That was it! Tabitha went to stand in front of him. "Get off the cross, Kyrian. Literally." She gestured behind her to Valerius. "He didn't hurt you."
Kyrian curled his lip at her. "How do you know? Were you there?"
"Ooo, childish much? No, I wasn't there. But I can do math and I know how old he was when you were killed. What? You let a five-year-old nail you down?"
Someone grabbed her from behind. Tabitha started to attack until she realized it was Valerius pulling her back. "Don't, Tabitha. Just let it go."
"Why should I? I'm tired of the way they treat you. Aren't you?"
Valerius's face was completely stoic, but his heart wasn't. She felt his pain. "I honestly don't care what they think of me. I really don't. And you don't need to alienate your entire family. Just leave this alone."
"Why?"
Valerius looked past her to Kyrian, then he stared at her. Hard. "This will wait. Right now, Acheron and you need to be safe. Go with Kyrian."
Tabitha wanted to argue, but he was right and she wasn't so stubborn as to not recognize that basic fact. The longer they stood out here arguing, the more danger Ash was in, especially since Simi wasn't here to protect him.
Their first priority was to get Ash to safety. "You be careful."
Valerius gave her a strangely tender Roman salute, then spun on his heel and left them.
"You're unbelievable," Kyrian snarled as he and Julian lifted Acheron's body up from the ground. "I can't believe you screamed at Amanda about me and you'd cuddle up to that bastard."
"Shut up, Kyrian," Tabitha said. "Unlike Amanda, I don't mind staking you straight through the heart."
"Where are we taking T-Rex?" Talon asked as he grabbed Ash's feet and helped to carry him.
"Back to my house," Kyrian answered. "After the attack of that demon on Bride Kattalakis when she was visiting us, Ash put some kind of mojo on it to make it safe. I figure whatever did this to him can't come back and hurt him if he's there."
Talon nodded. "What exactly did this to him?"
Tabitha shrugged. "I don't know. He was hit with something and poof, down he went. It happened so fast, I didn't even see what they hit him with."
Talon let out a slow breath. "Man, I wouldn't have thought anything could bring down Ash. Not like this."
"Yeah," Tabitha agreed, "but at least he's still alive. Kind of... in a freaky sort of way."
She didn't want to admit to them just how frightened she was of the fact that the Daimons had brought the powerful Atlantean down without breaking a sweat. If they could do this, then there was no telling what they could do to the rest of them.
Which begged the question of why the Daimons had left them alone when they could have killed them, too.
It didn't make sense.
They wended their way down the darker, less traveled alleys, watching for Daimons and innocent passersby who might call the cops if they saw them carrying what appeared to be a dead body as they headed for Julian's Land Rover.
Tabitha got in the backseat with Ash while Talon stayed behind to continue patrolling for Daimons. Getting into the front passenger's seat, Kyrian remained sullenly silent while Julian drove them over to the Garden District where Kyrian's mansion stood less than two blocks away from Valerius's.
She wondered if either man realized just how close they lived to each other. They were practically neighbors and yet they were divided by infinite hatred.
Putting that out of her mind, she ran her hand over Ash's hair. It had an odd, spongy texture. His eyes were half-open and for once the silvery color didn't swirl. It was terrifying to think something could do this to him and none of them knew what it was or if they could restore him.
God, what would happen if they couldn't?
What would happen to the Dark-Hunters if they didn't have Ash to lead them anymore? It was a terrifying thought. He always knew what to do and to say. How to make things better for everyone.
Biting her lip, Tabitha fought her panic down. Simi would get help for Ash. There was no way she wouldn't.
The men got out and pulled Ash from the seat, then carried him into the house with Tabitha one step behind them.