Cassandra didn't wake up until almost six o'clock in the evening. She was completely alone in the room. Getting up, she dressed in a pair of black wool maternity pants and a large gray sweater Phoebe had given her.
She opened the door and found Chris, Wulf, and Kat eating on the floor in the living room. Her jaw went slack at the feast they were consuming.
"Hungry?" Chris asked as he saw her hesitating in the doorway. "Jump in. Wulf said he hasn't seen anything like this since his days in a Norse mead hall."
Cassandra joined them at the coffee table that was set with dozens of dishes. She was amazed at the variety of foods the Apollites had provided for them. They had steak, fish, roasted chicken. Eggs, potatoes, bananas, apples, roasted and sliced. You name it.
Kat licked her fingers. "Shanus said they didn't know what or how much humans ate so they went a little overboard."
"A little?" Cassandra asked with a short laugh. There was enough food there for an entire Dark-Hunter army.
"Yeah, I know," Kat said with a smile, "but it's all really good."
Cassandra agreed as soon as she bit into a succulent leg of roasted lamb.
"Here's the mint jelly," Kat said, passing it over. "Wait until you taste that."
Wulf reached over and wiped at Cassandra's chin. "You have a bit of grease."
"Thank you."
He nodded warmly.
As soon as Cassandra was finished and stuffed, she wanted to go for a walk to help combat her overconsumption of food. Wulf walked with her, not wanting her to go alone just in case something happened.
They left the apartment and headed back toward the merchant part of the underground city so that she could window-shop. But as they walked past the Apollite townspeople, the animosity they directed toward Wulf was tangible.
And it wasn't like he could blend in among the tall, golden-blond race. There was no doubt Wulf didn't belong to them.
She was looking in one window at baby clothes when a young man who appeared the human age of sixteen, but was probably only eleven or twelve by real Apollite years, passed by.
"Excuse me," Wulf said, stopping him.
The boy's eyes were panicked.
"Don't worry, kid, I'm not going to hurt you," Wulf said, his voice gentle. "I just wanted to ask you about that emblem on your sweatshirt."
Cassandra turned to see the interlocking circle pattern in the center of his shirt.
The boy swallowed nervously as if he were terrified Wulf was one step away from hurting him. "It's the emblem for the Cult of Pollux."
Wulf's eyes darkened dangerously. "So you do hide Daimons here."
"No," the boy said, his face even more panicked.
"Is there a problem?"
Cassandra looked past the boy to see a woman her age approaching. She was dressed in a cream uniform that denoted an off-duty Apollite police officer. Though the term "police" didn't have quite the same meaning to them as it did to humans. Apollite police were only used to manage Daimons since Apollites rarely fought and never broke the laws of their people.
Phoebe had told her the Elysian police were paid to escort any Apollite about to go Daimon out of the city and to give them money and transportation for the human world.
"No problem," Cassandra said to the officer, who was eyeing Wulf coldly.
The boy ran off while the woman raked a sneer over Wulf. "I'm not a child to live in fear of you, Dark-Hunter. After tonight, there's nothing you can do to me anyway."
"Meaning?"
"I die tomorrow."
Cassandra's heart shrank at her words. "I'm sorry."
The woman ignored her. "So why were you scaring my son?"
Wulf's face was impassive, but Cassandra knew him well enough to know he hurt for the woman as much as she did. She saw the sympathy in his dark eyes, heard it in the tone of his voice when he spoke. "I only wanted to know about the emblem on his shirt."
"It's our emblem," she said, her lips still curled. "Every Apollite here takes an oath at their majority to uphold the Code of Pollux. Just like the ancient god, we are all bound to each other. We won't ever betray our community or our brethren. Nor will we be cowards. Unlike other Apollites, we don't practice ritual suicide the night before our birthdays. Apollo meant us to die painfully and so we don't argue with his decree. My son, along with all my relatives, is wearing the badge to honor me and the fact that I refuse to run from my heritage."
