Amanda came off the sofa the instant she saw Ash being carried into her foyer. "Oh my God, what happened?"
"We don't know," Kyrian said as he and Julian carried Ash toward the mahogany stairs.
"Tabby?" Amanda asked.
She shrugged as she followed after the men. Amanda joined the procession up the stairs. As they reached the top landing, a tall African-American man came out of one of the guest rooms.
"Acheron?" he said, his voice thickly accented.
"We don't know what happened," Kyrian said in answer to his unasked question as they brushed past him.
"Hi, I'm Tabitha," she said, extending her hand to the new Dark-Hunter who was guarding her family.
"Kassim," he said, shaking her hand before they both followed the men into Ash's room.
Once they had Ash safely tucked into the bed, Kyrian curled his lip at Tabitha. "Why don't you ask your sister about her new friend, Amanda?"
"Kyrian," Tabitha said in warning. "Lay off or you will limp."
"What friend?" Amanda asked.
"Valerius Magnus," Julian said. "They were rather friendly tonight when we found them."
"Yes, we were," Tabitha said. "And it's none of your business."
Amanda gave her a harsh stare. "Tabitha-"
"Shut up!" Tabitha snapped. "Look, I will gladly submit to the 'jump all over sister Tabitha' session after we help Ash. Right now, I'm going to start calling some people and see if anyone knows how to fix this. You guys can stand here with your thumbs up your butts and roast me all you want, but I'm not listening."
Pulling her phone off her belt, Tabitha headed for the stairs, then down to the living room and called Tia, who was completely useless for this.
"C'mon, T," Tabitha begged her sister. "There has to be an undo spell."
"Not if you don't know what caused it. Ash isn't exactly human, Tab. One wrong move and we could really do some damage to him."
Tabitha growled into the phone, then hung up. Amanda had just joined her in the living room when they heard something hit the front door so hard, it rattled the hinges.
Handing the phone to Amanda, Tabitha pulled her stiletto from her boot.
"Akri!" Simi's maniacal wail echoed through the house like vicious thunder. "Let the Simi in, akri!"
"What is that?" Amanda asked, her face ashen.
"It's Ash's demon."
"Simi is making that godawful sound?" Kyrian asked as he and Julian ran down the stairs.
"Looks like," Tabitha said as she headed toward the door.
Kyrian beat her to it. "No!" he snarled. "It could be a trick."
"Trick my ass," she muttered. "Simi? Is it you outside?"
"Tabitha, let me in. I can't help akri if I can't see him. I gots to help my akri. Lemme in or the Simi will barbecue this door, so help me."
"You can't, Simi. The shield would hurt you if you tried to. They have to invite you in."
Tabitha froze as she heard the unfamiliar, gentle feminine voice on the other side of the door. It held just a faint hint of a foreign accent. "Who's with you, Sim?"