Kyrian walked down the hallway and opened the door to his office. Nick sat at the antique mahogany desk with his back to him. The black leather reclining office chair squeaked as Nick shifted in the seat while his fingers flew over the keys of the computer keyboard.
It was a familiar sight.
On the Internet, Nick was a demigod, which in hacker terminology meant he could pretty much infiltrate anything, no matter how secure the server. Because of that, Nick, Chris Eriksson, and Daphne Addams had been relegated to designing, maintaining, and securing the Dark-Hunter.com Web site where the Dark-Hunters and Squires kept all their records and communicated with each other.
It was nice to know Nick was picking up something other than women of questionable morals at school.
"So what had you barging into my room?"
Nick glanced over his shoulder with a devilish grin. "Man, you got laid. It's about time."
"Knock it off."
Snorting, Nick turned his attention back to his instant message. "You're the only man I know who can have sex with a woman who looks that good and be in this bad a mood ten minutes later. Damn, didn't you know sex is supposed to make you feel better?"
Kyrian rolled his eyes at his impudent Squire. Rules and regulations had never applied to Nick Gautier. Nor had the boy ever been intimidated by him. Not even on the night he had learned what Kyrian was.
"Nick..." he warned.
Nick opened a small window on the computer and read the message. "Okay, okay. Here's the deal from the Oracles:
"Of Apollite birth and of Daimon born, he is the one who will make you mourn.
"Through the wine god's blood and bath, he exists as pure wrath.
"To bring him under final control, you must find the Dark-Hunter with a soul."
Kyrian frowned at the riddle, which was the typical garbage given to them by the Oracles. Gods, how he hated them. Just once, couldn't they actually come out and say it in plain, simple language?
Oh no. Zeus forbid, the Oracles should actually help them protect the humans.
"What the hell does that mean?" he asked Nick.
Nick swung around in the chair to face him. "Acheron interpreted it to say that only a Dark-Hunter with a soul can kill Desiderius. That's why no one has ever succeeded against him. It's simple prophecy, and you know how that works."
"There's no such thing as a Dark-Hunter with a soul. Not a full soul, anyway."
"Then according to the Oracles and Ash, Desiderius can never be killed."
Kyrian let out a slow breath. "That is not what I wanted to hear this morning."
"Yeah, and all I have to say is I'm damned glad I'm not in your boots on this one." Nick frowned. "Your eyes are green. What happened?"
"Nothing."
Nick tilted his head and gave him a suspicious stare. "Something's up." He reached for his cell phone. "Do I need to call Ash again?"
Kyrian took the phone from his hand and glared murderously at him. "Leave Acheron out of this. I can handle it."
"Yeah, you'd better. You get on my last nerve, but I'd hate to break in another Dark-Hunter."
Kyrian snorted at him. "What is that? A declaration of love?"
"It's one of loyalty. I don't want to see you go down like Streigar did."
The thought sobered Kyrian. Streigar had been a fierce Dark-Hunter who had been trapped by vampire-hunting humans who exposed him to daylight. His death had upset all of them, Dark-Hunter and Squire alike.
"Don't worry," he assured Nick, "I'm not going to be a dawn-surfer. I can handle myself."
"Want to bet that's what Streigar said, too?"
Kyrian growled. "Don't you have class today?"
Nick laughed at that. "Boy, I'm a backwoods Cajun, I ain't never got no class, cher." He cleared his throat and dropped the thick Cajun accent. "And no, today's registration. I've got to figure out what I'm taking next semester."
"Fine, but I have a few things I need you to do today."
"And that is different from any other day how?"
Sarcasm, thy name is Nick Gautier.
"I need you to take Amanda shopping for clothes. The Daimons burned her house down and she has nothing except the clothes on her back."
Nick arched a brow. "From what I saw, she had no clothes whatsoever on her back. Her front neither."
Kyrian narrowed his eyes on his Squire.
"Don't have a hissy." Nick held his hands up in mock surrender. "I know she's yours and I would never encroach, but man, I'm not blind, either."
"One day, Gator bait..."
"Yeah, right. That threat might actually carry weight if I didn't know how much you live to order me around. You'd go insane if you couldn't page me at all hours of the night."
Kyrian couldn't deny that. The nights did have a way of getting long and boring when there were no Daimons to pursue. And bugging Nick at three a.m. did provide some entertainment.
Nick pulled out his Palm Pilot and made notes on it. "All right, secret mission, take woman shopping." He looked up at Kyrian. "By the way, I want hazard pay for this. I seriously hate the mall."
Kyrian laughed. "That I can tell by the way you dress."
Nick gave him a fake wounded look. "Excuse me, Mr. Armani. I happen to like the grunge look."
"Sorry. I keep forgetting it's fashionable to look like you just rolled out from under a Dumpster."
Stuttering in indignation, Nick pretended offense. "Why don't you take your butt back to bed and save your oozing charm for your woman? 'Cause if you keep this up, I'm going to stake you..." then under his breath, he added, "while you sleep."
Kyrian crossed his arms over his chest. "All right, you'll get your bonus, but play nice with her. Keep your sarcasm to a minimum."
"Yes, O great Lord and Master." Nick added another note-"Be nice to woman, keep mouth shut"-then he looked up. "By the way, is there a limit on what I'm to spend for her clothes?"
"No. Whatever she wants to spend."
"Visit Needless-Markup and Lord and Taylor. All right, next?"
"Have her back here before dusk or I'm going to feed your Cajun hide to Talon's gators."
A glimmer of fear flashed in his eyes. Nick hated alligators, but Kyrian had no idea why. "All right, that scares me."
"I also want you to go by Talon's and pick up a srad. Let's give Desiderius a surprise he won't see coming."
Nick visibly cringed at the mention of Talon's circular daggers. It was an ancient weapon that made a Ginsu look like a butter knife. "Do you even know how to use that thing?"
"Yes, I do." Kyrian took a deep breath. "Now, I need some sleep. Your primary job today is to take care of Amanda."
Nick turned off his Palm Pilot and clipped it to his belt. "You like her, don't you?"
Kyrian didn't answer. He didn't dare. Neither one of them needed to know that one.
Instead, he left Nick sitting at the computer and went back to his room.
After a quick shower, Amanda quietly stepped into the bedroom to dress while Kyrian slept in his large four-poster bed.
The room was completely dark with the only light coming from the bathroom. No one would ever be able to tell if it was day or night from in here, and yet Kyrian always seemed to know when the sun was up.
She stepped over to the bed to watch him lying there with the sheet draped over his middle to shield his nudity. Oh, that man had a body...
She could stare at him all day long and not grow tired of all that lush, tawny skin that she longed to explore some more with her lips and hands. What was it about him that was so addictive?
She ached to kiss those poetic lips and run her hands through the golden waves on his head, but she didn't want to disturb his sleep. He needed his strength.
Tiptoeing from the room, she headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Daylight sparkled against the white marble of the room, bright and cheerful. Rosa was frying bacon while Nick sat on a barstool looking through a college course catalogue.