The Dark-Hunters (451 page)

“I was told that you’re a Phobotory Skotos. I need to know if you’ve ever been inside the dreams of demons.”

He hesitated before he answered. “What of it?”

“I need information about what scares one of them.”

No sooner had she spoken than two more skeletons appeared—both holding barbed whips.

Kat cringed while Xypher backed up, eyeing the two of them warily. She would tell them to go away, but she held no authority here to order them, and what little power she had left she needed to conserve until the Tablet’s effects wore off.

When the first skeleton swung the whip, Xypher dodged it. But it didn’t do him any good. Vines grew out of the earthen ceiling to wrap themselves around his arms. He fought as best he could, but in the end, they dragged him up and held him for his beating.

Cursing in frustration, Xypher leaned his head back and tensed an instant before they both lashed him with the whips. He tried to kick at the skeletons, but it did no good.

Finally, he lifted his head to stare at her. “You want my help? Get me out of here.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then I don’t know anything.” He hissed as they lashed him again.

Kat turned away, sickened by what was going on. He was right: she couldn’t leave him like this. It was cruel beyond cruel. She didn’t know what he’d done, but surely it didn’t warrant this amount of abuse.

Very well, she could hope for the best and try to negotiate. “Hades?”

The dark god appeared before her. Tall and lean, Hades was gorgeous. His black hair curled becomingly around his shoulders as he eyed her with an amused gleam in his eyes. “You again? Don’t you have anything better to do than chafe my tolerance?”

She frowned at him. “I haven’t seen you in more than a decade.”

“Really? It seems like yesterday. Oh well.” He stepped around her to grimace at the skeletons. “What are you? Girls? Learn to hit like you mean it. Damn, my wife could beat him harder than that.”

Kat winced as the skeletons picked up speed and vigor. “Could you please stop with the beating?”

Hades scoffed. “He’s being punished. Hello? This is Tartarus, remember the purpose of this part of the Underworld? We’re not really warm and fluffy over here.”

“And I need a favor from him, which he will not do so long as you’re beating him.”

Hades looked less than pleased. “What favor could you possibly need from something like him?”

“Information about a dream.”

He dismissed her request. “Get it from one of the other Oneroi.”

“I tried, but they sent me to Xypher. They said he was the only one who could help me.”

“Poor you, then.”

“No, Hades,” she said sternly, wanting him to understand what was at stake. “Poor all of us. The Sumerian gallu demons are breaking out and they’re about to unleash the Dimme. We are currently powerless to stop them, and I need someone who can get me inside their heads and tell me how to stop them.”

Hades held his hand up. The skeletons stopped moving. “Do you know what happened the last time one of the Dimme went free?”

“No, but given what I’ve seen of the gallu, I imagine it was rather rough.”

“You have no idea.” He left her to approach Xypher. The only way anyone could tell he was hurt other than his wounds was by his ragged breathing. “Do you know about the gallu?”

Xypher didn’t answer.

Hades punched him fiercely in the side.

“Hey!” Kat said, closing the distance between them. “I think he’s had enough.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

Xypher spat at Hades, only the spittle didn’t make it to the god. It reversed course and went straight to Xypher.

Hades smirked at him. “Nice try, dick. Think you’re the first one to attempt that? Now answer my question.”

She couldn’t believe the angry look on Xypher’s face. He was practically goading Hades. “Why should I tell you shit?”

“Because I can make your stay here even worse than it already is.”

“I look forward to it.”

Hades drew back, but Kat grabbed his hand. “Please, Hades, can we try this my way?”

“You’re a fool, Katra. He only respects violence. It’s why he’s here. Did you know it took eleven Oneroi to kill him? Eleven, and they barely survived it.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, “and the last Dream-Hunter I sent in after the gallu was killed by them.”

By his face she could tell it wasn’t news to him. “Kytara. She’s in the Elysian Fields now.”

Kat was grateful for that at least. She couldn’t stand the thought of Kytara being punished like this. “I need someone who can go into the demons’ sleep and not be taken out by them.”

