The Dark-Hunters (641 page)

Jaden leaned back against the wall, panting from pain, nursing his right arm. “Get the others to safety and don’t worry about me.”

“I won’t leave you here.”

“You can and you will.” Jaden’s snarl matched his. “For once in your life, listen to me and do as I say. Get out of here and stop wasting time arguing over inconsequentials.”

Jared grabbed the cloth over Jaden’s left shoulder and clenched it into a tight fist. “You’re not inconsequential. Not to me.”

Jaden touched his hand. “In this battle I am. They won’t kill
me.
Now go. Save as many of the others as you can.”

Jericho didn’t know what to make of their confrontation as Jared pulled Jaden into his arms and held him close and tight. The way they held each other … they were either brothers or lovers …

Or
really
close friends.

“I will fix this,” Jared said, releasing him. “Somehow, I’m going to make this right. I swear to you.”

Jaden shoved him away. “Dammit, go!”

Jericho turned his attention to Phobos, who had Deimos cradled in his arms.

“He’s alive,” Phobos said. “Barely.”

“Get him out of here.”

Phobos didn’t argue. He teleported out immediately.

Jared was another matter. He lingered as if he couldn’t bear to leave Jaden. Guilt, fear and pain were clearly etched onto his face.

But as a rush of demons assaulted them, Jericho’s attention was turned from Jared to survival. He clotheslined the first gallu to reach him, then grabbed the next one. They rolled to the ground. Jericho punched him hard in the face before he rose to catch the next one who was descending on him.

He blasted that one back with his powers, but not before the demon delivered a blast of his own. It caught him hard in the chest and sent him reeling.

Jared cut the demon down with one fierce sword stroke.

As Jericho rose to his feet, he felt a chill down his spine.

Noir was here.

He sensed it even before the god appeared in the room, three feet from him.

Noir tsked as he raked him with a repugnant glare. “You have no idea what you’ve started.”

Jericho sneered at him. “Neither do you, asshole. All you had to do was play nice with me. But you thought it would be more fun to kick me around, drug me and turn on me. Bad move on your part.”

Noir laughed. “Turning on you is what people do best. Haven’t you learned that yet? You have no friends. You have nothing.”

Against his will an image of Delphine went through his mind.

“Her?” Noir said derisively as if he could read his thoughts. “Delphine doesn’t care about you. She was sent by Zeus to either seduce you to their cause or kill you.”

Those words slammed into him. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t do that. She was above it.

“It’s true,” Noir insisted. “Ask Jaden.”

Jericho turned to look at Jaden, who then glanced away as if he couldn’t bear to tell him the truth.

Noir laughed. “You’re such a gullible fool. So much for the brave Cratus. You’re pathetic. You sacrificed yourself for a woman who betrayed you. One who will always betray you. She is nothing, and neither are you.”

Pain shredded Jericho’s abdomen. Looking down, he saw the sword that Noir had stabbed him with.

Noir grabbed his chin, holding it in a tight grip before he jerked the sword out. Jericho gasped at the raw fire that ripped through him.

“I should have known you’d be nothing but a waste of time. So much for commanding my army.”

Jericho staggered back as Jared ran forward to attack.

The two of them went at each other like Titans. Jaden started for him.

“Stay out of it, maggot!” Noir warned.

Jaden didn’t listen. But as soon as he reached Jericho’s side, a light flashed. One that pierced Jaden, lifting him off his feet to pin him to the wall like some sort of sick lab experiment.

Jaden cried out in pain as he glared at Noir. “If I ever get this collar off, you are so fucking dead.”

Those words barely registered in Jericho’s mind as he tried to use his powers to heal himself.

It didn’t work.

How could that be? Grimacing, he tried again, and again nothing happened.

Noir shot a blast at him that sizzled over his body. “You’re pathetic.”

Jericho tried to stand, but something knocked him back down. He armored his body.

Not even that helped.

Jared couldn’t get to Noir—Azura had flashed in to block his way. The two of them locked swords and clashed as Noir stalked toward Jericho.

I’m not going to die like this.…

By all the power in the Source, he wouldn’t go down in this hell hole.

