CHAPTER 10

Kyrian woke up the instant his bedroom door opened.

Not fully conscious, he sensed Rosa entering his room and wondered why she would disturb him. She’d never done so before.

He rolled onto his back. “Is something…”

The sentence died when a light, shimmering web covered him, pinning him to the bed. Kyrian froze as fury welled up inside him. He couldn’t stand being trapped, especially flat on his back. Blood lust surged through him with a murderous frenzy.

Until he saw Rosa.

She stood by his bed, her brow covered in sweat as she stared at him with lost, dazed eyes. Over and over, she whispered the Spanish words, “Debe matarle, debe matarle.”

Must kill him, must kill him …

She raised the cleaver in her hand.

“Rosa,” Kyrian said as calmly as possible. “Put the cleaver down.”

“Debe matarle…” She stepped closer to the bed.

“Rosa, no haga esto. Don’t do this. Let me up. Déjeme para arriba, por favor.”

She was shaking so badly, Kyrian feared she’d have a stroke or coronary at any moment. Her frail body couldn’t sustain this amount of stress.

“Desiderius say you are bad, m’ijo. You must die.”

Kyrian tried to think of some way to reach through her hazy madness and bring her back to reality. “Rosa, you know me better than that.”

She lifted the cleaver higher.

Helpless beneath the net, Kyrian stared at the shining steel, waiting for it to slice into him. He wanted to implore her, to shout at her until she listened, but he didn’t dare for fear of what it might do to the older woman. She was under enough stress without his adding to it. He would die before he harmed her.

His cell phone rang.

“I know, Desiderius,” she whispered in Spanish. “I know. He must die.” She placed a hand on Kyrian’s chest as if to keep him still. Not that he could move. The net held him completely immobile. “Must be cut into pieces.”

Kyrian tensed as she brought the cleaver down.

It missed him by a hairsbreadth.

“M’ijo,” she whispered. Life returned to her eyes a second before they rolled back into her head.

She fell to the floor.

Terrified she was hurt, and panicking over his own vulnerability, Kyrian fought against the net with all his strength. It was no use. It was one of Artemis’s nets, and once captured beneath it, any prey was completely trapped.

How in the gods’ names could Rosa have gotten hold of it? Not even Desiderius should have had access to it. Only a god or demigod could claim an immortal weapon from its sacred resting place, and Artemis in particular guarded her weapons well.

And how could the Daimon reach out and control Rosa from a bolt-hole? No Daimon was that powerful.

Just what the hell was going on here?

Even though he knew it was futile, Kyrian fought against his confinement. As every minute passed, memories surged through him.

“How does it feel, Commander?” Valerius’s voice taunted him from the past. “You are completely under my control. Totally powerless. Defenseless.” He could still see the evil smile on the Roman’s face, feel the agony of his torture. “I’m going to enjoy watching you squirm for me. Hearing you beg for my mercy.”

Kyrian’s sight dimmed as he relived every moment. He struggled to breathe. He would not be trapped again. Not like this.

Like a man possessed, he fought the net with every shred of strength he had.

*   *   *

An hour after dark, Nick entered the house first with Amanda and Talon only one step behind.

“Rosa?” Nick shouted, rushing through the kitchen and living room, toward the stairs. “Kyrian?”

No one answered. The eerie silence rang in Amanda’s ears as they ran up the stairs toward Kyrian’s bedroom. Nick threw open the doors so forcefully that the breeze stirred the bed’s sheers.

The room was empty.

Amanda hesitated in the doorway as she surveyed everything. Nothing was out of place, except for the bed’s covers.

Yet …

She felt something wrong. Something deep within her stirred her dormant powers and allowed her to connect with Kyrian. She sensed his concern. His fury.

Talon moved to the bed and cursed as he lifted a shimmery, silver web. “This is unbelievable,” he snarled, balling it up into his fist.

“What is it?” Amanda asked.

“A diktyon. One of Artemis’s nets.”

Amanda had absolutely no idea what that was, but she could tell by Talon’s face it wasn’t good. Nor should it be in Kyrian’s bed while Kyrian was nowhere to be found. Panic sliced through her even more ferociously than before. “Why is it here?”

“I have no idea, but if Kyrian was under it, I would say he’s been taken by whoever tossed it on top of him.” Talon leaned over and picked a cleaver up from the floor.

