“So, it turned out that Horatio was actually a guy named Robert Lopez. Robert was out on bail for grand theft and hasn’t shown up for his last two court dates. Hunter tracked him to that restaurant and he was on his way there when Dax caught up with him about something else. Then I called and somehow we all ended up in the middle of it.”

Kat smiled as David told her the story. “It was fun to watch though, right? I like Hunter, he seems like a cool guy.”

David cocked an eyebrow. “How well do you know Hunter?”

Kat laughed. “You’re jealous!”

“I am not…but I might be if you tell me how well you know him. The guy is a dog.”

Kat laughed again. “What guy isn’t?”

“How well do you know him?”

“Seriously? Are you asking me if I slept with him?”

“Did you?”

“Does it matter?”

“If you mean will I love you less, then the answer is no. But if the guy is going to be hanging around, I’d like to know.”

“Really? Okay, I’ll tell you who I’ve slept with and you can do the same.”

David laughed. “That won’t take long.”

Kat’s jovial mood suddenly darkened. She was joking…she couldn’t ever actually make him a list. Most of the guys she’d slept with were so long gone and forgotten that she didn’t even remember their faces, much less their names. Would David still love me if he knew what a slut I’ve been? “It’s stupid anyways,” she said. “I don’t care who you were with while we weren’t together. Hell, it’s not even for me to say who you can or cannot be with now.”

David reached for her hand and grabbed it although she tried to pull it away. “You know that I don’t want to be with anyone but you, right?” Kat did know that. David not only told her how he felt, he was so much better at showing her than she was at reciprocating. She just didn’t understand why he wanted her. What do I really have to offer? Unless he needed a kidney or something, she was pretty much useless. The bar was failing. Her business had barely taken off and now it would be put on hold for at least a month, probably longer. She was going to be in debt to a loan shark for the rest of her life. She wasn’t fooling herself. She knew there was no way she’d ever be able to pay Tucci back almost a quarter of a million dollars. David deserved better than that. “Hey, Kat? Are you okay, baby? I’m sorry about the Hunter thing. He seems like an okay guy…I’m not really worried about the two of you…”

Kat reached up with her other hand, trying not to pull out the IV as she did. She put her palm on the side of his face. God, he was so beautiful, inside and out. Kat wasn’t sure what she believed about God and things like heaven and hell, but if there was a heaven, David was a shoo-in. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve only met Hunter a couple of times. He helped me one night when Dillon was sick. He’s not really my type.”

“What is your type?” David asked.

“Hmm…you,” she said with a smile as she patted his face. Withdrawing her hand, she said, “I know it seems strange when you look at me and who I’ve spent most of my life with…but I like the clean-cut, intellectual types the best.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that to make this clean-cut, intellectual type feel better?”

She laughed. “No, I’m not just saying that.” The truth was that as easy as it would have been for Kat to find a biker bar in L.A. to hook up with guys, her favorite place was one where young professionals hung out. She liked a guy in a suit and tie. She liked the ones that showered regularly and smelled good…and strangely enough, she liked to know she was fucking a guy with a brain. She often wondered if that tendency was thanks to how badly she missed David. Was I looking for a replacement on a subconscious level that entire time? She told herself that none of that mattered now.

“Miss Brown?” The female voice was followed by a tap on the door as it was pushed inward. Kat looked up to see her nurse come in the room. “We’re getting ready to take you down to pre-op. Are you ready?” Kat took a deep breath and willed the panic in her chest away before looking at the nurse and saying:

“I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.” The nurse smiled and said:

“Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She stepped back out the door and Kat looked at David.

“You’re doing a good thing,” he said. “Dillon’s a lucky guy.”

Kat shrugged. “I guess in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn’t have a liver if it weren’t for him, so I owe him that much.”

David squeezed her hand and said, “It’s okay to be scared, Kat…and it’s okay to talk about it.”

She shook her head. “I’m not scared, at least not of this operation. I’m scared of losing the only parent I have…but don’t repeat that to anyone or I’ll break your kneecaps.” David laughed.

“It’ll be our secret.”

“Okay, can I tell you another secret before I go?”

“Please,” David said. Before Kat could say anything, the door was opened again and the nurse came in with two orderlies. David had a look of disappointment on his face. Kat pulled the hand he was still holding loose and used it to pull him down so that his face was close to hers.

“I love you, David Brady. If something happens to me today, remember that, okay?”

