DANCE WITH THE DEVIL

by Sherrilyn Keynon

  Zarek tried to buck him off, but there was nothing he could do except wait for Thanatos to cut his head off.

  The dagger's blade cut into his neck.

  Zarek held his breath, afraid to move lest he help the blade slice his throat.

  Just as the blade cut into his neck, a blast of light flared across the snow, hitting Thanatos and knocking him back.

  Zarek collapsed facedown in the snow.

  "No, no, no," Simi said as she appeared in human form beside Zarek. "Akri said you can't kill Zarek. Bad Thanatos."

  His body aching beyond belief, Zarek rolled over onto his back as Thanatos rose to his feet.

  "What the hell are you?" Thanatos asked.

  "Never you mind," she said, kneeling beside Zarek. She touched the cut on his brow and looked at his bleeding arm and neck. "Oh, no, you hurt bad, Dark-Hunter. Simi very sorry. We thought you'd come back but then Astrid got worried and made me come seek you. You don't look very good, though. You were much more attractive earlier."

  Thanatos stalked toward them.

  Zarek forced himself up and helped her to her feet. "Simi, go before you get hurt."

  She snorted like a horse. "He can't hurt me. No one can."

  Thanatos attacked with the dagger.

  "See, watch." Simi turned around and let Thanatos stab her in the chest.

  He sank the dagger in up to the hilt, then jerked it free.

  The demon's eyes widened as she gasped in pain.

  At first Zarek thought she might be playing until she staggered back. Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at Zarek in agonized disbelief.

  "It's not supposed to hurt," she cried like a small child. "I'm invincible. Akri said so."

  His heart pounded.

  Blood trickled from her lips.

  Zarek kicked Thanatos back and picked Simi up in his arms. Even though his injured arm trembled from the agony of it, he ran with Simi toward his snowmachine.

  Thanatos stood back, waiting.

  He watched them leave and smiled. "That's it, Zarek. Run back to your woman. Show me where you have her hidden."

  Artemis felt the shock wave go through her temple like an earthquake. Something let out an angry, baleful roar.

  Her attendants looked up, their faces white.

  Artemis sat up on her throne. If she didn't know better she would think…

  The door to her private chambers disintegrated. Pieces of it flew through the room as if propelled by a violent tornado.

  Her women screamed and ran for the door that led outside, seeking shelter from the unexpected maelstrom. Artemis wanted to run, too, but her fear held her immobile.

  It was extremely rare that she saw this side of Acheron.

  She was too terrified of him to ever push him this far.

  He floated out of her bedroom with his long black hair whipping around him. His eyes were blood-red, swirling like fire as his unnatural powers surged. His fangs were overgrown and large.

  He was the very thing she feared most in the universe. In this state, he could kill her with nothing more than a passing thought.

  She panicked. If she didn't get him calmed down the other gods would feel his presence and there would be hell to pay for everyone.

  Most of all for her.

  She used her powers to mask his, hoping to disguise his abilities as her own. With any luck, the other gods would assume she was having her own tantrum.

  "Acheron?"

  He cursed at her in Atlantean and held her back with an invisible wall. She felt his agony. He was in excruciating pain, but she didn't know why.

  Everything in her temple whirled in the vortex of his powers and rage. The only thing still grounded were the two of them.

  "Artemis? I have a problem."

  She flinched as she heard Astrid's voice in her head. "Not now, Astrid. I have a situation here."

  "Let me guess, Acheron is angry?"

  "I am past anger, Astrid." His voice was low, deep, and evil sounding. Acheron's bloody gaze pierced Artemis. "How is it Simi is wounded?"

  Artemis's fear tripled. "The demon's hurt?"

  "Simi's dying." Astrid and Acheron spoke simultaneously.

  Artemis covered her mouth. She felt suddenly ill. Sick. Horrified and scared beyond belief.

  If anything happened to his demon…

  He would kill her.

  Acheron used his powers to pull her roughly to him. "Where did Thanatos get one of my daggers, Artemis?"

