"Is he always this sarcastic?" she asked Tate.
"Actually, I thought he was being rather nice to you." Tate cleansed the vicious-looking wound with alcohol. He prepared to give Hunter a local.
Hunter caught his hand before Tate could inject him. "Don't bother."
"Why?" Tate asked with a frown.
"I'm immune to it."
Amanda's jaw dropped.
Tate just reached for the sutures.
"You can't do that," she said, interrupting him. "He'll feel it."
"He needs that wound closed," Tate insisted. "Jeez, you can see his bones through it."
"Go ahead," Hunter said with a calmness that astounded her.
Stunned, she cringed while Tate made the first suture.
Hunter kept his jaw locked and said nothing.
Amanda watched Tate tend Hunter. Her heart wrenched at the thought of how much pain Hunter must be feeling.
"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked him.
"No," Hunter said between clenched teeth.
Amanda could tell by the way the veins stood out on his neck and the way he clenched his fists that he was lying.
"Here," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Just hold tight."
Kyrian started at the softness of her hand in his. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him like that. He'd been a Dark-Hunter for so long that he had all but forgotten simple kindness.
Tate acted out of gratitude and a sense of obligation.
But her...
There was no reason for her to hold his hand. He'd barely spoken a civil word to her, and yet she reached out to him when no one else would have. It made him feel strange toward her. Protective. Tender.
More than that, her simple touch scorched him all the way to his caged heart. He swallowed, then stiffened. He couldn't let her close to him. She was a creature of light and he was one of darkness.
The two were not compatible.
"So, how long have you been a vampire?" she asked.
"I told you," he said, his jaw tight, "I'm not a vampire. I'm a Dark-Hunter."
"What's the difference?"
Kyrian gave her a hard glare. "The difference is I normally don't kill humans, but if you don't stop quizzing me, I might make an exception."
"You are one seriously testy Creature of the Night."
"I love you, too."
Amanda dropped his hand. "Oh, that's it," she said. "I was just trying to comfort you. God forbid, you should let anyone actually be nice to you."