David’s eyes were watering. “Nothing is going to happen to you, but thank you, for telling me that. They haven’t given you any meds yet, right? I mean, you can’t blame this on a sedative later, can you?”

Kat laughed. “No sedative, and that makes it even harder for me. I hate this feelings and emotions crap.”

David smiled softly. “I know.”

Something came over her and she said, “The only other time I felt the kind of pain I did when you walked out, was when my mother died. I expect people to leave me, but you were the one person I always thought would stay.”

“I’m so sorry, Kat.”

She smiled and pulled him down further so that their lips met softly. “No more apologies, it’s in the past. I was just trying to explain why I’m so fucked up.”

He smiled. “You’re not fucked up. You’re perfect.”

She chuckled. “Damn, if I was ever considered the perfect woman, humanity would be in big trouble.”

“You’re perfect for me,” David said. “I love you.”

“We have to take you down now, Miss Brown.”

“Go get something to eat,” Kat told him as the nurse took the brakes off her bed. “You didn’t get to eat lunch after Hunter’s antics, did you?”

“Nah, he arrested the cook, nobody got lunch.”

Kat chuckled. “That’s fucking funny.”

David laughed too and bent down to kiss her once more. “Yeah, baby, it is. I’ll see you soon.” He followed them out of the room and down the hallway, but the nurse made him stay behind once they pushed her onto the service elevator. Kat had never had surgery, so she didn’t know what to expect. She hadn’t lied to David earlier; she wasn’t scared. She was fucking terrified.

* * *

Olden Tanis watched as David stood in the hallway outside the elevator. His face was filled with love for the young woman that he’d just watched being taken away, and a worry line was etched between his eyes. Olden had done his research, since he wouldn’t have the luxury of spending time with this one before he ended her life. In researching the woman, he’d also learned much about the man. David Brady came from a good Catholic family. He had a good job, helping people. He loved his family, and he lived a good life. He was just the type that she would chose. Her dark soul sought out the light in others. David had that light, the light that Olden used to have…a long time ago.

Olden didn’t have any animosity toward David, or any of the other men she’d tried to ruin over the years. He understood all too well what the young man would have to endure, and he hated the thought of it. But he’d also come to know first-hand that if he left her to her own devices, the damage to the man who loved her would be incomprehensible and irreparable. He was a prime example of that. That knowledge was the only way he could deal with the remorse and regret that had tried to consume him for years. He kept reminding himself that ultimately, he was their savior. Olden knew the darkness would eventually bleed from her soul and into those closest to her. The fact that he was here to save a man from Victoria’s daughter was all the proof of that he needed. That, and Marta’s direction. He thanked le Bon Dieu for her every day, and he lit a candle weekly and prayed for her soul. He could still feel her surrounding him with her love and knowledge. If not for her, he might have never recognized the darkness in his own Lauren when he was only nineteen years old. Marta made Olden understand that only the purest souls could recognize the darkness…and he was one of those souls. That knowledge, however, had left him obligated to spend his life in pursuit of the darkness…and unfortunately it also left him obligated to end the lives of those who had been infected by it, the way that Lauren had been, even if he didn’t want to do it.

Olden wept when he found out that Victoria Brown had a little girl, but he did what he had to do anyways. Now, he wished he’d done it sooner…Victoria’d had time to infect the sweet child before he sent her to burn in hell. Olden hadn’t expected to get away with killing Victoria, but he had been ready to face the consequences. When they didn’t come for him, it gave him a bigger sense that what he was doing was right. He got better at hiding the bodies after her and no one ever came looking for him…until that Creole woman washed up after the floods. Her husband started asking questions and searching the tattoo parlors around the Quarter, showing photographs of his dearly departed Marta. Olden was worried at first…but then, he’d followed the man to Massachusetts and he’d heard him talking to David. That was when Olden realized he’d been brought there because the darkness had come there before him. He was being led to where he was needed.

He watched now as David stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away from the elevator toward the stairs. There were other people in the hallway, sitting in the chairs that overflowed from the surgical waiting room, so Olden was sure the young man didn’t know he was being watched. Olden was finished following him anyways. David had led him to Katrina and Olden had seen the tattoo. She was different, in the fact that he hadn’t been the one to ink it and she seemed to be trying to hide it atop of all the other ink she already had there. But to Olden it shone like a beacon, as did the darkness she’d been infected with. Olden knew what he’d been brought there to do, and once the woman had saved her father’s life, Olden was prepared to take hers.