He hated that sharing blood with her allowed her to feel his emotions. It was irritating to have someone, other than Menyara, read him so easily. “Nothing. Go home, Satara.”

She tilted her head as if looking to see Kyrian and the others inside. “It’s interesting, isn’t it? Why Acheron brought them back to life after they’d died, but refused to do the same for your beloved mother. I wonder why he chose them over her?”

He ground his teeth. “I don’t need you to poke that scab.”

“True. I’m sure it’s still raw and bleeding.”

She had no idea.

“But,” she said, stepping close enough to whisper in his ear. “Why should they be here, living happily, while your mother is dead?”

He knew she was intentionally kicking at his groin. Making him bleed internally. “Don’t start with me, Satara. That man and his family are all I have left.”

She cocked her head. “Are they? What do you think they’ll say when they find out you’re a Daimon Dark-Hunter? That through you, Stryker can see and hear all they do?”

He started away from her, but she pulled him to a stop. Her long nails bit into his forearm.

“The old Voodoo bitch told you that Acheron helped here in New Orleans after the hurricane, but did she tell you who his mother is?”

Nick froze at her words. “Ash has a mother? Alive?”

She smiled. “Ooo, another secret he kept from you, huh? So much for being best friends. Makes you wonder what other things you don’t know, doesn’t it?”

Yes, it did. He snatched his arm from her grasp. “Who is his mother?”

“The Atlantean goddess Apollymi. But she’s better known to the immortal world as the Great Destroyer.”

He gaped at her disclosure. “Destroyer?”

“Yes. For no other reason than she was having a bad hair day, she has unleashed unrelenting storms against civilizations for centuries, and she was highly upset that night when Desiderius played havoc here in New Orleans.”

Nick couldn’t breathe as he recalled that night. Desiderius had been Stryker’s agent and he had been the one who had killed Nick’s mother.

Satara leaned in to him to whisper again. “She’s also the mother of my brother Stryker. You know him. Leader of the Spathi Daimons. Who do you think pulls my brother’s leash? Who do you think controls Stryker’s army and what they do? Apollymi commands them all to action.”

Including the one who murdered my mother …

Nick felt rage swell up inside him at all the truths Ash had kept from him and the others. “Ash’s mother is the leader of the Daimons?”