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Chapter Quote:
"True love is usually the most inconvenient kind."

~Kiera Cass, The Selection
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Chapter 20

Kyrian

All I felt was pain. Agony. It felt like razors were slicing my skin in order to release the fire within me to finally, once and for all, kill me. My fire, despite everything the demons had done to me, kept burning, but it was slowly fading out.

Until I heard Kiara's voice.

It was soft, but the moment she said my name, the fire flared up again, determined to survive. More things were said before I passed out though. The pain was finally too unbearable. I woke up a few times, the room spinning mercilessly so I'd just go back to sleep. Once or twice I felt hands lightly touching my body but once more, I'd always fall asleep before I could ask who they were.

The first time I was fully able to open my eyes and look around, I found a sleeping Kiara slumped in an armchair by the side of my bed. Her head lolled to the side. At first I feared she was dead but then she muttered the word 'dog' and I knew she was fine.

I grunted as I forced myself into sitting position. Kiara immediately woke.

"Kyrian, thank the gods you're awake," she breathed.

"Is everything okay? Are you okay?" I asked.

She squinted her eyes at me. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"How long have I been out?"

"Four days. The demons were brutal to you. I'm amazed you survived. Why don't you go use the bathroom and when you're done, I'll come in and change your bandages."

I nodded. Kiara disappeared out of my room. I struggled to the bathroom, using the wall to prop myself up. I didn't like being this weak. If anyone or anything attacked, Kiara would have no back up. In fact I'd be a liability to her. Not only would she have to watch for herself, but she'd have to watch for me as well.

"Kyrian? You okay?" Kiara asked when I came out of the toilet.

I nodded as I washed my hands. I leaned against the counter as she slowly took of my bandages. I tried not to cringe but a grimace or two flashed across my face. Kiara talked to me while she did it, explaining to me how worried Nick has been and how Ash has been keeping guard of Kyrian's house in case the demons came back.

"Ash is outside?" I asked. I'd never been close to my boss, so I was mildly surprised he was trying to protect me.

"Yeah. He knows you're up. He said once you have clean bandages, to go down and see him if you were up to it."

"How have you been?"

At this, Kiara looked up at me. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You look like something's bothering you."

She sighed as she stood up. "The demons were after the Malachai. I'm worried that they know who my suspects are."

"Who are your suspects?"

"Until I know who exactly it is, I'm not telling anyone."

"Is it someone I know?"

"Someone you know is on the list, yes, but I'm not certain if they're the Malachai or not."

"Be careful around them."

"They wouldn't hurt me. I do know that. Are you down to seeing Ash?"

"Guess I should. Are you sure he can't come up to see me?"

"I thought you would've wanted a lovely lady helping you downstairs," Acheron said, entering the room. "But for the record, yes, I can come up to see you."

"Usually I want lovely ladies helping me up the stairs, into my bedroom, for certain activities," I countered.

"A certain lovely lady spends so much time with you, it makes me wonder if you haven't already done a certain-"

"You two are as subtle as Nick when he tries to hide the fact that he ate beignets. I'm right here you know and I'm not stupid. This 'lovely lady' can assure you that nothing has ever happened in this room that was even remotely sexual."

"Nothing may have happened but I'm sure it crossed both of your minds at some point."

"Hey, I'm married here," Kiara argued.

"To a guy you don't know and who probably doesn't know you. Get it out of your systems."

Kiara's face flushed, but not out of embarrassment. I recognized that one all too well as anger. "Thank you for that lovely reminder. I'll be downstairs if you need me Kyrian."

Kiara stormed out of the room. I turned to my boss. "Why did you say that?"

"With her, anger gets rid of the cloudiness in her head. It makes her forget what she's trying to remember. I worry about her sanity now that her wall is coming down. If she has anger, and she does, I'd rather her take it out on me than anyone else. You wouldn't want her anger towards you."

"Does Kiara ever actually get angry? I mean I've seen her frustrated and mildly mad but not angry."

"You should've seen her fighting those demons when you were found. She pretty much single-handedly destroyed all of them, with a couple killed by me, Zarek, and Sundown."

"How the hell did she do that?"

"Areans fight better when they're angry. Kiara even has a chance of besting me in a fight if she's pissed off enough."

"Is she really that powerful?"

"Ares is very select in who he chooses as his soldiers. Kiara is the only girl I know of to ever be chosen. Although she also had the guts to swear vengeance on his name and Ares let's people try. She must've succeeded beyond his expectations."

"I know she killed her brother for betraying her but I don't know how she killed him."

"Me neither, nor do I think I want to."

"Why did you want to see me?"

"First off, to see how you were doing."

"I'm up and talking. That's progress."

"It is. Second, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"How did you survive that attack?"

"Demons just couldn't bear to kill a gorgeous guy like me I guess," I replied, knowing what answer he wanted but refusing to give it to him. Why couldn't he just say it?

"Kyrian, be serious here," he growled.

"Acheron, you know the answer so why ask me?" I demanded.

"Because I need to know how deep your affection runs for her."

"Every time I thought about giving up, I thought about Kiara, and for some reason, the thought of her kept me going."

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "You've really fallen for her... just be careful Kyrian, for her sake and yours. Dark Hunters aren't supposed to have lovers but maybe she might be your salvation."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she might the one that can break you from being a Dark Hunter, if that's what you want. Be careful Kyrian. There's a lot of people out there that would like to hurt her and if they know what you mean to her, they could use you against her. They've already tried once."

