In a swirl of black and a flash of silver, the man turned to face Nick. He didn't know why, but the guy reminded him more of a rich stockbroker than someone able to take down street-hardened gangbangers. And he wasn't all that old either. Maybe his late twenties.

Maybe.

Nick could barely draw his breath as the man came forward with the walk of a vicious predator. He was dressed all in black. An expensive leather coat draped around a body that was lethal. But it was the flash of silver on a pair of black boots that caught his attention.

One of them had a knife protruding from the toe. A knife that retracted as he came closer. The man knelt down, his brow furrowed into a deep frown. "They made a mess of you, kid. Can you stand?"

Nick slapped at his hand as the man reached out to touch him. He didn't need help from anyone. Especially not a stranger.

He tried to push himself to his feet, then everything went black.

Kyrian Hunter barely caught the skinny kid dressed in a foully orange Hawaiian shirt before he hit the street. That hideous thing had saved his life. So bright it practically glowed, it'd called out to him as he'd been walking by and had alerted him to the fight.

From what he'd seen, the kid was a tough little scrapper. He'd give him that. And the boy could take a vicious beating without begging for mercy. There weren't many adults who could have gone through what he had without crying.

That alone made him respect the kid.

He glared at the other punks, who were running down the street as fast as they could. The ancient warrior and predator inside him wanted to hunt them down and kill them for what they'd done.

But the man in him knew this one, the one who'd put his life on the line to save the elderly couple, wouldn't live if he did. The cowards could unfortunately wait for another butt-whipping.

He tilted the kid's face so that he could see his features. The short brown hair was saturated with blood, and a huge cut would most likely leave a scar right above his left eyebrow. His nose was broken and by the looks of it, his jaw might be too. If not broken, they'd pounded it real good. Blood poured from his shoulder where he'd been shot.

Poor kid.

Picking him up, Kyrian carried him to his car so that he could get him to the hospital before he bled out and died.

Kyrian paced the waiting room, where several dozen other people sat in various states of agitation and illness. It'd been almost two hours since he'd handed the teenager over to the staff and still no word about the kid he'd found. Was he even still alive?

Checking his watch, he growled. He really didn't have the time to stay here, waiting. ...

He had important duties to attend to and, with luck, more lives to save before dawn.

"What are you doing here, General?"

He froze at the deep, thickly accented voice. Since Acheron was an eleven-thousand-year-old omnipotent immortal, he was the last person Kyrian had expected to find in a hospital. Not like the man could ever break a bone or get sick.

He turned around slowly to find Acheron just inside the doorway. At six foot eight with dark green hair and dressed in black Goth gear complete with a spiked leather motorcycle jacket, he was an impressive sight that made everyone who saw him swallow in fear. But it wasn't just his height that gave people pause. It was the lethal aura of I'll-kick-your-butt-so-hard-your-ancestors'-ears-will-ring. Anyone who came near him could feel the unearthly power that bled from the pores of this particular .

Being.

"What are you doing here?" Kyrian asked.

His eyes completely shielded by a pair of opaque Predator sunglasses even though it was almost midnight, Acheron cut loose with a lopsided grin that antagonized him. "I asked you first."

If it'd been anyone other than Acheron making that smart-aleck comment, Kyrian would give him a higher dose of attitude. But attitude didn't work on Acheron. It just pissed him off, which was never a good thing. "I found a kid getting a major ass-whipping on the street. I don't know who he is but I don't want to leave him here without an adult to watch over him. He was pretty badly mangled in the fight and not old enough to be left alone."

Acheron tilted his head as if he was listening to voices only he could hear. Kyrian hated whenever he did that. It creeped him out to think what all whispered to the ancient being. Most of all, it creeped him out to think what all the man knew about him that Kyrian had never told him. ...

"Name's Gautier. Nick Gautier. He's a fourteen-year-old student at St. Richard's High School on Chartres who lives in the Lower Ninth on Claiborne Ave."

Kyrian was impressed. "You know him?"

There was no hint of emotion from Acheron. "Never seen him before."

"Yet you know his name?"

That cocky grin returned to irritate Kyrian. "I know lots of things, General." Acheron held his hand up and a piece of paper appeared out of nowhere between his fingers. He held it out to him. "His mother's an exotic dancer named Cherise Gautier. You can reach her here. But be warned. She has a sharp tongue where her son's concerned and if she thinks you've hurt him or caused him to be hurt ... she's going for blood."

Kyrian took the paper from his hand. "I'd ask you about those Jedi mind tricks of yours, but I know you won't answer."

Acheron tucked his hands into the pockets of his scuffed jacket that had two chains wrapped around the shoulder of it. "No comment, but I will say this." He paused before he spoke again. "Nick isn't Jason. It's a different time and place, General. Don't let the past ruin your future."

"Meaning what, oh great Yoda?"

Acheron didn't elaborate. "You take care of the kid. I'll take care of your patrol tonight. I could use the target practice."

"Thanks for understanding." After all, Acheron was his boss and could have easily reamed him for not doing his duties.

Acheron inclined his head before he made his way out of the room and through the double doors that led to the parking lot. And with him went that powerful charge in the air.

Yeah, Acheron was one scary SOB. But Kyrian wasn't exactly comforting himself. Acheron had trained him and he'd been a master pupil, especially when it came to killing things that shouldn't be living in the first place.

Glancing at the number in his hand, he pulled his phone out and called Nick's mother.

Nick groaned as he blinked open his . Eye.

