Free No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

inside her was hurting, he would have. But he wouldn't be that cold. He didn't believe in kicking anyone when they were down.
                If there was one thing in life he understood, it was concealed pain. That core part of the soul that hurt so bad all it knew to do was lash out against anyone unlucky enough to be there when it snapped out of control.
                Guess I was nothing but a booty call after all. He didn't know why that thought cut him, but it did. He felt used. How weird.
                What ever. He wasn't about to sit around here and beg. It wasn't in him.
                Sam watched as Dev vanished from her bed. Part of her wanted to call him back and apologize. The other part wished she could return to the night Ioel died and have stayed dead instead of making her bargain with Artemis.
                Yes, it'd given her vengeance against the ones who'd killed those she loved. But her family was still dead. And eternity without them was brutal. Their pain had ended. Hers went on to infinity. There was no hope of it ever ending and that was what had made her a Dog of War. That rage and fury over the injustice of it all that screamed out for some semblance of solace when there was none to be had.
                Trust no one. Not even blood.
                In the end, everyone had a price and for the right amount, anyone would betray even those they loved most. It was harsh, but true.
                Dev had been a nice distraction for a few hours. Now real work began and he wasn't part of her world. Her life was her job. She didn't want any kind of emotional attachment. She didn't want to be normal or have anything like other people.
                She was a Dog and she bled their spirit.
                A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.
                Age. Fac ut gaudeam.
                Between a rock and a hard place.
                Go ahead. Make my day. Loosely translated, but the meaning was the same. When cornered, the Dogs fought until they died. No one touched them.
                They were the ultimate killing machine. The ultimate protectors of the world. She would stand and she would fight.
                Forever alone. To the death.
               --either with her shield or upon it.
                Those words resonated deep inside her as she went to shower. But as she let her mind wander, she saw a new enemy appear. One far deadlier than any they'd ever faced before.
                And this particular one would be coming for her .
                Things were about to get bloody and she would be in the very center of it.

Chapter 4
                "We have a problem."
                Sitting in his leather chair in front of the fire in his study, Stryker looked up from the book he was reading to find his newest High General and second-in-command standing in front of him. He didn't like for his soldiers to materialize without warning. If she wasn't his daughter and if she didn't look so much like her mother whom he loved more than anything, he'd kill her for the intrusion.
                Irritated at her, he turned the page slowly before he responded to her emotional outburst. "I don't have a problem, Medea. Care to tell me yours?"
                With an annoyed expression that twisted her beautiful features into a fierce scowl, Medea glared furiously at him--another trait she shared with her fiery mother. "The demon who escaped your party that Phrix blasted with your latest toy? He went from here to Sanctuary where he exploded all over one of the bears."
                He had to keep one corner of his mouth from quirking up in amusement. Too bad he'd missed seeing the bear doused with demon entrails. That had to have been entertaining. "And that concerns me