Noir stabbed him through the back, pinning him to the floor. “Ah … did I miss your heart?”

Jericho hissed as Noir jerked the sword out of his spine. Rolling, he tried to kick him off. It was useless. He closed his eyes and summoned all the power he could from the Source.

Noir laughed at him. “You didn’t really think we’d
fully
restored your powers, did you?” He stabbed him through the chest, narrowly missing his heart.

Jericho cried out in pain.

Twisting the sword, Noir yanked it out. “This time, I won’t miss.” He plunged it down.

Just as it would have struck him, a blur whizzed past Jericho, catching Noir about the waist and knocking him away.

It was Delphine.

She manifested a staff and used it to drive him back. Jericho was in awe of her as she engaged Noir as an equal. Every time he lunged, she parried and struck a fresh blow. Her movements were a symphony of grace and agility, and her successful hits were pissing Noir off.

She planted the staff on the ground, then used it to vault her entire weight into Noir’s stomach. He grunted, falling back.

Delphine rushed back to Jericho. “Hold on, baby,” she breathed before she teleported him to Ash’s home in Katoteros—the Atlantean heaven realm.

He lay on the floor with Delphine above him, her brow knitted in worry. Noir’s words rang in his ears.

Was everything about her a lie? Had she betrayed him?

“Why did you come back for me?”

She looked incredulous at his question. “I didn’t want to see you hurt.”

“You don’t even know me.”

She spoke to him then, but he couldn’t hear her words for the pain of his body. Instead, he felt the darkness creeping in, swallowing him whole.

Delphine felt her heart clench as Jericho’s eyes rolled back in his head and he expelled a long breath.

Terrified he was dead, she leaned down, trying to feel for a heartbeat. There wasn’t one.…

No, wait. It was there. Barely. His breathing was faint, but it, too, was audible.

Thank the gods for it.

“They made one helluva mess of him.”

She looked up at the blond man who worked as Acheron’s steward. Alexion. That was his name. “Is there a bed I can take him to while he heals?”

Alexion scowled. “You don’t want to transport him to Olympus with the others?”

She shook her head. “He hates it there. Please. I can heal him, but he needs to rest.”

Alexion touched his arm and Jericho vanished.

She opened her mouth to question him about his actions, but before she could say a word, he sent her to the same room where Jericho was lying on a large, intricately carved black bed. The white linens were quickly stained by Jericho’s blood.

Alexion flashed in beside her. “I don’t know what to do with him in terms of those wounds. I thought he was a god.” Which meant Jericho shouldn’t be bleeding like this. He should have been able to heal himself.

But he was a special case and no one knew that better than she did.

“He is.”

“Then why’s he bleeding like that?”

She wasn’t sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with his human heart. Maybe Zeus had kept him from healing so that he could kill Jericho off at a later date. Zeus could be cold and tricky that way.

“I don’t know.” Though she knew Acheron trusted this man, she didn’t know him at all. The last thing she’d ever do was tell him about Jericho’s weakness. No one else needed to know that, and she would guard it to her grave.

“Do you need anything?” Alexion asked.

“No, thank you. I can tend him.”

He inclined his head to her. “All right. I’m going to see to the others then. Call me if you need anything.”

Alone with Jericho, Delphine used her powers to remove his shirt. She grimaced at the sight of his wounds and scars. Alexion was right, Noir
had
made a terrible mess …

Stabbing for his heart. One of the wounds had barely missed it.

She went cold as that realization sank in.

Noir knew. Somehow, someone had told him that Jericho could be killed by piercing his heart. There was no other reason for him to have been stabbed like this.

But who would have told him that?

Why?

If they failed to stop Noir, all of them would suffer. Olympus would fall and no one would be safe.

But as Jericho had said, most people were for sale. Those who weren’t were few and far between. Maybe the god involved thought he could stay on Noir’s good side and avoid being the target. Or maybe he had offered Jericho up as a sign of good faith. Or maybe he just hated Jericho that badly.

Who knew?

