Birds flew overhead as Ash continued to stare at the woman in his arms. He didn’t quite know what to say about her being alive, and wasn’t sure why her eyes had returned to their pre-death color. He could sense her soul in her body, and needed answers.
“Savitar?” he asked.
“Yes?” a voice replied from behind him.
Not even bothering to turn around, Ash continued to stare. “Explain this to me in a way that won’t make me want to destroy you.”
“I can’t control what you do, little brother,” Savitar replied plainly. “Do you really want the answer, or would you rather me tell you what you’d like to hear?”
“The truth,” he said, still staring into bottomless eyes.
Savitar manifested a large rock behind him, and leaned against it. “If you insist,” he said in a voice that put Ash on immediate alert. “Long story short, she’s your saving grace.”
“How about short story long?”
“Tria is the one person that can save you from yourself.”1
”Little less cryptic.”
Savitar gave him an arched look. “You want me to spell it out for you? Fine. Stay with Artemis, and you’re dead. Go with Tria, and you have a slim chance of survival. Either way, you’re going to be out of the Hunter business.”
Ash didn’t even want to start thinking about what Savitar wasn’t telling him. It was something he’d worry about once he got the answers he was searching for. “Her soul?”
“Has been returned to her.”2
”How?”
“Very difficultly,” Savitar admitted.
“I mean how did you get her soul?” He finally looked from Tria when there was no reply. There was no one else on the beach, prompting him to close his eyes. There are times I really hate that surfer. 3
“What happened?” Ash asked, turning back.
“Aiden took me from the tunnel, and uh, Savitar returned my soul.” Her gaze went to the sand. “I’ve only been here for three days.”
“Time does pass differently here,” Ash said. “A day could go by in reality just while we’re talking.”
“What now?” she asked quietly. “I mean, are you going to die because of me?”
“I doubt it,” he replied. “I don’t want to sound rude, but this…complicates things.”
Tria took a step back, removing herself from his embrace. “It’s all right, Ash. We weren’t supposed to last anyway.”
Feeling suddenly empty at her absence in his arms, he fought to bring his indifferent attitude to the surface. “You’re right.” Pacing slightly to put a little distance between them he concentrated on the reality of the situation. “I’m very glad that you’re alive,” he told her. “But I just can’t up and walk off into the sunset with you.”
“Did you know that I’m apparently immortal now?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation to something less heartbreaking.
“I figured as much,” Ash said.
“Then why did you assume I was dead?”
He blinked at the accusing tone that weaved through the hurt in her voice. “I thought you were beheaded. That kills pretty much anything.” He stopped pacing for a moment. “How did Savitar get your soul?”4
”I have no idea.” Staring at him, she crossed her arms over her chest. “So…you thought I was dead? I didn’t even know I was supposed to be until a little while ago. For the past two days, I thought I was just another kidnap victim.”
And I didn’t come looking for you. The thought slammed through Ash’s mind, bringing guilt to his chest. He took someone’s word for her fate, and although he didn’t know better at the time, he felt that he should have. What good was being all-knowing if the best he did was take things at face value.
“What the hell are you doing?” a different voice asked.
Ash looked, surprised at the venom in it, and the annoyed look on the speaker’s face. Aiden was crouched on the rock that Savitar had originally been on, glaring at him like the bird of prey she was.
“Don’t start with me, eagle,” Ash warned.
“Shut it,” Aiden said, not bothering to hold in her anger. Hopping from the rock, she strode to him in a swagger that held just a bit too much ‘Savitar’ in it. “I didn’t do what I did just so you could piss it away. I put everything on the line and, excuse my arrogant greed here, you’re not going to make me regret doing it.”
“Aiden,” Ash said, his eyes flashing red.
“Gaaaa!” she replied in annoyance. “What the hell is it with you omnipotent dudes?! You take the simplest of concepts and pull it all over the universe until it resembles nothing. Can’t you just, for once, trust in your first instinct and not question it to death?”
“It’s not that simple.”
Aiden glared into his red eyes, too annoyed at him to be the slightest bit intimidated. “Love is the simplest of all things, Ash. It’s what people try to read into it that complicates it. Half your battle has already been waged for you,” she said, pointing at Tria. “She’s human, and immortal, which pulls her out of Artemis’ bitchy little clutches, and her doing something out of spite.
Don’t worry about her reaction to any of this. She’s just going to have to get used to the idea of not having her favorite toy to fuck around with any more.” Aiden paused for a moment. “Don’t worry about the Hunters. They’ll survive and take care of themselves.”
“Are you through bitching at me?”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty more to say, but I’ll reserve that for later…depending on your decision.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
He usually came in three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it was always for an hour or four, and always sitting at the same table, looking out to the intersection for something that only he could see.
Tonight was no different. Dressed in a black motorcycle jacket, open to show off a dark gray shirt atop blue jeans, and, of all things, sneakers, Dom looked more sedate than usual. Even his usually clean-shaven face showed a few days worth of growth. Most times, he had that somber look too him, but this time it looked like he really didn’t give a damn one way or another about anything in general.
