Stygian (Dark-Hunter #27)

Urian smiled at her. “Simi? What are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “Akri done told the Simi that you’d be acting all weird and funky lately, and that the Simi should be keeping her eyeball on you, akri-Uri. So … your heart rate was picked up during my commercial break and it got my attention. Since I knew you wouldn’t be with no heifer cowlike redheaded goddess creature doing things that make the Simi go blind, I thought you be troubled. So then I thought, Simi, you best be checking on that old ex-Daimon to make sure he okay and not about to get et by something not friendly.”

Simi scowled as she put her finger to her cheek to consider her words. “No, that be wrong. Be in trouble.” She grinned widely, flashing her fangs. “You in trouble, akri-Uri? Can the Simi eat your troubles? ’Cause I don’t think these dragonlies be on the Simi no-eat list. Pretty sure akri won’t mind if the Simi eats them up.” She bit her lip with a childish enthusiasm that made Urian smile. Especially as she reached into her coffin backpack and pulled out her lobster bib and bottle of barbecue sauce to prepare.

The moment she did, the dragons backed away.

And that made Maddor nervous as hell. “What’s going on?”

Xyn laughed. “Oh, hon, no one is dumb enough to tangle with a hungry Charonte. Don’t you know?”

Simi gasped. “No! Say it no so! The Simi so-o-o-o-o hungry! It been a whole twenty minutes since the Simi ets her last diamond…” She pouted as she turned around, looking for a meal.

More dragons shrank away.

“Yeah!” Urian blustered at them. “That’s right! I’ve got a Charonte here and I’m not afraid to unleash her. Hah!”

A dragon sneezed beside him, blowing out fire that came a little too close to Urian.

Urian dashed to Simi’s side, putting her between them. “Are you fireproof, Sim?”

“Bombproof, too.” She belched and shot out a stream of fire that caused several dragons to scramble for cover. “See!”

“Ah, you bunch of hatchlings.” With his hands on his hips, Falcyn finished putting Maddor back into his body.

The moment the Crom was himself again, he picked up his whip and went straight to Brogan.

Brogan held her hand up to let them know that it was all right. After a few seconds and a few whispered words in his ear, she nodded. “Peace to you, Crom.”

With a curt jerk of his coat, he flashed himself onto the back of his horse and vanished.

“What did he say?” Blaise asked.

She smiled warmly. “That he never wants to be a dragon again. You can keep your smelly old body.”

Urian scowled at Brogan. “That all?”

An evil light danced in her eyes. “I might have given him the name …—Morgen.”

Medea cleared her throat to remind them of the other dragons who were still glaring at them.

Xyn yawned. “How long have we slept?”

“Centuries,” Blaise and Falcyn said simultaneously.

An unhappy murmur ran through the dragon horde.

“Simi eat them now since they all grumbly?” Her wings twitched with expectation.

The dragons quieted immediately.

Medea laughed. “Nice to know you don’t just scare Daimons, Simi.”

Simi pressed her finger to her lips and cocked her head in an adorable expression. She scowled, then smiled at Medea. “The Simi knows you! I’s seens you lots and lots. You’re the evil princess who libs with the Simi’s akra in Kalosis!”

“She’s also my sister.”

Simi gasped at Urian’s words. Then caught herself. “Oh yeah. I should have … but wait. Your daddy is fake-akri.” She pressed her hands to her eyebrows. “The Simi is so confuseled!”

Urian laughed. “So am I most days.” Sobering, he gently pulled one of her hands down until she opened her eyes to look at him. “Just remember that I was taken out of my mother’s womb before I was born and put into the belly of another. So the Apollite who birthed me wasn’t really my mother. And Stryker wasn’t really my father. Styxx is my father and Bethany is my real mom.”

“Ah! Like Simi you’re adaptable!”

Urian’s grin widened. “Yeah.”

“Wait…” Brandor scowled. “Does she mean adopted?”

“No, silly!” Arms akimbo, Simi rolled her eyes. “Even though we both were adopted, the Simi meant adaptable ’cause akri-Uri had to libs with people not his people. He not really a Daimon, he a demigod. Which is better. Sometimes, anyway.” She tsked as she looked back at Urian. “I’m sorry, akri-Uri. That why you have sadness besides Phoebe-sadness?”

His eyes darkened. “No, Sim. Mostly I just have Phoebe-sadness.”

She held her barbecue sauce out toward him. “Wanna eat a dragon? Make you feel all better. Give you warm and fuzzies in the belly.”

And that succeeded in driving the dragons toward the shadows and Lombrey into a fit.

“No! No! No! You’re not to hide in my domain! Get out, mangy beasts!”

Brandor cleared his throat to disguise his laughter. “You know, with all this noise, Morgen is bound to realize what’s happened. We might want to think about getting out of here before she sends something or someone to investigate.”

Falcyn nodded to his sister. “Granted, she should be a little preoccupied with the Crom after her—you still should take them to my island. Just to be safe.”

She arched a brow at his order. “All of them? You really plan to tolerate us in your personal space?”

“It’ll be the safest place for them.”

Xyn kissed his cheek. “Love you.”

“You, too.”

She scoffed at his response. “I live for the day, Veles, when you can say that word without choking on it.” And with that, she gathered the dragons and left through the portal.

Urian followed Xyn to Falcyn’s island home, which was absolutely breathtaking. Open and airy, and yet technically a cavern, it was large and spacious with a stunning ocean view. The enchanted walls were crystal clear, so that he could look out but not be seen by anyone else. The transparency of the walls made them shimmer and sparkle from the daylight that burned the eyes, but not the skin. He could see why Falcyn had chosen it.

However, that was the last thing Urian had on his mind.

“Xyn?” He reached for her hand and pulled her into a dark alcove, away from the others.

Finally, they were alone.

And now that they were … he was lost and unsure. Did she even remember him? She hadn’t acted like it.

Maybe she’d suffered a head wound that had left her with amnesia. What did he say to her after all these years?

Sarraxyn trembled as she looked up into the bluest eyes she’d ever known. She’d forgotten what a huge, overwhelming beast Urian was. Which was shocking really, given that she was used to dragonswains, who were even larger and yet somehow he made them seem smaller.

Weaker.

There was an innate power to him that the others lacked. And at the same time, he was sexier than anyone she’d ever known because for all his power and ruthlessness, he would never harm her. He was a protector unlike anyone she’d ever met. He kept that vicious strength restrained and under control.

This close, you could feel the lethal killer inside him. The demon that salivated for blood. Yet he’d made love to her like a poet and touched her with the tenderest of care.

That was the beauty of her Daimon.

Love and happiness rushed through her and set her heart to pounding. But it wasn’t enough to drown out her fear that he’d rebuff her after all this time.

She didn’t know what to say to him after all this time. She’d just abandoned him. Not out of choice.

Still, did that matter? She could only imagine the hurt and pain he must have felt, thinking she’d just moved on. Or worse, that she’d died. So she did the only thing she could think of to do.

Stepping into his arms, she kissed him.

Urian growled at the taste of Xyn’s lips. Of her sweet tongue sweeping against his as her arms wrapped around his waist. His body roared to life with a vengeance that was terrifying.

In the distance, he heard someone calling her name.

She deepened her kiss before she pulled away and nipped his chin. “Give me a few minutes?”