Amanda’s panic increased, and against her will, her powers surged, searching for Kyrian. She hated the thought of letting her psychic abilities have control of her, but she needed to know he was all right. She had to know something.

Closing her eyes, she saw him in a sterile environment. He was worried, but she didn’t sense any danger from him. “Try calling his cell phone,” she said to Talon.

He gave her a “duh” stare. “I’ve tried a dozen times.”

“Try a dozen and one.”

His expression told her he didn’t appreciate her commanding tone one iota. “All right,” he reluctantly agreed. “What the hell? Futility has its purposes in life.” Talon pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed.

“There’s no sign of a struggle,” Nick said, looking around.

“Kyrian,” Talon snapped, giving Amanda an odd look. “Where the hell are you?”

Amanda took a step closer, her heart hammering as she realized that she had been right.

“You stay put until we get there.” Talon hung up and looked at Nick. “He’s at the hospital. Rosa had a heart attack.”

“Oh, my God,” Nick gasped. “Is she all right?”

“He didn’t go into it since he’s not supposed to be on the cell phone in the hospital. Said he’d fill us in when we get there.”

*   *   *

Kyrian paced the waiting room anxiously. Anger and fear warred inside him. He wanted Desiderius’s head for this. One way or another, he would make the Daimon pay.

“Just let Rosa be okay,” he breathed for the millionth time.

“Kyrian?”

He turned at the sound of Amanda’s soothing voice. An inexplicable joy and relief tore through him at the sight of her approaching him.

Before he realized what he was doing, he pulled her into his arms and held her so tightly that she protested. But he couldn’t help himself. His relief at seeing her alive and unhurt was too great. Now that he knew just how easily Desiderius could enter someone’s home, nowhere was safe for her.

Desiderius could reach her anywhere. Use anyone to kill her.

That thought terrified him, and somewhere in the back of his mind was a little voice that warned him Desiderius might use her against him.

If they gave him the chance.

Kyrian cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. He was going to kill the Daimon. As soon as Desiderius emerged from his bolt-hole, the Daimon would live no more. And for the first time in his existence, he would relish taking a life.

He looked up and caught Talon’s censuring gaze and knew what thoughts were on the Celt’s mind. Dark-Hunters weren’t supposed to become romantically tied to anyone. It was the first, and most necessary rule of the Code. No one could ever think clearly when their heart was involved. Of all men, Kyrian knew that for fact.

Still, it didn’t change what he felt for her.

“I need you to keep Amanda safe,” Kyrian told Talon.

Talon narrowed his eyes. “Tell me what happened.”

“Desiderius used Rosa to trap me. He had complete control of her. If he can do that to Rosa, he can do it to anyone.”

Talon let out a slow breath. “And you wonder why I live alone.”

Kyrian ignored his warning tone and the meaningful look Talon gave Amanda.

Kyrian met Amanda’s gaze and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Amanda, I need you to call your sister. Tell her to guard her back and to not be alone. Have one of your sisters raise a cone of protection or whatever it is they do to protect her from Desiderius. We’ve no idea what other powers he might have.”

He sensed her worry and fear. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“I take it these aren’t normal Daimon powers?” she asked.

“No. We’ve never encountered anything like it.” He looked back at Talon. “I spoke to D’Alerian and he said Desiderius is messing with the human subconscious in order to weaken their resistance to his power. D’Alerian should be able to provide some help, but he can’t guarantee absolute protection. Call Acheron and tell him I think we have a rogue god on the loose. One of them has to be helping Desiderius. There’s no other explanation. And it would help if we knew who and why.”

Talon nodded. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to do my damnedest to finish this tonight. If I can find his bolt-hole, I’m going into it.”

Talon’s eyes were harsh. “Kyrian, you’re not a Were-Hunter. If you go in, you won’t be able to come back out. You’ll kill yourself trying, or worse, you’ll be stuck between dimensions forever. Let me call Kattalakis—”

“I told you, we don’t dare let a Were-Hunter near this guy. I’m more convinced of that now than ever. God help us all if Desiderius claims one of their souls. It’s a risk we can’t take.” He glanced to Amanda and the concern on her face. He would protect her, no matter what. “Second rule of the Code, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. If I die, you’re up next. And if you are, don’t fail.”

