Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"I don't obsess... I think intensely."
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Chapter 24

Nick

I was in the middle of class when my phone started ringing. I quickly hit ignore before Julian could figure out it was me that had disrupted his lecture. Despite him being cool outside of class, he still didn't like students on their phone during it. A few moments later, my phone buzzed, alerting me to a text message. Deciding I was far enough away from Julian to believe he wouldn't see me checking it, I looked at my phone to see who it was from.

From: Kiara- Hey, you're probably in class. Didn't think about that when I called. When you're free, can you call me back? I need to ask you something. It's not urgent though.

To: Kiara- Hey, yeah I'm in class. No worries though, it's with Julian so I'm pretty sure if I said it was you calling, he'd let me off the hook this time. Class ends in ten so I'll call soon. Everything okay? Kyrian sounded weird when I called him early this morning.

From: Kiara- It's a long story... but I'm not staying there anymore. Talk soon.

I didn't respond but had to admit, my curiosity had been peaked. Why wasn't she staying with Kyrian anymore? Had something happened between them? That would explain his morose mood this morning, telling me that I had the day off today. I should've found it odd that he'd given me a random day off. Usually he only gave me days off during special occasions.

For the remainder of the lecture, I was distracted by what could've happened between Kyrian and Kiara. Those two had seemed inseparable. In fact, I basically missed all the remaining facts that Julian presented. I was smart but I wanted to know what I was heading into before I called Kiara. I quickly packed up my stuff as we were dismissed and finagled my way up to the front of the lecture room.

"Hey Jul- Professor," I corrected myself. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure Nick. What's on your mind?"

In a hushed voice, I asked, "Do you know if anything is going on between Kyrian and Kiara? She's not staying with him anymore and she needs me to call her after this lecture."

Julian's brows furrowed. "No, not that I know of. I messaged Kyrian this morning to see how she was doing but he didn't answer so he's probably asleep right now. Kiara must be stressing though if she's up right now. She typically follows a Dark Hunter's sleep pattern."

"Great... I was hoping to get some information about what was going on between the two of them before I got involved but I guess that's not meant to happen. How do I keep getting involved in drama? Seriously?"

"You have your life together and the people that don't or are having their lives spiral out of control will come to you to help get their life back in control."

"You think Kyrian and Kiara don't have their lives together?"

"I think their lives have spun out of control after meeting each other. I've seen this happen with him before. And he'll make stupid decisions when he's upset at someone he loves."

"I'll let you know what's going on when I see you tomorrow. Later!" I said. I walked off, pulling out my cell and dialing Kiara's number. She picked up on the third ring. "Hey, it's Nick. What's up?"

"I need a favor..." she replied.

"What kind of favor? And is everything okay between you and Kyrian?"

"What gave it away?"

"The fact that you're not staying at his anymore. What's up?"

"Why don't you come over after your done working at his house tonight and I'll explain everything."

"Kyrian gave me the day off so I'll just come straight there if that's okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll leave the door open so just come right in. See you soon." We hung up and I made my way over to her house as fast as I could. Upon entering her residence, I found myself in a stunning foyer and had a sudden realization I'd never actually been to Kiara's new place. A massive glass chandelier hung in the middle of the room; there were two curved staircases with intricate iron-work railings that met at the top; underneath the chandelier was a round, glass table with a massive arrangement of brightly colored flowers. The dark wood floors ran throughout the ground floor and the stairs were wood too, but they had white carpet going down the middle of them.

"Kiara?" I shouted. "It's Nick!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" she yelled back. Taking a wild guess as to where that was, I made my way to where I thought the kitchen was. Thankfully not only was my instinct correct, but so was my nose because I followed the smell of sugar cookies. Honestly, it was probably more of the latter that led me in the right direction.

"Hey, what are you making?" I queried, setting my backpack on the floor.

"Snickerdoodles. There's baklava in the fridge if you want some," Kiara offered.

"I will eat anything and everything. Might I ask why you're making all this?"

"I got a sweet tooth earlier. And the baklava isn't actually homemade. I just bought it earlier at lunch."

"Don't pull my arm," I joked as I reached into the fridge. Stuffing my mouth with a piece of the delicious dessert, I asked with a muffled voice, "So why did you leave Kyrian's house? Something going on between you two?"

Kiara sighed. "Yeah... long story short, I got most of my memories back. There's still a few things I can't quite see or understand, like my husband's face is still blurry and his name is usually garbled, but I did hear it once. I swear it was my husband to whom I was referring to in the memory."

"Who was it?"

"Kyrian..."

I nearly choked on my baklava. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a sec- Kyrian is your long lost husband?"

"That's what I believe. He doesn't. Called me insane for thinking it. I packed up my things and left last night. Came here and started unpacking to get my mind off things."

"You unpacked this entire house last night?"

"Mostly. I still have some things upstairs to do but it'll be fine. But about that favor- in my rush to get all my things, I left some stuff at Kyrian's and I need to get it, but considering I'm the last person in the world he wants to see right now, I don't think it's the greatest idea for me to go waltzing over there to ask if I can search his house for it."

