No, she wasn't. She was… She was things he dared not name.
"You're an Apollite," he said forcefully.
"I'm a woman, Wulf," she said simply, her voice filled with emotion. "I cry and I mourn. I laugh and I love. Just like my mother did. I don't see a difference between me and anyone else on this planet."
He met her gaze and the fire in his eyes scorched her. "I do, Cassandra. I see the difference."
His words cut her to the quick. "Then we have nothing more to talk about. We are enemies. It's all we can ever be."
Wulf took a deep breath as she spoke a truth that couldn't be changed. Since the day Apollo had cursed his own children, Dark-Hunters and Apollites had been mortal enemies.
"I know," he said softly, his throat tight with that realization. He didn't want to be enemies, not with her. But how could they ever be anything else? He hadn't chosen this life on his own, but he had given his word to live it now. They were enemies. And it killed him inside.
"Let me show you where you can sleep." He led her to the wing opposite Chris's where she could have all the privacy she wanted. Cassandra didn't say anything as Wulf turned over a large, comfortable bedroom to her. Her heart was heavy, aching for things that were foolish and stupid. What did she want of him?
There was no way to prevent him from killing her people. It was the way of the world and no amount of argument would change that. There was no hope of having a relationship with him or any other man. Her life was all but over now. So where did that leave them?
No where.
So she resorted to the humor that had seen her through the tragedies of her life. It was all she had. "Tell me, if I get lost in this place, do you have a search party available to find me again?"
He didn't laugh. There was a solid wall between them now. He had completely closed himself off from her. It was just as well.
"I'll go get you something to sleep in." He started away from her.
"You won't even trust me to see where you sleep, huh?"
His look was piercing. "You've already seen where I sleep."
Her face turned red as she remembered the most erotic of her dreams. The one where she had watched his tawny body sliding against hers in the mirrors while he made slow, passionate love to her."The black iron bed?"
He nodded, then left her.
Alone, Cassandra sat on the mattress and pushed her thoughts away. "What am I doing here?" Part of her said to screw it and just take her chances with Stryker. But another part of her wanted to go back to her dreams and just pretend this day hadn't happened. No, what she wanted was the one thing she knew she could never have…
She wanted a forbidden fantasy—a man of her own to have and to hold. One she could grow old with. One who could hold her hand as she brought his baby into the world. It was so impossible that she had buried those dreams years and years ago.
Up until now, she'd never met anyone who made her ache for the things that were denied her. Not until she had stared into a pair of black eyes and listened to a Viking warrior talk about keeping a boy safe….A man who felt guilt for his past. She yearned now. And it was an impossible desire.
Wulf could never be hers, and even if he was, she would be dead in a matter of months. Hanging her head in her hands, she wept.
Chapter 7
"Take me to Cassandra," Kat snarled at the auburn-haired Dark-Huntress in the car beside her. It wasn't in her nature to let anyone have control of her or her environment.
"I'm the only one who can protect her."
"Yeah," Corbin said as she pulled into the driveway of her mansion. "You did a great job protecting her from what… the garbage, was it?"
Kat saw red at that. The urge to blast the Huntress into dust went through her—a byproduct of her mother's nasty temper that she had inherited. Luckily for Corbin, Kat had more of her father in her and had learned long ago to take deep breaths and not give in to her childish impulses.
Getting angry wouldn't accomplish anything. She had to find Cassandra, and if she used her powers to do it, Stryker would be able to locate Cass as well. That prick had learned long ago how to follow the subtle nuances of Kat's powers and use them against her. It was why she hadn't fought him in the bar.
Like it or not, Stryker was more powerful than she was. Mostly because he didn't care who he hurt to get his way. Which meant she needed the Huntress to take her to Cass.
Kat had teleported out of their apartment for no more than five minutes so that she could go to the Destroyer and tell her to leave Cassandra alone. How was she to know the Destroyer would use that distraction to send in Stryker and his men while she was away?