"You bastard!" Ravyn tried to reach him, but the Daimons wouldn't let him.
Stryker merely laughed. "Yes, and I revel in that title."
"Do we kill him, my lord?" one of the Daimons asked.
Stryker cocked his head as if considering it. "Not today, Davyn. Today, we show a bit of mercy to our worthy opponent. After all, he taught me that you don't trust the human cattle. Only other immortals understand the rules of war."
He broke through the ranks of Daimons to stand before Ravyn. "I have to say you've impressed me, Kontis. You've survived everything I've thrown at you. And the way you handled yourself here... really, I was wondering how you'd get out of this."
He looked at Susan then and his harsh features actually softened. "You remind me of my own wife. She was one hell of a lady, and like you she'd fight with me even while we were battling others."
For some reason she couldn't even begin to understand, she actually felt a pang of compassion for him. It was obvious he'd loved his wife a great deal.
"There's only one thing I have ever respected. Strength." He returned his attention to Ravyn. "We'll fight this battle another night, Cousin. For now... peace."
And with that, the portal opened and Stryker stepped through it. The Daimons released her and Ravyn and quickly followed after him.
Susan stood there, completely stunned by what she'd seen and heard. "This par for the course?"
"No." Ravyn looked every bit as baffled as she felt. "I think we may have witnessed an all-time first for the Daimons."
Susan expelled a long breath. "Damn. It's been one hell of a day and it's not even six thirty yet."
"Tell me about it."
Just grateful that they were both alive, she smiled at him and walked herself into his arms. Closing her eyes, she held him tight... until his earlier words repeated themselves in her head.
"You think you love me?"
"We're not going to go into this again, are we?"
"Yeah, we are. How heartless is that? Here I was thinking I meant something to you because you were willing to die for me and the next thing I know, you tell me that you don't even know whether or not you love me. That you'd rather kill yourself than stay alive and what? Be mated to me? Thanks a lot. You weren't making some declaration of loyalty. You're willing to die for any bimbo you meet. "
He scowled at her. "That's not true. If you were just some bimbo I wouldn't have tried to make it meaningful. "
"But you would have died for her anyway?"
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it!" As she opened her mouth to continue her argument, he captured her lips with his and kissed the daylights out of her.
Susan melted as his tongue teased hers. Her head spun as all her conflicting emotions settled down into just one...
The one that loved this man.
Ravyn licked her lips playfully before he pulled back to press his forehead to hers. "You feeling better yet?"
"I don't know. I think I need another kiss to be sure."
Laughing, he picked her up in his arms and kissed her again.
Yeah, that was doing it. She was definitely feeling better. At least until she realized something.
"How are we getting home?"
"Looks like you'll be driving." He glanced up the stairs to where Paul was. "We need to head out and call the police."
"Yeah, I don't want to be here anymore. I've seen enough death for a while."