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Ravyn leaned back against the ith his eyes closed His head was throbbing from exhaustion and tension How could someone trap a public official in the police depart burned?

Even if they did catch him, could they clear Susan&039;s name? He wasn&039;t particularly worried about himself He could be transferred to a remote part of the world for a few decades and then moved back here But her

He smelled her the instant she returned to the room He kept his eyes closed as he savored the scent There was nothing entle Her feet htest of sounds as she crossed the room and then knelt by his side

She brushed the hair back fro his body with her careful touch And then she pressed her lips against his Ravyn hissed at the taste of her as he returned her kiss

But when she reached for his fly, he caught her hand in his andat hi?"

"No, love But we can&039;t have sex until you&039;re sure you want to mate with me That&039;s hoe seal the deal One tiny penetration, whether intended or not, and you&039;re mine Forever"

She nipped his mouth with her teeth "Would that be so bad?"

He teased her lips with his tongue "No Not at all But I already told you that I want you to take a few days to really consider this Once we&039;re mated there&039;s no way back" Not to mention the fact that as a Dark-Hunter he wasn&039;t supposed to a to think of I ht, and I&039;m sure we are, we have aho to hang us and how they&039;re getting aith all this"

"And if you&039;re right and his sons are both Daimons, he doesn&039;t want them to die like his wife, which explains why he wants to wipe out the Dark-Hunters in Seattle"

He nodded, then had a bad thought go through hiet Erika out of here"

"What?"

"We need Erika gone First thing I don&039;t want thee"

"Wouldn&039;t all Squires be in danger?"

He shook his head "Think about it, Susan I killed his wife"

"He wants your blood oing to get him"

Stryker walked into his study on Kalosis to find the clock that marked human hours on his mantel It would soon be dawn and Trates hadn&039;t returned

What could be keeping hione so long Feeling stupid for even caring, Stryker picked up the sfora from his desk and cradled the small clear crystal orb in his hand The Atlantean word for "eye," the sfora was a way for those in Kalosis to keep tabs on the humans or anyone else on earth or here

"Where are you, Trates?" he mumbled under his breath as he searched for hi

Stryker frowned "Showbut the red and gold swirling ht in his hand as he conjured an iht in his rip enough so that he could see the es of Trates and Paul At first they see until Paul staked him in the back

For a full minute, Stryker couldn&039;t breathe as disbelief soaked him Finally the nu deep in his throat, he threw the orb against the wall and it splintered into a thousand shards

Trates was dead

Unih him and he didn&039;t even knohy Sure Trates had been with him for thousands of years and had served hi rief he felt told hih it all, Trates had been a good friend to hione

Slain by a hu Stryker hatedHe could at least respect Dark-Hunters as worthy adversaries

But humans

They were cattle to be slain and eaten And now one of the cows had dared to attack them Fine, if that was the way Paul wanted to play it, then the rules were changed The truce was over

His anger raw, he left his study and headed for the hall, where he summoned his soldiers to him Within seconds the entire roolanced to where his elite Illuminati warriors stood on the left of his throne as he ascended the dais to stand before his regal seat Because of their skills and ruthlessness, the h the ranks of the others to be bodyguards to the Destroyer Or, e and Valkyries of Stryker

"Davyn," he said to the male who stood in their center Davyn had once been a close friend to his son, Urian, before Urian had betrayed him and sided with Acheron and his bastard Hunters

Like Urian, the Dai white-blond hair that he kept tied at his neck with a black cord Stepping forward, Davyn placed his right fist to his left shoulder and bowed slightly "My lord?"

"You arehis spine, Davyn looked about nervously "My lord?"

"You heard correctly All of you have heard it Davyn is to be ly "

Davyn bowed his head with a jerk "Thank you, my lord But may I inquire as to what has happened to Trates?"

Stryker clenched his teeth as his virulent emotions threatened to overtake him But he wouldn&039;t shoeakness to his people They relied on hi and he would be rock solid for them "Our brother has fallen to a human hand"

Curses and whispers of shock filled the room as the neent over everyone like a pall

"The experi to die, then we&039;ll die as soldiers fighting Artemis&039;s army, face-to-face with our worthy ene stabbed in the back by cattle As soon as Acheron is gone fro ti and his sons"

"But, my lord," Arista said from her place with the Illuminati, "his sons are one of us"

"Not anyeance on the human and his spawn I want his head and the lives of his sons"

He beat his right hand against his breast before holding it up in salute to Trates, who&039;d died carrying out his orders

His army followed suit

"Sleep well," he told them "And be prepared to attack"

Susan was tired and more than ready for bed as she left their small room to head across the hall to the bathroom All she wanted was a cold cloth for her face to help her wake up so that they could for

So used to it just being the two of them in the basement, she didn&039;t even think to knock before she pushed open the door

She froze instantly Acheron was standing with his back to the mirror as he tried to rub ointht of his tawny, muscled back that held her enthralled Never in her life had she seen anything like it It was raw and bleeding, with vicious welts covering every inch of it They disappeared below his belt and even curved around his biceps, except they&039;d soon tattoo

"I&039;m sorry," she said quickly She knew she should leave him to his privacy and yet she couldn&039;t make her feet obey her All she could do was stare at his ravaged skin and try to iine how badly it e, she stepped forward and held her hand out for the tube

He rabbed his shirt froain "I can help you sed his shirt on "It&039;s okay I don&039;t like for people to touchto knohat&039;d happened to him, but due to his demeanor and the aura of "don&039;t mess with me or I&039;ll kill you" that he rapped around hi

There was sohly vulnerable about him More than that, he oozed an unnatural wave of pri And a part of her actually wanted to touch hihts and was made extremely uncomfortable by them

As he started for the door, she stopped him "Ash?"

"What?"

"How do you punish a Dark-Hunter who breaks the rules?"

He scowled at her "Depends on the rule and the circu in ht see her pal"

"I see" Once again, he started to leave, then paused in the doorway His eerie silver eyes burned into her "But you know so, Susan I personally don&039;t believe anyone should be punished because they want to share their life with so of so from his past "No one should have to pay for love in flesh or in blood"

And with that, he left her alone to think about what he&039;d said

Ravyn was right Acheron was one spooky man And it made her wonder what price he must have paid to hold that view

As she reached for a washcloth, she heard Ash knocking on the door across the hall

"Hey," he said to Ravyn in that strange lilting accent of his "I just wanted to let you know that I have to leave now"

"You just got here"

"I know I told you that my time here was extremely limited But don&039;t worry I&039;ll be back in a few days"

"Don&039;t worry?" Ravyn asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm "Why would I worry? We only have hu to fret about at all"

"Yeah, well, it could be worse"

"How so?"

"You could be mated to a human"

Susan&039;s stomach hit the floor at those words Her eyes wide, shedown the hall while Ravyn watched after him with his face stern

She quickly closed the distance between theht "Do you think he knows?" she whispered

"I have no idea"

Her heart ha, she looked back down the hallway to ered and left them both unsettled

Sotwo seconds later, it actually made her jump