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It was one of thelife-but then all of his tier was special

Even so, he&039;d never seen anything like this To be sitting in the middle of people as if he were no different from them there were no words that could describe that h at the movie, take a deep breath at tense parts, and even talk around hi hadn&039;t bothered him in the least

For a tiht this out Now he understood co to the floor of the theater But the best part hen Danger pulled the armrest up so that they could share her tub of popcorn She&039;d leaned her head against his chest and there in the dark they had cuddled

"So this is what being normal feels like, huh?" he asked as they left the theater in the middle of the crowd

"Yeah Kind of nice, isn&039;t it?"

Alexion nodded as he watched groups of young adults and teenagers veer off together He draped his arnolias filled his head-he adored this woman&039;s scent

"Do you see a lot of movies at the theater?" he asked her

She wrapped her ar There was so unbelievably intihts at ho the Daimon herd"

He couldn&039;t understand such forced solitude when she, unlike him, had a choice in the matter "Why?"

"It makes me lonely to co ere kissing in the parking lot "It reminds me of what I don&039;t have anyain after you leave"

Alexion pulled her to a stop and held her close He cradled her body with his and closed his eyes, wishing both their lives were different "If I could, I would give you what you want"

"Thanks I appreciate it"

He tilted her chin up so that she was looking at hier could see the sincerity of his words in his eyes That h "But I won&039;t know it, will I?" His eyes darkened with re she wanted to do was hurt hi the ht"

"Me too" He gave her a squeeze before taking her hand and leading her toward her car

They didn&039;t say e, quiet night As they drove past the tiny white house where Elvis Presley was born, Danger glanced over at hi of rock and roll, baby Of course I know hihed "One day I have to meet this Simi" She indicated the house with a tilt of her head "He was born right there, and I rode past this house a dozen ti the infant inside would have so much impact on American culture"

"Yeah That&039;s the weirdest of Acheron&039;s gifts He would have known exactly as coive for that ability It would be the best, to be able to see into the future "Can you tell?"

"Not without the sfora Acheron doesn&039;t let er frowned "Why doesn&039;t he think you can handle that one?"

"Because there are times when even he can&039;t"

"How so?"

Alexion expelled a long breath and was quiet a few seconds before he answered "It&039;s hard to know that serious ill-fortune is about to strike someone and not intervene to make it better for them"

"Then why doesn&039;t he intervene?"

"Because people learn froer Pain and failure are a natural part of life It&039;s kind of like a parent atches their child fall dohile learning to walk Instead of coddling the child, you set theain They have to stumble before they can run"

She shook her head in denial It seemed callous to her "I don&039;t know about that It seeet a little more injured than just a skinned knee"

"Life is cruel sometimes"

True She knew that better than anyone Her heart clenched as she saw the faces of her family

They had been on their way to Gerarrison had overtaken theer closed her eyes as she saw that day so clearly in her mind

"No, Michel! He is my father"

There had been no mercy on his face, no compassion in his steel-blue eyes "He is an aristo Death to them all"

"Then kill me too I will not let you take theht in the heart that had loved hi while her father held her "Death to you all"

The last sound she&039;d heard had been the shot that took her father&039;s life as well

Anger and pain swelled inside her as those old e over ould happen with Alexion She still couldn&039;t believe she had learned to trust another o

"Do you really believe that we need to have our hearts ripped out?"

His ansas autoroithout rain"

"Too much rain and it drowns"

"And yet the row in the deepestto letto win, Danger As John Lennon once said, &039;life is what happens while you&039;re , but at the same time, it&039;s a thrill ride"

She shook her head "It amazes me that you know so ed "I have a lot of tier felt for him There were tiine how more so his was But since it was obvious that the two of the views about how inal topic

"You know, I&039;ve alanted to go in and see Elvis&039;s birthplace museum"

"Why haven&039;t you?"

"They close before dark But they do have an Elvis Festival in June That&039;s a lot of fun and there&039;s usually a Daihed "The way you say that it makes me wonder which part is business and which is pleasure"

She s a superhero Not h to help others"

"Very true"

As she drove, Danger got a strange feeling "Are we being watched again?"

