"That... was Darius."

"Darius? Who's-" Eden's mouth formed a little 'o'.

"Darius. As in the oldest of the Ankh, Darius?"

"Yes."

"Is everything OK?"

Cyrus smiled a little. "Yes. My old friend just likes to surprise me. I told him where we were going and he has decided to drop in for a visit."

"He's going to be in Edinburgh when we get there?"

Her guardian's eyes darkened. "Darius prefers a solitary existence. If other warriors were to know of his location he would be swamped with visitors. No. He is meeting us in a travel motel." Cyrus leaned forward now and began punching in new coordinates on the annoying sat nav. "It wil be a brief visit. He just wants to meet you." This Darius sounded like the ultimate enigma. He'd been through this situation with one of the Unforeseen before.

Twice in fact. He was actual y older than Cyrus. If Cyrus was intimidating she couldn't imagine what this guy was like!

Her heart began to thump a little harder and faster in her chest. "Why?"

"I should think that obvious."

"Not real y."

"You are one of the Unforeseen and very important to me." The warmth in his eyes felt like a cosy blanket tucking her in tight, safe and content. She fought the feeling, stil doubting, despite everything, the trustworthiness of the Ankh. "Whatever else he might be, Darius is a friend. He just wants to..."

Eden curled a lip as sudden realisation dawned. "Inspect me."

"Wel -"

"Yeah, yeah. He wants to check I'm not going to turn on you or whatever. I get it.

What I don't get is how he could possibly know better than you." Cyrus sighed. "Eden, some may say my judgement is impaired by my connection to you. I do not agree. However, Darius is not so sure. He understands. He is very close to Valeria. Moreover, Darius is old. Very old."

"What exactly does that mean?"

He gave her no reply, just smiled a frustratingly mysterious smile and flipped open his cel again. He pressed a speed dial b.u.t.ton and the other person picked up immediately.

"Valeria, change of plans. Put these coordinates into the sat nav." He rhymed off the destination.

"We are meeting Darius."

They pul ed into the travel inn about thirty minutes later.

Eden already had this nervous, b.u.t.terfly feeling in her stomach.

Valeria and Noah pul ed up beside them, Val coming to her side as soon as she got out of the car. "Everything wil be fine, Eden. No need to look so worried." She nodded but her eyes searched out Noah and locked onto his calm violet gaze.

His rea.s.surance made her feel a little bit better. It was only as they turned to fol ow Cyrus, Eden realised what she'd done. These past few weeks she'd been pretty good at hating Noah, but clearly turning to him in time of need was an old, subconscious habit she needed to break. Cyrus drew them to the reception and over to the elevator. Inside, the four of them stood in a tense silence, only real y made tense by Eden's obvious uneasiness. She felt Cyrus squeeze her shoulder as they sidled out of the elevator. Cal ing herself al kinds of wuss, Eden threw her shoulders back and fol owed the Ankh determinedly down the hal .

Feeling Noah's knowing smile on her, she slowly turned to glare at him, which only made his grin grow wider. Huffing at him, Eden almost missed the charge of electricity that shot through her body. The further down the corridor they travel ed, however, the hotter and deeper the vibration became, thrumming through her body.

She knew it wasn't right.

"What's going on?" She drew to an abrupt halt, staring at the three of them, trying to mask her sudden fear.

Cyrus nodded. "That would be Darius you are feeling." What the...?

With no more explanation (not that that had real y been one) Cyrus final y came to a stop outside one of the rooms.

He knocked on the door, two slow raps and then three short raps. The latch on the door popped but the door itself didn't swing open. It was kind of creepy. And Eden knew a lot about creepy. Bracing herself against the abnormal amount of energy radiating from the room, Eden fol owed her companions into it. Cyrus shut the door behind him, and Eden watched as he then crossed the room to shake hands with its sole occupant. He wasn't what Eden had been expecting. He wasn't as tal as Cyrus, nor Noah. At about 5 "11 he should have appeared short next to them. But he didn't. He was a compact man, muscular and powerful looking. What was most striking was the way he moved.

His gestures were animalistic and control ed. He was the epitome of strength and grace and the energy that emanated from him was un-freaking-believable.

As the man shook hands with Noah and then hugged Valeria, Eden's pulse pounded harder and harder as the monster within whined in irritation. From Darius there was no sense of soul. Not exactly. There was something.

Something molten and formidable... not pure exactly, but sparkling with such crystal clarity, it was hypnotising. And yet... she did not hunger for whatever it was; which made her question its property as a soul.

"This must be Eden."

Eyes narrowed, Eden watched as the man approached slowly.

"Eden." Cyrus strol ed over to them, as they eyed one another. "This is Darius." Minding her manners, Eden stuck out a hand. "Pleased to meet you, sir." Darius' ful mouth quirked up at the corner and his black eyes sought Cyrus. Those eyes gave nothing away, almost as blank as that of a soul eater. He took her hand, and Eden was almost blown off her feet by his power.

"What the-"

"Eden," Cyrus rushed in before she could say anything that would be construed as rude. "Darius wanted to meet with you before the change."

"I see." I really don't.

