For some strange reason, he didn't even want her to fear him, and that was something he'd never experienced before. Usually when he was in human form, he used that fear to his advantage to intimidate the Dark-Hunters and bring them back in line. He had the powers of a full god within him. The ability to take any life he chose...
He could hear and see things that were far beyond the comprehension of man, Apollite, or Dark-Hunter.
And yet as he stood there, only one thing echoed in his head-the sound of her laughter. He'd heard her laughing earlier this very evening as she fought with the Daimons. It was a lush, musical sound that rolled out from her. Hearty.
He wanted to hear it again.
"I mean you no harm, Dangereuse."
She stiffened defiantly. "The name's Danger," she corrected. "I haven't gone by Dangereuse in a long time."
He inclined his head to her. He knew from his research into her background that she'd been named for the grandmother of Eleanor of Aquitaine whom her mother had adored. A great duchess who'd lived life solely on her own terms and who had flouted societal rules. It was a name that suited the petite woman in front of him. "Forgive me."
His apology did nothing to soothe her. "And just so you know, I'm not afraid of you."
He smiled at her brave words. She was a tough, no-nonsense woman and he wondered if she had been like that as a human. But he somehow doubted it. The world she had been born into wouldn't have tolerated such a whirlwind personality from the fairer sex.
No doubt they would have quashed her rebelliousness, not embraced it.
She took a step into the room. Her dark eyes were piercing as they searched him for some weakness.
Good luck, ma petite. I haven't any.
"So, what's your story?" she asked. "You say you're Ash's Squire. Are you a Blue Blood, Blood Rites, or what?"
Alexion bit back a smile at her question. Blue Bloods were Squires who came from long generations of Squires. Blood Rites were the Squires who were charged with assuring that the rules of their world were followed. They protected the Dark-Hunters and were a police force for other Squires. Of course, he had been serving Acheron since before the Squires' Council had existed. He wasn't a true Squire. He was Acheron's Alexion, an Atlantean term that had no real translation into English.
Basically, he would do whatever was necessary to protect Acheron and Simi. And he truly meant "whatever."
He had no conscience. No morals. In his world, the only right was Acheron's will. It governed everything about him. Yes, he could and did argue with Acheron at times, but at the end of it all, he was Acheron's protector. He would always do what was in Acheron's best interest no matter the personal or physical cost to himself.
Yet he couldn't tell her the truth of his status. Only he, Simi, Artemis, and Acheron would ever know of his real relationship to the boss.
"I'm a barnacle chip," he answered in Squire slang, meaning that Acheron had recruited him to be his Squire. In a way, it was almost true.
"How long have you served him?"
He gave a short laugh at that. "It seems like forever most days."
Her dark eyes flashed suspicion and intelligence at him. She was far too bright for her own good. And far too sexy for his.
She still wasn't through interrogating him as she moved closer to him... so close he could now smell her. Her sweet scent permeated his head and created images of her naked and pliant in his bed.
"How is it that you did that little trick with the dagger where you reappeared after I stabbed you?"
One side of his mouth quirked up at her question and he leaned even closer so that he could smell the fragrance of her hair and skin. It went through him like a warm whiskey, shocking and invigorating.
It made his blood hot, his cock hard.
"Ask me what's really on your mind, Danger," he said, his voice deepened by his lust. "I don't like to play games. We both know that I'm not human so let's not do the polite song and dance while you tiptoe around me trying to figure me out."
Danger seemed to appreciate his frankness even as she shivered at his nearness. She looked up at him from under her lashes. That look made him feel things that he hadn't felt in a long time. He actually cared that she was confused and uncertain. He wanted to soothe her and that was beyond shocking to him.
"Are you here to spy for Acheron?"
He laughed at the very thought. "No. Trust me, he doesn't need anyone to spy for him. If he wants to know something, he does."
"How so?"