"What the hell are you?" Wulf asked Ash as he turned to face them.
"Don't ask questions you don't want answered," Zarek said. "Believe me. You're so not ready to know the truth."
"Is Stryker gone?" Cassandra asked.
Ash nodded. Cassandra hugged Wulf, then took Erik from his hands and held him against her shoulder to quiet him. "I know, baby," she cooed. "But the scary man is all gone."
"What grabbed the Daimon?" Kyra asked. "Where did they go?"
Ash didn't answer. "You're safe now, guys. At least for a little while."
"Will he be back?" Cassandra asked.
Ash gave an odd half-laugh. "I don't know. He's one of the few creatures beyond my powers. But like he said, it's not over. He might be back in a few months or a few centuries. Time passes differently where he lives."
Kyrian, Talon, and Julian came into the room.
"The Daimons have all vanished," Talon said. "We killed some, but the rest…"
"It's all right," Ash said. "Thanks for the help."
They nodded, then walked out of the bedroom, into the chaos of the living room.
"Man, it's going to take days to clean this up," Chris said, looking around in disbelief. Then, before their eyes, the destruction was cleared. All that was left behind were the bodies. Zarek snorted. "You better stop while you're ahead, Acheron."
"I'm not ahead, Z. I can't fix what was really damaged here tonight." Ash's gaze went to Shanus's body. Wulf shook his head as he picked up Shanus to carry him to the town's center. There were Apollites everywhere, crying and screaming over their dead.
"They didn't deserve this," Wulf said to Acheron.
"Who does?" Ash asked.
A woman came up to Wulf. She had the bearing of royalty and it didn't take much to ascertain who she was.
"Shanus?" she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Wulf laid the body down for her. "Are you his wife?"
She nodded as her tears glistened in her eyes. She cradled his head in her lap and wept quietly. Cassandra moved forward. "I'm so sorry."
The woman looked up, her eyes filled with hatred. "Get out. All of you! You're no longer welcome here. We helped you and you destroyed us!"
Zarek cleared his throat. "That might not be a bad piece of advice," he said to Wulf, looking around at the others who were directing killing glares toward them.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "You guys help Wulf and his family get out of here. I'm going to see about someone."
Wulf knew he meant Urian. "Do you want us to wait for you?"
"No. There'll be a couple of SUVs waiting for you topside. Head home and I'll catch up later."
"SUVs?"Kyrian asked.
"Again, I repeat, don't ask questions you don't want answered," Zarek said. "Just accept the fact that Acheron is a freak of nature and let it go."
Ash cast him a droll glare. "I may be a freak, but at least I don't throw lightning bolts at my brother." Zarek laughed evilly at that. "At least I haven't struck him with one… yet."
Ash watched as Zarek led the group out of the city. He stood in the center, surveying the damage around him. He started to clear it out just as he'd done with Wulf's house and the apartment, then stopped. The Apollites would need something to focus on other than their pain.
Rebuilding the city would take their minds off their grief. At least for a little while. Deep in his heart, he wept along with them. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should…He forced himself to walk down the corridor without yielding to the need inside to fix everything.
By the time he'd reached Urian's apartment, Ash was disgusted by the bloodshed Stryker had wrought in the name of Apollymi. There was no sense in this, but then she was the Goddess of Destruction. And it was why he had to make sure she was never released from her prison.
Ash found Urian on his knees in the center of the living room. The man held a small gold locket in his hands as he wept silently.
"Urian?" Ash said in a low, steady tone.
"Go away!" he snarled. "Just leave me alone."
"You can't stay here," Ash said. "The Apollites will turn on you."
"Like I care."He looked up and the empathetic pain Ash felt from Urian made him take a step back. It had been a long time since Ash had come into direct contact with so much hopeless grief. "Why didn't you let me die too? Why did you save me?"
Ash took a deep breath as he explained it to Urian. "Because if I hadn't, you would have sold your soul to Artemis over this and killed your father."
"You think I'm not going to kill him over this?" He turned on Ash with a growl. "There's nothing left of her. Nothing! I don't even have anything to bury. I…" His words broke off as he sobbed.
"I know," Ash said, placing his hand on Urian's shoulder.
"You don't know!"
Ash gripped his chin and lifted it until their gazes locked. "Yes, Urian, I do know."
Urian struggled to breathe as he saw images flickering through Ash's swirling silver eyes. There was so much pain in them, so much agony and wisdom. It was hard to maintain eye contact with him.