Because I got reviews so quickly on the last chapter, y'all get another one :)

Chapter Quote:
"Have you seen the idiots that swim in my gene pool?"
______________________________________

Chapter 19

I spent two more days in Alaska. Ash, true to his word, attempted to help me get my thoughts together in regard to my memory, but notice I said the word 'attempt'. Even with his powers, he couldn't take the wall down, or even improve my memories. I'd never seen him look so defeated. I told him not to worry about it, that I'd be fine. I could tell Ash didn't believe me but he dropped the subject.

When my plane landed, Nick was there to greet me. He wore a big smile on his face. When I asked him what the happy occasion was, he said, "You're back, so Kyrian will be nicer again!"

"Oh surely he wasn't that bad!" I protested.

Nick took my duffel bag and said, "I've never seen such a miserable old soul, and I've met a lot of Dark Hunters."

"Maybe he's gotten used to companionship," I suggested.

"He has me for that. Are you trying to deny the fact he likes you so Ash doesn't separate you two?"

"Excuse me?" I laughed.

"Never mind." Nick glanced at my cheek. "That looks nasty. That where Zarek-"

"Yeah, but it's much better now."

"If that's 'better', I'd have hated to see what it looked like when it happened." Nick put my duffel in the trunk of his Jag and opened the passenger side door for me. The drive to Kyrian's was pretty short which I was happy about. Nick chatted the entire time, telling me stories that happened at school or with Bubba and Mark or with Kyrian. Apparently Kyrian had rescued a stray German Shepherd from the streets and named it Terminator. Nick loved the dog.

The sun was just setting when we arrived at Kyrian's mansion. I could see a German Shepherd head in the living room window. By the looks of it, he was barking at us and probably alerting Kyrian to our presence. While I was getting out of the car, Nick's phone rang. He talked for a few brief seconds before hanging up.

"Kiara, would you mind if went home? Mom really needs me," Nick said.

"I think I can make it to the front door without getting into trouble. Say hi to your mom for me. Bye!" I shut the car door and Nick tore out of the driveway. I made my way up to the front porch where I was about to ring the doorbell but the door opened anyway. Kyrian, in leather pants and his shirtless glory, stood there with a grin on his face.

"Hey stranger," I said with a smile. Kyrian pulled me into a hug. "How've you been?"

"I was getting lonely until Terminator showed up," he replied, pulling away and looking at his new German Shepherd. "He alerted me you were here."

I knelt down on one knee and pet Terminator. "How old is he?"

"About four years old the vet thinks. Come on, dinner's ready." Kyrian took my duffel bag and headed upstairs. "I'll be right back. I'm going to put your bag in your room and I'm going to go put a shirt on."

Oh please don't... I thought. However, I let him put a shirt on. He came downstairs a few seconds later. He dished out the pasta and brought it to the table.

"So how was the trip?" He queried, shoveling a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.

"It was good. It's nice to be talking to Zarek again, not to mention it's nice to know I'm not completely crazy since he remembers me now. I mean, some things about our relationship are still fuzzy but just in the past few days so many memories became clear. It's a lot of headway."

"That's good news. You're on your way to finding your husband."

"Yeah, I am."

"You sound worried."

"Have you always been this good at reading me?"

"Yes."

I sighed. "It's nothing. Probably what anyone would think if they had a husband missing for over two thousand years."

"You're worried he won't remember you or that he's moved on?"

"Both."

"In the case of either, you can get whatever guy you want. If it doesn't work out with your husband, there are a couple Dark Hunters I know would love to be with you."

"Zarek?"

"Among others."

"Others? What others?"

Kyrian only smirked at me. "What else is on your mind?"

"I'm thinking about buying a house."

"Where?"

"Here. In New Orleans. I've been here a few months now, and I've fallen in love with the city. I've been out in the country too much. I'd like to be back in a city again. I have friends here too, something I haven't had in a long time."

"Where in New Orleans?"

"Probably the same neighborhood as you and some of the other Dark Hunters. It's a nice area and there's a few houses being built that I've been watching. You said you had a realtor you'd recommend to me?"

"Yeah, I'll get his number for you. Are you going to keep your house in Colorado?"

"Probably, when I need to escape the city for a bit."

"Have Nick help you. He's been on enough house hunts recently that the boy knows exactly what to look for. When would you like to start?"

"As soon as possible. I'd like to get out of your hair. I'm sure you're sick of having a constant companion by now," I laughed.

"You're welcome to be in my hair as long as you want. I like having you here. Ash needs me out on the Quarter tonight. You stay here, look at some houses, pick some you want to check out, and then I'll get my realtor on it." Kyrian looked at my empty bowl. "You finished?"

