Kyrian held himself up with his hands. He tried to put weight on his legs, but the pain made it impossible.
Desiderius smiled at him as he handed the hammer back to the Daimon. Then he pulled something out of his pocket.
Rage filled Kyrian as he recognized the ancient Roman spikes they had used for crucifixion.
"Tell me, Dark-Hunter," Desiderius said with a smile, "would you like me to put you up for the night?"
CHAPTER 12
Amanda came awake with a start. It took a full minute to realize she had fallen asleep in Tabitha's hospital room, lying against Nick. Her mother was asleep on the cot they had rolled in a short time ago, and she and Nick had taken the two uncomfortable chairs by the door.
Tabitha was still asleep on the bed where the doctors wanted to monitor her until morning. A Daimon had viciously cut a line down her sister's cheek that would leave an ugly scar. Bruises and cuts lined her body, but the doctor had assured them that Tabitha would heal.
Their sisters had gone home at their mother's urging, but Amanda had stayed just in case either of them needed anything. Her heart pounding, she looked up as her father returned to the room with two cups of coffee in his hands. He handed one to Nick. "You want mine, kitten?" he asked Amanda, holding his cup out to her.
Amanda smiled at her father's kindness until she remembered her vision.
"You okay?" her father asked.
She looked at Nick, her heart pounding. "Kyrian's in trouble."
Nick laughed before taking a drink of coffee. "You were dreaming."
"No, Nick. He's in trouble. I saw him."
"Just relax, Amanda, you've had a really bad day and you're worried about Tabitha. It's understandable, but Kyrian never gets in over his head. He's fine. Trust me."
"No," she insisted, "listen to me. I'm the first to admit I hate my powers, but I know they're not lying to me. I can feel his panic and pain. We have to find him."
"You can't go out there," her father said. "What if this Desiderius is waiting for you? What if he sends someone to hurt you like he did Tabby?"
She met her father's pale blue eyes and offered him a small smile. "Daddy, I have to go. I can't let him die."
Nick sighed. "Amanda, come on. He's not going to die."
She dug at his coat pocket. "Then give me the keys to your car and I'll go myself."
Nick playfully captured his keys from her hand. "Kyrian would have my head."
"He can't have your head if they kill him."
She saw the indecision on his face. Nick set his coffee on the floor, then picked up his cell phone and dialed it.
"See," she said. "He's not answering."
"That doesn't mean anything this time of night. He could be in the middle of a fight."
"Or he could be seriously hurt."
Nick pulled his PDA out of its cradle on his belt and turned it on. After a few seconds, his face paled.
"What is it?"
"His tracer's off."
"Meaning?"
"I can't track him. No Dark-Hunter turns their tracer off. It's their lifeline if they get into trouble." Nick shot to his feet and shrugged his coat on. "Okay, let's go."
Her father stepped between them and the door. He stood even in height to Nick and had his entire body braced for a fight. "You're not taking my baby out there to get hurt. I'll kill you first."
Amanda stepped around Nick and kissed her father on his cheek. "It's okay, Daddy. I know what I'm doing."
By the light in his eyes, she knew he doubted her.
"Let her go, Tom," her mother said from her cot. "There's no danger to her tonight. Her aura is pure."
"Are you sure?" he asked her mother.
She nodded.
Her father sighed, but still he looked doubtful. He glared at Nick. "Don't you let her get hurt."
"Believe me," Nick said, "I won't. I answer to a much scarier person than you for her welfare."
Reluctantly her father let them leave.
Amanda rushed through the hospital, to the parking lot, then ran over to Nick's Jag.
Once they were in Nick's car, Amanda did her best to remember where she had seen Kyrian in her vision. "It was a small, dark courtyard."
Nick snorted. "This is New Orleans, chere. That doesn't tell me anything."
"I know. I think it was in the Quarter. But I don't know. Dammit, I just don't know." She scanned the dark streets as they passed them. "Is there a Dark-Hunter we could call who might be able to help find him? Maybe we should get Talon back?"
"No, Talon is hunting his own target." He handed her his cell phone. "Push redial and keep trying to call Kyrian."
