And as he slowly made love to her, she realized that she was standing at the same crossroads where he'd been the night his father had demanded he leave.
She knew where the one path led. It was desolate loneliness spent in bitterness over the past.
The other was even more terrifying. For that road meant that she'd have to trust in him again. That she'd have to allow him back into the place where only he could do her harm.
Dare she chance it?
Looking down at him as he took her hand into his and laid her palm against his cheek, she knew the answer.
She didn't want to live without him.
Her heart pounding, she locked herself around him and rolled over until he was on top of her.
Stryker frowned slightly as he sensed a change in her. A softening in her touch as she dragged her nails down his spine. That gentleness combined with the sight of her under him was enough to push him over the edge. He had to fight to restrain himself and wait for her.
But when she came, she screamed out his name, and in that one instant he knew he would kill or die for this woman. She alone held that power over him. Joining her release, he growled in satisfaction as his body spasmed.
Collapsing against her, he held her tight. "I love you, Phyra," he whispered in her ear.
Then, in the lowest of tones, he heard the words that meant the most to him. "I love you, too."
MENYARA PAUSED AS SHE FELT ULTIMATE power behind her. It rippled in the air and made the hair on the back of her neck rise. "Why are you skulking about, Jared?"
He materialized before her. "I'm not skulking."
"Whatever you say, child. Whatever you say."
Stepping back, he narrowed his gaze on her. "Why are you protecting the Malachai?"
She ignored his question. There was no need to go there with him, not when she knew what was really on his mind. "I know the sorrow inside you and I know why it is you did what you did. But in spite of what you think, the death of the Malachai won't give you solace. It won't take away the torment or the guilt that weighs on your conscience."
He curled his lips at her. "Stop with the mojo bullshit. I'm not one of your neophyte disciples training for war. I'm a veteran of the apocalypse. I've been on both sides of hell and am sick of the shit. I want his life and I won't be denied. Surely to the Source I've earned some kind of respite after all these centuries of abuse."
She shook her head. "The Source isn't appeased even now. The only way to have the Malachai is through me."
Jared summoned his powers into a typhoon around him. The force of them swirled, lifting his hair up to fan around him as his wings spread wide and his eyes glowed a bright gold. "Then I will have your life."
Menyara brought her hands up to catch the blast he sent toward her and return it with one of her own. "You're not a Chthonian and I'm not about to let you have him."
She heard a sharp laugh behind her.
"You can't destroy her, Sephiroth. But I have no such restrictions."
Turning, she saw War smirking at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Making a deal with the dev il."
Menyara started to leave, but before she could, a loud boom echoed in her ears an instant before everything went black.
STRYKER LAY ABED WITH ZEPHYRA IN HIS ARMS as he listened to her soft snore. Smiling to himself, he traced the outline of her features with his fingers. She was so beautiful. Delicate. He'd missed her so much. And it felt so good to hold her again. There was nothing in his life that he'd ever cherished more than these quiet hours alone with her like this.
He was just dozing off when a sharp knock startled him. "Enter."
Davyn came in with a look that told him something was seriously wrong.
"What?"
Davyn swallowed. "We were routing the gallu and . . ." He flinched and looked away as if terrified of continuing.