Hades cut a glare at Xypher. “He is already dead.”

“Yes.” Kat stepped around Hades so that she could speak directly to Xypher. “If we give you back your life, will you help us?”

“No!” Hades growled. “I will not allow something as monstrous as him to walk free again.”

“What did he do that was so awful?”

“He tortured people, Katra. He drove them mad with nightmares and didn’t care who he hurt. He is without conscience or morals.”

“I don’t want my life back,” Xypher snarled, interrupting them. “You can shove that up both your asses.”

Kat was baffled by his anger. “Then what do you want?”

“My freedom.”

Hades snorted. “Freedom for you? Never.”

“Hades, please,” Kat begged. “I know you’re able to negotiate. Do I need to get Persephone in on this?”

At the mention of his wife, Hades tensed. Since Kat and Persephone were longtime friends, Seph always sided with her and it never boded well for Hades.

Luckily, he knew that. “Fine, what do you want?”

Kat took a deep breath in relief that she was going to win this. She looked up at the Skotos. It was a gamble she was taking here, but with any luck it might work out. “Xypher, if you will help me, Hades will set you free and make you human.” With him a human, they could always kill him again if he went back to being Rogue.

There was doubt in his eyes, but it was mixed with a tiny amount of hope. “You swear to free me from here?”

She nodded. “By the river Styx.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

Smiling, Kat turned toward the god. “Hades?”

He hesitated as if debating whether or not he should agree. When he spoke, his voice was stern. “If he helps you, I will grant his freedom. But he will only be human for a month. If at the end of the month he hasn’t shown himself worthy of humanity, he comes right back here.”

By Xypher’s expression it was obvious he wanted to tell Hades where to shove his pact. But in the end Xypher knew this was the best he could hope for.

“Fine. Let me go and I’ll help.”

The vines released him so suddenly that he fell against the floor. He rose slowly to tower over Kat. Even wounded, he made a formidable sight. “What do you need?”

“I need to know where the Tablet of Destiny is and I need a weakness for the demon Kessar … and I need it yesterday.”

Xypher nodded before he looked at Hades. “I need all my powers returned to me.”

He curled his lip. “You’re dead.”

“And I need my Oneroi powers back if I’m to help her.”

Hades narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think you can escape me even with them. You made a bargain and you are bound by it.”

“And I will abide by it.”

Hades snapped his fingers.

Relief flashed across Xypher’s brow before he dressed himself. When his gaze met Kat’s, she saw sincerity and gratitude there. “I’ll be in touch.” He vanished.

Kat smiled in contentment until Hades shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I think I do.”

“No, Kat, you don’t. Did you even bother to ask anyone why he was served with a death sentence?”

“You said it yourself. He was a Skotos who refused to be reined in.”

“Yes, he was. He would also hunt down humans and terrorize them until they went mad from it. Not a few people, Kat. We’re talking more than a hundred. His last victim set himself on fire, trying to escape the nightmares Xypher had caused.”

Kat covered her mouth as horror filled her. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because you said you knew what you were doing. Nice to know you lie like everyone else.”

That stung on more levels than she wanted to acknowledge. She hadn’t meant to lie to anyone, and she hated the fact that Hades knew just where to attack someone.

But she wouldn’t let him know that he’d struck a nerve. “Thanks for your help, Hades.”

He inclined his head before he left her alone with her own fear over what she’d done. By trying to make things better, she had a bad feeling she’d just unleashed another menace into the world.

At the rate she was going, who needed to fear the gallu? It appeared she was the biggest threat to humanity.

Her guilt churning, she left to go tell Sin the latest good news.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kat
flashed back to Simi’s room first to make sure the two of them were fine, especially Simi. She didn’t know if the demon was friendly with Kytara or not, but experience had taught her that Simi took the death of her friends extremely hard—it was something Kat should have thought of before she’d sent her to Olympus with Kytara’s body.

But as soon as Kat entered the room, she realized that she’d worried over nothing. Xirena had ordered room service, and the two of them were steadily eating their way through it.