"Okay, understandable. Although why he wouldn't believe you, I don't know. What did you leave?"

"A few things. Even worse, I think most of it's in Kyrian's room."

"I figured most of your stuff would be in there," I joked. Then realizing the situation, I hastily added, "Sorry, bad joke."

"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "Half my stuff already was."

"So you need me to get this stuff?"

"I'd prefer if I went and got it, just to make sure everything is clear. I just need you to let me know when Kyrian's out of the house so I can grab it. I'd call him and ask to come over but I've already tried, he didn't picked up when I called, won't answer my text, and is ignoring me completely. I mean I understand why he's ignoring me but this is important. That's why I need your help, to let me in."

"Sure. I'll go over there now and see what's up because you're not the only person he's not answering."

"I'm not?"

"Hasn't answered Julian's text either. I'll tell him I'm there because I was checking up on him. It's not like him not to answer, not to the people he loves. I'm not saying he doesn't love you still, I just mean like with you two arguing and all-"

"Nick," Kiara interrupted, "I know what you mean. It's fine. I dug myself into the hole I'm in. I never should've told him he was my husband. Let me know when he leaves."

"Will do. See you later Kiara."

"I'll bring over some snickerdoodles to you later."

"You're the best. Bye!" As I turned around, I literally ran smack dab into Zarek. The guy didn't even budge; I, on the other, bounced back at least two feet. "Hey, sorry man. Didn't see you there when your stealth mode is activated."

"What are you doing up? The sun isn't down yet," Kiara pointed out.

"I heard voices. Wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Everything's fine. Go get some more rest. Sun doesn't set for another hour." Zarek didn't argue with her and sleepily went back upstairs. I trailed after him into the foyer where I stopped him and said, "How's she doing? Really?"

"She won't talk about it. Refuses to speak about it unless absolutely necessary. This isn't the first time she's done this. She has a mission and she's going to be throwing herself into that."

"The Malachi case?"

"Yes. But that means she's going to ignore her own problems. She will keep running away from them until she can't anymore or until the problem bites her in the ass. When she's not with me, she'll most likely be with you or Ash, so keep an eye on her as best you can."

"I will... I have to know, you're Roman, she's Greek. How'd you end up caring for her?"

"I was her bodyguard. She rescued me from Rome when I was a kid. Only person to ever show me kindness. I helped her escape her cell, she helped me escape Rome and gave me a new life in her kingdom. That is why I am with her, and that is why I am protective of her. I will see you around kid. I'm getting some more sleep." The Dark Hunter shuffled up the stairs as silent as a shadow. Taking a deep breath, I left Kiara's house and walked a few doors down to Kyrian's. Rosa was just leaving as I entered. She gave me a hug and told me dinner was on the stove and that my boss was up. The last bit surprised me. Kyrian rarely woke up before the sun set. Something must've really been bothering him; my guess was that the initials of that person were Kiara Castellanos. But of course I couldn't say that.

"Boss?" I called out.

"Nick? What are you doing here? I gave you the day off," he remarked.

"I came over to check on you. Julian said you didn't respond to his text and Kiara tried calling you and texting you and you didn't respond to her either. Although she said she understands why you'd be ignoring her."

"Did she now?" he grunted. "When did you talk to her?"

"Earlier today. She left some stuff at your house but thought you wouldn't want her over here."

"She's welcome to pick it up. It's not like I want it."

"I'll text her, let her know." Kiara barely took thirty seconds to respond. Rubbing the back of my head, I announced, "She, uh... she would rather pick up her stuff when you're not here because she doesn't exactly... want to see you at the moment."

There was a tic in Kyrian's jaw at my words, but he simply responded, "Fine. Stay here and when I leave she can come. I'm going to go get ready for the hunt tonight."

"Kyrian, are you okay? Kiara didn't go into detail but I don't need to know everything to know that things are pretty bad between you two."

"It's nothing you need to worry about. But I'm sorry you're getting caught between the two of us."

"Don't worry about me. At least neither of you are trying to shoot me."

"If you hadn't been shot, I never would've found my Squire and who knows if I'd even be alive. I'm not saying I'm glad you were shot, because I'm not, but I'm certainly glad it led me to you."

"Man, you must be messed up from this whole thing if you're getting all sappy on me," I joked. Even though it was nice to hear those words coming from his mouth, I still knew he was saying it to someone he cared about because he'd just lost someone else he'd cared about.

"We didn't end on a good note, let's put it that way. How did she seem by the way?"

"Who? Kiara?" I replied. My boss nodded. "Okay I guess. She was baking cookies when I arrived and was her usual cheerful self if maybe a little less outgoing. But I think Zarek is keeping an eye on-"

"Zarek's with her?" Kyrian asked sharply.

"Yeah, he's staying with her."

"Good."

"Your tone says otherwise."

"You're overanalyzing things. Good night."