Uh, gah, what happened? His head was throbbing and one eye had something over it that prevented him from opening it. Please dont tell me IVe put out an eye. His mom would flip sideways. It was her biggest fear.

Dont play with that fill-in-the-blank, Nick. You could lose an eye. It was her favorite rant no matter what object he touched, and she'd kill him if he was now a cyclops.

God, Ill never get a girlfriend now/ Women dont date freaks.

"Careful, kid."

Nick paused as he realized he was in a hospital room. He tried to sit up, but someone stopped him. His panic increased as he recognized the blond man from the fight. "Where am I?"

"Hospital."

"Really? No kidding? And here I thought I was at McDonald's." Nick glared at the stupid answer. "I can't be here. We can't afford it."

The man ignored his rampant sarcasm, keeping his features completely impassive. "Don't worry about the price. It's on me."

Yeah, right. "We don't take charity." Nick winced as pain tore through his skull and he realized his arm was in a sling. Dont you dare break a bone, Nicky. I cant afford no doctor bill like that. Whatever you do, dont get hurt.

Nick felt ill over everything that'd happened. "My mom's going to kill me."

"I doubt it."

If the stranger only knew ... "Yeah, well, I don't. I happen to have known the woman since the day I was born and she's going to beat me until I bleed." He looked up at the stranger who'd saved his life.

He was huge. Probably around six-four with short blond hair, he was dressed all in black. High-end black. Nice pants, Ferragamo boots and, unless Nick missed his guess, the button-down shirt was silk with leather cuffs and collar—not that fake stuff they sold at the Dollar Store where he and his mother bought clothes. As for his coat, the leather was so soft, it didn't even make that crackling leather sound.

This guy was definitely loaded.

"Why can't I move my arm?" Nick was starting to panic.

"You were shot."

"Where?"

"Your shoulder."

Before Nick could say another word, he heard his mother's distressed cry. From the side where his vision was blocked, she appeared and wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh my God, baby. Are you all right?" She bawled as she saw the bandage on his head and over his eye. "What did they do to you? Why weren't you at home like I told you? Dammit, Nicky, why don't you ever listen to me? Just once in your life!" "It wasn't his fault."

His mother released him instantly. She turned toward the stranger, who was still in the far corner of the room. "Who are you and why are you here?"

He held his hand out to her. "Kyrian Hunter. I'm the one who called you."

She shook his hand. There was a stark contrast between her tan secondhand frayed wool coat, cheap white vinyl boots, and the red sequined polyester skirt Nick knew belonged to one of her dancing outfits. His tiny mom was a beautiful woman, but the heavy, overdone stage makeup made her look a lot older than her twenty-eight years and he hated when she teased her blond hair out for shows. It made her look cheap and his mom was anything but. "Thank you for that, Mr. Hunter. Where did you find him again?"

Nick panicked. If Kyrian told her where he was when he'd been shot, she'd shoot him again just for good measure.

"He was in the Quarter, trying to protect an old couple from being mugged. They got away and the scum who'd held them up was beating on him when I saw them and stopped it."

Tears glistened in her eyes. "You saved my baby?"

Kyrian nodded.

She sobbed even harder.

Nick felt like total crap. It was a good thing his dad wasn't here. He'd cut his throat for upsetting her like this. "Don't cry, Mom. I'm so sorry I got shot. I should have done what you said and gone home. . I'm just so sorry."

She wiped at her cheeks where her makeup was now streaked by the tears. "You didn't do nothing wrong, baby. You're a hero. A wonderful hero and I couldn't be prouder of you."

Nick winced at the lie. He wasn't a hero. I'm a hoodlum... just like my scum-sucking father.

He met Kyrian's gaze and something in his eyes made him think that Kyrian might actually know the truth. If he did, he didn't bust him for it, which only made Nick feel all the worse.

His mother drew a ragged breath. "The doctor told me you'd have to stay here for a few days, maybe a week or more. I don't know how we're going to afford—"

"Don't worry about it. I'm taking care of the bill."

She narrowed her eyes at Kyrian. "I can't let you do that."

"It's all right. Least I can do for him. There aren't many kids his age who'd take a bullet to keep a stranger safe."

Still, she looked doubtful.

Kyrian offered her a kind, tight-lipped smile. "I have the money, Mrs. Gautier." Wow, unlike Peters, he didn't sneer her name. He actually said it like he respected her. "And no one to spend it on. Trust me. You're not taking a dime from me or my family that'll be missed."

She bit her lip. "That's mighty kind of you. Especially after everything you've already done getting him here and all." She took Nick's uninjured hand into hers and squeezed it. "I can't thank you enough for saving my baby, Mr. Hunter. Nicky's all I got in this world. I'd die if anything ever happened to him."

Something dark flitted through Kyrian's eyes that reminded Nick of a ghost tormenting him. Some past pain that his mother's words conjured up.

Kyrian pulled out his wallet and opened it. "This is my number." He gave his mother a small business card. "If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me. Any time, day or night. I don't sleep much so don't worry about disturbing me."

She tried to give it back, but Kyrian wouldn't allow it.

"Look," he said firmly. "I know you don't know me or trust me at all. I don't blame you. But there are people in the world who can give without asking for anything back. I'm one of them."

She shook her head. "And I know how much stuff like this costs. I can't take that kind of money from you or anyone else. Ever."

Kyrian's dark brown gaze went to Nick. "Then let him work it off."

Nick sputtered indignantly. "Excuse me?" They ignored him.