"And the gallu?"
He laughed at that. "Probably. It would serve me right to have to fight those bastards for the rest of eternity."
Kat smiled at his humor. He really was a smart, funny ex-god. There was something about him that was absolutely infectious, and it made her giddy just to be around him. It wasn't often that she liked someone so readily. But even in spite of everything she'd heard about him, she wanted to believe in him.
It made no sense.
And yet all she wanted to do was reach out and touch him. To kiss him again and see what would have happened had Apollymi not blasted them apart.
Instinctively she took a step toward him. And she would have probably made a move had a strange shiver not gone down her spine. It was a tingle she knew all too well.
Daimon.
Born of the cursed Apollite race that was forced to die painfully at the tender age of twenty-seven, Daimons could only survive if they began feeding on human souls. It was why they had to be hunted and killed. As soon as a soul was taken, it would begin to die in the foreign body. The only way to save that soul and send it to its proper place was to kill the Daimon before the soul died.
Now one of the Daimons was nearby.
A knock sounded on the door. It made her blood run cold. There was a Daimon outside. She knew it.
She tried to stop Sin as he went to answer the knock, but he didn't listen. He swung the door open, and sure enough, there was a tall blond Daimon standing there in a black suit.
Manifesting a knife in her hand, she ran for him.
Sin caught Kat against him before she could reach Damien Gatopoulos and stab him through the heart. "Whoa, Kat."
As Damien jumped back in a way that was reminiscent of a pogo stick, his eyes widened. But he quickly caught his composure once he realized Sin wasn't going to let go of Kat and allow her to kill him.
"He's a Daimon!" she snarled. Damien gave her an indignant stare.
"Yes," Sin said slowly, tightening his hold on her, "and he's my casino manager."
Kat went limp against Sin as she looked up at his face. Total astonishment colored her pale features as she gaped at him. Even though her grip slackened on the knife, he still kept his hold on her wrist tight lest she go after Damien again and ruin both their nights.
"Excuse me?" she demanded. "He's my casino manager."
Her anger returned as she started struggling again. Even though it shouldn't, the friction of her body rubbing against Sin's set him on fire. It was hard to concentrate on anything other than how kissable her lips were while her cheeks pinkened from her anger. "You have a Daimon working for you?"
Sin tilted his knee to keep her from colliding any more with his groin before he laughed at her rage. "A couple of them, actually."
"Don't worry," Damien said, straightening his jacket with a slight tug at the lapels. "I only eat humans who deserve it."
That really didn't help.
Kat screwed her face up in distaste as she turned from Damien to look again at Sin. "And to think I was actually beginning to like you. I can't believe you tolerate a Daimon to work for you. "
He didn't really expect her to understand, but he had no problem with Damien or any of the others who worked for him. They were men and women whose lives had been ruined because of a Greek god's anger. To him, they were kindred spirits. Apollo had cursed the Apollite race because some distant ancestor had killed the Greek god's mistress and child. While tragic, it should never have led to Apollo's cursing anyone born of their race to die painfully at age twenty-seven. The god had also banned them from daylight and had forced them to live only on the blood of one another. It was harsh and unbecoming of a god who should have had more compassion for the race he'd created, then turned his back on.
Besides, what Damien said was true. Neither he nor any of the others who worked here preyed on the souls of decent humans. They only destroyed the souls of people who deserved to die. And the gods knew there were many humans in this world who needed annihilation and it was only fitting they become victims of a noble predator. That, for once, fate handed to them a just sentence.
Sin smiled at Kat. "Yeah, but he's incredibly honest. Since he took over, no one tries to cheat me anymore. If they do, he eats them."
She grimaced at Sin's words. "Oh, you're both disgusting."
Damien made a noise of deep aggravation. "You know, I really resent the fact that you judge me based on one unfortunate fact. Honestly, I'm not a bad guy."
She wasn't buying it. "You eat people's souls. How can you not be bad?"
"Trust me, these aren't people you want reincarnated. The guy I ate yesterday was a wife-abusing hit man. Good, strong soul... rotten human being."