~Ryssa's POV~
She'd hopped down off her stand and was walking with Davyn towards the door when it slid open, admitting a man dressed in black from head to toe. She looked up at Davyn, whose eyes narrowed at the man and whose hands went for the swords on his belt. Ryssa looked around quickly, grabbing the weapon closest to her: a staff. Quickly, before even she knew what she was doing, she hit the intruder over the head.
"Who is this?" She asked, using the the staff to poke at the man on the floor. Davyn walked forward and picked him up, setting him in her vanity's seat.
"Get the rope from your closet." Davyn directed her, keeping a close eye on the man, who had a strange tattoo on his cheek, one that seemed so familiar... Ryssa walked backwards, feeling for her wardrobe, twisting the knob and pulling it open, grabbing the rope hanging from the door.
"Here." She yanked it out threw it to Davyn, closing the door slowly and keeping her eyes on the man's face. As Davyn tied the last knot, the man woke up violently, glaring at the two of them.
"Let. Me. Go." He growled, leveling his silver eyes at Davyn.
"Don't snarl at me, Dark-Hunter." Davyn's face was deadly, a face Ryssa usually refered to as his 'General' face. Davyn cut the man off from saying more by slapping him across the face and punching him in the stomach.
"Davyn, enough. Please. He didn't do anything." Ryssa laid a hand on the daimon's shoulder. Davyn nodded and took a step back, his eyes locked on Nick in a silent threat. "Who are you?" Ryssa asked curiously, approaching the man slowly.
"Why the hell should I tell you?" The man bared his teeth in warning.
~Nick's POV~
"Because I asked nicely?" The woman smiled, a little too sweetly for his liking. He studied the daimon as well as her bodyguard. Slowly, his eyes returned to her. Something about her was so familiar, yet he couldn't place her.
"Nick." He answered sharply, tugging again at the ropes. All three of their heads snapped up when someone knocked on the door.
"I'll be right back, Little Bit. Don't listen to anything this man says." Davyn instructed sharply before exiting the room.
"You," Ryssa turned to Nick, studying him. "You're from the outside. Like from somewhere other than Kalosis."
"No, really? Do I look like a f-" He cut himself off and cleared his throat. "Do I look like a daimon to you?"
"No. Davyn called you a Dark-Hunter. Do you really kill our kind for sport?" She asked, hoping what everyone had told her was wrong.
"Yes. Then there's the times when we kill you because you take the souls from humans. That I can never allow." He pulled again, the ropes around his wrists feeling looser.
"Humans? Souls?" She asked, having only heard those words a handful of times. "I don't understand."
"Are you really telling me that you don't know what your people do to live?" He snorted. "Wait, are you serious?" Ryssa nodded, causing him to crease his brow in confusion. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one." She answered, wondering what that had to do with anything.
"Twenty-one? And they having said anything about the curse of the Apollites?" He pulled again, feeling that one more nice tug would finish off his restraints.
"No, we haven't." Davyn answered crossly as he reentered the room. "Leave it be, Nick. I haven't yet told Stryker you're here yet. I can change that." Another knock sounded at the door, and Davyn growled, a dangerous light in his eyes as he left once again.
Nick grinned, pulling his wrists free, causing the woman to jump and back away. He ignored her and took out his knife, cutting his feet. He quickly sprinted to the door, cursing as he saw most of the Spathi army swarming the halls. How the hell was he supposed to get out.
~Ryssa's POV~
"I guess you don't want to be seen, correct?" She asked, looking down and clasping her hands nervously. She heard the door close, followed by the sound of pacing. "I can help."
Nick paused, midthought. "Help how?" He knew from his experiences with Artemis that nothing came without a price.
"I'll show you the way to get out of here if you know how to get us out of Kalosis." She mumbled, her cheeks turning red. She prayed Davyn didn't walk through that door. No offense to her best friend, but he was uptight, and would never let her leave.
"What do you mean 'us'?" He crossed his arms, glaring at her from behind a pair of dark sunglasses.
"That's what I ask in return. Take me out with you. I want to see the outside world, away from this place. You know the place called New Orleans?" She asked hopefully. What she really wanted was to see the festival.
Nick laughed at that. "Yeah, I'd say I know it. That's where you want me to drop you?"
"Yes please." She met what she believed was his eyes, containing her excitement. "I won't ask anything else. I just want to go there."
He nodded. "Fine. Whatever. I need to get to a big space. The bigger the better." He locked and barracated the door, turning to her. "Well?"
She gestured him over to her dresser, pushing it out of the way to reveal a tunnel. "This leads to the ballroom. It's always empty, so I go there to be alone." She paused, glancing at the door. Nick dived in first, and she was suprised a big man like him fit through. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Davyn." She whispered, following after him. When she got to the end, he held out his hand, helping her out.
He froze, and looked to the left. "Looks like I won't need to do it after all." He pointed. "A bolt hole is already open." He grabbed her hand, keeping hold of her as they both entered the hole in the middle of nowhere.