"Yeah." Kyrian picked it up for me. I thanked him. "Are you sure you don't need help in the Quarter?"

"I'm sure. You get some rest. You just flew in. Probably have jet lag. I'll see you later okay?" Kyrian disappeared. I was curious by his actions. He seemed different. He was acting strange. I wondered if Ash had threatened him but surely Kyrian would've told me? Maybe I was getting in his hair and he didn't want to admit it to me. If that was the case, then I needed to find a house ASAP. I got up from the table and went upstairs to my room.

Kyrian never came home. My rational side told me he'd had to crash at a place because the sun would rise before he got home. The irrational side of me told me he was in deep trouble somewhere. But I chose to ignore my irrational side.

Then Kyrian didn't show up the second night either. I began to panic. I called Acheron who tried allay my fears by saying Kyrian was just working. He was lying though. Kyrian wouldn't work this long without at least texting me saying he was. I'd texted Kyrian and called him. Nothing.

On the third night, I'd been awake for about thirty minutes when Acheron came barging into my room.

"There's a thing called kno-"

"Is Kyrian here?" Ash interrupted.

"No, he never came home last night or the night before that. You told me he's been working so why are you asking me?"

He swore in a language I didn't recognize. "Kyrian went to patrol the southern sector the other night and he never checked in."

"So you lied to me?"

"Yes. I didn't want you panicking because I knew you already were beginning to. I need to find him."

"I'm coming with you." I threw on a jacket and armed myself, rushing after Acheron who was already almost to his car. He tore out of Kyrian's driveway. "Who do you think it was?"

"I have my ideas but I don't know why he'd target Kyrian."

"He's one of your best Hunters. He hurts Kyrian, he hurts you."

"That or he's too afraid to face me alone."

"Stryker?"

"How do you know that name?" Ash growled.

"I've come across him before and your voices are really similar; he's one of the few people who could actually fool your Dark Hunters into thinking he's you. He's also one of the few people that could beat me. I escaped but not unscathed. Ares told me not to go after him again."

"What the hell were you thinking fighting him?"

"I didn't know who he was. I was trying to fight my way to a friend and Stryker was in my way. I managed to unbalance him and while he was regaining his composure, I escaped with my friend. But I was out of commission for about a month. Stryker scares me almost as much as the Malachai."

"He should. Don't ever face him again, do you understand me?"

"I can understand, I can't promise. Sometimes my job brings me into contact with people I'm trying to avoid. Trust me, I never want to see Stryker again, but I can't promise that I won't come across him again."

"He's a killer, Kiara."

"And we're not?"

"It's different with him. You wouldn't understand. We're here." Ash dropped the subject and pulled to the side of the road. I got a few wolf whistles when I got out of the car but a death-glare from me silenced them immediately and the men shuffled away.

"Talon, Zarek, and Sundown are searching for him already. Split up and don't get killed. If I call you, ask what the last thing I said to you was. If I say the wrong thing, it's not me and hang up on that ass, understand?"

I nodded. Acheron swaggered off. I went the opposite direction. I was in a bad part of town but no one bothered me. They'd seen me enough times now that they knew better. Some men were sitting on the hood of a car. I went up to them, holding a picture of Kyrian and asking if they'd seen him.

"No ma'am, but ask that guy down there. Knows everything about everyone. He'll have seen your boyfriend," one answered. Thanking him, I went to the guy he directed me to. He was smoking a cigarette. It took a lot of effort not to cough from the smoke.

"What can I do for ya little lady?" he inquired.

"Have you seen this guy?"

"Ah, you lookin' for him too?"

"Someone else came around?"

"Yeah, gave me a weird feeling. In fact, that's him now. Over there." The man pointed to a lean, muscular blond guy walking towards us. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Talon, it's just you," I said when he approached me.

"I think I found him. Come on," Talon told me. The two of us headed back the direction he had come from.

"Have you told Ash?"

"Yeah, he's getting Sundown and Zarek. He'll meet us at the place but he told me to stay put until he got there. He told me you were in the same vicinity as me and to give you a call. I saw you instead."

"Where is he?"

"In a house just down the road. A few locals said they heard a few yells but they were muffled. They also said things came out, things that didn't look like people."

"Demons?"

"That's my guess."

"My area of expertise."

"Why would they want Kyrian?"

"When I find a demon or Kyrian, I'll ask."

