The man raked a repugnant glare over her. "How could you let something like him touch you? I say we should have left you to die by the Daimons. It's what a whore like you deserves."
His eyes darkening, Wulf slugged the Apollite. Hard. The Apollite staggered back, then charged him. He caught Wulf about the stomach and slammed him back into the wall. Cassandra cried out at the sight, wanting to stop them, but she was too afraid of hurting the baby to try. Suddenly, Apollites came out from all directions to break them apart. Even Urian came out of nowhere.
Urian was the one who pushed Wulf back. His skin tone was ashen and it was obvious Urian was extremely weak. Even so, he put himself between Wulf and the Apollite and kept a hand on each one.
"Enough!" Urian roared at the two of them.
"Are you all right?" Wulf asked him.
Urian released both men. The Apollite was taken off by the others, but he cast a parting malevolent glare at them.
"You need to stay out of sight, Dark-Hunter," Urian said, his tone much kinder than it had been earlier. He wiped a hand over his sweat-covered brow.
"You really don't look good," Wulf said, ignoring his warning. "Do you need something?"
Urian shook his head as if to clear it. "I just need to rest for a while." He curled his lip at Wulf. "Can you stay out of trouble long enough for that?"
"Uri?" Phoebe asked as she joined them. "Did I take too much?"
Urian's face softened instantly. He pulled her against his side and kissed the side of her head. "No, love. I'm just tired. I'll be fine."
He pulled away and started back for their apartment. He staggered.
"Bullshit," Wulf said. Before Cassandra knew what he was doing, Wulf had Urian's arm slung over his shoulders and was headed back for their apartment.
"What are you doing?" Urian asked angrily.
"I'm taking you to Kat before you pass out." Urian hissed at that.
"Why? She hates me."
"So do I, but we both owe you."
Cassandra didn't speak as she and Phoebe followed after them all the way back to their apartment. Kat and Chris were playing cards when they entered. "Oh, jeez, what happened?" Kat asked as soon as she saw Urian.
"I think I took too much blood from him," Phoebe said, her beautiful face lined with worry.
Wulf laid Urian down on the couch. "Can you help him?" he asked Kat.
Kat pushed Wulf out of the way. She held up two fingers in front of Urian's face. "How many fingers do you see?"
"Six."
She popped him on the side. "Stop that. This is serious."
Urian widened his eyes and tried to focus his gaze on her hand. "Three… I think."
Kat shook her head. "We'll be back."
Cassandra watched in awe as Kat flashed them out of the room. "Now why didn't she do that when we were being chased by Stryker?" Chris asked.
"She's taking him to Kalosis, Chris," Phoebe answered. "I doubt any of you want to go into a realm ruled by nothing but Spathi Daimons and one really pissed-off ancient goddess who is bent on destroying the entire world."
"You know," Chris said. "I really like it here. Not to mention, I can now look at Kat's hand." He picked up her cards and cursed. "I should have known she wasn't bluffing."
Cassandra watched her sister closely. In spite of the worry on her face, Phoebe looked a lot better than she had before. Her cheeks were pink, her skin bright.
"I'm so sorry I interrupted you two," Cassandra said, her face growing instantly warm again.
"Please don't be. I mean, don't make it a habit, mind you, but if you hadn't come in, I might have killed him. He has a bad tendency to not tell me when I've taken too much blood. It scares me sometimes."
Wulf crossed his arms over his chest. "So Daimons can die from blood loss?"
"Only when it's being sucked out of them," Cassandra answered.
Phoebe gave him an arch stare. "Are you planning on using that against us?"
Wulf shook his head. "I'd rather die myself than suck on another man's neck. That's disgusting. Besides, didn't you tell me that's how Apollites can be changed into Daimons? It begs the question that since Dark-Hunters have no souls, could they be made Daimon too?"
"Yeah, but DH blood is poisonous to the Daimons," Chris said as he shuffled his deck of cards. "Isn't the point of that so that no Daimon can feed off or convert you guys?"
"Perhaps…" Phoebe said. "But then disembodied souls can possess a Dark-Hunter, and since Uri and I share souls, it makes you wonder if perhaps a Daimon and Dark-Hunter could share one too."
"Let's hope we never find that one out," Wulf said as he moved to sit on the couch in front of Chris.
Phoebe turned back toward Cassandra. "So what did you want when you came to see me?"
"I've been putting together a memory box for the baby. Notes and pictures from me. Little mementos to tell him about our people and family, and I was wondering if you would mind putting something in there from you."
"Why do you need something like that when we'll be more than happy to tell him anything he wants to know?"