  A tremor of guilt went through her with that question. When she had created the first Thanatos seven thousand years ago, she had granted him weapons to slay the Dark-Hunters. At the time she had thought it divine justice that he use one of Acheron's Atlantean daggers to kill them.

  As soon as Acheron had realized a dagger was missing, he had gathered all his weapons together and destroyed them.

  Now she understood why.

  He'd done it to protect his demon.

  "I didn't know your dagger would hurt it."

  "Damn you, Artemis. You have taken everything from me. Everything!"

  She felt his pain, his sorrow. She hated him for that. If she died tomorrow he wouldn't care at all.

  But for the demon, he wept.

  Why wouldn't he love and protect her like this?

  "I'll go get it for you, Acheron."

  Acheron stopped her from leaving his side. "Don't you do anything, Artemis. I know you. You're not to help or try to heal her in any way. You just pick her up and bring her right back here to me. Swear it on the River Styx."

  "I swear."

  He released her.

  Artemis shimmered from her temple to where Astrid, Simi, and Zarek were hiding underground. The demon lay on the floor with Zarek and Astrid kneeling beside it.

  "I want akri!" Simi sobbed. She was screaming and crying hysterically.

  "Shh," Zarek said, soothing her. He held a tourniquet over her wound. Both the tourniquet and his hand were covered in blood. "You have to calm down, Simi. You're making it worse."

  "I want my daddy! Take me home, Astrid. I need to go home now."

  "I can't, Simi. That power is taken from me until I deliver a verdict to my mother."

  "I want akri," she wailed again. "I don't want to die without him. I'm scared. Please, please take me home. I just want my daddy."

  Zarek looked up as a shadow fell over them.

  It was a face he hadn't seen since the day he'd become a Dark-Hunter.

  Artemis.

  Her long auburn hair curled around her lithe, beautiful body. She wore a long, white dress and her green eyes glittered ominously in the dim light of the tunnel.

  He held his breath, half-expecting her to kill him. No Dark-Hunter was ever allowed to be in the presence of a god.

  Simi saw her and let out a terrible shriek. "Not her! The heifer goddess is going to kill me!"

  "Shut up," Artemis snapped. "Believe me, I'd love to see you dead but if you die, I'll never hear the end of it."

  Artemis picked her up in spite of her struggles.

  She looked at Astrid and Zarek. "Have you judged him yet?"

  Before Astrid could answer, the trapdoor behind them burst open.

  Zarek cursed as he saw Thanatos coming through it.

  He turned to order Artemis to take Astrid with Simi, but she'd already vanished.

  He, alone, had to protect her.

  Damn Artemis for this!

  "Run!" he shouted at Astrid. He urged her toward the trapdoor that led into his cabin.

  "What's happening?"

  "Thanatos is here so unless you've got some god power that can kill him, run!"

  "Where's Artemis?"

  "She vaporized."

  Astrid gave a disgusted look, then did as he said.

  As Zarek helped her up, Thanatos reached them.

  Zarek kicked him back.

  "You're not going to escape me, Dark-Hunter. But then, it's not really you I'm after."

  His blood running col
d at those words, Zarek glanced down to see Thanatos's gaze locked on Astrid.

  Thanatos licked his lips. "Vengeance is a dish best served cold."

  Once Astrid was clear of the basement, Zarek dropped back down the ladder and began to pummel Thanatos. "We're in Alaska, dickhead. Here everything is cold."

  Zarek slammed him back into the wall, then made a dash for the trapdoor.

  Once he was in the cabin, he shut and locked the trapdoor. Zarek slid the wood-burning stove over it, then reached inside to remove the mink and her kits. The mother bit the crap out of him, but he didn't flinch.

  As gently as he could, he put them in his backpack and rushed from the cabin.

  Astrid was just outside his door.

  "Zarek, is that you?"

  He kissed her.

  "That better be you."

  He snorted at that.

  With no time to waste, he raced over to Thanatos's snowmachine and ripped a hose from it. He led Astrid to his vehicle. "You have to get out of here, princess. My powers can't contain him for long."

  "I can't see to drive this thing."

