I'm so happy to be writing this :)

Chapter Quote:
"I'm actually quite pleasant until I'm awake. Then I'm deadly."
~Braith

Chapter 13

Nick

"I know babies who have whined less than you do," Kyrian grunted. I grinned at my boss.

"It's part of my irresistible charm. Do you need anything else, oh great master?" I dodged out of the way before he could slap me on the back of the head. "Be back later boss!"

I hopped into my Jag and drove down to Bubba's store. Kyrian needed some of his weapons fixed and needed his dry cleaning picked up. The bell above Bubba's door dinged as I entered. I could instantly tell Mark was here by the distinct smell of duck urine, or as he called it, zombie repellent. That guy had way too many screws missing in his head for it to be healthy.

"Hey Nick!" Mark greeted. "You comin' in to work?"

"No, Kyrian needs his weapons sharpened."

"All right. Give us about an hour. We'll have it all done," Mark said. I nodded and headed out to pick Café du Monde where I chose to pass the time eating beignets and drinking some chicory coffee. I'd never really been able to enjoy these things until Kyrian hired me as his Squire. My mom and I had been really tight on money for most of my life. I never thought that I'd be glad to have been betrayed by my friends because if I hadn't, Kyrian never would've come into my life. Despite his grouchy, sarcastic, Greek general nature, he did actually care for me in his own strange way. He protected me, much like I protected him. I was grateful to have him in my life.

I people-watched for about forty minutes. Then I decided I'd better go pick up Kyrian's clothes and his weapons. He was going to need them tonight. It was already getting dark out to. Soon he'd be out. Giving a tip to the waitress, I headed back in the direction of Bubba's store. The dry-cleaning place was on the way. They had his stuff ready and waiting. I carried it back to the Bubba's place. Speaking of Bubba, the man himself was sitting at the counter, scrolling through something on his computer. When he saw me, he gave me a nod. "Hey Nick. How you doin' boy?"

"Good. And you?"

"I'd be better if I could get the damn Oprah show to come on. TV is broken and I'm about to miss Oprah," Bubba grumped.

"Do I want to know how the TV broke?"

"Mark tripped over his own damn feet, that's how. Here's the weapons for Kyrian." Bubba handed them to me. I paid him with a fifty percent tip. This guy was my friend and my boss didn't care how generous I was with people. He had more than enough money.

"Excuse me?" A girl poked her head in the door. "Do any of you own a Jag?"

I wasn't sure what shocked me more: the looks of the girl or the fact she mentioned my car. She was tall, about five-eight or five-nine. With her heels, she was easily six feet or taller. Her hazel eyes glittered with intelligence and kindness.

"Who wants to know?" I finally managed to ask.

"I called a company to come pick up the car because someone slashed all of its tires. I was just hoping to find the owner before the truck came."

"What?!" I bolted out the door. Sure enough, my beautiful Jag's tires had been slashed to shreds. "Ah man! Now how am I going to get back to my boss's house?"

"Do you have anyone you can call?" the girl queried.

"No, my mom's at work, my boss is like a friggin' vampire, and- wait a minute, I know someone." I pulled out my phone, dialing the one person I knew I could count on. The familiar deep voice answered. "Hey T-Rex, I need a favor."

Ash rounded the corner right after I said that. I hung up. At a hulking six-foot-eight with long blonde hair (or purple today at least-he changed it a lot), and wearing nothing but black, Acheron Parthenopaeus was a terrifying sight for any mortal. Sometimes I got a kick out of seeing people's reaction to him. I looked over at the girl I was with. She seemed completely unfazed.

"Hey Ash," she greeted.

"Kiara, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow," Acheron replied.

"I got here early. You know this kid?"

"Yeah, name's Nick. He's a Squire for one of my Dark-Hunters. What happened here Nick?"

"Someone slashed my tires. You two know each other?" I questioned.

"Yeah, for over two thousand years now," Kiara answered.

I whistled. "Damn, you don't look a day over twenty."

She laughed. "Thank you. Ash, I know you're busy. You want me to give him a ride back to his boss's?"

"If you wouldn't mind. Nick, you can trust her. She's on our side," Acheron acknowledged.

"She better not drive like Kyrian. He's a maniacal driver," I muttered.

"Well that's because he used to drive chariots, not super cars." We said buy to T-Rex and started walking down the street. Kiara took Kyrian's dry-cleaning from me. We stopped in front of a Lamborghini Gallardo, pearl white. I nodded in appreciation of it.

"Are you a nutty driver like most Dark-Hunters?" I asked.