She did, repeatedly, but there was still no answer.
As dawn approached, Amanda became desperate. If they didn't find him soon, he'd be dead.
Terrified, she did what she had never dared before. She leaned her head back on the seat and purposefully reached down deep inside herself to touch the full strength of her untested powers. A terrifying surge went through her, making her warm and throbbing.
Images swam in her head, some old, some undefinable.
Just as she was sure her powers would tell her nothing, a clear image came to her. "St. Philip Street," she whispered. "We'll find him there."
They parked on St. Philip and got out of the car.
Amanda didn't know how, but she guided Nick down the alleys, straight to a dark courtyard. They rounded the buildings and saw nothing.
"Dammit, Amanda, he's not here."
She barely heard him. Following her instincts, she rounded a tall hedge, then stopped dead in her tracks.
Kyrian hung against a fence, his entire body slumped.
"Oh, my God," she breathed as she ran to him.
Gently, she lifted his head and gasped as she saw his bloodied face. They had beaten him so severely that he could barely open his eyes.
"Amanda?" he whispered. "Is it really you, or am I dreaming?"
Tears filled her eyes. "Yes, Kyrian. It's me."
Nick cursed as he stopped beside her and reached to touch one of the nails in Kyrian's arm. He drew his hand back sharply before it made contact and hurt Kyrian more. She saw the rage in Nick's eyes as he cursed again. "My God, they nailed him to a board."
Amanda wanted to throw up at the thought. She could tell by the wounds exactly what Desiderius had done. He had reenacted Kyrian's execution.
"We've got to get you out of here," she said.
Kyrian choked, then coughed up blood. "There's not enough time."
"He's right," Nick concurred. "It'll be dawn in five, maybe ten minutes. We'll never get him home before the sun rises."
"Then call Tate."
"He couldn't get here in time." A tic appeared in Nick's jaw as he touched Kyrian's hand where someone had embedded a nail into the center of it. "I'm not sure how we could get him loose even if Tate did make it in time."
"It's all right," Kyrian said, his voice strained. He swallowed and met Nick's tormented gaze. "Take Amanda to Talon and have him protect her and Tabitha."
Nick took off running.
Ignoring Nick, Amanda focused on Kyrian. "I'm not going to let you die," she insisted, her tone high-pitched and sharp. "Damn it, Kyrian, you can't die like this and become a Shade. I won't let you."
The tender look in his eyes stole her breath. "I'm only sorry I failed you. I wish I could have been the hero you deserved."
Amanda took his face in her hands and made him look at her. Her hands shook as she wiped the blood away from his lips and nose. "Don't you dare give up. Do you hear me? If you die, who's to say Desiderius won't get Talon, too? Fight for me, Kyrian. Please!"
Kyrian grimaced. "It's all right, Amanda. I'm just glad you found me. I didn't want to die alone ... again."
Her heart lurched at the words as tears fell down her face. No! The scream reverberated through her soul.
She couldn't let him die. Not like this. Not after he had protected and cared for her. Not after he h
Over and over in her mind, she pictured her precious Dark-Hunter roaming the earth trapped between worlds. Forever hungry. Forever alone.
She couldn't allow that to happen.
Nick returned with a crowbar in his hands.
"What are you doing?"
Nick gave her a hard stare. "I'm not going to let him die like this. I'm going to get him free." He tried to pry the nail out of Kyrian's hand.
Kyrian drew rigid from the pain.
"No!" Amanda shouted.
Nick went flying. "What the hell?"
Before she knew what she was doing, she felt her powers well up inside her. They surged forward like a waterfall, out of her control.
In that instant, the nails came free of Kyrian's body and he fell into her arms. "Help me, Nick," she breathed, trying to stay on her feet and hold him up.
Nick was aghast.
Shaking off his stupor, Nick picked Kyrian up in his arms. He staggered from the weight of him, but made his way to the car as fast as he could. "We still don't have enough time to get him home before sunrise," he panted out in broken syllables.
"We can take him to my sister's. She only lives a block over."
"Which sister?"
