He grabbed Kyrian by the throat and pressed his head back against the wall. "Do you know what it feels like to watch the woman you love decay before your eyes? Eleanor was only twenty-seven. Twenty-seven! I did everything I could to save her. I even brought a human to her and still she refused to take the soul that would save her. She was pure unto the end."
Desiderius's eyes turned dull at the memory. "She was so beautiful and gentle. I had begged my father for help and he turned his back on me. So I watched my beautiful wife turn old in a handful of hours. I watched her body age until it decayed in my arms."
"I'm sorry for you," Kyrian said quietly. "But it doesn't excuse what you've done."
Desiderius screamed his outrage. "What I've done? I've done nothing except be born to a cursed race while I watch the humans squander the gift of life they have. I do them a favor by killing them. I alleviate their boring, insipid lives."
His blue eyes darkening dangerously, Desiderius curled his lip. "You know, I obtained a copy of your Dark-Hunter handbook when I killed one of your brethren ninety years ago. The entry that struck me most was the one where it said to always go for a Daimon's heart. To strike at his most vulnerable spot."
He aimed the crossbow at Amanda. "Your heart would be her, wouldn't it?"
Kyrian masked his terror. His fear. Even though he was weak, he tightened his grip on the ropes holding him and lifted his feet up to kick Desiderius with all his remaining strength before the Daimon had a chance to hurt Amanda. Desiderius staggered back, the crossbow dropping away from her to point toward the floor.
"Run, Amanda!" he shouted.
She didn't move. Kyrian fell back against the wall. "Damn it, Amanda, please run for me." She didn't appear to hear him at all. She merely stood staring into space as she hummed and gripped her doll. Desiderius laughed as he righted himself. He licked the blood from his lips while he eyed Kyrian with malice. "She's mine, Dark-Hunter. You can die with the knowledge that I will use her well before I take her soul and her powers."
Desiderius smiled an evil smile a second before he shot the crossbow straight into Kyrian's heart. The force of the bolt embedding itself into his body drove him into the wall. Kyrian gasped at the pain of the steel biting into his body.
Desiderius came forward to stand before him. His eyes amused, he ran his finger around the small amount of blood that seeped from the wound. "What a pity Dark-Hunter blood is poisonous to drink. I'm sure it's richer and thicker than what I normally have to live on."
Kyrian barely heard the words as his heart struggled to beat. His ears buzzed. It was the most painful thing he'd ever felt. His sight dulling, he turned to look one last time at Amanda. Her features were pinched as she watched him and for a moment he could pretend that she remembered him. That she knew he was dying and that she cared.
Had she been herself, he knew she would run to him. Unlike his wife, she would cry when she heard of his death. And in a strange way, that comforted him. Desiderius left him and went to pat her on the shoulder. "Go on, Amanda, kiss your lover farewell."
Kyrian struggled to breathe as she approached him. He had so many things he wanted to tell her. So many things he wished he'd said to her while she'd been able to really hear his words.
At least he wouldn't die alone.
"I love you, Amanda," he whispered, hoping that somehow she would later recall his words to her and know that he meant them. Her eyes blank, she leaned forward and covered his lips with her own and pressed her hand to his shoulder. He felt the blackness of death descend over him and as he died, he heard her last whispered words. "I will love you for eternity, my dark warrior."
Then everything vanished. Amanda held her breath as she felt the heat seeping out of the medallion she clutched underneath the doll's dress, into Kyrian's lifeless body. Her hand shook as she waited for him to reawaken, and with every second that passed, she shook more.
It wasn't working…
Oh God, no! Acheron had lied to her after all!
Tears stung her eyes as the medallion turned icy cold and fell from her grasp. Still, Kyrian didn't move. He lay limp against the wall, his face pale. His body cold.
No!
It was over and Kyrian was dead.
No!
Desiderius's evil laughter rang out through the dark room and made her entire soul weep in anguish. Right then, she wanted to die, too. This was all her fault. She had stood by and let Kyrian die and had done nothing to save him. Her grief welled up and lodged as an unreleased scream in her throat.
"I love you, Amanda." His words would haunt her forever.
Sobbing, she wrapped her arms around Kyrian's body and held him close, willing him to wake up and speak. Please, God, take anything from me, but please let him live.
"Amanda?" Desiderius's voice was sharp as he commanded her back to his side. She held tighter to Kyrian, laying her head on his chest, beside the bolt, and willing her life force into him. Amanda froze as she heard something. It was a faint sound, but it made her soar. She heard Kyrian's heart beating.