Stryker cursed. "Are you honestly telling me that the most powerful creature on this planet is a pathetic Cajun guttersnipe who offed himself because one of my men killed his mommy?"
His sarcasm was equally matched by War's. "Unless you happen to have a Sephiroth just lying around here someplace sunning himself, yeah."
"What the hell's a Sephiroth?"
Zephyra laughed as she came up behind him to place her hand on his shoulder. "Stryker, you poor baby, you have been living in this hole for far too long."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean, dear man, is if you want Gautier dead, then come talk to Mama. It seems your negotiating power over me just ended. Oooo, baby, this is going to get good now."
NICK LAY ON THE FLOOR, TREMBLING AND IN A cold sweat as he tried to focus. It was no use. Everything swam before his eyes. His body felt like it was black asphalt at three o'clock on a late August afternoon in the French Quarter.
What was happening to him?
"Sh . . ." A tender hand brushed his sweaty hair back from his face.
Looking up, he found Menyara there. Tiny and beautiful, her Creole skin was the perfect cafe au lait color. Her green eyes watched him with concern. "It's all right, mon petit ang," she said in a deep voice that had always reminded him of Eartha Kitt's.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice thick and scratchy.
"I felt your powers unlock and came as soon as I could."
He frowned in confusion. "What?"
Menyara shook her head as she gathered him into her arms and held him like she'd done when he'd been a scared little boy afraid of the neighborhood bullies. "My poor Ambrosius. You've been through so much already. Now there's something I'd hoped I'd never have to tell you . . ."
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND." STRYKER SHOOK HIS head, trying to make sense of what Zephyra and War had told him. "How can Nick Gautier be this supremely powerful creature? He's a worthless gnat."
War took a deep breath before he spoke in an impatient tone. "When the Primus Bellum was fought, the darkest power-the Mavromino-created the Malachai to bring down the Sephirii. Guardians and consorts of the first order of gods, the Sephirii were soldiers who enforced the original laws of the universe. When the Mavromino turned against the Source and thought to end all creation, the Sephirii were unleashed to kill him. Most of them flew into traps. But enough Sephirii survived to declare war on the Malachai, and they would have destroyed them had they not been betrayed by one of their own."
"There's always one, isn't there?" Stryker asked rhetorically. In every house, there was always one malcontent jealous prick out to destroy everyone else just for spite. The entire history of the earth was written in the blood of those betrayed by the very people they'd foolishly trusted.
He looked at War. "So how many Malachai are there now?"
"There should be none. When the truce finally came, both sides agreed to execute their own soldiers. All of the Malachai and Sephirii were then put down."
"Except for one," Zephyra said, stepping forward. "The Betrayer who'd helped Mavromino was to live on to suffer and to see what he'd done. His powers were bound and he was to be forever shamed and enslaved."
War nodded. "Checks and balances. Apparently when they allowed the one Sephiroth to live, the primal order allowed a Malachai to escape as well. And today, I met the last of their breed."
Fucking figured. Stryker should have known it wouldn't be so easy to kill off the two men who aggravated him most. But then, on the bright side, it made him feel better that War was having as hard a time bringing them down as he had. At least it wasn't a question of his lacking skill.
The universe just basically sucked and blew.
"Where is this Sephiroth?" Stryker asked Zephyra.
"In Greece. In the last functioning temple of Artemis."
Stryker snorted as realization stung him. He knew instantly who the Sephiroth was and why he'd been so abused. "Jared."
She inclined her head in a sarcastic gesture. "Jared."
Which begged one extremely important question. "And just how did you happen to come into possession of him?"
She refused to answer. "All that matters is that I own him and he will do whatever I say without question."
Yeah, right. She seemed a little too optimistic for his mental health. "He didn't seem so compliant when I met him."