Page 15 of Dream Warrior (Dark-Hunter 16)
CHAPTER 5
His fury riding him hard, Jericho stormed back into his room. Then fell instantly still as he found Delphine asleep on his bed, beneath his blood cloak. Her features pale, her blond hair cascaded around her in a soft, tangled mess that made his hand itch to touch it.
She had the faintest of snores that strangely teased his ears and warmed him.
So instead of yelling at her for something that wasn't her fault, he crossed the room to kneel beside her. It was hard to reconcile her with that sweet, happy baby who had wrapped its little fingers around his and held on so tight that it touched him when nothing ever had before.
Now he knew why her eyes had given him pause.
They had touched him then as they touched him now. But why? What was it about her that quieted him? Who in his right mind would destroy his entire life and future to save a stranger?
Granted, he'd known her mother, but not well. They had been passing strangers, really. He'd known Leta's name. That she was a dream god. But honestly, he'd never cared beyond that. Since Leta had never upset Zeus and hadn't run in the same circles he had, there had been no reason for them to be friendly.
Yet that one night when their worlds had violently collided, they had both lost everything.
Zeus, furious over a dream one of the Oneroi had given him, had demanded all the dream gods be rounded up for punishment. Those like Leta, who were married to humans, were to have their spouses and any progeny they'd produced killed. Zeus had wanted no one to survive who could ever harm him again.
Then the Oneroi had been tortured and stripped of their emotions for eternity. Zeus figured if they had no emotions, they wouldn't feel compelled for whatever reason to play in anyone's dreams again.
What he hadn't realized was that in dreams, they'd be able to channel the sleeper's emotions. So much so that some of the Oneroi would become addicted to it, since it was the only way they could feel anything but emptiness.
So the Skoti had been born. Then it became the job of the Oneroi to police or kill their brethren so that none of them would suffer again under Zeus's command.
A part of that vicious cycle, Jericho had harmed Leta even worse than the Dolophoni and Oneroi had harmed him. They had only killed him. He had taken what Leta loved most.
Her husband and daughter.
Leta's desperate screams still echoed in his memo-ries. She had screamed herself hoarse and he couldn't blame her for it. Not given what they'd taken from her.
Maybe the past centuries were justified after all. What they'd done to her had been inexcusable. The least he could have done was let her know that he'd saved her daughter. But everything had happened so fast, there hadn't been enough time. Not to mention had anyone known what he'd done, they would have killed Delphine instantly.
Yet here she was... alive. Because he'd hidden her and had never breathed a word of it.
Jaden was right. His suffering hadn't been in vain. She was grown and beautiful.
Placing his hand to Delphine's warm cheek, he cocked his head to study her resting features. She was so similar to her mother. Yet so different. The blond hair made her features softer. Inviting.
His heartbeat raced at the softness of her skin under the pads of his fingertips. He hadn't really touched a woman in countless centuries.
He ran his hand from her cheek to her hair. A part of him wanted to kiss her so badly that he wasn't even sure how he kept from doing it. Perhaps because she was asleep and he didn't want to violate the peace she seemed to have found.
Was she dreaming?
What did Oneroi dream of? His dreams used to be of battle. To his knowledge, he'd never had peace in the dream realm. As an immortal god, he'd been violent and cruel. His dreams had reflected his reality.
As a man, he hadn't dreamed at all since he'd spent the nights as a corpse. No, that wasn't true, he'd dreamed while conscious. And in those, he'd escaped to peaceful havens. A quiet beach. A cabin in the woods. A lone temple in the desert. Places that were isolated from the world where no one could make him feel small or worthless. Where no one could kill him or hurt him in any way.
Where he had his old strength back and no one could touch him...
Now he was there at long last. He had power. He had dignity. Most of all, he had a beautiful woman in his bed...
The very one who had cost him everything.
He hated her for that. She'd grown up without knowing her life had been paid for with more suffering than she could ever imagine.
He clenched his hand in her hair, wanting to hurt her for that. But he knew it wasn't her fault. She'd been an innocent child.
It had been his own decision to ruin his life. He could have killed her as Zeus ordered and everything would have been fine.
For him.
"Were you worth my sacrifice?" he whispered,
Her eyes fluttered open as if his words had reached her. The moment she saw him, she jumped with a loud gasp. He tried to pull his hand away, but her hair was wrapped around his fingers. She yelped as her movements pulled it.
"I'm sorry," he said, wondering why he bothered since it was her own actions that had hurt her, not his.
"What were you doing?" she accused.
"Nothing."
Delphine frowned at his sullen, angry tone. His demeanor reminded her of a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Rubbing the sore place on her head, she stamped down her own anger. "Where do you keep going?"
"I went to see Deimos."
She sat up as a shiver of excitement went through her. "Did you see M'Adoc? Is he alive?"
Jericho felt jealousy flare at the obvious concern and care she had for the leader of the dream gods. M'Adoc had never sacrificed for her. "No, I didn't see him."
She looked crushed, and it killed the satisfaction he wanted to feel. "Is Deimos all right?"
That was a matter of opinion. Personally, he'd never thought the god was all there, but that was a separate argument. "I've seen him look better. Still, he's alive, even though Noir has carved him up pretty good."
"And I suppose that made you happy."
"No," he answered honestly. "In spite of the fact 1 wanted to beat him myself, I don't like seeing anyone tortured."
"Not even Prometheus?"
He growled at her. "Why do you provoke me?"
Delphine paused at his question. Honestly, she didn't know. It really wasn't in her nature to go after people. Yet the moment he drew near, she wanted his jugular. How out of character for her. "You irritate me."
"Iirritate you? "
She nodded. "You have the power to save people and yet you intend to fight for Noir. That irritates me."
He snorted at her words. "Give me one real, tangible