"Only when I'm alone. If I have a passenger with me, I do take their life into consideration," she answered. "But if you don't trust me, here, catch!"

Kiara tossed me the keys to the car. I stared at them. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously. Come on, we wouldn't want your boss to get mad at you for being late." Kiara hopped into the passenger side. I got into the driver's side, carefully pulling out onto the main road. She turned on the radio. Matchbox 20 started playing. So she was beautiful and had good taste in music. Could she be any more awesome?

"So, uh, what… exactly are you?" I inquired carefully. Sometimes immortals got pissed off if you asked them their age. I didn't want my precious Cajun ass getting barbecued. Well, Simi might like that because then she'd eat me for dinner but that's not really how I wanted to go out of this world.

"I'm a soldier," Kiara replied.

"An immortal soldier? Do you serve Artemis?"

She snorted. "I don't serve that red-headed psycho. I serve another one, but at least he's more willing to help me."

"Who do you serve?"

"Ares, god of war. I don't know why he chose me to serve him, but I'm not complaining. He taught me all methods of fighting, gave me awesome powers, and I can walk in daylight unlike Dark-Hunters. I do quite like the last one because Baskin Robbins typically isn't open at midnight which is a real shame."

I laughed. "You're definitely different than other immortals. You actually have a decent sense of humor. You say you don't know why he chose you to serve him, but why did you choose to serve him?"

"Much like Artemis, he gave me my vengeance. He came to me because I'd sworn vengeance on his name, but I don't know why he offered me what he did. Ares gave me a lot."

"Who did you get your vengeance on?" Nick was pushing his luck. Most immortals didn't like sharing their past, but Kiara seemed not to care. She was a breath of fresh air in the secretive Dark-Hunter/immortal world, well, next to Kody.

"My brother Taren. He murdered me in cold blood. He laughed at me when I swore my vengeance. Guess who had the last laugh."

"By the looks of it, you did."

"Who's your Dark Hunter and how did you become a Squire?" Kiara asked, crossing her legs. I felt her staring at me. It made me uncomfortable because she had this ability to make a person feel like they had her undivided attention. It was nice, but I wasn't used to it.

"Kyrian Hunter and he saved my life. He paid my hospital bill and my mom had me work it off. Then he started paying me and it's been that way ever since. Don't tell him this, but like Bubba, he's kind of like a father I never had, albeit a grumpy, sarcastic way."

"He sounds like a good guy."

"He is. He should be up when we get back if you want to meet him."

"I'd like that." Just as she said that, we pulled into his driveway. Kiara looked impressed at the house. "I admire the Grecian flare to it."

"You Greek or something?"

"I was Princess of Athens," she informed, grabbing the dry cleaning. My mouth dropped open slightly. She did not act like a princess at all. Privileged? Maybe. Badass? Definitely. But princess? Never saw that coming.

Shutting my mouth, I grabbed Kyrian's weapons and entered the house. I set them on the kitchen counter while Kiara handed me the dry cleaning because she didn't think it appropriate for her to barge into some random man's room, let alone a trained Dark Hunter's room.

"Hey Kyrian! I'm home sweetie!" I shouted. Kiara laughed. The two of us entered the foyer. My boss stopped halfway down the stairs in nothing but black leather pants. His eyes instantly narrowed in on our guest. I watched her reaction. Unlike her unfazed attitude to Ash, she seemed breathless by the sight of Kyrian. I mean all supernatural beings had this unnatural beauty to them, and obviously Kiara had met a ton, but she acted as if she'd never seen a man as gorgeous as him.

"Hi," he said curiously.

"Hi," Kiara replied cheerfully. "You must be Mr. Hunter."

"I am." He turned to me. "Nick, why didn't you tell me we had a guest coming?"

"Forgot to call you. Don't worry, she's on our side. Immortal and everything. Just not a Dark-Hunter," I explained.

Kyrian met us at the bottom of the stairwell. His eyes were trained on Kiara again. "Nick, could you put the weapons in my office and the dry cleaning in my closet? Oh, and Artemis sent my wages."

I groaned. "Where is it now?"

"Some of it's on the roof, some in the pool."

"Really? Has she never heard of a bank? That thing you put money in? It's really useful!" I continued to grumble as I went outside.

Kyrian

I waited until Nick left before I asked, "Do I know you?"

Kiara shook her head. "I've never met you."

"We never worked together? Because I'm getting this strange feeling we have."

"Maybe we crossed paths a long time ago."

"What are you? You're no Dark Hunter."

"No I'm not General," Kiara laughed. "What gave it away? My ability to walk in sunlight?"