"Esmeralda. You met her earlier, the one with the long black hair."
"The voodoo high priestess?"
"No, the midwife."
Without another word, Nick drove them to Essie's house in record time. It took some doing, but they managed to get Kyrian to the porch just as the sun started to rise over the roof opposite them.
Amanda pounded on the door to her sister's narrow Victorian home. "Esmeralda? Hurry! Open the door."
She saw her sister's shadow through the Victorian lace curtain an instant before the doorknob turned. Amanda shoved the door open and Nick carried Kyrian into the foyer without a second to spare.
"Pull the shades down," Nick ordered Esmeralda as he laid Kyrian on the dark green contemporary sofa.
"Excuse me?" Esmeralda asked. "What is this?"
"Just do it, Essie, I'll explain in a minute."
Reluctantly, Essie followed Nick's orders.
Amanda touched Kyrian's face. "They made a terrible mess of you."
"How's Tabitha?" Kyrian asked weakly. Amanda was touched by his concern for her sister when he was so hurt himself.
"I'm calling an ambulance," Esmeralda said, picking up the phone from the end table.
Nick grabbed the phone from her hands. "No."
The look on Esmeralda's face would have quelled most men. Nick just glared back at her without flinching.
"It's all right, Essie," Amanda assured her. "We can't take him to a hospital."
"He's going to die if you don't."
"No," Nick said, "he won't."
Esmeralda cocked a disbelieving brow.
"He's not human," Amanda explained.
Esmeralda narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What is he, then?"
"He's a vampire."
Rage suffused her face as she railed against them all. "You brought a vampire into my house? After what happened to Tabitha? My God, Amanda, where was your brain?"
"He's not going to hurt you," Amanda insisted.
"You're damned straight. I'm going to call--"
Nick stepped between Esmeralda and the phone. "You call anyone and I'll rip the phone out of the wall."
"Boy," Essie said in a warning tone, "don't think for two seconds you--"
"Stop it!" Amanda shouted. "Kyrian needs your help, Esmeralda, and as your little sister, I'm begging you for it."
"Do you--"
"Essie, please."
She saw the indecision warring in Essie's eyes and knew the thoughts in her mind. On the one hand Esmeralda didn't want to help the evil undead; on the other, she couldn't really say no to her sister.
"Please, Es, I've never before asked a favor of you."
"Not true. You borrowed my favorite sweater in high school to wear to that game where Bobby Daniels was playing."
"Es!"
"All right," she relented, "but if he bites anyone in this house, I'm staking him."
Kyrian lay still while Esmeralda and Amanda peeled his bloodied clothes from him. He hurt so badly he could barely breathe. Over and over, he saw the Daimons attacking him and he wanted blood.
"Let the sun have him." Desiderius's mocking voice rang in his ears.
That bastard would pay. Kyrian planned to make sure of it.
Amanda's heart wrenched at the wounds on Kyrian's body. His forearms and hands were covered with nail holes.
Never in her life had she hated anyone, but right then she hated Desiderius with so much passion that if he were here, she'd rip him apart with her bare hands.
She left Kyrian only long enough to call her parents and check on Tabitha.
While Essie bandaged Kyrian, Nick paced the floor.
"What do you want me to do about Desiderius?" Nick asked Kyrian.
"Stay away from him."
"But look at you."
"I'm immortal. I will survive this. You wouldn't."
"Yeah, well, had we taken another three minutes to get there, you wouldn't have survived it, either."
"Nick," Amanda warned. "You're not helping. He needs to rest."
"I'm sorry," he said, raking a nervous hand through his tousled dark brown hair. "I attack when I'm worried. It's a defense mechanism."
"It's all right, Nick," Kyrian said. "Go home and get some sleep."
His jaw rigid, Nick nodded. He looked at Amanda. "Call me if you need anything."
"I will."
As soon as he was gone, Esmeralda finished tending Kyrian. "That really must hurt. What happened?"
"I was stupid."
"Okay, Stupid," Esmeralda said pointedly, "we're going to have to set those legs and I don't have a splint."
