"I lost the tracking signal here. So I'm guessing there must be a bolt-hole close by."
"Great," Hunter said, "just friggin' great."
Talon concurred. "I'm thinking we should call in Kattalakis to flush both of them out."
"No," Hunter said quickly. "This isn't the typical Daimon we're dealing with and something tells me siccing a Were-Hunter on Desiderius would be like tossing a grenade on a keg of dynamite. The last thing we need is for him to grab one of their souls. Can you imagine the damage he could wreak with that?"
"Were-Hunter?" Amanda asked. "Is that like a werewolf?"
Talon cleared his throat. "Not exactly."
"We protect the night," Hunter said. "Hence Dark-Hunter. And they..." He gave Talon a searching gaze.
Talon took up the explanation. "Were-Hunters are..." He looked to Hunter as if seeking the right word, too.
Hunter shrugged. "Sorcerers?"
"Works for me," Talon said.
Well, it didn't work for Amanda, who had no idea what they were talking about. "Sorcerers? Like Merlin?"
"Oh hell," Talon muttered. He locked gazes with Hunter. "You sure about what T-Rex said?"
Hunter undipped his cell phone from his belt, scrolled through his saved messages, then handed it to Talon. "Listen for yourself."
Talon did. After a brief wait, he handed the phone back to Hunter and faced Amanda. "All right, then, let's explain it this way. There are four basic kinds of Daimons or vampires: bloodsuckers, soulsuckers, energy/dreamsuckers, and slayers."
Amanda nodded. That made sense to her. "You guys are the slayers."
Hunter snorted. "What? Were you born with a remote in your hand?"
"No," Talon corrected her while ignoring Hunter's sarcasm. "Slayers are the nastiest of all the vampires because they don't want anything from their victims. They merely destroy for the sake of destruction. Not to mention, they are the strongest of the vampires."
A shiver went down her spine. "Is Desiderius one of them?"
Hunter shook his head negatively while Talon continued to explain it to her. "To protect the world as we know it, there were three races of hunters created to police and destroy the Daimons. We are called 'the Pyramid of Protection.' Dark-Hunters pursue those who feed on human blood and souls. Dream-Hunters go after the energy- and dreamsuckers, and Were-Hunters stalk the slayers."
Amanda frowned. "I guess what I don't understand is why you don't have one group that does it all."
"Because we can't," Hunter said. "If one person or group was strong enough to walk all four realms of existence, they would be able to enslave the world. Nothing and no one could stop them. And the gods would be greatly pissed."
"What four realms?"
"Time, space, earth, and dreams," Talon said.
Amanda let out a deep breath. "Okay, now that is scary. Some of you guys walk through time?"
"And space and dreams."
"Ah." Amanda nodded. "So Rod Serling was a Were-Hunter?"
They didn't look particularly amused.
"Okay," she said. "Bad attempt at humor. I'm just trying to figure all this out."
Talon laughed. "Don't. I've been trying to understand it all for over fifteen-hundred years and I'm still learning things."
Hunter grimaced. "You? Every time I think I have it pegged someone like Desiderius comes along and completely alters the rules."