"Go with it, my ass. It's not that easy. It happens to feel like I'm being cleaved in two."
"I know," Talon said, his voice thick with sympathy. "What were you doing when you lost your powers?"
Kyrian cleared his throat as he cast a sheepish look to Amanda. "I... urn..." He hesitated with the explanation. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her.
But then, he didn't have to.
"Great Diarmuid Ua Duibhne," Talon roared, "you slept with her and it drained you, didn't it?"
Kyrian cleared his throat louder, then realized the futility of trying to hide something from a Dark-Hunter who could find out most anything he wanted to. "Nothing happened until the end."
"Ahhhh, I see," Talon said, dragging the words out as if something had become clear to him. When next he spoke, he sounded strangely like Dr. Ruth. "You know that moment you have after you come? When you're completely spent, sated, and helpless? Want to bet that's what sucked your powers out?"
Still, none of it made any sense to Kyrian. "The rest of you sleep with women all the time without this."
"Yeah, but every one of us has a different pressure point, you know that. In your mind you must equate that pinnacle moment with what made you a Dark-Hunter. Either that or maybe it was her powers. Maybe they fluxed with yours and sucked them out."
"That's insane."
"About as insane as the headache you have which is making my head hurt for you, by the way. Now hand me back to Amanda."
Kyrian did. "He wants to talk to you."
Amanda took the phone.
"Listen," Talon said, his voice stern and sharp. "We have a serious problem here. Kyrian is down until his powers return."
"How long?"
"I have no idea. But it'll probably be a while, and until then, he's human, and since he hasn't been human in over two thousand years, he's weak from it. Vulnerable."
Panic gripped her as she looked back at Kyrian. He still had one hand over his eyes and she could tell by the tautness of his body how much pain he felt.
"Will he be back to normal by sundown?"
"I hope so. Because if he's not, the Daimons will have him."
Her throat constricted as fear gripped her. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hurt because of her. "Can't you help him?"
"No. It's against our Code. We hunt alone. I can't go after Desiderius until Kyrian is dead."
"What kind of Code is that?" she shrieked.
"The kind that doesn't usually pierce my eardrum," Talon hissed. "Damn, girl, with that set of lungs, you have a bright future as an opera soprano."
"You're not funny."
"I know. None of this is. Now listen to me for a second. It's going to be embarrassing, can you handle it?"
His dire tone gave her pause. What was he going to say to her? "I think so."
"Good. Now, I think our problem stems from when Kyrian came. It's imperative that you not let him do that anymore. Because there's a real good chance it will drain his powers out of him again. You need to stay away from him."
Amanda's heart ached at his words. She reached out and touched Kyrian. "Okay," she breathed.
"All right. It's a little after seven right now. Do us both a favor and watch over him until Nick gets there."
"I will."