There was a suspicious glint in Wulf's eyes. "But I've seen that emblem outside of here. It was on a particularly vicious Daimon I killed about a year ago."
The officer's sneer faded into remorse. She closed her eyes and winced as if the news pained her. "Jason." She whispered the name. "I always wondered what became of him. Did he go quickly?"
"Yes."
The officer sighed raggedly at that. "I'm glad. He was a good man, but the night before he was to die, he ran from here, scared. His family tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. He said he refused to die when he had never even seen the surface world. My husband was the one who took him out and let him go. He must have been terrified up there alone."
Wulf scoffed. "He didn't seem terrified to me. Rather, he burned that emblem on every human he killed."
The officer tapped her chin three times with her first two fingers-an Apollite holy gesture. "Gods grant him peace. He must have been preying on evil souls."
"What do you mean?" Wulf asked.
"He's one of the Daimons who refuse to kill innocent humans," Cassandra explained, "And who prey on criminals instead. After all, criminal souls are full of power fueled by anger and hatred. The only problem is their souls are corrupted, and if the Daimon isn't strong enough, their venom can overtake them and make the Daimon every bit as evil as they were."
The officer nodded. "It sounds like Jason fell victim to that. By the time you killed him, he was probably wanting to die. It's sheer torture when the souls begin to possess and control you. Or at least that's what I've been told." She sighed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to spend as much time as possible with my family."
Cassandra wished her well.
With a nod, the officer left them and headed off after her son.
Wulf watched the woman leave, his eyes dark and sad. "So you weren't kidding me about the Daimons."
"Of course not."
Wulf thought about that. There was so much about them that the Dark-Hunters didn't know. It actually amazed him.
She'd been right. Since Dark-Hunters spent so much time annihilating the Daimons, they should have a better understanding of them.
Then again, maybe not. It was much easier to kill someone you didn't feel sorry for. Easier to think of things in terms of black and white.
Good and evil.
"Let's go see Phoebe," Cassandra said, taking his hand and leading him toward another corridor. "She told me I could drop in on her any time."
It didn't take long to reach her sister's apartment. Phoebe's side of the city was a lot busier than theirs.
Wulf stood to the side, watching the Apollites walk hurriedly past them while Cassandra keyed in the code for Phoebe's lock.
Cassandra was doing her best to not think about the future. Or to think about the officer who was spending her last night with her family. Just as she would do one day all too soon with Wulf.
How she needed to push him away. To keep him at bay so that her death wouldn't hurt him too much.
She focused instead on the fact that she still had one of her sisters with her.
The door slid open.
Cassandra started into the room, then froze. Phoebe was on her couch on top of Urian. Their bare skin was set off to perfection by the dull light of candles that had been set around the room.
Cassandra gasped to find them in flagrante delicto.
Phoebe jerked up, her mouth coated in blood.
Mortified, Cassandra stepped back and closed the door. "Oh, that was really bad timing."
"What?" Wulf asked as he turned toward her.
Grateful he hadn't seen them and gone berserk over the way most Apollites fed, Cassandra grabbed his hand. "I think I'll talk to her later."
Wulf didn't budge easily. "What happened?"
Cassandra didn't want to share her experience with a Dark-Hunter who would judge her sister harshly for feeding.
The apartment door opened.
"Cassie?" Phoebe was now wearing a thick blue bathrobe. Her face and mouth were clean, but her hair was completely disheveled. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing that can't wait," Cassandra hastened to assure her. "You go finish and I'll talk to you later."
Her face flushing, Phoebe went back inside.
Wulf burst out laughing. "Let me guess. Urian in there with her?"
Cassandra's face flamed even more than her sister's.
He laughed harder.
"It's not funny, Wulf," she snapped at him. "How would you feel if someone barged in on us?"
"I'd have to kill them."
"Well, there you go. I'm sure Urian feels the same way. Now let's go back so I don't have to think about the fact that the image of them naked together will give me nightmares for months."
As they headed down the corridor, a little girl came running up to Wulf. She craned her neck to look up at him accusingly. "Are you really going to kill my baby sister tonight because she didn't wash behind her ears?"
