Dark Side of the Moon (29 page)

He reached out and touched her supple arm. She meant the world to him. Before he'd met her, he'd been nothing but an empty shell who'd been incapable of feeling anything at all. She'd taught him to laugh again. To breathe. He owed her everything and the thought of living for even one minute without her crippled him with pain.

He put the medallion on the dresser, then dropped his plaid and joined her in the bed. If she were awake, she'd be angry at him for even thinking about betraying his oath.

“We'll enjoy what we have and be grateful for it, Cael. Don't wish for more than what the Fates have decreed for us.”

Her compassion and strength was only part of why he loved her so much.

And it was why he didn't want to lose her.

Swallowing against the lump in his throat, he pulled her warm body flush to his.

And as he closed his eyes, he could have sworn he heard Stryker's voice in his head.

“One single word, Cael, and you'll never have to lose her. Just one.”

Cael whispered a prayer for strength and courage. But in the end, his gift of second sight laid out a future that scared him. Because in his heart, he knew the truth.

He would do
anything
to keep this woman by his side. The only question was what exactly Stryker would ask him to do in order to save his wife's life.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Susan came awake just after dusk—at least that's what she thought. Since there were no windows or a clock in the room, she didn't really know what time it was, except for the fact that the music from the club upstairs was already hopping. That meant it had to be after sundown, but it was quiet enough that she figured it couldn't be too late.

Ravyn shifted behind her as if he knew she was awake and laid a gentle kiss on her bare back. She shivered as chills shot down her spine in the wake of his hot lips on her flesh. “Good morning,” he said as he stretched languidly. Rolling over, she could swear that she felt that stretch herself. The faint light showed his naked body off to perfection. His lean muscles were taut and bulging …

Along with another part of him she couldn't help noticing.

“Evening, you mean.”

He yawned without responding. She was mesmerized by the definition of his abs as he arched his back. Oh, yeah, a woman could do laundry on that. And it made her want to rub herself against him.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, reaching over to brush her hair back from her face.

“Like a baby. You?”

He rolled to his side to give her a devilish grin. “Yeah, I actually did for once.”

Before she could ask him another question, Grieg's “In the Hall of the Mountain King” started playing. It took her a full second to realize it was Ravyn's phone.

Making an aggravated noise, he rolled over to pull it out of his pants before he answered it.

“Yeah?” He reached over and idly toyed with her hand as he listened.

Susan savored the roughness of his fingers on her skin, even though a part of her wished it was something else he was fondling.

“Okay, I'll be there.” He hung up the phone.

“What's up?”

He raised her hand up to his lips so that he could nibble the backs of her knuckles before he answered. “They're calling a meeting here tonight with all the Dark-Hunters.”

That surprised her. “I didn't think you guys could be together without weakening each other.”

“We can't, which tells you how important the Squires think this meeting is. Acheron is usually the only one to call together something like this.” He leaned over to give her a kiss, and as their lips touched, she felt warmth seep through her body. She couldn't believe the things this man made her feel for him when they shouldn't even be together.

Susan melted under his assault until he pulled back sharply.

“We have half an hour,” he said quietly. “Chop-chop.”

She groaned. “I wish that were half an hour for sex, but I think you mean half an hour for dressing.”

He gave her an arch stare. “I could never have sex with you in only half an hour, my lady. Truly not possible.”

Biting her lip, she reached down to cup his warm sac in her hand. “You keep talking like that, Leopardman, and we won't be leaving this room any time soon.”

He nibbled and laved her neck. “Yeah, but then they'd come after us and I'd have to kill one of them, which would really be a bad thing. Ash tends to get testy when we kill off Squires.”

He laid himself down on top of her to savor her skin against his, then he stood up with a deep groan.

Susan allowed him to pull her to her feet before they quickly dressed and headed upstairs. Part of her wanted to stay downstairs and keep reviewing files … among other things such as testing how long his stamina would last, but her curiosity got the better of her.

What could be so important that they would call a meeting when it was obvious that the Dark-Hunters needed their strength to fight the Daimons who were trying to kill them?

