And Satara wonders why no man will date her...
"Leave him intact," Stryker ordered the Apollite over the phone while he glared at his sister. "I'll be there after sundown to check on him myself and he better be as he was when you captured him."
Before the Apollite could respond, Stryker hung up the phone and returned it to his belt.
Satara rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you would show mercy to an enemy. You who cut the throat of your own son to appease Apollymi."
Acting on pure instinct, Stryker reached up and grabbed her by the neck to silence her. "Enough," he growled as her eyes bulged. "Unless you want to see the exact nature of my mercy, you'll take a more respectful tone when you address me. I don't care who you serve. Let Artemis find another handmaiden. One more word and I'll silence you eternally." Shoving her away from him, he stood up.
Utter silence filled the hall as he scanned the gathered Spathis. Physically no older than twenty-seven, each member of their clan was as beautiful as an angel... of death.
And they were his to command.
Ignoring his sister, he addressed them. "We have been given a rare opportunity to work with the humans to bring about the end of the Dark-Hunters in Seattle and give us the foothold we need in their world. But don't think for one minute that this war is over. And as soon as Acheron realizes how many of his Dark-Hunters are missing, he will come here himself to see what's going on."
Stryker pinned a fierce look on Satara. "Are you ready to battle the Dark-Hunter leader?"
Her eyes flashed with bloodlust as she rubbed her throat. "With every breath I have."
Stryker scoffed. "Suicidal bravery will get us nowhere. Apollymi protects that bastard of hers. It will never be by a Daimon hand that he dies..."
"It'll be by a human one," Trates said from his right.
Stryker nodded. "And it will take a great deal of planning and careful execution if we're to do this. Kill Acheron and the other Dark-Hunters will be easy to manipulate or eliminate." He looked around the room as his army nodded in agreement.
"So who do we kill next?" Trates asked.
Stryker considered the seven Dark-Hunters who were left. Each one of them had been a fierce warrior in their human lifetime. There wasn't an easy target in the bunch.
But with the humans helping them for once they had a distinct advantage. Like the Apollites and Daimons, the Dark-Hunters couldn't survive in daylight but their human helpers could. What's more, the Dark-Hunters couldn't sense a human the same way they could an Apollite or Daimon. Humans could easily sneak up on them and deliver an unexpected death blow. Not to mention the small oath that all Dark-Hunters took to preserve human life even at the expense of their own...
It was an oath that would be their undoing.
"We'll let the humans choose. This is their war. We'll support them for now, but in the end, should they fail it'll be their funerals and not ours."
Susan knew better than to get her hopes up as she parked in front of the animal shelter. This could very easily be nothing more than a major waste of time.
Or it could be your ticket back-
"Oh, shut up, Pollyanna," she snapped at herself as she grabbed her purse. She hated that little bit of an optimist who still lived inside her. Why wouldn't it die?
But no, she always had to have hope even when it was pointless. What was wrong with her anyway? Other people got to be jaded... why not her?
I'm just cursed, I guess.
Sighing in disgust, she got out of her car and headed for the entrance. She pushed open the door to walk into a brightly lit reception area.
There was a perky blond teenager standing behind a counter where the girl was tucking papers into file folders. "Hi," she said, glancing up at Susan. "Can I help you?"
"Cats. I'm here looking for cats."
The girl gave her an odd look. Not that Susan blamed her. There couldn't have been less enthusiasm in her voice if she'd tried. For that matter, she might even have been curling her lip as she said it. She wasn't quite sure. It was hard to hide as much distaste as she had for the creepy four-legged creatures who'd made her miserable as a child.
The girl pointed to the left. "They're over there."
"Thanks." Susan headed toward the light blue door that was marked ironically enough with the word Cats.
She pushed it open and had to fight the urge to run back to her car as her sinuses immediately clogged. And this after she'd taken Benadryl half an hour ago in expectation of such misery.