Both of them were aghast at her question.
"Excuse me?" Wulf asked.
"My mommy says Dark-Hunters kill little boys and girls when they don't behave. I don't want you to kill Alycia. She's not bad, she just doesn't like to get her ears wet."
Wulf knelt down in front of the little girl and brushed her hair back from her face. "Little one, I'm not going to hurt your sister or anyone else here. I promise."
"Dacia!" a man snapped as he rushed forward. "I told you never to talk to anyone with dark hair." He scooped his daughter up and ran off with her as if terrified that Wulf really would kill her.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you people that we don't hurt Apollites!" Wulf shouted after them.
"Sheez," he said under his breath. "And all this time, I thought Christopher was the only person I terrorized."
A passing man answered his words by spitting on Wulf's shoes.
"Hey!" Cassandra snapped, going after the man. "There's no need to be rude."
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?"
Cassandra hesitated, not wanting to hurt her sister's feelings. "He can't grow up here, Phe. He'll have to be with Wulf in the human world."
Her sister's eyes snapped fire. "Why can't he grow up here?" Phoebe insisted. "We can protect him just as well as Wulf. Probably more so."
Wulf glanced up as Chris dealt him a hand of cards. "What if he's even more human than Cassandra is? Would he be safe here?"
The indecision on Phoebe's face said it all.
No, he wouldn't be. They had seen enough of Wulf's treatment tonight to verify that. Apollites were no more tolerant of humans than humans were of Apollites.
At least they didn't tie each other to stakes anymore and set fire to them.
At least not often.
Wulf looked meaningfully at Phoebe. "I can protect him and his children a lot easier than you can. I think the temptation of having a human soul here would be way too much for some of your people to handle. Especially given how much they hate Dark-Hunters. What a coup. Kill my son, get a human soul, and take revenge on the very thing all of you despise most."
Phoebe nodded. "I suppose you're right." She took Cassandra's hand. "Yes, I would like to add some things to the box for him."
While Wulf and Chris played cards, Cassandra went to the bedroom and retrieved the large silver-inlaid box that Kat had brought with them from the house, along with paper and pens.
She and Phoebe wrote letters to the baby. After a while, Phoebe left her alone to run a quick errand.
Cassandra sat alone in her room, flipping through the pages of notes and letters she had made for her son. How she wished she could see him grow. She would give anything to glimpse her son as a grown man.
Maybe Wulf could contact a Were-Hunter and have one take her forward in time. Just for a quick glance. Just to let her see what she would miss.
But then that might be even worse. Besides, pregnant women couldn't travel through the time portals.
"I hope you look like your father," she said, rubbing her stomach gently as she imagined the little baby inside her. She could easily see him with dark, wavy hair like Wulf's. He'd be tall, hopefully muscular.
And he would be forced to grow up without a mother's love. Just as Wulf would be forced to watch her die...
A sob caught in her throat as she reached for another piece of paper. She wrote quickly, holding back her tears, telling her son just how much she did love him. Letting him know that even though she wasn't with him physically, she would be with him spiritually.
Somehow she would find a way to watch over him. Always.
She finished the letter, placed it in the box, then took it to the living room where the guys were still playing cards. She was afraid to be alone. Her thoughts had a nasty way of torturing her whenever she was by herself.
Chris and Wulf were champions at keeping her mind off the future. At making her smile even when she didn't feel like it.
Chris had just dealt Cassandra into their game when Phoebe returned with a book.
"What's this?" she asked as Phoebe added it to the box on the couch next to her.
"It's a book of Apollite fairy tales," Phoebe said. "Remember the one Mom used to read to us when we were kids? Donita sells them in her shop so I went just now and bought one for the baby."
Suspicious, Wulf picked the book up and flipped through it with a frown. "Hey, Chris," he said, handing it to his Squire. "You read Greek, right?"
"Yeah."
"What's in here?"
Chris started reading silently, then burst out laughing. Hard.
