Desiderius laughed. "I doubt you'll get the chance once your little friend learns what you are."
The Dark-Hunter cast a look at her that told her to keep her identity quiet. Not that he needed to. The last thing she would ever do was betray her sister.
"Is that why you chained us together?" the Dark-Hunter asked. "You wanted to watch us fight?"
"Oh no," Desiderius said. "Not my plan at all. If you kill each other, that would be fine by me, but what I intend to do is release you come the dawn. You see, the Dark-Hunter is about to become the hunted and I am going to thoroughly enjoy tracking you down and making you suffer. There is no place you can hide where I won't find you."
The Dark-Hunter smirked. "You think you're capable of hunting me?"
"Oh yes. Yes, I do. You see, I know your weakness even better than you do."
"I have no weakness."
Desiderius laughed. "Spoken like a true Dark-Hunter. But all of us have an Achilles' heel, especially those who serve Artemis. You are no exception."
Amanda swore she could almost hear Desiderius lick his lips in satisfaction. "Your greatest weakness is your nobility. That woman hates you, yet you won't kill her to be safe. While she tries to kill you, you'll guard her from me with your life." Desiderius laughed evilly. "You just can't resist a human in peril, can you?"
"Desi, Desi, Desi," the Dark-Hunter tsked. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Don't you dare take that flippant tone with me."
"Why ever not?"
"Because I am not some scared little Daimon to run cringing from you. I am your worst nightmare."
The Dark-Hunter scoffed. "Must you resort to cliches? C'mon, Desidisastrous, couldn't you think of anything more original than that B-movie dialogue staple?"
A furious snarl echoed in the room. "Stop mocking my name."
"Sorry, you're right. The least I could do is show you respect before I expire you."
"Oh, you won't expire me, Dark-Hunter. You are the one who will die this time. Have you given thought to how much she's going to slow you down? Not to mention the existence of her little friends. They will take you down like a pack of wild dogs. And if I were you, I'd pray for that. You have never known the suffering I will inflict upon you when next we meet."
His lips in a tight, firm line, the Dark-Hunter smiled at Desiderius's threats. "You seriously overestimate your abilities."
"We shall see."
Amanda heard a mike click off.
The Dark-Hunter jerked again at the cuffs. "I am going to kill that horror-movie reject."
"Hey, hey, hey!" she said as he flapped her arm around while trying to free himself. "That arm is attached."
He paused and looked down at her. His gaze softened. "Twins. It never occurred to him. Have you any idea where your sister is?"
"I don't even know where I am or what time it is. For that matter, I don't know what's going on here. Who are you and who is that guy?" Then, she lowered her voice and added, "Can he hear us?"
Kyrian shook his head. "No, the mike channel is closed. For the moment, he's off plotting his Igoresque revenge. I don't know about you, but I have this image of him rubbing his hands together and laughing like Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory."
Kyrian took a minute to study her. She didn't appear hysterical... yet, and he wanted to keep it that way. Telling her Desiderius was a soul-sucking demon who was after her sister didn't seem like the best way to accomplish that.
Of course, given her sister's penchant for vampire-hunting, it shouldn't really come as a surprise to her, either.
Closing his eyes, he reached into her mind with his and found confirmation of his suspicions. There was a healthy dose of fear in her.
Unlike her sister Tabitha, she wasn't one to jump to conclusions, but she was curious and angry over their situation. It was possible he could tell her everything without freaking her out, but the Dark-Hunter in him operated on a need-to-know basis.
Right now all she needed to know was the bare minimum. With any luck he would be able to separate them without having to reveal anything more about himself to her.