"Can I borrow the phone?" Kyrian asked.
Frowning, Esmeralda handed it to him.
Amanda carefully bathed the blood from his face as he dialed. "How can you be so lucid?" she asked him. "This has to be excruciating for you."
"I was tortured by the Romans for over a month, Amanda. Believe me, this is nothing."
Still, it made her ache for him. How could he stand it?
She listened while he talked to whomever he'd called.
"Yeah, I know. I'll see you shortly."
Amanda took the phone from him.
Kyrian closed his eyes and rested while Esmeralda motioned her into the kitchen.
"Now I want an explanation. Why is there a wounded vampire on my couch?"
"He saved my life; I'm just returning the favor."
Esmeralda glared at her. "Have you any idea what Tabitha would do if she ever found out?"
"I know, but I couldn't let him die. He's a good man, Es."
Her cheeks paling, Esmeralda's jaw dropped. "No, not that face."
"What face?"
"That weepy, Brendan-Fraser-is-on-the-screen face."
"Excuse me?" Amanda asked, offended.
"You're infatuated with him."
Amanda felt her face turn red.
"Mandy! Where's your brain?"
She avoided her sister's probing stare by looking back to the couch where Kyrian lay. "Look, Essie, I'm not stupid and I'm not a child. I know there can never be anything between us."
"But?"
"What but?"
"You look like there should be a 'but' on the end of that sentence."
"Well, there isn't." Amanda pushed her gently toward the stairs. "Now go on back to bed and get some sleep."
"Yeah, right. Are you going to make sure Mr. Vampire doesn't snack on one of us while I sleep?"
"He doesn't suck blood."
"How do you know?"
"He said so."
Essie folded her arms over her chest and gave her a piqued stare. "Oh well, that makes it official, then, doesn't it?"
"Would you stop?"
"C'mon, Mandy," she said, gesturing toward the couch. "The man is a killer."
"You don't know him."
"I don't know any alligators, either, but I sure as hell wouldn't leave one in my house. You can't change the nature of a beast."
"He's not a beast."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Still she saw the skepticism in her sister's eyes. "You damn well better be, little girl, or we'll all pay a foul price."
*
While Esmeralda dressed for work several hours later, Amanda made a small breakfast for Kyrian.
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm really not hungry," he said gently.
She set the plate on the coffee table. Tenderly, she traced her hand down the bandage on his arm where blood had already seeped into it. "I wish you had listened to me and stayed home."
"I can't do that, Amanda. I have an oath and a duty to fulfill."
The job. It was all that mattered to him and she wondered if he protected her because he cared, or if she were just part and parcel of what his duty entailed. "Still, you tell me you believe in my powers and then when I tell you--"
"Amanda, please. I had no choice."
She nodded. "I hope you kill him."
"I will."
Amanda squeezed his hand. "You don't sound quite as sure as you did before."
"That's because I spent the night nailed to a board and I don't feel very well this morning."
"You're not funny."
"I know," he said. "It just bothers me that he really did know where to strike to do the most damage. Right down to--"
She waited several minutes, but he didn't elaborate. "To?" she prompted.
"Nothing."
"Kyrian, talk to me. I want to know how he got you into this condition."
"I don't want to talk about it."
Before she could press him, someone knocked on the door.
"Please," he said quietly, "go let D'Alerian in."
"The Dream-Hunter?"
He nodded.
Curious, she got up and opened the front door, then stepped back. The man on the porch was nothing like she'd expected. Towering over her, the Dream-Hunter had hair as black as night and eyes so colorless and pale, they seemed to glow. Dressed all in black like a Dark-Hunter, the man before her would command attention if not for the strange tendency of her eyes to want to look away from him. It was weird. Really weird. She had to force herself to look at a man who should make any woman gape in lustful awe.
Without a word, he stepped past her and went to Kyrian. The door jerked itself out of her hands and slammed shut to keep the daylight out of the room.
D'Alerian had a sleek, graceful walk as he moved toward the couch where Kyrian lay. He shrugged his leather jacket off and pulled the sleeves of his black shirt back on his arms.
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