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right now
    was getting free.
    "Defensive Driving 101. Fasten your seat belt."
    She threw the car in reverse and headed for the
    Daimons, who quickly swerved to miss her. Simone
    did a quick K-turn in the center of the road and
    headed back toward the alley where they'd met.
    "Nice work."
    She was amazed that the surly Xypher was
    capable of giving her a compliment. "It pays to
    hang around the police. You pick up all kinds of
    useful things."
    Jesse popped his head up in the front seat,
    between them. "They're still behind us."
    "Not for long." Xypher rolled down the window
    and he pulled a gun out of his pants pocket. He
    opened fire on the car following them.
    33
    Simone's eyes widened as she heard the tire
    blow out. The car skidded sideways before it
    turned over in the street. "Nice shooting, Tex."
    He pulled the mag out and replaced it with
    another one. "I have an unfair advantage. I can
    make the bullets go where I want them to. I took
    out the Daimons before I KO'd the car."
    Simone cut into a small parking lot, then
    stopped again. She turned in the seat to face him.
    His cheeks were reddened from his exertion and the
    wind burn on his skin as he'd fired on the
    Daimons. The color made his eyes stand out even
    more.
    He looked gorgeous and human, and yet . . .
    "What exactly are you?"
    Xypher didn't answer as he rubbed a hand over
    his brow. "We have to figure out these bracelets
    before it gets any darker. I don't like playing
    with unknown factors."
    She gave him a droll stare. "You're not alone
    on Planet Ego. I, too, want to know what I'm
    dealing with, and right now, Psycho, you're the
    most crucial unknown factor in my world. So answer
    my question. What are you?"
    The sneer was back on his face. "That's not so
    easily answered, human."
    She turned the car off, pulled the keys out,
    and folded her arms over her chest. "Try."
    Xypher ground his teeth as he fought the urge
    to kill her. After all, she was just another
    human, albeit a cute one. Human, nonetheless.
    Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated to put her
    out of his misery, but he had a really bad feeling
    about the bracelet on his arm. The fact that they
    both wore them probably meant their lives, if not
    actual souls, were linked together somehow. Which
    meant that if she died, there was probably a good
    bet that he would, too.
    34
    Dammit. She'd have to live until he figured
    this out.
    He considered lying to her. But why bother?
    She'd seen the Daimons, some of his powers, and
    what the hell? There was a ghost in the backseat
    who appeared to be a friend of hers. The way she'd
    acted so far said that she was at least familiar
    with the supernatural.
    What was a little more?
    "How up are you on Greek mythology?" he asked
    her."
    Zeus is the king, right?"
    Xypher snorted. "He thinks he is most days.
    Personally, I think he's a pompous ass who should
    be bitch-slapped by Hera at least once in his
    existence."
    Simone winced as she realized that he was going
    to be somehow related to them . . . Yeah, her luck
    was improving by the minute. "So what has Zeus got
    to do with this?"
    "Not much really. You're the one who brought
    him up." She let out a tired breath of
    exasperation. "I'm getting a headache and you're
    still avoiding my question."
    "Fine," he said simply. "I'm a Skotos."
    She scowled at the unfamiliar word. "That means
    what? You have toe jam?"
    He looked less than amused by her question.
    "No, human, it means I used to be a dream god."
    Well, he was kind of dreamy . . .
    Oh, no, Sim, you're not really buying into his
    baloney, are you? It seemed so far-fetched and yet
    the Dark-Hunters Tate worked for were an army of
    immortal warriors created by the goddess Artemis
    to protect mankind.
    Yeah, it'd taken her a while to swallow that
    reality. And if she believed that Tate wasn't
    crazy and that the Daimons were real—because she'd
    35
    seen them more times than she wanted to—then she
    had no choice except to buy this farm tale, too.
    Taking