Cassandra cringed as she remembered some of the things her mother had read to them when they were children.
Chris kept laughing. "I don't know if you want the baby to see this if you're the one raising him."
"Let me guess," Wulf said, narrowing his gaze on Phoebe. "He'll have nightmares that Daddy is going to hunt him down and rip his head off?"
"Pretty much. I am particularly fond of the one called: 'Acheron the Great Evil.'" Chris paused as he turned to another story. "Oh, wait... You'll love this one. They got the story of the nasty Nordic Dark-Hunter. Remember the story with the witch and the oven? This one features you with a furnace."
"Phoebe!" Wulf snapped, looking over at her.
"What?" Cassandra's sister asked innocently. "That's our heritage. It's not like you guys don't swap stories on Andy the Evil Apollite or Daniel the Killer Daimon. You know, I see human movies and read their books too. They're not exactly nice to my people. They portray us all as soulless killers who have no compassion or feelings."
"Yeah, well," Wulf said, "your people happen to be soul-sucking demons."
Phoebe cocked her head with attitude. "You ever met a banker or a lawyer? Tell me who's worse, my Urian or one of them? At least we need the food; they do it just for profit margins."
Cassandra laughed at their banter, then took the book from Chris's hands. "I appreciate the thought, Phe, but could we find a book that doesn't paint the Dark-Hunters as Satan?"
"I don't think one exists. Or if it does, I've never seen it."
"Great," Wulf muttered, picking up another card, "just great. My poor son's going to have nightmares all of his childhood."
"Trust me," Chris said as he upped his bet against Wulf. "That book's going to be the least of your kid's problems with you as his father."
"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked.
Chris put his cards down and met her gaze. "You do know that as a small child, they actually carried me around on a pillow? I had a custom-made helmet that I had to wear until I was four."
"That's because you banged your head every time you got angry. I was afraid you were going to get brain damage from it."
"The brain is fine," Chris said. "It's my ego and social life in the toilet. I shudder at what you're going to do to that kid."
Chris dropped his voice and imitated Wulf's lilting Norse accent. "Don't move, you might get bruised. Oops, a sneeze, better call in specialists from Belgium. Headache? Odin forbid, it might be a tumor. Quick, rush him for a CAT scan."
Wulf shoved his shoulder playfully. "And yet you live."
"Ever the better to procreate for you." Chris met Cassandra's gaze. "It's a hell of a life." Then Chris dropped his gaze as if he were thinking about that for a minute. "But there are worse ones out there."
Cassandra wasn't sure which of them was most stunned by that confession. Her or Wulf.
Chris got up and went to the foyer where a trestle table was set with snacks and drinks. He poured himself more Coke and grabbed some chips before he and Wulf resumed their game of cards.
It was just before midnight when Urian rejoined them. He looked a lot better than he had earlier. His deep tawny skin had a healthy glow. His eyes were bright and for once he wore his long, blond hair down around his shoulders. Cassandra would give Phoebe credit. Her husband was extremely gorgeous.
When he was dressed completely in black, there wasn't much difference between Urian and a Dark-Hunter. Except for what they needed in order to live.
Phoebe smiled as Urian neared her.
Wulf didn't. In fact, the tension between the men was fierce.
"What's the matter, Dark-Hunter?" Urian asked as he draped his arm around Phoebe's shoulders. "You were hoping I'd succumb?"
"No, I was just wondering who you killed to reclaim your health."
Urian gave a short amused laugh at that. "I'm sure the cows you eat aren't exactly thrilled by their slaughter either."
"They're not people."
Urian sneered at that. "In case you haven't noticed, Dark-Hunter, there are a lot of people out there who aren't human either."
Taking Phoebe's hand, Urian led her toward the door. "C'mon, Phe, I don't have much time before I have to return to Kalosis and I don't want to spend it with my enemies."
As soon as Urian and Phoebe left, Chris headed off to bed.
Cassandra and Wulf were alone.