  Zarek stared at her, memorizing her face. Memorizing the way she looked up under the moonlight that was spilling through the clouds.

  She was beautiful, his star.

  Unlike any in all the universe.

  He heard Thanatos breaking free.

  Then he did something he had never done before. It was a power Ash had shown him centuries before, but one he'd never had a use for.

  Tonight he did.

  He kissed her passionately.

  Astrid felt the warmth of Zarek's lips. As his tongue danced with hers, her eyes started to burn.

  She pulled back from him, hissing, only to realize that she could see everything around her.

  Her heart stopped.

  Zarek stood in front of her, his eyes the pale, pale blue hers were whenever she lost her vision. His lips were swollen and bruised, one of his eyes was black and blue.

  Dried blood was crusted around his nose and ear. His clothes were also torn and bloodied.

  He had been beaten to a pulp and had never uttered a word to her about it.

  She choked as she saw the blood that was still pouring down his arm from where Thanatos had stabbed him.

  He handed her his backpack, then fumbled with the snowmachine until he had it started.

  "Go, Astrid. Fairbanks is straight that way." He pointed down a pathway through the woods. "Don't stop until you get there."

  "What about you?"

  "Don't worry about me."

  "Zarek!" she snapped. "I won't leave you here to die."

  He offered her a sad smile as he cupped her face in his hands. "It's okay, princess. I don't mind dying for you."

  He kissed her lightly on the lips.

  Thanatos burst through the cabin door.

  "Get on the snowmachine, Zarek. Now!"

  He shook his head. "It's better this way, Astrid. If I'm dead he won't have a reason to hurt you."

  Her heart shattered at his words. At the sacrifice he was willing to make for her.

  She started to protest, but the snowmachine took off. She tried to brake it, but Zarek must have been using his powers to keep the gas on.

  The last thing she saw was a blind Zarek turning around to face Thanatos.

  Ash grabbed Simi from Artemis the instant she materialized in front of him.

  He cradled his "baby" gently in his arms as he took her to Artemis's bed.

  "Akri!" Simi wailed, nuzzling against his chest. "The Simi is hurt. You told me I couldn't get hurt."

  "I know, Sim, I know." He held her close, half-afraid to pull back her makeshift bandage and see the damage done to her.

  Her tears fell down her cheeks, making his own eyes well up. Out of habit, he started singing to her, an ancient Atlantean lullaby he used to sing to her when she was barely more than a hatchling.

  She calmed a bit.

  Ash wiped the tears from her cold cheeks, then pulled the cloth away.

  His dagger had sliced through her, narrowly missing her heart, but the wound was clean and the blood flow had slowed. Thanks to Zarek, no doubt.

  He owed the man more than he could ever repay.

  Summoning his powers, Ash laid his hand over her wound and healed her injury.

  Simi glanced around, then she looked at him. "Simi better?'

  He nodded and smiled. "Simi all better."

  Simi looked at her chest. She pulled her shirt up and looked underneath it, too, as if to verify to herself that she was okay.

  Laughing, she threw herself into his arms.

  Ash held her, grateful beyond measure that she hadn't died.

  He held her close until she whined for him to let her go.

  Kissing her brow, he released her. "Return to me, Simi."

  For once, she didn't argue. In dragon form, she placed herself over his heart.

  It was where she belonged.

  Turning slowly, Ash faced Artemis.

  In a pique, she stood with her hands on her hips and her body tensed. "Oh, come on, you're not still mad. I did the right thing. I brought it back to you."

  "Her!" he barked, making her jump. "Simi isn't an it, Artemis. She's a her and I want for once to hear you say her name."

  She stuck her chin out defiantly. Narrowing her green eyes, she forced herself to say, "Simi."

  He inclined his head in approval. "As for the right thing… no, Artie. The right thing would have been to not steal from me. The right thing would have been to listen to me when I told you not to create another Thanatos. What you did today was the smart thing. Because of that, I'm not going to do the wrong thing and kill you. But Thanatos is another matter."

  "You can't leave here to kill him."

