"Her lungs are singed," he said quietly.
"Can you help her, Talon?" Hunter asked.
Talon nodded. He removed his gloves, then placed his hands against Allison's ribs.
After a few seconds, Allison's breathing became slow and steady.
Talon met Amanda's gaze. She shivered as she saw that he had the exact same eyes as Kyrian.
There was something very unsettling and strange about this new Dark-Hunter.
He was stillness, she realized. Like some bottomless pond. There was a calm serenity to him that was both beguiling and frightening.
And it dawned on her that something really bad must be going on. Why else would another Dark-Hunter be here at the same time?
"Desiderius set the fires, didn't he?" she asked.
Both of the men shook their heads no.
Hunter looked to Talon. "Your target?"
"My guess would be they've teamed up. Mine is trying to flush you out while yours is in hiding."
At last the fire crews arrived. An EMT team took over with Allison while the three of them moved to stand to the side.
"Well, damn, Talon, this is new," Hunter said as he raked a hand through his hair. "It leaves us completely vulnerable."
Talon inclined his head toward Tabitha's burning house. "Yeah, I know. It sucks that they can combine their strengths while we can't."
"Why can't you?" Amanda asked.
Talon turned to Hunter. "How much does she know?"
"A lot more than she should."
"Can we trust her?"
Hunter looked askance at her; the uncertainty in his eyes hurt her. She would never do anything to harm the man who had saved her life.
"I had a voice mail from Acheron this evening that said to give her whatever information she wanted."
Talon frowned. "That doesn't sound like T-Rex to me."
"You know, Acheron really hates when you call him that."
"Which is exactly why I use it. And I find it hard to believe T-Rex would give her carte blanche."
"Yeah, but you know Acheron. There must be a purpose to it, and in his own, decrepit time, I'm sure he'll get around to enlightening us."
"So tell me, then," she prompted. "Why can't you guys combine your strengths?"
"It's to keep us from cockfighting or using our powers against the humans or gods," Hunter explained. "As a result, as soon as we get together, we start draining each other's powers and dampening them. The longer we stay together, the weaker we become."
Amanda gaped. "That's not fair."
"Life seldom is," Talon said.
Hunter turned to Talon. "Any idea where your target is?"