Talon stopped behind a cluster of trees, pointing to a rundown, lightless house. "That's the one. I felt a Dark Hunter nearby. I texted the ones in New Orleans and none of them said they were near me. It has to be-" Talon was interrupted by me slamming my shoe into the ground. "What are you doing?"

"There was a spider," I replied innocently.

Talon blinked. "You're an immortal being and you're afraid of spiders?"

"When you've been bitten by a brown recluse and a black widow, let me know how you feel about spiders and then we'll talk." I started walking towards the house but Talon grabbed me by the arm.

"Acheron told me to wait."

"Exactly, he told you to wait. He just told you to call me you'd found the place. He never told me to stay put and I'll be damned if anything happens to Kyrian because we waited too long to rescue him." Yanking my arm out of Talon's grip, I stalked over to the house, pulling out my sword. I opened the door as quietly as I could, easier said than done because the door whined more than Nick did.

"Ash is going to kill me," Talon grumbled behind me.

"Scare me like that again and I'll be the one killing you," I retorted. The two of us crept silently forward. I instructed Talon to go to the left while I went to the right. The house looped around and we saw nothing.

"You check upstairs, I check downstairs?" Talon whispered. I nodded, warning him to be careful. The stairs squeaked with every step I took but if anything was in the house, it didn't come after me. I opened the first bedroom door. Except for an empty bed and a broken window, there was nothing. The second bedroom was completely empty except for a spider or two. The bathroom was empty but it had traces of blood in it, and it looked fresh. I opened the third bedroom, nearly dropping my flashlight when I saw the figure in the middle of the room.

"Kyrian?" I breathed. He groaned in response. My feet moved on their own accord while my brain tried to process that Kyrian was at least alive. But he was severely harmed. I knelt in front of him. His hands and feet were nailed to a cross.

"Oh gods..." I shouted for Talon. He didn't respond. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to remove the nails from my friend's hands and feet. Kyrian winced but other than that, he kept quiet. Whoever had been torturing him had done it mercilessly, putting even Roman crucifiers to shame.

"Who did this to you?" I asked softly.

"Run. They're... after... you," Kyrian mumbled. I removed the last nail and he collapsed forward into my arms.

"Who is?"

"D-demons..."

"Where?" But he didn't reply. I gently laid him on the ground, calling Ash. However, despite having service outside, I suddenly didn't have any inside. "This isn't good..."

"Looks like the plan worked," a voice hissed behind me. I whirled around. Five demons, big ones, blocked the doorway. They threw Talon in front of me. At first I thought he was dead but when he let out a low moan, I allowed myself to calm down. He was alive.

"Why did you torture my friend?" I demanded, standing up.

"We needed you to come to us."

"Why?"

"You search for the Malachai. We want him."

"The Malachai would kill you without hesitation. Why would you want him?"

"Because this one's different. You know it. We know it. We want him."

"Well you're not going to get him. And you're not torturing anyone else."

"You cannot take on all five of us."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," I growled. I replaced my sword with my bow. Nocking an arrow, I fired. The arrow landed at the feet of the demons. They laughed until the arrow exploded. Screeches and screams filled the air. Talon was struggling to his feet but the demons had knocked him pretty hard. Kyrian was still motionless.

"Talon, once you get your wits back, take care of Kyrian," I ordered. "I have some demons to kill."
______________________________________  

Zarek

Acheron had called me on an emergency mission, saying Kyrian had gone missing. My first question was if Kiara knew to which Ash responded she didn't. He didn't want her panicking about Kyrian anymore than she already was. She knew something was up, she just didn't know what.

I'd found Sundown during my search. If Acheron hadn't shown up when he did, the two of us would've separated. It always annoyed me that my Dark Hunter powers drained whenever other Dark Hunters were nearby. The only exception to that rule was if Ash or Kiara was around.

Acheron informed us that Talon thought he'd found where Kyrian was and that Talon was alerting Kiara. Supposedly Talon was waiting for us but I knew neither he nor Kiara would be waiting. If anything, Kiara was already in the house searching for Kyrian.

Sure enough, after having booked it to the address, we immediately heard metal on metal, screams, and shouts. There was definitely a female voice amongst the cacophony.

"Damn it, I told them to wait!" Ash said angrily. As we ran to the house, something crashed out of the top floor window onto the ground. It was a demon. Another demon actually leapt out of the window, running like a mad man and clawing at his back, even running past us. It was only when I saw the flashing arrow in his back that I understood why he was clawing at his back. A few seconds later, the arrow exploded. It was bye-bye demon.

"Looks like Kiara's here," Ash observed, kicking down the front door of the house.

