"I'm not joking. He's the last of their breed."
Stunned, Ash actually gaped. Nick Gautier? And yet as ludicrous as that seemed, it strangely made sense. Nick's unfounded powers. Ash's inability to control him . . .
Shit.
How could he have missed it?
You weren't looking for it. Who would have? They were an extinct breed.
"Don't feel so bad," Jared said softly. "His powers were bound and hidden much the way yours were when you were human. It wasn't until War attacked him that they kicked in."
"Does Nick know what he is?"
Jared shook his head. "My job is to kill him before he learns it."
"I can't let you do that."
"You have no choice and neither do I." He vanished before Ash could even draw breath to speak.
"Jared!"
The Sephiroth ignored him completely. "Damn it!" If Jared found Nick before he did, the boy was deader than five o'clock roadkill.
"YOU'RE LOOKING ENTIRELY TOO SMUG WITH yourself."
Stryker glanced over his shoulder to see Zephyra eyeing him. "I have you here. Why shouldn't I be pleased?"
"I can think of a million reasons, starting with the fact that I want to kill you more than I want to breathe. As for the others, would you prefer them in order of importance or alphabetically?"
He laughed. "Tell me honestly . . . didn't you ever miss me?"
"No."
Those words struck him hard. "Not once?"
She folded her arms over her chest. "You know what I remember about you, Stryker? It was the last words you said to me. 'There's no reason for me to stay.' Then you walked out of my house and never looked back. No reason for you to stay, you said. None." She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "You severed my heart with those few words. I'd have rather you hit me."
Stryker paused as he saw that night so clearly in his mind. She'd stood before him with tears in her eyes. Not a single one had fallen. A tribute to her strength. He'd wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her that he didn't give a damn about his father. That she was the only one he loved and that he'd die to protect her.
Had he stayed with her, his father would have killed her, no doubt. And if Apollo hadn't, he would have sent Artemis in to do the honor as Zephyra birthed his child and then he would have lost them both. Apollo was grotesquely vindictive that way. Stryker had tried to explain it to Zephyra, but she'd refused to listen.
"Then I will die loving you." That had been her answer to his arguments.
It'd been a sacrifice he hadn't been willing to make. He thought it best that she hate him and live rather than she love him and die.
If only he'd known then what was waiting for them in the future.
"I didn't mean those words."
She scoffed. "Of course not. You were thoughtless, et cetera, et cetera. I really don't care anymore."
"If you really didn't care, you wouldn't remember them."
"Don't flatter yourself. I wrote you off the same way you wrote me off. Unlike Medea, I don't need closure. I just need you dead."
"So we're back to that."
"We will always come back to that."