He tossed the dagger at Danger.
Alexion threw his hand out to deflect the dagger's path. The dagger should have shot to his hand. It didn't.
Just as it started for him, one of the Daimons hit him in the chest. He staggered forward, then regained his balance. Before he could reclaim the dagger, it returned to Stryker who tossed it faster than he could blink.
It buried itself deep into Danger's chest.
Alexion couldn't breathe for a full heartbeat as he saw it hit her so hard it knocked her off her feet before sending her twisting to the floor.
Kyros turned with a curse as he ran for her.
No! Alexion's mind screamed in denial.
It couldn't be...
"You should have backed off," Stryker said between clenched teeth as the dagger flew back into his outstretched hand. "But that's all right. The best way to kill someone is to always aim for their heart. She dies because of you and you die because of Acheron."
The Daimon threw the dagger at him.
Strike at the heart...
Catching the dagger in his fist an instant before it would have embedded itself in his chest, Alexion finally understood what the unknown feminine voice had been trying to tell him. He felt his powers surging at those words.
He turned on Stryker with a snarl. "You want a heart, Stryker? I'll give you yours..."
He knew his eyes were glowing green as he shouted, "Urian!"
"Don't you dare defile my son's name with-" Stryker's words broke off as the air around them stirred.
Two seconds later, Urian appeared. Tall and blond, the man looked eerily similar to his father except Stryker dyed his hair black while Urian's was white-blond. As always, he kept it long, and in a ponytail that was secured with a black leather cord.
Urian looked less than pleased to have been summoned. His jaw went slack as he glanced around the room at the Daimons who were staring at him in disbelief.
"Nice way to keep me incognito, Lex," Urian said, until his gaze fell on his father.
His eyes narrowed in hatred.
"Urian?" Stryker breathed the name like a sacred prayer.
"You bastard!" Urian snarled.
"Kill him," one of the Daimons shouted.
"No!" Stryker said. "He's my son."
Urian shook his head. "No, old man. I'm your enemy." Urian grabbed the dagger from Alexion's hand and ran at his father with it while Alexion went for Danger.
"Retreat!" Stryker ordered his Daimons an instant before five bolt-holes appeared.
Stryker hesitated, looking at Urian for a long minute, before he jumped through and vanished.
His heart broken, Alexion gathered Danger into his arms while Xirena stared at them from where Kyros had set her down. Alexion pressed a cloth to Danger's chest to stop the blood flow from her injury.
The demon was wounded but, unlike Danger, not fatally. Stryker hadn't stabbed the demon in the heart.
Urian turned on him. "What the hell was that action, Shade? My life was supposed to be kept secret."
"Shut up, Urian," Alexion growled as he held Danger and fought against the tears that wanted to blind him. Fought against the debilitating pain that overwhelmed him.