Page 83 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

“We chased him away with that most tender of magics,” Jean-Claude said, “but we cannot slay him with it.”

“His brother was killed by a large stone smashing his head.”

“Like a beheading with blunt-force trauma,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Who was his mother?” I asked.

“What?”

“If Ares is his father, and I’ll just accept that is possible and keep moving, then who was his mom?”

“Some say it was Telphusia, a lesser-known goddess, or some say a nereid, but I believe his mother was Tisiphone, one of the Erinyes.”

“The Greek Furies,” I said.

“Yes, attendants of Nemesis, goddess of righteous anger.”

“The Furies hunted people down for punishment, didn’t they?” Richard asked.

“Yes, but it was more than that. They could cause terror in any who saw them; they were nightmares given form. Tisiphone was the avenger of murder. You had to do something evil or outside the law to attract the Furies, but once that happened you were doomed, or so they say. I knew people who did terrible things but the Furies never came.”

“Drakon caused fear like a night hag, so he could feed on it; maybe he gets that from his mom,” I said.

“He is not the only vampire we have met that shares that power,ma petite.”

“Yeah, but just saying, it could come from more than one source.”

“I did not know he could feed upon terror. Calling himself Deimos was not an idle choice, then,” Jake said.

“The dread before battle that can take a man’s heart and courage,” I said.

“Yes, perhaps after centuries he doesn’t wish to be called simply Dragon, for that is what Drakon means in Greek.”

“Vampires are allowed to name themselves,” Jean-Claude said.

“Or maybe since the Dragon is still alive, he doesn’t want to offend her by naming himself something so similar,” Jake said.

“No one would want to challenge her by accident or on purpose,” Jean-Claude said.

“Okay, then we’ll call him Deimos for now,” I said. “How do we kill him?”

“We find his physical body and behead it,” Jake said.

“When you say ‘body,’ do you mean him in human form, or the original snaky dragon form?” I asked.

“His twin brother was slain in his dragon form, but he had no other form, so it may be that we would need Deimos to be in that form to slay him, but in truth I do not know. He was never heard from again so I thought him long dead along with anyone or anything that could be called dragon save for the council members and the beasts that modern science classes as dragons.”

“Is there anyone else who might know more about this dragon vamp?” I asked.

“I will see if anyone else among us knows more,” he said, and I knew he meant among the Harlequin.

I started to lean in against Wicked. I looked at Richard, who was fighting not to frown at us. “Why aren’t you exhausted?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ma petite, may I ask the favor that you lean against Richard and see if more of your energy returns since he is more closely linked to you through me?”

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