Alexion shook his head "I don&039;t knohy, but Stryker seenitive powers kept ringing, telling her so to happen

It wasn&039;t until they reached her house that she understood why In her driveaiting for them, was a black Aston Martin Vanquish

That was a car she&039;d never seen in her neck of the woods before

"What in the world is Viper doing here?" she asked

Alexion frowned Viper was a Dark-Hunter assigned to Meood question"

As Danger pulled in and parked beside the Aston Martin, a tall, handsoh they were banned froht, Viper still had an olive co he&039;d inherited froinal Thirteen of Glory who had gone with Pizarro to the Inca city of Tuo in search of gold and fame The Incas had written of Viper and his party, "These s the strangers traveled across the sea in large wooden houses"

To this day, Viper feared nothing

Danger couldn&039;t iht him so far from home She&039;d only met him once in person, but had spoken with him online and over the phone a few times

Like most Dark-Hunters, the Spaniard was dressed all in black He had on a pair of pleated black slacks and a skin-tight T-shirt His hair was short and stylishly trimmed As he waited for thelasses off and tossed the as they left the car "Como esta?"

He didn&039;t answer her Instead, he headed straight for Alexion Without a word, he buried his fist into Alexion&039;s stoer snapped as she ran to thehtened with a look on his face that threatened Viper&039;s life For an instant, she half expected him to kill the Spaniard

Luckily, his restraint held

But when Viperat all Xirena came out from under Alexion&039;s sleeve in her shadow form as if ready to kill

"No, Xirena," Alexion said forcefully "It&039;s all right"

The delared at Viper, who crossed hi

"She&039;s a de? Why did you attack hilare "He killed Eupheer covered her mouth at the mention of the Greek slave woman as stationed in Memphis with Viper Euphemia was a beautiful blond woman who&039;d been viciously funny and smart

"Efie&039;s dead?" Alexion asked "When?"

Viper&039;s hate-filled gaze narrowed on him "Don&039;t play stupid with me Stryker has told me all about you" He turned on her with a curled lip "And you&039;re helping hi anyone Stryker is"

But Viper wasn&039;t listening He tried again to reach Alexion, but Xirena went after him with a hiss

"Xirena, return to me"

The demon now hissed at Alexion She looked less than pleased before she returned to shadow forer cocked her brow That was an interesting talent

"You know I didn&039;t kill her," Alexion said in a calm voice to Viper "You&039;re upset and you want to blaer would never be a part of hurting another Dark-Hunter"

She saw the anguish in Viper&039;s eyes The grief He&039;d known Euphe hier pulled him into her arms to offer him comfort "I&039;m so sorry, Viper I arief reached out to her and brought tears to her eyes "How could they do that to her?"

Danger didn&039;t understand it She never had "I don&039;t know"

Alexiondistance "Do you really believe we&039;re responsible, Viper? Honestly?"

She could see the indecision on his face as he pulled away He cut a venoer, tellto do with this?"

She knew he knew the answer to that But she could understand and respect his need for confirh "When did Efie die?"

"Three hours ago"

Danger reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her receipt for the restaurant and the movie stubs "As you can see, ere here in town the whole time There&039;s no e could have been in Memphis"

He looked at the tickets and nodded "Then Stryker is lying to us Why?"

"He&039;s a Daimon," she said simply "He wants us all dead"

Viper shook his head "I&039;ve known Kyros for centuries I trusted hier said "But we have all got to get our heads on straight or we&039;ll lose them"

He nodded "I didn&039;t believe them when they started their crap Ash has been too helpful to e sohtened Viper&039;s eyes as a muscle worked in his lean jaw "Efie didn&039;t deserve what she got Man, it&039;s a waste of a good woaze came back to hers "I want the ones who are responsible I want to feel their blood on er assured him

Viper looked at Alexion "I&039;ed it off "It&039;s understandable, given the circuer offered him a smile That was part of why she loved him so He understood people in a way few did

Viper took a deep breath as he looked Alexion over "I only have one question If you&039;re not Ash&039;s destroyer, why are you here?"

Alexion&039;s ansas dry and sarcastic "To er laughed

"The influencing people is true," Alexion said stoically "But I really don&039;t care about friends What I do care about are the Dark-Hunters Kyros and Stryker are right about-"

Danger cleared her throat, interrupting hinized from previous Dark-Hunter encounters where this particular speech was heading: disaster

Alexion ht understand people&039;s emotions and actions, but he didn&039;t kno to talk to them "Did we not have a discussion about the &039;or else&039; bit?" she asked hiest I say?"