"It's the laminas," the Daimon who had been fighting Wulf said, sneering. He turned toward the blond woman and glared. Their faces angry, the Spathis disengaged the formation and walked one by one back through it. Except for the leader.
His gaze unwavering, he glared at the blond woman. "This isn't over," he snarled.
She didn't move or flinch. It was as if the woman were made of stone. Or comatose. The Daimon leader turned around, and walked slowly through the portal. It vanished the instant he was through it.
"Kat?"Cassandra asked as she rose to her feet.
The blond woman staggered back. "Oh, God, I thought I was dead," Kat breathed, her body trembling. "Did you see them?"
Cassandra nodded as Wulf joined them.
"What were they?" Kat asked.
"Spathi Daimons," Cassandra breathed. She stared in disbelief at her companion.
"What did you do to them?"
"Nothing," Kat said, her face innocent. "I just stood here. You saw me. Why did they leave?"
Wulf looked at Kat suspiciously. There was no reason for them to leave. They had been winning the fight. For the first time in his life, he had actually felt a momentary doubt in his ability to defeat them. Corbin came up to them. "Did you get any of them?"
Wulf shook his head, wondering when Corbin had returned. He hadn't even noticed the drain on his powers but then, given the way the Spathis were kicking his ass, it was no wonder. Corbin rubbed her shoulder as if she'd been injured in the fighting. "Neither did I."
The impact of that statement wasn't lost on either of them. The two of them turned to Cassandra.
"They were after you?" Wulf asked.
Cassandra looked extremely uncomfortable. "You see to Dante and his crew," Wulf told Corbin. "I'll handle this one."
Corbin headed off while Wulf turned back to the women. "How can you remember me?"
But then the answer was so obvious that he already knew. "You're Apollite, aren't you?"
She damn sure wasn't a Were-Hunter. They had an unmistakable aura to them. Cassandra dropped her gaze to the floor as she whispered, "Half." He cursed. It figured.
"So you're the Apollite heiress they have to kill to lift their curse?"
"Yes."
"Is that why you've been fucking with my dreams? You thought I'd protect you?"
Offended, she raked him with a furious glare. "I haven't been doing anything to you, bud. You're the one who's been coming to me."
Oh, that was a good one. "Yeah, right. Well, it didn't work. My job is to kill your kind, not protect you. You're on your own, princess."
He turned and stalked away. Cassandra was torn between the desire to slap him and to cry. Instead, she went after him and pulled him to a stop. "Just for the record, I don't need you or anyone else to protect me, and the last thing I would do is ask the Satan of my people to help me. You're nothing but a killer and not a bit better than the Daimons you hunt. At least they still have their souls."
His face hardening, Wulf jerked his arm free of her grasp and left. Cassandra wanted to scream at the way this had turned out. And it was then she realized some part of herself had actually started to like him. He'd been so tender in her dreams. Kind.
So much for her thoughts of asking him about her people. He wasn't the same man she'd dreamed about. He was horrible in the flesh. Horrible! She looked about the club where tables were overturned and the Katagaria were trying to clean up the mess. What a nightmare all of this had turned into.
"C'mon," Kat said. "Let's get you home before those Daimons come back."
Yes, she wanted to go home. She wanted to forget this night had ever occurred and if Wulf came to her tonight…Well, if he thought the Spathis were tough on him, he hadn't seen tough. Stryker left his men in the hall and went to see Apollymi. He alone of the Spathis was allowed in her presence.
Her temple was the grandest building in all of Kalosis. The black marble glistened even in the dim light of their netherworld. Inside, the temple was guarded by a pair of vicious ceredons—creatures with the head of a dog, the body of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion. The two of them snarled at him, but stayed back. They had learned long ago that Stryker was one of four beings the Destroyer allowed to come near her.
He found his mother in her sitting room with two of her Charonte demons flanking her couch. Xedrix, her own personal guard, was to her right. His skin was navy blue in color, his eyes vibrant yellow. Black horns stood out from his equally blue hair and his wings were a deep blood red. He stood unmoving with one hand near the Destroyer's shoulder.
The other demon was of a lesser order, but for some reason his mother favored Sabina. She had long, green hair that complemented her yellow skin. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and her horns and wings an odd deep shade of orange.