"We're ready."
Stryker scowled at Artemis's voice as she, Athena, Ares, and Hades joined them. "What are you doing here?"
Artemis looked at Kat. "You're not sending my baby into danger without me."
Ash choked. "Now you discover maternal instinct?"
She narrowed her gaze on him.
"She's always been protective of me," Kat said with a laugh. "In a very Artemis sort of way."
"Like a viper nursing eggs," Stryker added under his breath.
Artemis raked him with a cold, scathing glare. "Did you dare to say something to me?"
"Good to see you again, Grandma."
Artemis curled her lip as she stepped away.
Nick cleared his throat in order to gain their attention. "You know there's one slight problem with this."
"We were told to come alone," Ash answered.
Stryker shrugged. "They told the three of us to come alone at the same time which by nature would make us a group."
Ash gave a half-hearted laugh. "Yeah, but I think Nick's right. The three of us need to head in alone to see what's up and to keep them from being suspicious." He glanced to Kat. "Give us five minutes before you drop in."
"Will do."
"What about us?" Ares asked.
Kat threw her arm around him and smiled. "You'll be hanging back with me. Hopefully I'm the one thing he won't see coming."
Athena stepped forward. "Good luck, gentlemen."
Ash inclined his head before he looked to Stryker and Nick. "You ready?"
Nick nodded.
"Always," Stryker said.
They took up positions with Acheron in the middle as they left the dark alley and headed down St. Ann toward the cemetery. Ash's long black coat fanned out slightly from his ankles as they walked like hungry predators toward a meeting Stryker was sure all of them could have done without. As if one beast outlined by moonlight, they moved in complete synchronization.
The only sounds they could hear were the music from Bourbon Street, the beating of their hearts, and the clicking of their boots on the pavement. The streets glistened from an earlier rain as dark clouds still hung above them and the street turned from commercial buildings into residential.
"How many times have you walked this street, Gautier?" Stryker asked.
"A thousand or better and I intend to be here for a thousand more."
Stryker nodded until they neared the cemetery, and he realized something. War did nothing without express intent. "Why do you think War chose this place to meet?"
Ash paused to look at him. "He wouldn't care about solitude."
Nick snorted. "Maybe he likes dead people."
A chill went down Stryker's spine at those words. They'd barely left Nick's lips before he saw just how right that sarcastic comment was. There before him stood three women.
Nick's mother, Stryker's daughter, and Ash's sister.