die.”
Death was a possibility she’d like to avoid.
Julian looked down at the blood-soaked bed and winced. “I should have taken you there before I messed up the comforter. It’s what I get for trying to pass as a human all the time. Sometimes I forget my own powers.”
The next thing she knew, they were in what appeared to be a doctor’s office. The entire interior was made of steel, except for the white-tiled floors and white walls that were lined with glass-covered shelves of medicine. There was also a padded steel examining bed next to three trays covered with surgical and examination tools. As promised, it held everything needed to tend to Xypher.
Julian stood beside her, holding Xypher in his arms. No small feat since the man was a couple of inches taller than him.
“I’m so disoriented,” Simone breathed as a wave of dizziness hit her. She put her arm out against the case closest to her to get her bearings.
Ignoring her, Julian bellowed, “Carson?”
A door on her left opened to reveal a tall, Native American man who glared at them. His long black hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail and his features were sharp, reminding her of a bird of prey. “Don’t yell. I have extremely sensitive hearing.”
“Sorry,” Julian said quickly. “But we have a situation. Carson, meet Simone. Simone, meet Carson. He’s a surgeon.”
“Oh, thank God,” she said, grateful there was another doctor here. “I only operate on the dead.”
Carson didn’t comment on that. Instead, his dark gaze went to Xypher. “And the guy bleeding would be…?”
“A Dream-Hunter.”
Carson’s jaw dropped at Julian’s answer. “They bleed on the human plane?”
“Apparently so and rather badly.”
Carson gave a curt nod before he crossed the room to open a door behind them. “Bring him in here and put him on the table.”
Julian didn’t hesitate to obey.
Simone followed Julian into a bare operating room. Like the outer room, it was clean and sterile with steel furniture and large lamps over the surgical table. It looked like any operating room she’d ever seen and she was impressed with the quality of the state-of-the-art tools and monitors. In fact, she knew several hospitals that would kill to be this up-to-date.
While Julian placed Xypher on the table, she headed to the small room on her right where a prep sink waited so that she could scrub down.
Carson entered right behind her. “You look like you know what you’re doing.”
“I’m an ME and I thought you might need an assistant for surgery.” She dried her hands on one of the green towels that were stacked on a table beside the sink.
He inclined his head before he began scrubbing his hands, too. “Good woman. My usual assistant is off today.”
Julian came to the doorway. His clothes were covered in blood. “If neither of you needs me, I’m heading back to my house to do damage control on the bed … and pray none of my neighbors saw the major battle we had in the street with our friendly neighborhood demon.”
Carson snorted. “Please, no more getting caught on videotape and God save us from Webcams. I swear I hate this modern age.”
Simone ignored his caustic comment as she met Julian’s gaze. “Good luck and thank you for all your help.”
Julian smiled at her, then vanished while Carson wheeled a table of instruments back toward the other room.
“Don’t we need a mask and scrubs?” Simone asked him.
He shook his head. “I wash my hands out of habit. Basically your friend here should be immune to the typical germs that can kill a human. What will infect him would be things we couldn’t protect against anyway.”
“Oh.” Simone moved to the opposite side of the table and helped to remove her temporary pressure bandage from Xypher’s side. She was a bit surprised that Carson didn’t remove Xypher’s jeans, but he seemed content to leave him partially dressed.
Since she’d never operated on anyone, never mind someone who wasn’t exactly human, she kept her backseat surgeon under wraps. Obviously the man knew what he was doing or Julian wouldn’t have brought them here. Not to mention, no one would have paid for all this equipment unless they knew how to use it.
Right?
She hoped so. Stepping back, she watched as Carson opened him up and started working on the wound. She cringed at the damage done. His arteries and tissue were a nightmare.
Poor man … or whatever he was.
A twinge of guilt went through her as she considered the way he’d put himself between the demon and her. He’d taken the brunt of the fight—just like he’d done in the alley so that she wouldn’t be harmed.
In spite of all his gruff bluster, he had heart and at least a basic code of decency. That realization softened her toward him. He actually wasn’t that bad. And as she stared at him, a part of her was warmed by his consideration.
Carson reached for a clamp on the stainless steel tray. “What was he cut with?”
“A short sword.”
He shook his head. “It looks more like a chain saw got him. Look at the damage here.” He held the skin back so that she could get a full view.
Simone reached for another clamp to hand him since Xypher was bleeding so badly. Carson was right. It was awful. “I don’t know if this helps or matters, but the man wielding the sword was some kind of demon.”
“Do you know from what pantheon?”
This had to be the most screwed-up conversation she’d ever had. There weren’t many people you could tell about a demon appearing in the street and then attacking you who would accept it with such a simple question. It should be interrupted with laughter.
And lots of alcohol.
“Uh, no. But Xypher called him Kaiaphas.”
Carson cursed.
Simone looked up at the unexpected anger the name caused. “You know him?”
“Part Greek, part Sumerian, all pissed off. It’s a wonder any of you survived. But the real question is, why did he attack you guys? It’s not his normal style.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kaiaphas is a doleodai. A bound demon. He can’t act on his own, he has to be commanded by someone.”
That was an interesting tidbit. Simone wanted to laugh at the absurdity of everything that had happened to her since lunch. “How on earth did I get caught up in this? All I wanted to do was check out a simple crime scene and go home. No … I take that back. All I wanted was to have a ham and cheese sandwich with an old friend. Now I’ve been dragged into the middle of some Greek-god conflict and it’s not even dinnertime yet. I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Carson smiled. “I’ve had those days.”
“Sure you have.”
“No, really. You should follow me around and document all the weirdness I get dragged into.”
“Such as?”
He took the clamp from her hand. “Well, there was the time Marvin, our former mascot monkey, ran from his owner, Wren—he’s a tiger that can take human form—and went upstairs to sleep with the dragon. Turns out our resident dragon is allergic to monkeys—who knew or could imagine that? Max broke out with a rash in areas I still cringe over, and if you mention the word ‘monkey’ to him to this day, he shoots fire at you. Then there was the time when … oh, I better not tell that. If Dev catches wind of it, he’ll rip my heart out and eat it.”
