Read Online DH 05 Kiss Of The Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Ads: Link
up and hugged her, then pul ed back with a worried frown. “What are you doing here, baby? Shouldn’t you be in class?”
She patted his arm and urged him back to his side of the desk as she flopped into one of the comfy chairs in front. “Probably.”
“Then why are you here? It’s not like you to cut class to come see me.” She laughed as he echoed Kat’s earlier sentiments. Maybe she needed to alter her habits a bit. In her position, predictable behavior was a dangerous liability. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“The Dark-Hunters.”
He paled, making her wonder just how much he knew and how much he was going to share. He had a nasty tendency to overprotect her, hence her long legacy of bodyguards.
“Why do you want to know about them?” he asked cautiously.
“Because I was attacked by Daimons last night and a Dark-Hunter saved my life.” He shot to his feet and rushed over to her side of the desk. “Were you hurt?”
“No, Daddy,” she hastened to assure him as he tried to inspect her body for damage. “Just scared.” He pul ed back with a stern frown, but kept his hands on her arm. “Al right, listen. You need to withdraw from school, we’l —”
“Daddy,” she said firmly, “I’m not going to withdraw less than a year from graduation. I’m through running.” Even though she might not live past eight months, there was a possibility that she would. Until she knew for certain, she had vowed to live her life as normal y as possible.
She saw the horror on his face. “This is not something debatable, Cassandra. I swore to your mother that I would keep you safe from the Apol ites and I wil . I’l not let them kil you too.” She clenched her teeth at the reminder of an oath he took as sacred as he did this office and company.
She knew the legacy she had inherited from her mother’s family al too wel .
Centuries past, it had been her ancestor who had caused the Apol ites to be cursed.
Out of jealousy, her great-great-whatever had sent out soldiers to murder the son and mistress of the god Apol o. In retaliation, the Greek sun god had banished al Apol ites from his favor.
Since the Apol ite queen had ordered her men to make it appear as if a beast had destroyed the mother and child, Apol o gave al the Apol ites the features of beasts—long canine teeth, speed, strength, and predator’s eyes. They were forced to feed off each other’s blood in order to survive.
He had banished them from the daylight so that the angry god would never again have to see them.
But the crudest blow of al , he had cursed them to a life span of only twenty-seven years—the same age his mistress had been when she’d been slain by the Apol ites.
On his or her twenty-seventh birthday, an Apol ite spent the entire day slowly, painful y decaying. It was so awful a death that most of them committed ritual suicide the day before their birthday to escape it.
The only hope an Apol ite had was to slay a human and take the human soul into their own body. There was no other way to prolong their short lives. But the minute they turned Daimon, they crossed over and invoked the wrath of the gods.
It was then the Dark-Hunters were cal ed in to kil them and free the stolen human souls before the souls that were trapped withered and died.
In eight short months, Cassandra would turn twenty-seven.
It was something that terrified her.
She was part human and because of that she could walk in daylight, but she had to stay covered up and couldn’t be out too long without burning severely.
Her long canine teeth had been filed down by a dentist when she was ten, and though she was anemic, her need for blood was satisfied by bimonthly transfusions.
She was lucky. The handful of other half-Apol ite, half-humans she had met over the years had leaned mostly toward their Apol ite heritage.
Al of them had died at twenty-seven.
All of them.
But Cassandra had always held on to the hope that she had enough human in
She patted his arm and urged him back to his side of the desk as she flopped into one of the comfy chairs in front. “Probably.”
“Then why are you here? It’s not like you to cut class to come see me.” She laughed as he echoed Kat’s earlier sentiments. Maybe she needed to alter her habits a bit. In her position, predictable behavior was a dangerous liability. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“The Dark-Hunters.”
He paled, making her wonder just how much he knew and how much he was going to share. He had a nasty tendency to overprotect her, hence her long legacy of bodyguards.
“Why do you want to know about them?” he asked cautiously.
“Because I was attacked by Daimons last night and a Dark-Hunter saved my life.” He shot to his feet and rushed over to her side of the desk. “Were you hurt?”
“No, Daddy,” she hastened to assure him as he tried to inspect her body for damage. “Just scared.” He pul ed back with a stern frown, but kept his hands on her arm. “Al right, listen. You need to withdraw from school, we’l —”
“Daddy,” she said firmly, “I’m not going to withdraw less than a year from graduation. I’m through running.” Even though she might not live past eight months, there was a possibility that she would. Until she knew for certain, she had vowed to live her life as normal y as possible.
She saw the horror on his face. “This is not something debatable, Cassandra. I swore to your mother that I would keep you safe from the Apol ites and I wil . I’l not let them kil you too.” She clenched her teeth at the reminder of an oath he took as sacred as he did this office and company.
She knew the legacy she had inherited from her mother’s family al too wel .
Centuries past, it had been her ancestor who had caused the Apol ites to be cursed.
Out of jealousy, her great-great-whatever had sent out soldiers to murder the son and mistress of the god Apol o. In retaliation, the Greek sun god had banished al Apol ites from his favor.
Since the Apol ite queen had ordered her men to make it appear as if a beast had destroyed the mother and child, Apol o gave al the Apol ites the features of beasts—long canine teeth, speed, strength, and predator’s eyes. They were forced to feed off each other’s blood in order to survive.
He had banished them from the daylight so that the angry god would never again have to see them.
But the crudest blow of al , he had cursed them to a life span of only twenty-seven years—the same age his mistress had been when she’d been slain by the Apol ites.
On his or her twenty-seventh birthday, an Apol ite spent the entire day slowly, painful y decaying. It was so awful a death that most of them committed ritual suicide the day before their birthday to escape it.
The only hope an Apol ite had was to slay a human and take the human soul into their own body. There was no other way to prolong their short lives. But the minute they turned Daimon, they crossed over and invoked the wrath of the gods.
It was then the Dark-Hunters were cal ed in to kil them and free the stolen human souls before the souls that were trapped withered and died.
In eight short months, Cassandra would turn twenty-seven.
It was something that terrified her.
She was part human and because of that she could walk in daylight, but she had to stay covered up and couldn’t be out too long without burning severely.
Her long canine teeth had been filed down by a dentist when she was ten, and though she was anemic, her need for blood was satisfied by bimonthly transfusions.
She was lucky. The handful of other half-Apol ite, half-humans she had met over the years had leaned mostly toward their Apol ite heritage.
Al of them had died at twenty-seven.
All of them.
But Cassandra had always held on to the hope that she had enough human in
Similar Books