“Fighting makes a Charonte really hungry,” Xirena explained as she paused while eating a hamburger.

That worked for Kat, who wasn’t going to pursue the matter any further than the fact that the demons were occupied and she hadn’t scarred Simi.

Kat left them and went to Sin’s penthouse. She found him lying sprawled across the bed, fully dressed. It looked as if he’d just laid down for a second, only to succumb to exhaustion. Her heart broke for him. He’d been through so much in the last couple of days.

Poor baby.

Using her limited powers, she stripped his clothes so that he could lie more comfortably. She bit her lip at the choice sight he made naked. He really did have one of the best bodies she’d ever seen on a man. From the broadness of his battle-scarred shoulders to the deep indentation of his abs, he was yummy. And it took all her willpower not to nip at that bronzed skin with her teeth. Really, he was as tempting as sin.

She stifled a laugh at her bad pun before she brushed her hand through his silken curls.

“How did it go?”

The deep rumble of his voice made her jump. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was until you touched me.” Yawning, he rolled over onto his back.

Kat arched a brow at the sight of another part of his body that had also awakened. “You sure you’re not Priapus?”

He snorted at that but made no move to cover himself. “Last I heard, that fool was trapped in a book to be a sex slave to women. Definitely not me—I can only seem to satisfy one woman.” He gave her a meaningful look.

His expression made her weak with hope. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

Sin caught himself an instant before he said what he thought—
I can only wish that I could stay mad at you.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare speak them. The last thing he needed was for her to know exactly how much control she had over him. That knowledge could only come back to bite him, most likely on the ass.

“Maybe,” he whispered as she leaned over him to place a gentle kiss to his lips.

“I meant what I said earlier. I’ll never hurt you again, Sin.”

“And I want to believe you.… I know you mean it when you say it, but my experience hasn’t taught me that people can be trusted.”

Shaking her head, she began kissing her way down his chest. Sin sucked his breath in as his head swam from the heat of her lips on his skin. There was truly no better feeling than to have her with him, touching him like this. It was what made her so dangerous to him. He craved her, and when people craved something this badly it made them incredibly stupid.

And even knowing that, he was mesmerized by her as he watched her working her way over his chest. Her soft hand cupped him gently. He knew he was lost to her. Lost to the feelings she evoked as she made love to him.

He arched his back as she took him in her mouth. His heart racing, he cupped her head in his hand. He was in heaven at the moment, but he couldn’t help wondering how long before it turned into hell.

Every woman in his life had taught him some vital lesson. His mother had taught him hatred. His wife scorn. His daughter love, and Artemis betrayal.

What would Katra teach him when all was said and done? That was what he was terrified of. He’d let her into a place in his heart that he’d never allowed another being.

And she had the power to destroy him.

Kat groaned at the taste of Sin, at the hooded look of pleasure on his face as he watched her. She wasn’t really sure what she was doing, but he seemed to be enjoying it and that was all that mattered to her. She wanted him to trust her even though she didn’t deserve it, and she wanted to make amends for what she’d done to him.

If she ever could.

She’d always been so afraid of giving herself over to a man, of allowing one to hold any part of her, that she couldn’t believe how easily Sin had wormed his way into her heart. What was it about him that touched her so deeply? That made her want to do anything to please him?

It was insane, but there was no denying what she felt. No denying the joy that something as miniscule as a smile from him could evoke.

His eyes were on fire as he pulled her up his body to kiss her. He rolled with her until she was beneath him. She sensed a desperation within him, an unnamed need.

But when he entered her, all she could feel from him was what she felt inside herself—the love she had for him. It was incredible.

Sin made love to her furiously as she ran her hands over his back and lifted her hips to drive him in even deeper. She was as hungry for him as he was for her, and that stunned him. Sure, he’d had other lovers more skilled and those who practically raped him in their fervor. But that wasn’t the same as what he had with Kat. This wasn’t two people scratching a mutual itch. This was two people who cared for each other.