"What did you call me?"

"General?"

I bristled. "How did you-"

"I recognize one when I see one. And by the slight lilt of your accent, I'm guessing Greek?" she added.

"All right, princess, what else do you know about me?"

"See? You're good at it too." Kiara gave me a smile.

"You're a princess?"

"Was. I was Princess of Athens two-thousand years ago."

"You never answered my question earlier," I pointed, trying to get off the topic of my past. I didn't mind learning about hers but sooner or later, she would ask about my past. I wasn't willing to tell her.

"About what am I? I'm a soldier. Much like you," Kiara replied. "Do I smell gumbo?"

I motioned for her to follow me into the kitchen. Before Rosa had left, she'd made a heaping pot of gumbo. I made a dish for me and Kiara. "I get you're a soldier. You act like one, and you dress like a Dark Hunter. What are you?"

"I'm an Arean."

"I've never heard of you," I retorted, trusting her less and less by the second. She was way too happy to be an immortal. Most of the ones I met were guarded, suspicious, and quiet. Not happy-go-lucky, smiley, and talkative.

"Not surprised. Most people don't know about us. And I don't trust many people to know."

"So why exactly are you telling me?"

"Because although it's not one of my actual abilities, I'm good at judging people. I trusted you when I stepped foot in the door. I also heard what you did for Nick, saving his life I mean."

"Then answer me this: what's an Arean? Why are you in New Orleans? How did you get Nick trust you to drive here?"

"An Arean is a soldier of Ares. There's five of us total. I'm the oldest and the only girl. I'm in New Orleans because I have two cases to take care of. Nick called Acheron when he saw that someone slashed his tires. Ash took care of things and Nick didn't trust my driving so I let him drive here in my car."

"I thought your kind was a legend."

Kiara shook her head. "Definitely not legends, just extremely rare. We handle the big demon cases. The first case I'm working on is a big demon case. The second is a private case I took on. Both led me here."

I was about to interrogate her some more when we both heard a loud yell. Kiara shut her eyes. A second later, Nick appeared on the floor, bug-eyed and more than a little frazzled.

"What the hell just happened?" Nick demanded. "I'm falling off the roof and the next thing I know, I'm in here. You get some new powers you forgot to tell me about Kyrian?"

I glanced over at Kiara. She looked sheepish as she said, "Sorry Nick. That was me. I heard you yell and figured the worst. I teleported you in here."

"You have teleportation abilities? Then why do you drive?"

"Teleporting takes it out of me," Kiara admitted. I did have to agree with her there. She'd already paled a bit but considering she stood still and wasn't swaying, I didn't say anything. "Driving is easier. What happened?"

"Artemis placed diamonds and gold all over the friggin' roof, that's what," Nick grouched. "Then some landed in the pool. I'm going back out. I want to do this before I have to be home. Mom will be ticked if I'm home late again."

"I'll help. You stay on the ground, I'll toss the stuff down to you," Kiara offered.

"Seriously?"

"It's that or I strip down and get the stuff in the pool." At that I actually grinned just because Nick's face was priceless. "Don't worry Nick, I don't mean all the way. Bra and underwear. It's pretty much like a bikini anyway. Besides, nudity in ancient Greece wasn't exactly a rarity, was it now Mr. Hunter?"

I remembered many times when I'd walked around naked so I agreed with her.

"If I didn't think my girlfriend would be pissed, I'd totally let you," Nick said.

"You take the pool, I'll take the roof. I'll drive you home afterwards." Nick was already leaving when Kiara turned around and added, "Mr. Hunter, it was a pleasure meeting you. I'll see you around."

I watched her go outside to the pool. She and Nick chatted amiably, as if they'd known each other their whole lives. It was strange meeting a friendly immortal. They typically weren't like that. As strange as it was, and as strange as she was, I kind of enjoyed it. Not to mention she was quite beautiful with her golden hair, long legs, sparkling hazel eyes…

I jerked away from the counter, stalking to my room to throw on a shirt before heading to the garage. Kiara was off limits. If I was to have a one-night stand with anyone, they had to be human. Dark Hunters weren't allowed to have steady lovers because sooner or later, those lovers would grow old while we remained the same. It'd probably freak most people out. And, while Kiara was immortal, she didn't strike me as the type to sleep with a guy she'd just met.

The minute I stepped out of my car, I sensed Acheron was at my house. I wondered what he was doing there. Last time I talked to him, he said he had a meeting to attend to. Upon entering the kitchen, I found Acheron standing with his arms crossed facing Kiara who had her hands on her hips.