"You think Kat's okay?" Wulf asked as he picked up Chris's glass and closed the chips.
"I'm sure she is. She'll probably be back soon." Cassandra gathered her sister's letters for the baby and tucked them inside the box.
"After that book she bought, I shudder to think what your sister wrote in her letters."
"Hmmm," Cassandra said, glancing back at the box. "Maybe I should read them first..."
"Well, if they point to me as a horned demon, I would appreciate it."
Cassandra dropped her gaze down to his lap and to the bulge that was already there. "I don't know about that. From my experience you are a horny demon."
He arched a brow. "Am I?"
"Uh-huh. Horny to the extreme."
He laughed, then kissed her slowly, hotly. "You taste like lemon," he whispered against her lips.
Cassandra licked her lips as she remembered putting lemon juice on her fish.
Wulf tasted of decadence, wild, fierce decadence, and he made her heart race.
"Oh, oh, wait, I'm going blind!"
Wulf pulled back at the sound of Kat's voice.
Cassandra looked over her shoulder to see her friend standing in the open doorway.
Kat shut the door behind her. "Thank goodness no one's naked."
"Three more seconds and we would have been," Wulf teased.
"Ew!" Kat cringed. "More information than I needed."
She walked over to sit across from them. Her joking aside, Kat's features looked pinched.
Wulf was a bit disgruntled by her intrusion.
Cassandra pulled back from him and turned around to face Kat. "Something wrong?"
"Just a bit. Stryker isn't happy about your vanishing. The Destroyer was also pissed at me. A lot. Luckily, she hasn't rescinded the no-touch law where I'm concerned. It gives us some leeway, but I'm not sure how long Stryker will abide by it."
"Will you have any warning if they do rescind it?" Wulf asked.
"I don't know."
"What happened with Urian?" Cassandra asked. "Did they find out about his helping us?"
"No, I don't think so. But I'll tell you what. I'm afraid of what Stryker might do to him if he ever learned Urian was helping us. He wants you and the baby dead in the worst way."
Cassandra swallowed at that, then changed the subject. "So what did you two do?"
"I dropped Urian off at his house and left him there so that no one would know I was helping him. If anyone saw me near him, they'd be suspicious immediately. We haven't exactly been friends over the centuries. Hell, we haven't even been cordial."
"Why?" Cassandra asked. "He seems nice enough. A bit standoffish, but I can't really blame him for that."
"Trust me, hon, he's a different Urian here. He's not the same guy I've known for eleven thousand years. The Urian I've known wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone or anything at his father's command. I've seen him snap the neck of any Daimon who crossed them and you don't want to know what he does to Were-Hunters who betray them."
Wulf reached for his drink on the coffee table. "The Spathis are the reason Dark-Hunters never come out of bolt-holes, aren't they?"
She nodded. "The bolt-hole drops you front and center into the main banquet hall of Kalosis. Right in the heart of their city. Dark-Hunters are killed instantly. Weres are given a chance. They can swear allegiance to the Destroyer and be spared or they die."
"And Daimons?"
"Are welcomed so long as they train with the Spathis and uphold their warrior's code. The instant they show weakness, they die too."
Wulf let out a slow breath. "Hell of a place you come from, Kat."
"That's not my place. I come from Olympus."
"Then how did you get involved with the Destroyer?"
Cassandra was curious about that too.
Kat was sheepish. "I really can't go there."
"Why not?" Cassandra asked.
Kat shrugged. "It's something no one talks about, least of all me."
Well, that was just irritating and told her nothing. But then Cassandra had other things on her mind. "Do you think Stryker will be able to find us here?"
"Honestly, I don't know. Stryker has a lot of spies in the Apollite and Were communities. It's how he found us before. Apparently one of the Weres at the Inferno works with him and contacted them as soon as we came in the door."
Wulf indicated the door that led out into the city. "So any one of the people out there could betray us?"
"I won't lie and say no. It is possible."
Cassandra swallowed as fear invaded her heart. "Is there any place safe?"
"At this time. No."
