But this wasn't Tannis.
She's dead. He'd seen her decay into dust with his own eyes. Yet this woman was a complete physical copy of her, except for the way she moved. While Tannis had been hesitant and dainty, this woman was sure and determined. Fluid. She moved like a warrior ready to kill.
Before he could think better of it, he closed the distance between them.
Medea turned as a shadow fell over her. Expecting it to be her informant, she was stunned when she looked into the face of her father.
But this man was different. Instead of her father's short dyed black hair, his was long and snow white--pulled back into a ponytail. He was also a hair taller than her father. Not obvious at first, yet undeniable as he came closer.
Still, there was no denying the similarity of their features. This was her father's doppelganger.
"Who are you?" they asked simultaneously.
Medea hesitated when he didn't answer right away. Why was he being reserved when it was obvious he was a relative she hadn't met. Maybe a cousin even her father didn't know about?
Curiosity got the better of her so she answered first. "I'm Medea."
"Medea..." he seemed perplexed by her name. "I'm Urian."
Urian.
She gasped at the name of her mysterious half brother she'd heard about, but never expected to meet. He was now a servant of Acheron. Enemy to all of them after he'd betrayed her father.
"Filthy traitor!" she spat.
He didn't take that well as he gripped her arm and yanked her toward him. "Who are you?"
She wanted to see the shock on his face when she delivered the truth. "Your sister."
Urian blinked twice as that news sank in. He'd only had one sister. There was no way he could have another and not know it. "How?"
"Stryker married my mother, then divorced her to marry yours. She was pregnant with me at the time and he never knew."
His jaw went slack. Why hadn't Davyn told him about this? Davyn had told him about Stryker's first wife returning, but a sister...
A living, real sister. Why would Davyn have kept that secret? Suddenly he remembered Acheron telling him.... Shit! The bastard had removed that memory. Why would Ash have done that?
And with that thought came a really bad feeling. "What are you doing here?"
"Sightseeing."
He knew better, especially with someone sired by his father. "You're spying for Stryker."
She jerked her arm out of his hold. "Don't take that tone with me, little boy. You served him too and for many more centuries."
The thought made him ill. "And I paid the ultimate price for that blind stupidity. Trust me."
She scanned his body. "I don't know. You look pretty healthy and happy to me."
"Yeah, right. Let me tell you something, little girl, I was his favorite. His pride and joy above all others. For thousands of years I served at his side, doing everything he asked me to. Everything. Without question or hesitation. And in the blink of an eye, because I dared to marry without his permission, he cut my throat. Literally."
"He cut your throat because you married his enemy."
Yeah, right. It had nothing to do with whom he married and everything to do with his father's ego. Stryker couldn't stand the thought of anyone questioning his authority.
Not even his own son.
"I married a kind, gentle woman who never hurt a soul a day in her life. She wasn't a warrior. She was an innocent by-stander whose only mistake was falling in love with a monster." And making him human. Making him care for someone other than himself and he would sell his soul if he could have one more moment with her. "Don't delude yourself for one minute. Stryker will turn on you, just as he turned on me."
"You're wrong about that."
"For your sake, sister. I hope to the gods that I am." But the bad things was, he knew better. It was just a matter of time before their father went after her, too.
Sam felt lost in Nick's house. It was huge. But luckily he had all the windows closed even though she knew from her protection detail that for some reason, he could walk in daylight. No one was sure why and Ash refused to comment on it.
They had hazarded guesses of everything from he was really a demon to a Daimon plant. To the fact that he was sleeping with Artemis. The Dark-Hunter scuttlebutt could be as creative as it was entertaining.
Personally, she believed it was the result of the fact that he hadn't been murdered like the rest of them.
He'd killed himself for vengeance. Somehow, she was convinced, that had altered his Dark-Hunter powers and made him something more than the rest of them. She suspected that Acheron knew what he was and was afraid to tell the rest of them.
Perhaps the people coming for him, that she was charged with protecting him from, were a result of his unnatural rebirth. What ever the truth, both Ash and Nick were keeping it close to their vests.
Sam sighed as she pushed those thoughts away. No matter how much she pondered it, she wouldn't get an answer. And right now, she should be sleeping. But she couldn't seem to manage it. Her emotions were too raw and bleeding.
She wanted Dev and it was the one thing she couldn't have.
Without thinking, she reached out and touched one of the photos on the wall of Dev and Nick playing pool. The moment she did, her powers surged and she saw that moment occurring in crystal clarity.
"Come here, you little hustler." Dev laughed as he pulled Nick around the table for his shot. "You beat that and I'll pay you a hundred dollars."
Nick gaped at him. "Dude! You're so on...um, do I have to pay you if I lose?"
Grinning, Dev shook his head and ruffled Nick's short hair. "Nah, but you will have to wash dishes for a week."
"That sucks."
Dev tsked at him. "You a coward?"
"Oh you're going down, Bear. Open the checkbook. Daddy's going to show you how it's done." Nick lined up the shot.
Dev danced around the table, trying to distract him. "Your mother was a hamster and she smelled of elderberries."
Nick scoffed at the Monty Python reference. "I don't know what you're talking about, Grizzly Adams. You're the one whose mom is covered in fur. My mom just wears sequins." He let fly the cue stick and the balls scattered across the table. Unbelievably, he made the shot into the upper left hand pocket like a pro.