Susan hesitated at the top of the stairs. “You don't think this is a trap, do you?”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, if I were a Daimon and I knew that to get you guys together would weaken you, wouldn't I do that if I could?”

“Yeah, but they don't have our phone numbers.”

Good point.

He opened the door. Terra met them in the upstairs hallway before they could reach the kitchen. “They're in the back office,” she said, handing each of them a sack and a soda.

“What's this?” Susan asked.

“Breakfast. I figured the two of you would be hungry during the meeting.”

“Thank you,” Ravyn said.

“No problem.” Terra led them down another hallway that shot off the kitchen, to a large office that had a desk along one wall and a huge conference table in the center. Leo and Kyl were already there, along with Erika and Jack. Susan looked around for Jessica, but there was no sign of her.

“What's up?” she asked Leo as Terra left them alone.

“A lot of shit.”

“Good,” Susan said as she put her sack lunch on the table. “I'll make sure and get my waders out.”

Kyl snorted as he reviewed something on his laptop.

As Susan and Ravyn sat down, the door opened to show Otto and Nick. Otto's face was stoic, but Nick's was angry, as if he really resented this meeting. He took a seat opposite her and folded his arms over his chest like a sullen child.

Kyl cocked a brow as he looked up from his computer. “What? Being a Dark-Hunter doesn't agree with you?”

Nick curled his lip. “Shut up, schmuck.”

“Schmuck?” Kyl was completely indignant. “What the hell happened to you, boy? I thought we were friends.
Best
friends.”

“Kyl,” Otto snapped as he sat down beside Nick. “Lay off.”

Kyl held his hands up in surrender. “Whatever.”

Susan looked up as the door opened again and froze with her turkey sandwich halfway to her lips. Eyes wide, she stared at a man she hadn't seen in almost twenty years … and he hadn't changed a bit. Seriously. Not a bit. Not a wrinkle, not a gray hair. Nothing.

Still stunningly gorgeous, he was six feet even in height with short jet-black hair that set off his Asian features to perfection.

She set her sandwich back on the table. “Sensei?”

His own mouth dropped as he met her gaze and she finally saw a set of fangs that she'd somehow failed to notice during the two years she'd trained in his studio. “Susan?”

Ravyn darted a curious gaze between them. If she didn't know better, she'd swear she saw a hint of jealousy in those dark eyes. “You know Dragon?”

Susan nodded.

Ravyn looked less than pleased. “How well do you know him?”

“She was one of my students at the dojo,” Dragon said as he smiled at her. “One of my best students, I might add.”

Susan continued to stare at him in disbelief. “Wow, I can't believe you're here. Then again, this explains so much.”

Finally relaxing, Ravyn laughed at that. “Let me guess, never a day class available, and a lot of family emergencies that had him running out at odd times?”

It was true. Dragon had been a great teacher, but he'd also had two assistants and they'd often joked that he dashed off like Superman after a criminal. Who knew how close they'd been to the truth?

Susan shook her head. “Jeez … you guys really are everywhere, aren't you?”

“Yes,” Dragon said. “Which explains why I'm here, but not how it is that you're in our company.”

“She's a new Squire,” Leo said as he sat down at the head of the table.

Coming forward, Dragon held his hand out to her. “Welcome to our world. It's good to see you again.”

She shook his hand and smiled. “You, too.”

As Dragon started to take the chair beside her, Ravyn cleared his throat.

Dragon arched a single brow as he hesitated with his hand on the back of the chair. She could see his inner debate of whether to sit there and irritate Ravyn or not. Winking at her, he moved to sit on the other side of Ravyn.

“Have you known Ravyn long, Susan?” Dragon asked.

“Just met.”

“Uh-huh—”

“Drop the subject, Dragon,” Ravyn said as he picked the tomatoes off his sandwich.

Dragon put his hands in the pocket of his black windbreaker and cast a knowing look at them.

Susan felt the heat sting her cheeks before Dragon started chatting with Leo over the latest story in the
Inquisitor
about an alien baby being found in Greenland.