Talon nodded even while Amanda grabbed Kyrian’s arm. “Kyrian,” she whispered, “I don’t want you out there alone.”

“I know, Amanda. But he’s too powerful and dangerous to go unchallenged. He almost killed Rosa.” Kyrian left out the part about how she’d almost killed him. They didn’t need to know that.

Thank the gods D’Alerian had sensed Rosa’s subconscious turmoil and come when he had. If not for the Dream-Hunter’s intervention, Kyrian would still be trapped in his bed.

And trapped in his bed without Amanda was not something he wanted.

“Nick,” he said, looking past her to his Squire. “Call me the instant you hear from the doctor.” He started to leave, but Amanda stopped him.

Before he realized what she intended, she pulled him to her lips and kissed him blind. Her lips tugged at his while her tongue stroked his. He felt her hands clutching the lapels of his coat. Felt her fear for him, and it scorched his wounded heart with pure bliss. “You be careful,” she said in a stern voice.

He touched her lightly on the chin. “I will.”

Amanda watched him walk off with a sick feeling in her stomach. “Talon, are you sure you can’t help him?”

“Believe me, I hate the ‘no help’ rule as much as you do. But if I tried to help, I’d only weaken him.”

Nick handed her his phone. “Call Tabitha and warn her.”

As Amanda dialed the first number another thought struck. “Who is D’Alerian and how can he guard our subconscious?”

“He’s one of the Dream-Hunters we told you about,” Talon said.

She frowned. “So do you guys get to pick which one you are?”

Talon shook his head. “Dream-Hunters are a whole other species. They’re born of the gods and not made from humans.”

“And the Were-Hunters? Where do they come from?”

“They are half human, half Apollites who got a hold of some seriously bad mojo.”

She swallowed the fear that rose up to choke her. That didn’t sound good at all. “I thought they were good guys.”

“Some of them are, but some of them are slayers.”

“With the powers of a sorcerer who can walk through time and space,” she said, her stomach knotting.

“And occasionally dreams,” Nick supplied.

Amanda laughed nervously. “You know, I was a whole lot happier when I didn’t know about any of this.”

“Which is why we do our best to keep this silent,” Talon said. “Believe me, humans would never be able to sleep at night if they knew what was out there waiting for them.”

Amanda nodded, wondering if she’d ever be able to sleep again.

Terrified, she finished dialing her sister’s number. Now that she knew more about what they were dealing with, she needed to get her sister to watch out for Lord King Badass, and the Dark-Hunter who was their only hope.

*   *   *

Kyrian spent the entire night hunting the streets of New Orleans to no avail. Desiderius was still in his bolt-hole and there was no sign of him or any other Daimon anywhere. It may have been that his powers still weren’t up to their full capacity or that the Daimon had some way of shielding his location. Whatever it was, Kyrian couldn’t find a trace of him. Not even his electronic tracker helped.

He cursed his luck.

Never in his Dark-Hunter existence had he been so uncertain.

He didn’t like the feeling one bit. Especially not when Amanda’s life balanced on whether or not he could find the fiend and stop him.

Disgusted and weary, he made his way into his house. Everything was dark and silent. Amanda was upstairs in the house. He could feel her presence like a touch and it soothed him in a way he didn’t want to contemplate.

Just knowing she was here …

Happiness surged through him.

But he didn’t seek her out. He had too many things on his mind. Things he needed to sort out. Think through.

He entered the billiard room and grabbed his glove and baseball, then went to pitch it. Focusing on the ball, he let his mind wander. Wander through his painful past, and to the doubts that still lingered.

Why couldn’t his wife have loved him?

Since the day Theone had betrayed him, he had been suspicious of anyone who came near him. He had given his wife everything he had, and still it hadn’t been enough. If he couldn’t win her love, then he could win no one else’s. He knew it.

Over the centuries, Kyrian had convinced himself that it didn’t matter. That he needed no one at all.

Until Amanda. She had breached his defenses and now he felt naked before her.

She, alone, had opened his heart and touched him deep inside it. He wanted her. Mind. Body. Soul. There was no part of her he didn’t want to claim.

A movement to his left caught his attention.

Turning his head, he saw Amanda coming through the doorway, dressed in sweats. He couldn’t believe how sexy he found them on her. She had her hair in two braids down the side of her face. There was something innocent and almost childlike in the way she was dressed, but there was nothing girlish about the woman approaching him.