"How do you know it's her and not Talon?" Sundown questioned, shooting a demon between the eyes with his gun the moment he stepped foot in the house.

"Because she's particularly fond of exploding arrows."

At that moment a demon landed on the floor in front of us, having been kicked from the top of the stairs. Kiara jumped down, landing on top of the demon and stabbing it in the chest. She glanced up at us with glowing orange eyes. We all took a small step back.

She stood up. Without looking, she tossed her knife, embedding it in an escaping demon. Kiara blinked at us, her eyes slowly fading from orange back to her normal hazel. She headed up the stairs, taking two at a time, with us on her heels

"Kyrian's upstairs. Those demons were crucifying him. Talon was hurt but except for being really dazed, he's fine," Kiara explained. She threw open a bedroom door and rushed next to Kyrian's side. I almost regretted having perfect vision.

"Ah shit..." Sundown muttered. Acheron strode over to his Dark Hunter.

"If he'd been human, he would've died by now," Ash said.

"I'd... be... alive," Kyrian managed to say.

"He has a sense of humor? They really did hurt you," I remarked. Even with his eyes in slits, Kyrian sent me a death-glare.

"I thought I told you two to stay put," Ash said angrily, glowering at Talon and Kiara.

"You told him to stay put, not me. And I wasn't going to risk letting him die because we'd taken too long," Kiara hissed.

"He's not your responsibility!"

"Yes he is!"

"How?!"

"Because I-" Kiara stopped. Taking a deep breath, she said in a calmer voice, "Because I owe him for letting me live with him these past few months."

"We're having a talk later. It's not going to be a friendly one either like last time." Kiara rolled her eyes. If any of us had done that, Ash would've had our heads. She got away with a lot of stuff. Mostly because Ash wasn't her boss. She listened to him when she wanted to, but when someone Kiara cared about was in trouble, no one could stop her from saving them.

"Talon, Sundown, get your cars. Zarek, get mine. Stick together. I don't trust the demons not to go after you three," Acheron commanded. "Kiara, stay here with me. I'm going to try and heal him."

Talon, Sundown, and I left. Once out of the house, Talon said, "Kiara was right. If we hadn't gone in when we did, Kyrian most likely would've been dead. He was already swelling up and unless he can stop it, he's going to asphyxiate to death."

"No, he would've lived longer," I said.

"You haven't worked with Kyrian as long as I have. He can handle a lot but something to that degree would kill any Dark Hunter, including you and me," Talon argued.

"Just because you know someone doesn't mean you know what they can live through and what they can't. You're forgetting something."

"What would that be Roman?"

"Am I the only one seeing it? You're a Dark Hunter, you're supposed to see everything."

"Kiara. He's living for Kiara," Sundown said quietly.

"Are they together or something?" Talon asked.

"No, but Kyrian feels something for her. Whether he likes her or loves her or is just protective of her, I don't know, but whatever the feelings he has towards are kept him going through the torture. If Kiara hadn't been in his life when this happened, you'd be right Talon. He'd probably be dead."

"How do you know so much about Kiara and Kyrian's relationship?"

"None of your business, Celt. Let's get those cars before sunrise."
______________________________________  

Kiara

"Are you okay?" Ash questioned. The anger was out of his voice, so I thought he was talking to Kyrian. That is until he snapped his fingers in front of my face. I glanced up at him. He was staring at me with concern. He repeated, "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Fine, just worried about him."

"He'll be okay, just out of commission for a while. That house hunting you're doing will have to wait."

"No it won't. I already found a place."

"You did?"

"A few houses down from Kyrian's actually. Don't worry, there's nothing going on between me and Kyrian so he's not the reason I bought the house."

"I didn't say there was."

"No, but you were thinking it. I could see it in your eyes... I'm sorry I let Talon disobey your order. I should've stopped him from following me."

"Any Dark Hunter would've followed you... if you hadn't come in when you did, Kyrian would most likely be dead. How did you know?"

"I didn't. I just... I felt that if I didn't go in, we'd be too late when you arrived."

Acheron sighed. "I didn't tell you this when we were in Alaska because I didn't know what to make of it and with the turmoil you're going through with your memories, I didn't want to add any more confusion."

"What did you not tell me?"

"Your fate and Kyrian's, it's... intertwined. You two play a part in each other's lives in the future but it's clouded to me. I don't know what your roles are in each other's lives in the future, although I can take a guess at what it is right now. You weren't protecting him because he's letting you live with him."

My face flushed. "He doesn't need to know that..."