While they talked, Susan noticed Nick's hand. Like Leo and the others, he had the same spiderweb tattoo. How very interesting.…

The next Dark-Hunter to join them was a former Nubian priest named Menkaura. Tall and lean, his skin was a perfect shade of mocha. He wore his long black hair in braids that were tied back at the nape of his neck. But what fascinated her most was that he was dressed in black jeans and a black sleeveless vest that showed off a tattoo of the eye of Horus on his right biceps. There was also a line of tiny hieroglyphics beneath it.

“I have to know what that says,” she said, indicating the tattoo.

He glanced at it before he answered, “‘Death is a doorway. Think before you knock on it.'”

“That's profound.”

He inclined his head to her as Jack made an aggravated noise. “Dang, and I always thought it said something like ‘Die, Scum, Die.' How disappointing.”

By his pained expression, Susan could tell Menkaura didn't appreciate Jack's humor. Unlike Dragon and Ravyn, Menkaura was completely reserved and said very little. Something about him reminded her of a cobra lying in wait for its next victim.

Susan took a second to glance around at the men.… “You know, I suddenly feel like I'm on that
Cover Model
show. Is it just me or is there some unwritten rule that says all the Dark-Hunters have to be really hot?”

Erika snorted. “C'mon, Susan, think about it. If you're an immortal goddess and you're putting together an army of warriors to fight the undead, are you going to fill it with slugs or with the hottest pieces of cheese you can find? Maybe I'm shallow … okay, I'm highly shallow, but in this I give Artemis two thumbs-up.”

“You have a point,” Susan said as she let her gaze wander over the four Dark-Hunters who were present. Then she looked at Leo. “You know, this would have made a good headline, huh? ‘Greek Goddess Commands Army of Hot Cheese.'”

Leo flipped her off before he returned to sorting through his folder.

“Ooo,” Susan said, feigning hurt. “I think I've been dissed by the Master of Sleaze.”

Menkaura had just taken his seat when the door was suddenly thrown back.

“Dammit, Belle!” Leo snapped as he jumped completely out of his seat. “Don't do that.”

Susan had to force herself not to laugh.

“Aw, sit your ass down, Leo,” Belle said in a voice that was thick with a Texas drawl before she slammed the door shut with the heel of her foot. Tall and blond and also dressed in black jeans and a black blouse, she reminded Susan of an angel … one that was chewing her gum like a cow going to town with cud. She moved forward to set two bottles of unopened tequila on the table. “Now, boys and girls, let the party start.”

“All right, Annie Oakley,” Ravyn said in a teasing tone. “Last time you threw a party, half of Chicago burned down.”

Belle narrowed her eyes playfully on him. “That was
not
my fault.”

Ravyn leaned back in his chair and gave her a doubting stare. “Uh-huh. The least you could have done was take the blame yourself and not put it off on Mrs. O'Leary's cow.”

“Hey now, they couldn't hang old Bessie for starting the fire.” Belle moved to stand by Susan. She folded her arms over her chest as she stood there with her feet slightly apart. The stance reminded Susan of a gunfighter about to draw his gun. “You're new. Who the hell are you?”

She glanced about nervously, but the men didn't seem concerned at Belle's antagonistic nature. “Susan.”

“Uh-huh,” Belle said in a tone that was less than impressed.

“She's a Squire,” Leo said.

“Uh-huh.” Belle sized her up again. “Can you shoot a gun?”

Susan frowned at the odd question. “Yeah.”

“Can you hit anything after you pull the trigger?”

“Most of the time.”

“Cool.” She held her hand out to her. “Welcome to our little group here.”

Susan shook her hand as Belle's entire demeanor changed over to friendly. “Thanks.”

Menkaura shifted in his chair. “Belle used to travel with a Wild West show.”

Belle opened the bottle nearest her with her teeth. “Yeah,” she said as she pulled a small shot glass from her pocket and filled it, “and I kicked Annie Oakley's ass in my last show, but do they ever mention that? No. I got the shaft and she got the fame. Life's just not fair, I tell you.”