She shook the man in him all the way to his foundations.

“How long have you been home?” she asked.

Kyrian would have answered, but she chose that moment to walk up to him and kiss his cheek. A strange sensation ran through him. Her actions were those of true affection.

“What are you doing up?” he asked. “It’s after four.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

She left his side to walk to the other end of the atrium room. When she turned to face him, he saw Nick’s baseball glove on her hand. Like a pro, she held the glove up to catch the ball.

He smiled and tossed the ball gently to her.

She caught it, then fired back a fast ball that hit his glove with a resounding smack and burned his palm beneath the leather. “Ow!” he teased at the sting on his hand. She threw better than Nick did. “I’m impressed.”

She winked at him. “I was the closest thing to a son my poor father had. He taught me to play.”

Kyrian tossed the ball back to her. “He taught you well.”

Her smile widened. They tossed the ball for several minutes in silence. Gods, he had never thought to find a woman willing to do this with him at such an unholy hour. Even Nick complained, but Amanda seemed content just to be with him.

“How did it go?” she asked. “Did you find him?”

“No.” He sighed. “I just can’t figure it out.”

“You will.”

He hesitated as he heard the utter confidence in her voice. “You have no doubts?”

“None. I know you won’t let him hurt us.”

“I couldn’t help Rosa.”

“I’m sorry,” she said as she caught the ball and returned it. “It must be hard for you to accept that fact, but it wasn’t your fault. You did your best to protect her.”

Kyrian clenched his teeth. “It hurts. More than I thought possible. I can’t believe he got to her.”

Her eyes were sympathetic and warm as she smiled sadly at him. “I guess it explains how he got into our houses to start the fires.”

He nodded. “He probably used Allison. I found her passed out in her room, much like Rosa. I think the human mind can’t handle the stress of it.”

“If it helps, Tabitha said Allison is fine and back home now, so Rosa should heal and be back to normal without any lasting damage.”

“That’s good to know.” Kyrian watched her as she played ball with him. And with every toss of the baseball, he felt himself slipping more and more.

He knew he was falling for her and he was powerless against it.

In fact, the longer they played, the more he wanted her. He watched her shirt pull tight when she drew back to toss the ball. And he loved the way tendrils of her hair swept onto her face and she had to brush them back. Her lips were parted and her breathing heavy.

He found himself purposely throwing the ball over her head to watch her reach up to catch it. Every time she did, the sweatshirt rode up, baring a portion of her stomach to his hungry gaze. Then she would run after the ball, her breasts bobbing, her hips swaying. But the best part was seeing her well-proportioned backside when she bent over to retrieve the ball. Gods, but that woman had the best derriere …

Unable to stand it anymore, he tossed the glove to the ground.

Amanda froze as Kyrian took long, determined strides toward her. Before she could figure out his intent, he picked her up in his arms and kissed her fiercely.

Those wonderful, hard muscles flexed around her while he held her feet off the ground. Due to her size, no man had ever been able to pick her up, and yet Kyrian did it with such ease that it made her heart pound. She loved the way he made her feel. So feminine. So petite.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as his tongue ravished her mouth. Oh, the heaven of those hard, developed abs flexing between her thighs … The man was perfection.

Growling, he nipped her lips with his fangs while his hand cupped her bottom.

He left her lips and nuzzled her neck, nibbling his way under her chin. Her entire body melted at the feel of his hot breath on her skin. Oh yes, this was what she had wanted all day. Just to feel his arms holding her. To have him in her arms where she could give him all the love she felt for him.

She throbbed, needing him to fill her again.

Kyrian shook from the force of his want. Over and over, he remembered the way she had felt as he slid himself into her. The look on her face as she came in his arms.

He burned for her, and yet he dared not take her.

Not now. Not when he needed his strength to fight Desiderius.

Still, his body didn’t listen. He had to touch her. Had to feel her skin.

Before he could stop himself, he sank to his knees and laid her down against the cold tile floor.

Amanda swallowed at the raw hunger on his face. He removed her clothes so fast that she barely felt his hands on her at all. But once he had her naked, it was another story entirely.

Only then did he slow down.

Fully clothed, he stared at her naked body in the moonlight as he ran his hands over her breasts, tracing them, teasing her hard nipples with his palms. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he said, his voice low.

