“My ass.”
Spawn arched a brow at that. “Your ass fits into an envelope that size? I’m impressed. Mine barely fit into my jeans tonight. And after I eat everything I ordered, I doubt it’ll fit into them tomorrow.”
Snorting at his screwed-up sense of humor, Urian opened the envelope. Then gasped. “Is this right?”
Davyn nodded grimly. “Yeah. They’re planning to take down Acheron and stab at his mother.”
Urian had beentrying to tell Acheron what he’d learned from Davyn, but his boss wasn’t in the mood to listen. Even Simi was staying clear of him. And that said it all.
She hadn’t even asked for Acheron’s black Amex.
Doors had been slamming. Glass had shattered. Danger was in hiding. Not even Alexion would show himself.
If Urian had a lick of sense, he’d run for the hills, too.
But his sense had taken a hike a long time ago and left him sadly wanting. So here he was, grateful he was suicidal as he knocked on the big guy’s door. The thundering AC/DC riff stopped immediately. Well, at least Ash was back to playing his usual ear-splintering repertoire.
“Yeah?”
That was not a friendly sound. More like a bear clearing its throat to make more room for the prey it was about to shred to pieces and shove into its hungry jowls.
Preparing himself for the possibility of death, Urian pushed open the door to find Ash sitting on his black tester bed with his guitar in his lap and his cell phone lying on his thigh. “You’re really not right, are you?”
Ash narrowed his gaze. “I hope you mean that the way I’m going to take it. Otherwise, in the mood I’m in, you might get your ass kicked.”
Urian laughed. “Yeah, I do.” He entered the dark room, which was lit only by flickering red candles, and shut the door. Then he moved to stand by the bed so that he could finally tell Acheron what’d been on his mind. “Look, I heard you when you came in. Not what you said, but what was underneath it. I know it’s in my best interest to stay out of it. However, you saved my life once, even though I didn’t want you to at the time, and I feel like maybe I should return the favor.”
The look on Ash’s face said that Urian was one syllable away from searching the cold marble floor for his teeth. But after a moment, his expression softened. “I shouldn’t have interfered with that, Urian, and I’m sorry for the pain you live with because of it.”
“You know, it’s all right. If I’d died, Phoebe would have followed me to the grave, anyway. She wasn’t capable of taking a human life, even if the human deserved to die. The only way she could have continued living would have been to feed from another Daimon, and that she wouldn’t have done either. So you didn’t really change her fate by saving me. My father was going to kill her regardless.”
The only thing that would have changed was the years he’d missed of helping Davyn and Spawn.
And the biggest gift of all …
“Besides, if I’d died that night, my niece and nephews wouldn’t have someone to threaten their dad when he’s over-protective of them.” Muppet was much worse with his own flesh and blood than he’d ever been with Chris. Poor Erik, Tyr, and little Phoebe. Urian was the only thing that stood between them and sanity. “I’m the only uncle they have. Kids need an uncle, you know?”
That priceless expression on Acheron’s face said that he heartily disagreed, and made Urian wonder what was in his past to causethatlook. And his instincts were verified by Ash’s next words. “So why the sudden girlspeak, Urian? Neither one of us is really into discussing our feelings … and no offense, I like the fact that we don’t.”
Urian couldn’t agree more. There were some things he really didn’t want to know about his boss. “I do too most times, and I’m truly grateful you don’t pry. But as a man who defied everything he once valued in this world, and one who sacrificed the love of a father he worshiped … even though it ended badly, the days I had with Phoebe were wortheverywound I’ve suffered.”
He moved closer to Ash. “I know what it’s like to be torn between a love so pure it burns you deep down in a place you didn’t know someone could touch you and between your oath and duties. Between the love of a father you’ve always known and one you know you can depend on forever versus a love that’s new and untested. But you know what I learned? It’s a lot easier to live without my father’s love than it is to live without Phoebe’s. I just thought you ought to know that.”
“There’s a lot more at stake. You know? Like the survival of the entire world.”
“There always is, and my father is sending everything he has after Tory. Who, given the way you’re acting, I would sayisyour entire world. I stayed away from Phoebe because I thought she was safer that way. In the end, Ash, I should have been there, fighting for her, by her side. ’Cause I can tell you one thing beyond a shadow of doubt. The greatest regret isn’t what you did, it’s what you should have done.”
“I hate you, Daimon.”
“Only because you know I’m right.” And with that, Urian left him to ruminate on it, as he felt his phone vibrating in the unique pattern that meant either Styxx or Cassandra needed him.
With Cass, he had the fear that something might be wrong with Tyr since he was only a few days old, and with Styxx …
He didn’t have anyone else who gave a damn about him. Ash had dumped him alone in the middle of New York City, and the poor guy was trying to figure out modern existence.
Speaking of which …
“Hey. What’s up?”