"Come," Darius commanded in his deep voice, gesturing to the dining table at the window that overlooked the freeway, or motorway, as the Brits cal ed it. "Let's sit." As Eden took a seat, ignoring the heat of Noah's body so close to hers as he took the seat beside her, she studied Darius. Like Cyrus he only looked in his early thirties. He wasn't as handsome as Cyrus. There was something austere about his hawk-like features, but his dark skin and eyes were just as exotic. His was a face you felt compel ed to stare at.

"I hear you have had a difficult time, Eden," he began.

She shrugged but cleared her throat when Noah elbowed her, reminding her who she was speaking to. "Uh, yeah , I guess."

"You lost your family. Your brother."

She felt herself go cold inside. "Yes," she managed through clenched teeth, narrowing her eyes and suddenly not caring who this guy was.

Darius' expression didn't change. He shifted forward, however, leaning over the table towards her. Eden's eyes flickered down at the movement and caught on the tattoo on the inside of his wrist. It looked familiar. It was an eye. But it was more than that. And definitely Egyptian in style.

"Stel an."

Eden flinched at the name and looked back up into Darius' face.

"That was your brother's name, was it not?"

"Yes."

"Do you miss him?"

Heart pounding like crazy now, Eden's rage fought the effects of the drug Cyrus had given her, waking up her hunger. Noah's soul, the one that had always tormented her most, reached out to her with warm fingers.

Take it, Eden. Take it. Take it for Stellan.

No, she shook her head, curling her toes inside her boots. She shoved back from the table, away from Noah and the others and glared at this man who seemed to be deliberately baiting her. "What kind of question is that?" she snapped.

"Eden," Cyrus warned.

She glared at him, her eyes saying, 'I knew it. I knew you weren't to be trusted.'

"What is this?" she glanced around at them al .

"Eden." Noah reached for her, as if to calm her, and she slapped his arm away, jerking to her feet.

"Just answer the question."

Darius' voice rumbled through her and almost like compulsion, she knew she'd answer. "Yes," she hissed. "I miss him."

"How much?"

"What-"

"Answer."

Trembling now, and feeling as if somehow she was being ambushed, Eden felt angry tears p.r.i.c.k her eyes.

Want their souls. The Hunger purred. Want. Take. It roared now in fury. TAKE!

Shuddering at the need inside her, a need that hadn't been so strong since she'd begun taking the drug, Eden dropped her eyes and bit her hands into the edge of the table.

She could feel their gazes burning into her. She knew her eyes had bled white; that they knew her hunger was trying to take control of her.

"It's like someone's cut off my arm or something," she growled out in a voice that was barely recognisable. "I keep expecting him to bound through the door, or send me a funny text. I dream he's stil alive. And when I wake up, the agony is like a beast inside my chest, ripping me from the inside out. The days when I feel numb are better. Hard. And numb. I can live with that."

They were al quiet. That hushed kind of quiet. It was the first time she'd ever vocalised the depth of her despair over losing Stel an. She knew they didn't understand.

How could she possibly love a soul eater? Was this Darius' test? Had he decided her love for her brother made her a risk?"

"Do you want vengeance for his death?"

"Yes!" she snapped, her eyes burning now. She glanced down at Noah who refused to look away. His girlfriend, a Warrior of Neith cal ed Romany, had kil ed Stel an. She knew now that Romany and Noah had split up. Valeria had cracked a joke about it on the plane just before they landed.

An awkward ten minutes had fol owed as she realised mentioning Romany in any capacity was a bad idea. "I want vengeance."

"Wil you take that vengeance?"

Somehow, she knew this ancient warrior would know if she lied. Holding his gaze determinedly, the hunger roared in triumph, mistaking her meaning as she replied, "If I ever see her again, I wil kil her."

Darius nodded. His complete lack of expression was frustrating as al hel . Stil trembling Eden waited, knowing some kind of deliberation was going on inside his head.

"Noah." Darius didn't break eye contact with her. "Please take Eden out to the car.

Cyrus and Valeria wil join you soon."

"Of course. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Darius."

"And you as wel ."

Completely dazed by her abrupt dismissal, Eden numbly fol owed Noah out of the motel room and down the corridor.

She was so out of it, the proprietary touch of his hand on her back, leading her into the elevator, barely made a blip on her radar.

It wasn't until they were outside at the cars, drawing in the cool fresh air, that Noah stopped them. He pressed her back against the car, holding her gaze, trying to nudge her out of her mind melt.

"Eden."

She shook her head. "Go away."

"Look, I know you don't want me to talk to you ever again, blah de blah blah," he growled, "But let me at least put you at ease."

Her look said she found it highly doubtful he could ever do that.

"The questions about Stel an..." he trailed off as she stiffened. He exhaled and turned, leaning against the car, the side of his body pressed against hers. "It wasn't about judging you. It was about determining the depth of your human emotions even with your soul eater half intact."

Noah's words relaxed her a little. "You mean it was a good thing?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

He nudged her again and she felt him grin. "But you know what? It wouldn't have mattered anyway what he thought.

Cyrus is doing this with or without Darius' approval."

"I find that hard to believe somehow."

"Don't."

"But I thought Darius was Cyrus' superior?"

"He's older than him. And he's stronger. But they're friends, not master and subordinate."

"Oh."

They were quiet a moment as a car pul ed in next to them and a couple got out.

Eden's ears rang with their musical accents, some words she total y understood, others wel ...