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Stryker sat in the dark library of his home in Kalosis-the Atlantean hell real before his i him The surface of the desk was so shiny that it reflected the candlelight with an eerie glow that danced around them

Sadness settled heavily in his heart as he remembered a ti with hiht of his once beloved son was enough to cripple him Urian&039;s loss still ate away inside hi could cure

And it was all because of Acheron that he had killed his beloved son His heir His heart There was nothing left inside hieance so profound that it made a mockery of the betrayals that caused hu could appease the e could quell the vivid memory of the hurt and betrayed look in Urian&039;s eyes the instant Stryker had cut his throat

Stryker ground his teeth as grief tore through him aneished he could take back that moment

But it was done and he couldn&039;t live until he had made sure that Acheron knew this pain firsthand That Acheron suffered out his eternity in bitter anguish So that was made more difficult by his need to make it all happen beneath Apollyoddess, it was difficult to find tie that she&039;d probably disapprove of But Stryker would be unstoppable until everyone Acheron held dear lay perraves Already he had caused the death of Nick Gautier and his mother, Cherise

There were only three others whoto the Atlantean prince The Charonte demon, Simi, ould be virtually impossible to kill-but then, where there was a will, there was always a way The human child, Marissa Hunter, and Alexion

He&039;d al Marissa a few months back in New Orleans Unfortunately, his atteuard was up where the child was concerned Yet there would couard would relax

Then the child would be vulnerable again

But when it caht hand could take care of hi

"Acheron a Daihed as he picked up the sfora that Stryker used so that he could watch those in the human realm

The blond man before hiood-looking, and in the height of his youth It was the curse of their ancient Apollite race that no one could live past their twenty-seventh birthday

At the hour that rate into dust The only way to avoid that fate was to begin feeding on human souls Whenever an Apollite decided to feed on souls rather than to die, he was termed a Daimon and cast out of the Apollite mainstreah he&039;d never understood why

Very few Daimons ever preyed on their own

It was after the conversion to Daimon status that the Dark-Hunters were sent in by Acheron to kill them and free the stolen souls before they died

Pitiful wretch, he sided with the humans and not the Daimons If Acheron were smart, he would have been on their side But for some reason Stryker had never understood, Acheron sided with a race that would try to destroy him if they ever learned who and what he was

What an idiot

Trates rolled the sfora in a small circle over the polished desk "I have to say, akri, that was a good one The Dark-Hunters are truly too stupid to live"

Stryker leaned back in his black leather chair as the corners of his lips lifted in memory of his lies "I wish I could take credit for that one, but alas it was a Dark-Hunter who inspired that ruo"

"Yes, but you were the one who invented the whole war between hihly offended to learn that you dared to say she had birthed one of Artemis&039;s servants"

The smile froze on Stryker&039;s face Little did Trates know, that was exactly what he suspected Although Apolly she was Acheron&039;s ht Urian had died Why else would Apolly Artemis&039;s servant?

Artemis held Acheron&039;s soul Acheron orn to her service and spent all of his tis who served Apollymi Given the Destroyer&039;s profound hatred of Artemis, it would seem only natural that they would be sent out to kill Artemis&039;s favorite boy toy

And yet the only time one of Stryker&039;s Daione after all of those responsible Even now his people lived in fear of reawakening her wrath Not that he blamed them Apollymi, much like him, lived for brutality

Of course, he had no real proof of his suspicion where Acheron was concerned Not yet But if he was right and Acheron was Apollymi&039;s lost son, then Stryker would have the power to finally destroy the ancient Atlantean goddess With her gone, he would rule Kalosis and all the Daimons who made this realm their home

He would have unrivaled power There would be no one to stop hi the humans

The world of man would be his

He could already taste the sweetness of victory