Simone cradled Xypher to her as she let the strength of his body carry her to the ultimate height of pleasure. Who would have ever dreamed that a demon could be so tender? But he was. He held her as if she were unspeakably precious. As if he were afraid she'd break.
The only part of her that was in jeopardy of that was her heart. She'd lost everyone in her life who meant something to her.
Only Jesse had been a constant. And now she'd have to lose Xypher, It wasn't right.
She moaned as he drove himself so deeply into her body that it touched her very soul. She lifted her hips, drawing him in even deeper, until she felt herself slipping.
Screaming out, she came in a bright burst of release.
He laughed in triumph before he moved even quicker against her. And when he came, he growled like a wild animal who'd been temporarily tamed.
Simone held him against her in the darkness and listened to the sound of his ragged breathing in her ear. "I won't let go of you without a fight, Xypher. Hades can't have you back. I won't let him."
Xypher winced at those words that cut into his heart. The fact that she said them meant the world to him. But he knew better than to put stock in words whispered in a lover's arms. Such words were empty more times than not.
Besides, words were easy. It was the doing that was hard. People started down the road with good intentions, but the moment the road became rough or difficult, they'd abandon it. There was no reason to believe Simone would be any different from anyone else.
He wasn't worth fighting for. All he could offer her was a broken future.
But it was nice to pretend that he could put faith in her conviction. That she would fight for him and not throw him to his enemies . . .
"Xypher?"
He slid to her side and pulled her into his arms. "Yes?"
"Did you love Satara?"
"I thought I did, but I realized too late that I have no understanding of love. It's a human emotion."
"My father felt it."
"He was an exception, as was your mother."
She looked up at him. "You don't believe in love, do you?"
"I think it exists. I just don't think it will ever exist for me."
She sighed before she snuggled back down on top of him. "What happened to make you hate Satara the way you do?"
He paused, his hand in her hair, as unfettered pain tore through him. He'd never told a single soul what had happened, but as he lay here with Simone, the truth came pouring out before he could stop it. "I made a bargain with Jaden to accept her punishment."
"What?"
He let out a tired sigh, "I showed Satara how to walk into people's dreams. I allowed her to use my powers and manipulate them."
"Why did you do that?"
"For the same reason you dance with Jesse. Dreams were the only place where I could have emotions. Whenever Satara joined me there, I felt like a man. And I thought I felt love for her. At the time, I was willing to do anything to make her happy."
"But you didn't love her?"
He sank his hand in her hair and spread it out aver his chest. He savored the cool, tickling sensation of it. "No. And she didn't love me, either, even though she said she did. She was using me and my powers so that she could attack people and torture them while they were helplessly asleep."
Simone's heart sank at what he described. "What?"
"That's the curse of the Skoti. If we visit one person too much, we can burn them out and either kill them or make them go insane. Satara was using my powers as a way to assassinate those she didn't like."
Xypher drew in a sharp breath as he remembered that fate fill day. Satara had been dressed in red, her blond hair flowing around her like an angel as she ran to him and threw herself into his arms.
"Xypher, help me, please . . ." Her eyes had sparkled with her tears.
He'd never seen her cry before.
"What's wrong?"
"Zeus and Hades are going to kill me. You can't let them."
"Kill you for what?"
"For the dreams you taught me. They . . . they said I was doing something wrong, but the people I killed deserved it. You believe that, don't you?"
"Of course."
She'd smiled at him then and he'd been lost. "Please don't let me die, Xypher. I love you. I'll always love you."
Gods, what a fool he'd been to believe her.
Simone swallowed as the knot in her stomach tightened. She knew what he'd done. "You summoned Jaden."
He nodded. "I gave him my soul if he would make the other gods believe I was the one who'd tortured the humans. Satara had promised me that once I was dead, she'd come to Tartarus and feed me seeds from the Destroyer's garden."
Simone frowned as she tried to understand. "Why eat seeds?"
"They would have killed me completely. Every facet of my being would have been wiped out of existence."
Simone gasped at the horror of what he described. "Why would you want that?"
He took her hand and rubbed it down the scars that marred his chest. "I didn't want to bleed for all eternity for something I didn't do. I was willing to die for her and I wanted her to make sure that I didn't continue to suffer.
Simone winced at the pain she felt for him. "She didn't carry out her part of the bargain."
"No. Instead she came and laughed at me for being so stupid." His eyes flared red. "There for a time, she'd even helped them to torture me. I would stare at her, wanting a part of her flesh so badly that I could taste it."
Simone covered her mouth with her hand as bile rose in her throat. "How could she do that?"
"She's a soulless bitch, and now you know why I can't go back to hell without taking her with me. I'm not the only man she's fucked over, but by the gods on Olympus I want to be the last."
Yeah, now she understood, but the understanding didn't change the fact that she didn't want him hurt. Or worse, dead.
"I would never betray you like that."
His gaze softened, but deep inside his eyes, she saw the doubt that tore at her.
How could she ever prove herself to a man who'd been so deeply behaved?
Simone laid her head against the worst of the scars on his chest and took his hand into hers. Somehow she was going to prove it to him. He wasn't going to be alone in this fight anymore.
"Satara deserves to pay for what she did." How could anyone, after having been given so much, turn on the very person who gave it? It was cruel beyond cruel.
"Believe me, she will. If I have to descend into hell and drag her out by her throat."
Simone shook her head at him. "There's the little ray of sunshine I know so well. Ever out to cheer people up."
"Well, it could be worse."
"How so?"
"I honestly don't know. But it's something humans say so I thought it would be appropriate."
Simone laughed until she saw the writing on his arm. "What is this?"
He covered the hand she held there. "It's a reminder I wrote of why I have to have Satara's blood. Why I can't give up my quest no matter the temptation."
Simone tightened her hand over the words. How sad that he had marked them there. And she wondered if there would ever be any way to erase them and replace them with something far kinder.
Stryker paused as he caught sight of his sister at his desk, writing. "What are you doing?"
She jumped, then pulled a book down over her paper. "Writing a letter."
"To whom?"
"It's personal." She got up and sauntered over to him. "I have good news for you. The gallu have found the Dimme."
Stryker lifted a single brow in interest, "Really?"
She nodded. "One Dimme could take out the Destroyer, yes?"
That was the theory. "We need her."
"No ..." Satara said with an evil smile, "you need her. But there's one small problem."
"Do you remember when Dionysus almost opened the portal to Kalosis and Apollymi sent her Charonte out to stop him?"
Of course he did. Apollymi had been livid that day. "They were sent to keep Acheron from dying, but yes, I remember. What of it?"
"The Charonte didn't all die. Apparently a large number of them survived and they're guarding our Dimme."
Stryker choked. "Charonte are guarding a Dimme? Is the world coming to an end and I missed the memo? How the hell did that happen?"
"I'm not sure. But if someone . . ."-she gave him a meaningful look-"will loan me some of his Spathi Daimons, I might be able to get my hands on the Dimme. Then we can use her to kill my Xypher problem and your Destroyer problem. What do you think?"
It sounded like a good idea, but also a risky one. While his Spathi were highly trained and excelled at killing, so were the Charonte. The last thing he wanted was to deplete his army. However, if he could kill Apollymi and claim her powers as his own, it would be worth losing a few dozen soldiers.
"Very well, sister. You'll have your pick of my soldiers. Just remember that if you fail in this, it's all on your head. I know nothing about your plan."
"Don't worry, Stryker. I'm not about to fail, and by tomorrow both of our problems will be solved."