"They want her because of the Malachai?"

"Because of her knowledge of it. I'd like to know as well but she's as thick-headed as me and won't say anything about it."

"Has she told you her list of suspects?"

"No." My boss's stare narrowed. "Has she told you?"

I shook my head. "Just said that one of the suspects is someone I know."

"Interesting. I'll see if I can get anything out of her. For now, distract her. Try to keep her thoughts from going to her husband. It's driving her insane and I don't want to see her spiral down like that."

"I'll take care of her."

"Take care of yourself too. Let me know when you're ready to go back in the field."

Acheron left the bathroom. I hobbled downstairs to find Kiara at the piano, softly playing. I didn't recognize the song but like everything else she played, it was beautiful.

"Are you okay?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"Just mad at Ash but nothing I can't get over. Just because he's right doesn't mean I want to hear it."

"Which part?"

"All of it."

"You'll find your husband. I believe in you."

Kiara looked over at me. "I overheard what Ash told you. I was grabbing something from my room."

"About?"

"Is it true about you staying alive because of me?"

"Yes." Silence fell between us. Her eyes roamed over my face, as if she was taking me all in. I waited for her to say something but she didn't. Instead she leaned in and kissed me. It was short and sweet, but it made me want more. A lot more. I'd been able to control myself around her for the sheer fact she was just acting as a friend around me. But the kiss... it changed things. At least for me. When I opened my eyes to look at her, she was facing the piano again. Her fingers started gliding across the keys, playing a new melody.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" she inquired.

Before I could stop myself, I said, "You."

The melody stopped and Kiara looked at me once more. "You may be a strong, dangerous Dark Hunter but any type of activity that involves you moving could hurt you."

"So that's a no?"

"For tonight. How about I get us some dinner ready and we can watch a movie?"

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Four days later...

I healed rapidly once I started moving around, eating, and drinking. Kiara kept my bandages clean. Nick helped too. He'd been so not sassy that I was worried he was hurt. But then Kiara explained to me how worried Nick was about me and I decided to go easy on him. Sometimes I forgot that Nick looked up to me like a father, but I never took it for granted. I'd promised Nick I'd always be there when he needs me and I had no intentions of backing out of that promise.

It was the first time I'd been out hunting in eight days. Kiara and I had overlapping sectors on our patrol but we didn't cross each other.

I was walking down one of the side streets when I heard the scream. I rushed over to the area to find a woman and her semi-conscious boyfriend surrounded by five Daimons. Rather than making an entrance, I threw a ninja star (given to me by Kiara) into the heart of one. He disintegrated. It set the other Daimons off in a frenzy. They rushed me. I jumped over them. When I landed, I stabbed one in the back with my sword, pulled it out, and beheaded another. The other two that were left hightailed it out of there. I turned to the woman who was kneeling over her boyfriend, sobbing.

"Is he hurt?" I asked, walking over to them.

"One had a knife. They stabbed him!" she cried. "He's bleeding out!"

"Keep pressure on the wound while I dial 911." I pulled out my phone and did as I said. Once I knew the ambulance was on its way, I stood up, telling the woman what was happening. I turned around to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going after those last two people who attacked you."

"Thank you sir. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come along. They took our phones so we couldn't call... we have two kids back home and a third on the way. I almost orphaned my children until you came along. So thank you. Thank you so much."

I nodded at her, once more trying to leave the area. I rounded the corner to search for the Daimons. They'd gotten a good head start on me and I knew I probably wouldn't be able to find them the rest of the night, but I didn't let that deter me.

However, as the night went on, I kept thinking back to the couple in the alleyway and how they almost didn't get to see their children again, how they almost didn't get to say bye to their children, how they almost didn't get to say goodbye to the people they love, and I kept thinking back to Kiara. I kept thinking how any moment one of us could die and she wouldn't know. She wouldn't know how I felt about her.

Making a last minute decision, I texted Ash, lying to him that I wasn't feeling well and was heading back home. He replied saying that was fine and that he'd text Kiara to tell her to meet me there to assess my wounds to see if they were causing me problems.

When I arrived home, Kiara's car was already in the driveway. I barely restrained myself from running inside so as not to startle her. She was waiting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of ice cream. Her head snapped in my direction. She asked, "Kyrian, are you okay?"

I didn't reply to her. I strode up to her, cutting her off with a kiss when she began to say my name again. I pushed her up against the counter. Kiara inhaled sharply from shock but to my surprise, she didn't pull away from me. I stopped the kiss to take a breath.

"You feel fine, don't you?" she whispered, opening her eyes. I nodded. "Why did you lie to Ash?"

"I nearly saw a couple die tonight. I know you're married, I know you're looking for your husband, but it dawned on me that either of us could die and you would never know how I felt about you. If you don't reciprocate my feelings, tell me now and I will never say a word about this again, I will never touch you again. But if you happen to feel the same way I do, then-"

"Is this where you tell me I've bewitched you body and soul?" she said teasingly.

"Would that help?"

"You don't need any help." Kiara grabbed my jacket by the lapels and pulled my lips to hers. Her arms snaked around my neck and she wrapped her legs around my waist. In that split second, any questions I had about how she felt about me were answered.
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