"I'm not that close with Kyrian, but that doesn't mean I don't know when he's acting differently. I've seen him act like a father towards Nick, I've seen him be a ruthless soldier taking down Daimons, I've seen him be an ass to guys who piss him off, but this thing he's showing to you is something I haven't seen him, or any other Dark Hunter for that matter, show towards a woman."

"Once I'm out of his house, whatever feelings he has toward me will dissipate and we will be nothing more than friends."

"You really believe that?" When I said nothing, Ash continued. "Besides me, what's stopping you from getting with him?"

"Because he deserves someone who's not confused with their life and isn't searching for her long-lost husband and who doesn't have all her memories and shit together. I am not that someone," I whispered. "So, is this the harsh talk you were going to give me?"

"Nah, just had to let the others think that. Can't let them think they can get away with disobeying my orders." He was about to say something but was interrupted when we heard cars pulling up. "Stay here. I'm going to go talk to the others, figure out how we'll get Kyrian down without hurting him too much."

Ash headed downstairs. I kept a hold of Kyrian's hand while I waited. I kept checking his wrist for a pulse to make sure he was still alive because his breathing was so shallow I couldn't hear it sometimes.

Acheron came up with Talon a few moments later. They gently lifted Kyrian up by his arms and legs. I followed. Ash put Kyrian in his car and told me to get in the car with Talon. Sundown and Zarek would follow us.

We arrived at Kyrian's house in a short amount of time because the Dark Hunters' speedometers never dropped below seventy. Nick's car was in the driveway. Ash must've told him the situation. Kyrian was carried upstairs to his bedroom. Only Ash and I went upstairs though. The others respected the privacy of Kyrian's bedroom. When we entered, Nick was pulling back the covers. His face turned ashen at the sight of his boss.

"W-what happened?" Nick stammered out.

"They were crucifying him. If Kiara hadn't gotten to him when she did..." Ash didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. The three of us set to work cleaning up Kyrian's injuries. Most were gashes made by claws, but there were a few wounds that Ash couldn't identify. He was able to say with certainty that Kyrian hadn't been poisoned. At least my friend had that going for him.

"He should be fine but just as a precaution, stay up with him the rest of the night. I'll come check on him later. If anything goes wrong, call me."

When Ash had left the room, Nick turned to me and asked, "Will he be okay?"

I nodded. "He'll be fine. It'll be a few days until he's back to normal though. You get some sleep. I'll watch over him."

"I'm staying with you. This is my fault. I should've tried searching for him when he didn't come home the other night and didn't text me where he was staying."

"It's not your fault. It's mine. He was kidnapped because of me."

"What?"

"I've gotten too close to him. The demons figured that out and used him to lure me out of his house."

"So that could've been you being crucified?"

"Yes, but they were torturing Kyrian for fun. They'd torture me for information."

"What information do they want from you?"

"They want to know where the Malachai is."

"The Malachai," Nick repeated. "They want to know where he is?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, just that he's in New Orleans."

"What are you supposed to do when you find him? Malachai are deadly. Why on earth would you want to go after a monster like that?"

"Because, rumor has it, this Malachai is different. Instead of being born from pure hate, he was born from hate and love, which means he can either choose the path of good or bad. If and when I find him, I will determine which side he's on. If he's going down the path of light, then I'll help him stay on that path. But if he's going dark side, then I have to kill him..."

"Have you killed a Malachai before?"

"Once. The last Malachai I dealt with nearly killed me. Let me go for some reason but I was never able to figure out why."

"Why would you go after a monster that tried kill you before?"

"Because it's my job."

"How would you keep them on the good path?"

"I'd find a way to get close to them and be like... an angel on their shoulder I guess."

"What if they went from good to bad? Would you have to kill them then?"

"Yes..."

"But what if you'd gotten attached to them though?"

"I would do everything I could to get them on the right path again but if I couldn't, I don't know... my job would be to kill them but sometimes it's impossible to separate your personal life from your work life. You have a lot of questions about the Malachai. Why?"

"Just curious. That's all. I'll go get some food for us so we can have sustenance to keep us awake."

Nick left the room. I pulled up the loveseat up to the bed. Taking position on the end closest to Kyrian, I settled in for what was going to be a long night. Nick came back about ten minutes later. He explained he called his mom to let her know he'd be staying the night with Kyrian and that one of his friends called afterwards. He'd brought up some leftover dinner Rosa had made along with large jugs of water.

Something about Nick's curiosity about the Malachai intrigued me. He knew I'd been searching for the Malachai before so why did he all of a sudden have these questions now? Although I hated to suspect Nick, I began to wonder an absurd thought: was Nick the Malachai?
______________________________________  

Enjoy :)