It didn't work. Not to mention the small fact that they had yet to discover what would drain his Dark-Hunter powers and make him human long enough to die.
So they settled into a strange kind of peace. Tabitha moved out of her apartment over her store and left that for Marla to keep while she lived with Valerius.
They stayed together in the daytime and hunted together at night.
Still she couldn't stake him, but at least one afternoon, she'd learned his weakness: hurting her. It'd been an accident. He'd been reaching for his sword when he'd accidentally elbowed her. For two hours, his eyes had been blue.
Even so, she hadn't been able to stab him.
It was hopeless.
Until that summer. While Tabitha and Valerius were in the middle of training in the upstairs gym, the unthinkable happened.
One minute, she had been playing with Valerius; the next, Kyrian burst through the door, causing Valerius to strike her by accident. His eyes turned instantly blue. Before she realized what he was doing, Kyrian grabbed Valerius, threw him to the ground, and drove a stake through his heart and left it there.
"What are you doing?" Tabitha shrieked, rushing toward him.
Amanda caught her. "It's okay, Tabby," she said, forcing the box that held Valerius's soul into her hand. "Since you keep telling me that you can't do this, Kyrian volunteered."
"Yeah, and with any luck, you might actually drop it," Kyrian said evilly.
Tabitha scowled at him.
Grabbing the box from her sister, she knelt beside Val.
Valerius lay on the floor panting. His face was covered in sweat while he bled from his wound.
"Don't worry, baby. I won't drop it."
He offered her a trembling smile. "I trust you."
Tabitha's heart stopped as he died. Grabbing the medallion, she cried out as it burned her palm. Tabitha bit her lip and placed the medallion to the bow-and-arrow brand on Valerius's hip.
"Sh," Amanda said soothingly. "It'll stop burning in a second. Just think about Valerius."
She did, even though every sane part of her wanted to let go of the burning hunk of lava that seared her hand.
Finally, it started to cool.
Valerius didn't move.
Tabitha began to panic.
"It's okay," Amanda said. "It just takes a minute."
And after a few more, Valerius opened his eyes, which were now a permanent and vibrant shade of blue. His fangs were completely gone.
Tabitha smiled at the sight of him, grateful beyond measure that he was alive. "You don't look right."
Valerius cupped her face. "I think you look beautiful."
"I think I should stake him again just for good measure," Kyrian said.
"I think we need to be going," Amanda said as she got up from the floor, grabbed her husband, and made a quick exit.
"Oh, c'mon," Kyrian whined from the hallway. "Can't I please stake him one more time?"
"Hi, human," Tabitha said before she kissed him.