Heartsick with the thought of someone being so cold, she used her powers to seal his wounds, then manifested water and cloth to clean the blood away. As she ran the cloth over the sharp ridges of his abdomen, she paused at the sight of the scars there.

Jagged and deep, they matched the one on his face.

She winced at the sight. Zeus. She knew those scars. They were from his lightning bolts. Sickened at the pain Jericho had been through, she sat on the bed and traced the line of the scar on his face to his lips. Even while unconscious, his power was unmistakable.

And he’d come back for her to save her.

His words to Phobos rang in her ears. Yes, he’d gone to save others, but he had made it a point to come after her, too. Even before his sister. She had taken precedence. Tears of tender gratitude made her gaze hazy.

“You are so fierce,” she whispered.

Yet for her, he bled. He, who’d sworn he wouldn’t cross Noir, had done so. Not just because Noir had threatened him. She didn’t believe that. From the very beginning, he’d protected her in a way few people had.

Jericho hated the world, yet he’d been her self-appointed guardian.

She took his hand into hers and stared at the dark, scarred skin. Rough and calloused, it was almost twice the size of hers. These were the hands of a killer and of a lover, and they belonged to a man who captivated every part of her.

His eyes fluttered open.

“Hi,” she breathed, grateful to see him awake.

Anger furrowed his brow. “Am I on Olympus?”

“No, you’re in Katoteros. I wouldn’t let them take you there.”

Jericho tightened his grip on her hand as his gaze turned stormy. “Why are you being nice to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I have threatened and intimidated you. We barely know each other, and yet you’re being kind. Why?”

“Do I have to have a reason?”

His gaze was dark and accusatory. “Everyone lies. Everyone’s for sale. What do you gain by your kindness?”

She was baffled by his hostility. “I have no motivation for it other than to repay you for saving me.”

Those words seemed to anger him more. “So what you’re telling me is that you didn’t make a deal with Zeus to seduce me?”

CHAPTER 11

Jericho watched the shock and panic play across Delphine’s face. He knew the look of someone having been caught red-handed and it disgusted him that he’d been so easily duped. How could he have ever believed in her?

“So it is true.” Curling his lip, he jerked his hand away from her grasp. “I should have known.”

As he started to get up, she shoved him back onto the bed almost roughly. He’d never seen her really fired up before, but right now her eyes smoldered. “Don’t you dare take that sanctimonious high road and leave, you stubborn man. Yes, Zeus told me to seduce you. I won’t deny it. And so did your sister, for that matter. But when have I ever listened to them? Zeus also told me to capture Arik, and I didn’t do that, either, as you have seen.”

“You did seduce
me.
” He hated the note of pain in his voice that he couldn’t suppress. Most of all, he hated the fact that he cared enough about her to be hurt. After all these centuries of trying to protect himself, she’d wormed her way past his defenses and had struck a blow to his heart that he wanted to hurt her over.

She looked aghast. “How? By being nice to you? Is that all it took? For some reason, I thought seduction was a lot harder than that.”

That ignited his own wrath. “Don’t you dare patronize me.”

“I’m not the one patronizing you, Jericho. You are if you think I’ve seduced you. All I’ve done is treat you like a human.”

“Then how pathetic am I that that’s all it took?”

She hit his stomach. Not hard; it was more like she wanted to get his attention. But it was enough to ignite his anger.

“You’re not pathetic,” she growled. “You’re not worthless. But you are hurt. Maybe even a little confused and probably a lot of deranged, but not pathetic.”

“Deranged?”

“Well, you did barge into hell to save a woman who was dumb enough to get caught … how many times now? Personally I wouldn’t have saved me after the first time. That to me says you’re deranged.”

Jericho wanted to yell at her. He wanted to deny her and be angry. To hurt and curse her very existence. Yet as he looked at her, all he saw was a perfect mouth that needed kissing and a beautiful smile that warmed his heart. He saw green eyes with flecks of gold set into a face that haunted him.

How did she do it? How could he want to strangle her one minute and then be fine the next? But her words cut straight through his anger, diminishing it until he was lost.

For the first time in centuries he didn’t feel pathetic or worthless, and it wasn’t because he had his powers restored. It was because she saw him as something more than that.