"Night boss!" I saluted him as he went up the stairs. Meanwhile, I meandered into the kitchen with Terminator on my heels. He was hoping for some table scraps but considering Rosa had made one of my favorite dishes, I wasn't sharing, not even with the puppy eyes Terminator was giving me.

Kyrian left without saying anything else to me which I found strange. Unless something was deeply bothering him, he would always say bye to me. I figured it had something to do with his argument with Kiara. It seemed to be bothering him more than he let on. But speaking of Kiara...

I texted her, letting her know the coast was clear. All of a sudden, she popped into the kitchen with two cardboard boxes in hand. I'd like to say I was completely unaffected by her sudden appearance, but truth be told I jumped so badly that my fajita flew out of my hand directly into Terminator's mouth. He ate it as fast as he could.

"I completely forgot you had teleporting abilities," I admitted, standing up.

"Sorry, I just wanted to get this over with and since I live just a few doors down, I decided I could just carry the boxes. I'll hurry and go pack," she said. Kiara hurried upstairs; I followed.

"How are you doing? Honestly?" I inquired as she put stuff into the boxes.

"I'm upset. But that's in the past and I have other things to focus on," she replied nonchalantly, but to me her tone sounded off, as if she was trying to convince someone other than just me (a.k.a. herself).

"As in the Malachi case?"

"Precisely. I have a few leads that are pretty hot. Now it's just narrowing in on the right person."

"Any person of particular interest?"

"No... but a few are people I know and I'm worried that once they find out I know they're the Malachi, they'll think the only reason I became friends with them is because of that suspicion and that couldn't be farther from the truth."

"What happens if it is someone you know?"

"I'll continue being their friend if they'll let me, and I'll try my best to keep them on the good side."

"And if they turn bad?"

"If they've sired a kid already, and if I can't convince them to come back to the good side, worst case scenario is I'd have to kill them. But if they haven't sired a kid, then I have to keep their attention focused on me so that they wreak as little destruction as possible."

"But couldn't they kill you if they wanted? You'd be running nonstop."

"The Malachi has to sleep too. I've been at this game longer than the new one. So I at least have that going for me."

"I'm not sure if you're brave or stupid."

"It's funny how often those two traits go hand in hand. All right, I'm all packed."

"I'll help. I'll carry the other box."

"Thank you Nick." The two of us grabbed a box and headed downstairs. I made sure the front door was locked before we walked to her house. We'd barely set the boxes on the floor when someone knocked on the door. We glanced at each other. Who would be on her doorstep at this time of night? If a Dark Hunter was coming over, they'd always text or call saying so.

"Get behind me," Kiara commanded quietly. I did as told. My friend went and opened the door, revealing a rather frazzled woman. Her red hair was frizzy from the humidity and her blue eyes were wide with surprise.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you at this time of night but my car broke down and I was wondering if I could call a tow truck from your phone and my husband? My phone died, and all the other houses here either looked like no one was home or I didn't feel welcome going up their steps."

"Yeah of course, come on in," Kiara said with a smile, moving aside so the woman could enter.

"Thank you! I promise I'll be quick." She stepped into the foyer. Kiara handed over her cellphone. We waited patiently for her to make her calls. I moved next to my friend and whispered, "Are you sure she's safe?"

"I know. I can sense it."

"Is that another power of yours?"

"No, but my other powers are telling me other things. Besides, she's pregnant. I'm pretty sure a pregnant woman isn't going to attack us."

"Wait how do you know she's pregnant?"

"When she walked in, she held her stomach. And she's holding it right now. I've been there before. When you have a baby inside you, all you think about is protecting it, even if there's no danger around."

"How many kids did you have?"

"Seven- four boys and three girls."

I whistled. "Damn. Did they not have birth control back then?"

"They had forms of it but believe me, nothing like now. I won't even get into some of the things they used. Besides, I wanted a lot of kids. Although, I will say the twins weren't planned. I was ready to stop after Karina was born as she was the first girl after the four boys. But uh... things happened and I had twins."

"You and your husband were busy people."

Kiara snorted. "You have no idea. One day, when I have complete memory of everything, I'll tell you about all our antics. One involves me being kidnapped, rescuing a Roman named Zarek, and breaking my husband out of jail."

"Please tell me that's not all in one day."

"Well, not the kidnapping, but the last two happened within twenty-four hours of each other."

"Okay, my husband is on his way. He's going to meet with the tow truck guy first and then come pick me up," the woman informed, handing back Kiara's phone. "Honestly, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't helped me."

"I'm happy to have been able to help. Besides, I wasn't going to let a woman be out there by herself, let alone a pregnant one," Kiara stated.

"How did you-"

"I've been there. I know all the signs. How far along?"

"One and a half months. By the way, I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Amanda Dark."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Kiara Castellanos, and this is my friend, Nick Gautier. You look familiar- have we met before?"

Amanda chuckled. "No, but you're probably thinking of my sister: Tabitha Devereaux."
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For those of you who have read the Dark Hunters series, you'll know the plot twist this brings. For those of you who haven't read Dark Hunters, this is a big plot twist and will cause a lot of issues later on!