  "I don't have to leave here to kill him."

  "You bastard!" Thanatos roared as he knocked Zarek aside.

  Zarek tried to push himself to his feet, but his body no longer responded.

  There was no part of him that didn't hurt. Didn't ache.

  He was still using his powers to keep the snowmachine going in the right direction.

  Depleted, he had nothing left to fight with. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't see Thanatos anyway.

  The blows seemed to come at him from every direction.

  Just as they had when he'd been human.

  Zarek laughed.

  "What is so funny?"

  Zarek lay in the snow, freezing and bleeding but continuing to laugh. "You. Me. Life in general, and the fact that I'm freezing my ass off as usual."

  Thanatos viciously kicked his side. "You are psychotic."

  Yes, he was. But most of all he was weary. Too tired to get up and move. Too tired to fight anymore.

  He thought of Astrid.

  Fight for her…

  For once in his life, he had something to live for. A reason to pick his blind ass up and fight.

  Squeezing his eyes shut he tried to summon up some of his faltering powers to use against the creature.

  Zarek heard the sound of a dagger leaving its sheath.

  "Zarek…" Ash's voice whispered in his mind.

  Zarek flinched as his eyesight came back unexpectedly. "What the hell?"

  Five shining claws appeared on his left hand.

  Zarek smiled at the sight of them as he balled his hand into a fist and felt the sharp ends of his finger caps biting into his palm.

  Ash had always known him just a little too well.

  "There's a crescent moon between Thanatos's shoulder blades," Ash's voice whispered. "Stab it and he's dead. Artemis never creates anything without an off switch."

  Zarek flipped himself up to stand.

  Thanatos arched a surprised brow. "So you do have more fight in you."

  "Looks like the devil just hiked his ass up to Alaska to see the snow. C'mon, punk, let's dance."

  Zarek hit him, and Thanatos flew back.

  It appeared Ash had given him more than his cla
ws. Strength and power surged through him unlike anything he'd ever experienced before.

  Zarek took a deep breath as all the pain he felt vanished.

  Thanatos struck him across the face.

  Zarek laughed as the pain came and went. It didn't even faze him.

  Thanatos paled.

  "Yeah, you should be scared." He knocked him back. "It sucks when you're not the baddest thing out here, huh?"

  Zarek picked him up and tossed him.

  Thanatos rolled in the snow. He tried to get up and fell back.

  Zarek stalked him.

  It was time to put an end to this.

  He placed his foot on Thanatos's back to hold him down and ripped open his coat and shirt to reveal the crescent sign.

  So Ash hadn't lied.

  "You can kill me, Dark-Hunter, but it won't take away the fact you should die for killing Dirce. She was innocent and you slaughtered her."

  Zarek hesitated. "Dirce?"

  "Do you not even remember her?" Thanatos tensed in rage as he twisted to look up at him accusingly. "She was only twenty years old when you cut her down."

  Zarek's thoughts flashed to what Simi had shown him in her eyes…

  The blond woman Thanatos had impaled on his sword.

  "She was yours?"

  "My wife, you bastard."

  Zarek stared at Thanatos's mark.

  He should kill him.

  But he couldn't.

  Both of them had been screwed by the same person. Artemis.

  And it wasn't fair that he should kill Thanatos for wanting revenge.

  Vengeance was something he understood all too well. Hell, he'd sold his own soul for it. How could he fault Thanatos for doing the same?

  Zarek heard the sound of a snowmachine headed back toward him.

  He knew without looking that it was Astrid. No doubt she'd turned around the instant he'd been distracted by the fight.

  He used the powers Ash had given him to bind Thanatos to the ground.

  The Daimon screamed for release.

  He screamed for death.

  Zarek knew the sound of both. Many nights he'd lain awake doing the same thing.

  If he were merciful, he would kill him. But that wasn't his job.

  He was a Dark-Hunter, and Thanatos…

  Zarek would leave him for Acheron to deal with.

  Astrid parked the snowmachine and came running up to him.

  Her eyes were a deeper blue now that she could see.

  "Is he contained?"