"Kyrian's soul."
Her heart stopped beating when she heard his blase tone. Swallowing, she stared at the medallion. Could it really be his soul?
No, it wasn't possible. "You're lying to me."
"I never lie," Acheron said simply. "I have no need to."
Still, she wasn't ready to believe he had possession of what she wanted more than anything. "What are you doing with it?"
"I was hoping you might help me return it to him so that he could kill Desiderius."
"Return it how?"
Acheron picked the medallion up, cradled it in his palm, and closed the box.
"It doesn't burn you?" she asked.
He gave her a sly smile. "I told you, my powers are beyond your imagination."
"Then why don't you return it to Kyrian?"
"Because he doesn't trust me and, unlike you, I have no heart, pure or otherwise." He turned the medallion over as if studying it. "You see, there is only one way for a Dark-Hunter to regain his soul. A pure, loving heart must take the medallion into his or her palm and hold it while the Dark-Hunter is drained of his supernatural powers. Only when the human part of him remains can a Dark-Hunter die a normal death."
"I beg your pardon?"
He looked at her, and even though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew he was staring at her. "The only way to give his soul back is to stop his human heart from beating. When it beats for the last time, the medallion must be placed against the mark where the soul was captured. It will leave the medallion and reenter his body."
Her head throbbed as she tried to come to terms with what he was saying. "I don't understand. How do you stop his heart from beating?"
"You drain his Dark-Hunter powers, then you stake him through the heart."
She stepped back, her mind whirling. "No! He'll vaporize like a Daimon. You're trying to get me to kill him, aren't you?"
"No," he said earnestly. "The Dark-Hunters are my children and I would sooner damn myself to a Shade before I ever let one be hurt. You asked how to return his soul to him and I've answered you. If you want to free him, you have to drain him and kill him."
Before she could say another word, Acheron took her hand and brought it over the medallion in his. The heat from it was excruciating. It was like holding her hand over a propane torch.
"Now imagine touching it," he whispered. "Then think of holding it. You will have to keep the medallion in your hand from the moment he is staked until his heart stops beating and you release it back into his body."
His grip tightened on her wrist and she could feel his hidden gaze boring into her. "Do you love him enough?"
"I..." Amanda hesitated. "How long do I have to hold it?"
"As long as it takes. I can't tell you that. It is different for every Dark-Hunter."
"And if I let go of it before the soul is free?"
"Then Kyrian is doomed for eternity to walk as neither Dark-Hunter nor Human. He will be trapped between this world and the next as a Shade. He will yearn for food and never be able to eat. He will thirst and never drink. He will suffer eternally."
Amanda stared at the medallion in horror. "I can't chance it."
Acheron released her hand, then returned the medallion to the box. "Then he will die anyway when he faces Desiderius."
"There has to be another way," she whispered.
"There isn't."
Her chest tight, she tried to imagine draining Kyrian's powers and leaving him vulnerable. Could she do that to him?