He always felt a rush of warmth whenever she referred to him as her son. "No."
Xedrix moved to whisper into the Destroyer's ear.
"No," she said out loud. "The Abadonna is not to be touched. She has torn loyalties and I will not take advantage of her kind nature, unlike some goddesses I can name. She is innocent in this and I will not have her punished for it."
The Destroyer drummed two fingers on her chin. "The question is, what is that bitch Artemis planning?"
She closed her eyes. "Katra," she breathed, calling out to the Abadonna.
After a few seconds, Apollymi let out a disgusted noise. "She refuses to answer... Fine," she said in a voice Stryker knew could transcend this realm and be heard by Katra. "Protect Artemis and Apollo's heiress if you must. But know you can't stop me. No one can."
She turned back to Stryker. "We will have to separate Katra from the heiress."
"How? If the Abadonna continues to open the portal, we are powerless. You know we must step through it whenever it opens."
The Destroyer laughed again. "Life is a chess game, Strykerius, haven't you learned that yet? Whenever you move to protect the pawns, you leave your queen open to attack."
"Meaning?"
"The Abadonna can't be everywhere at once. If you can't get to the heiress, then attack something else the Abadonna cares for."
He smiled at that. "I was so hoping you would say that."
Cassandra was so angry that she didn't know what to do. Actually, she did. But that involved having Wulf tied up in a room and her having a very large broom in her hands to beat him with.
Or better yet, a stick with thorns!
Unfortunately, it would take more than her and Kat to tie up the obnoxious oaf.
As Kat drove her back to her apartment, she fought against screaming and railing at the imbecile who had all the compassion of a leek pea.
She hadn't realized just how much she had opened herself up to the Wulf of her dreams. How much of herself she had given to him. She had never been the kind of woman to trust anyone, least of all a man. Yet she had welcomed him into her heart and body.
How much more-
She paused her silent tirade as her thoughts shifted.
Wait...
He remembered their dreams too.
He had accused her of trying to-
"Why didn't I think of that while we were at the club?" Cassandra asked out loud.
"Think of what?"
She looked over at Kat, whose face was illuminated by the light of the dashboard. "Do you remember what Wulf said in the bar? He remembered me from his dreams and I remember him from mine. Do you think our dreams could be real?"
"Wulf was at the bar?" Kat asked as she frowned at Cassandra. "The Dark-Hunter you've been dreaming about was there tonight? When?"
"Didn't you see him?" Cassandra countered. "He came right up to us after the fight and yelled at me for being an Apollite."
"The only person who came right up to us was the Daimon."
Cassandra opened her mouth to correct her, then remembered what Wulf had said about people forgetting him. Good grief, whatever it was had made her bodyguard completely forget him too.
"Okay," she said, trying again. "Forget about Wulf being there and let's go back to the other question. Do you think the dreams I've been having could be real? Maybe some kind of alternate consciousness or something?"