"What's going on Ash?" I asked, taking off my jacket.

"He's making a big deal over nothing," Kiara replied, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Kiara, why don't you turn around and show Kyrian what you got yourself into?" Acheron suggested. Nostrils flaring, she did as he said. My eyes flitted between her and her shredded stomach before I said, "This is no big deal to you?"

"This is not the worst I've been through," she retorted. "Acheron, if you're so worried about me, why don't I stay at your house rather than the alternative?"

"Because Artemis will flay you alive. Then I really would kill her. Kyrian, I need a favor," Ash requested. "Kiara's hotel room isn't safe anymore. She needs a place to stay and since you two have already been acquainted, would you mind keeping her here for a bit?"

"I am two thousand years old. I do not need a bloody babysitter," she argued. "I'm not going to intrude on Mr. Hunter."

"I think you're the bloody one," I remarked. She glared at me. "It's fine Acheron. She can stay."

"What about my stuff? Everything I brought is in my hotel room," Kiara said.

Ash replied, "I'll have it delivered tomorrow. Enjoy your time together."

My boss flashed out of the room, leaving a furious Kiara. With a sigh, she said, "Sorry you have to keep me here."

"What happened to you?" I inquired, staring her injury.

Kiara grimaced at the sight of her stomach. "Demons came in and attacked me, well, ambushed me more like it. Ten to fifteen of them. I lost track after I killed five. One of them had nasty claws. That's how I got this. I know when to run from a fight and finish it later. I teleported myself to wherever Acheron was. I knew he'd help me. My car was closest so he drove us here. I didn't know that meant intruding on you and your privacy."

"Why didn't you have your place protected? Do you know how dangerous that was having an unprotected hotel room?" I chastised, going to my medicine cabinet and pulling out alcohol, cotton pads, tape, and gauze to fix her wounds.

"I do, I'm not an idiot," Kiara retorted rather angrily. "But I was up for forty-eight with nothing but chicory coffee keeping me going. I was exhausted. I thought one night unprotected couldn't hurt so I passed out on the couch. I couldn't even get to my bed. So you tell me why I didn't have the place protected."

"Come to think of it, you were overly enthusiastic for an immortal," I noted, trying to calm her down.

"I'm much calmer when I'm not running on caffeine, although I am typically nice. But right now, I just got attacked by a horde of demons and I've had two hours of sleep."

"Here, let me see the wound," I said. She lifted up the rags of her shirt. Five, deep claw marks raked all the way across her stomach. I'd been in battle many times, been injured more times than I cared to admit, but never had I cringed at seeing an injury. I did this time.

"If you were mortal, you would've died from this," I said, pouring alcohol on a cotton pad and dabbing it gently on her wound. Her jaw clenched tightly, but Kiara said nothing.

"It's a good thing I'm not mortal. And Mr. Hunter? You might need more cotton pads."

"Why is that?" With a sigh, Kiara took off the rest of her shirt and turned around. Claw marks, while not as deep, were all over her back. "Now I really understand why Ash wanted you here. If those demons attack you again, you stand no chance."

"I'm not helpless," she snapped.

"I didn't say that. Let me clean these up for you. After you take a shower, I'll bandage them up for you." Kiara didn't protest as I cleaned her wounds. Even when all the blood was cleaned off, the gashes stood out nastily against her fair skin. She murmured a thanks. I worried about her taking a shower, wondering if she had the willpower to stay awake. Somehow she did. I waited for her to come down until she came down in a towel wrapped tightly against her chest. "Um, Kyrian? Do you have a shirt I can borrow? Acheron forgot one, tiny, crucial detail about me staying here without my stuff: no pajamas."

"Come with me. You can borrow one of my shirts. You have any undergarments?"

"In my car. I just went shopping at Victoria's Secret today. Forgot to bring the bag into my hotel room."

"Choose any shirt you want from my closet. I'll go get the bag for you." Kiara nodded. She went upstairs while I grabbed the bag from her car. I found her pacing in my room wearing a white shirt, one of the very few I owned. I didn't mind. I never wore white anymore. Taking the bag from me, she disappeared into my bathroom. A few seconds later, she came back out. I had the gauze and tape ready. Lifting her shirt again, I taped the gauze carefully to her wounds on her stomach. Her back was another story. The only way I'd be able to cover all the scratches without hurting her was if I covered her entire back with gauze.

"Leave the back," she told me. "It'll be fine. Thank you for fixing me up."

"You're my guest. I'm not letting you die on me."

Kiara smiled softly. "I appreciate that. Good night General. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Princess."

Reviews would be lovely :)