Amanda knew better than that. She’d seen the beauty of his wife, but the knowledge that he felt that way about her sent a shiver through her. He was definitely the best-looking man she had ever seen. Period.

As he leaned down to kiss her passionately, she reached to unbutton his shirt.

Kyrian caught her hands in his and shook his head no. If he let those graceful, soft hands touch his skin, he knew he would be lost.

Instead, he kissed each palm in turn, then returned to her throat, her breasts. He sampled her body with his lips, his tongue, his fangs.

As Kyrian tasted her, he felt his honed powers surging. Desperate and hot, he trailed his mouth from her breasts down to her satiny stomach, then to her thighs. He heard her gasps of pleasure as she opened her legs to him.

Right then, he wanted to possess her with a ferocity that overwhelmed him. It was primitive and all-consuming. And all he could think of was Amanda.

Her blood pounded in his ears.

Shaking from the force of it, he closed his eyes and took her into his mouth to taste the sweetness of her body that he craved most.

Amanda moaned at the feel of his tongue inside her. Burying her hands in his hair, she lifted her hips to him. He was so wild as he tasted her. So ferocious and thorough that she hissed at the incredible feel of him making love to her with his mouth.

He was absolutely relentless with his hot caresses, and when she came, it tore through her, making her scream and writhe with the most blissful orgasm she’d ever experienced.

Still he tasted her. Again and again. His tongue and mouth swirled and teased, stroking her, coaxing her until she was lost in the throes of another orgasm even more intense than the first one. Her head spun from it and every single nerve ending in her body tingled.

Kyrian pulled away from her then, and crawled up her body like a hot, panting predator. His eyes were even blacker than they’d been before as he parted his lips and stared at her neck with a hunger so intense it startled her.

“Kyrian?” she asked.

Kyrian could barely hear her through the haze in his mind. All he could smell was her scent. Her body pressed against his as he throbbed and ached for more.

Take her. Taste her. Claim her.

Make her yours …

He ground his teeth as he watched the vein in her neck pulse. Just one taste …

One taste …

But it would be against her will.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

He struggled against his hunger that demanded he take her regardless. His groin was on fire for her. His needs out of control.

Her scent was all over him. She was all he could focus on. All he could think of.

And it made him dangerous. Lethal.

Growling, he summoned up the last of his willpower and forced himself away from her. “Run, Amanda,” he snarled.

Amanda didn’t hesitate. Something was wrong with him. Grabbing her clothes, she ran to her room.

Kyrian heard her footsteps recede as he lay on the cold floor. He buried his hand against his burning erection as he writhed in pain.

This was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Dear Zeus, another minute and he would have sunk his fangs into her.

Closing his eyes, he shook as he fought down the beast inside him. The beast that demanded he take her over and over, no matter the consequences.

*   *   *

Amanda didn’t stop shaking until she reached her bedroom. She would never forget the feral look on Kyrian’s face when he had told her to run.

She’d never feared him before, but right then she had seen the Dark-Hunter in him that she was sure made the Daimons wet themselves in terror.

Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself. All she’d ever wanted was a normal relationship.

But then normality with a vampire was asking a lot.

Her heart pounding, she paused as she saw herself in the mirror. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her neck red from where his whiskers had rubbed against her.

“Amanda?”

She paused at the sound of Kyrian’s voice through the door. “Yes?” she asked hesitantly.

He nudged the door open, but didn’t come inside. “Did I scare you?”

“Honestly?”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

His heated gaze bored into her. “I’m sorry.”

She knew he meant it. Could see the guilt in his eyes.

“Why haven’t you asked to go home?” Kyrian asked, his low tone cutting across the quiet stillness of the room.

She tensed at his question. “You want me to leave?”

He was silent so long she didn’t think he would answer. Finally he whispered, “No, I don’t.”

There was so much heartfelt emotion in those three words that she couldn’t have been more stunned had he declared his love.

She started for him and he took a step back. She realized he still wasn’t in full control of himself. Even so, she wanted him.

“Then I won’t leave until I wear out my welcome.”

Kyrian froze at her words. In the back of his mind was the thought that the earth would surely cease to exist before Amanda wore out her welcome in his house. And it was quickly followed by the knowledge that when the earth ceased to exist, he would still be alive and Amanda …

He winced at the truth of immortality and the knowledge that for the two of them there could never be a happily-ever-after.