He accepted his coffee with a whispered ‘thanks’, and the eyes automatically went to the view outside the large windows. Angie always thought of him to be like a caged cobra, watching and waiting with the dark stare of his. He was pleasant enough, and polite, but there was something that hinted at a pain so profound that it made her want to soothe him.
Laughing to herself, she continued clearing one of the tables off. Dom was a ‘bad boy’, and she had a serious syndrome of ‘bad-boy-tame-itis’…which she already had more than enough cases of through the years.
Dom watched Angie’s reflection in the window as she pretended not to look at him. He had to admit that she was pretty, and the type that he would have picked up for a night had he not known her. At nearly six feet tall, she was a couple inches shorter than him, and her light brown hair swished behind her in a thick braid. Kissable full lips, a regal nose, and wide brown eyes completed the picture.
Jerking slightly, he pulled his gaze away, not wanting to fall into the little trap that Ash had set in his mind. He didn’t want anyone in his life, ever. It had been hard enough on him the first time, and it was something he refused to experience again. Feeling a slight stabbing sensation in his back, he concentrated on the view outside the window. Even after a millennium, he still had the occasional phantom pain from the spear that went through him. The pain subsided about the same time a little warning flickered through his brain.
Danger was close, and he stood as his eyes expertly scanned the street outside. Not catching view of Daimon or Gallu, he switched his aim to a little closer, centering on the front door.
He could see, with dream like clarity, a man entering. A weapon would be drawn, and all the café's occupants would be herded into one corner. Fear would ensue, with the robber panicking and shooting. Angie would be killed, along with the teen that always stopped in on his way home from work.
And there wasn’t a damn thing that Dom could do to stop it without revealing that he wasn’t exactly human. Keeping the Hunter secret was the number one rule. He was halfway to the door before he realized he’d started walking, and he reached it just as it swung open to admit the man from his vision.
Reaching up, his hand clamped on the robber’s upper arm and he pulled the surprised man outside with him. Swinging the person around to slam against the wall, Dom glared.
“What’s your fuckin’ problem?” the man asked.
“The gun you have in your belt,” Dom said, his voice low and forced.
“What?” Guilt crossed over him, then anger. “Fuck you.”
“No.” He raised a hand and pushed the man back as he tried to walk away. “Consider this a friendly warning. I see you in that café, or even looking at it again, and I’ll kill you.”
Not liking the threat, the man glared. “You’re dead, fucker.”
“Too late.” Knowing that Ash would give him complete hell for it later, Dom let his eyes turn red. At the panicked look on the man’s face, he gave an evil chuckle. “Don’t make me come looking for you,” he added, his voice now a demonic growl.
Finally having enough, the man bolted from the wall and ran. Dom watched, his face back to its handsome lines as the other person slid in a puddle of water, and smashed into a light post.
Shrugging, he calmly walked back into the café, and the people who were blissfully unaware at how close they had come to a completely ruined evening.
“What was that?” Angie asked, her gaze boring through him.
“Nothing,” he replied, suddenly aware of how nice she smelled. Oh, no, no, no. Don’t do this. “Little difference of opinion. Do me a favor, though. If that guy ever comes back, hit the silent alarm.”
“What? Why?”
His eyes were drawn to the pout her lips were making, and the worry that her eyes held. “Just, please,” he said, suddenly uncomfortable. “I gotta go.” Spinning, he nearly slammed into the door before opening it, and forced himself to walk slowly as he headed for his car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being a Squire was never easy, especially when one worked for an arrogant S.O.B. like Dominic Olluein. In fact, the Dark-Hunter was so arrogant that it bordered on the insanely annoying during those times when he was pretending he had no ego at all. A Dark-Hunter without an ego was like a square with only three sides; totally incomplete.
Craig Marshall didn’t overly mind, though. It was an easier position than some he had been handed, and even thought Dom was, in his opinion, a borderline psychopath, he wasn’t half bad. He treated his squires like family, or at least a non-hated relative, and paid them more than most Hunters did.
Money wasn’t a big issue with Dom, and as long as his comforts were met, then he really didn’t care what happened to the rest of his monthly payment. On the other hand, the man did have rather expensive ‘comforts’, ranging from hand-made shirts to top of the line vehicles. Still, there was more than enough left over for Craig to sink into investments, household expenses, and donations.
Walking down the large staircase that led to a massive living room, Craig walked to the security panel to check the alarm system before leaving for a few hours. Although he lived in the same house as Dom for he past four years, he didn’t feel right about bringing dates there…not to mention that Dom would have one of his legendary freak outs at someone he didn’t know being in his home. Craig had been there, done that, and had no desire to see anything remotely similar to it ever again.
To be honest, Craig and his date had been having a candlelight dinner in front of a roaring fireplace when Dom arrived back early and walked in. His boss’s tolerance level had been extremely low that week, and the sight of flames was enough to push him over the top. Why he even had a fireplace in the house was beyond Craig. 5
Not that it mattered, since Dom ordered the hearth filled in, kicked the date out of the house, then launched into Craig, telling him, in no uncertain terms what would happen if anyone ever set foot on his property again without his knowing. Wisely enough, Craig decided not to point out that technically, the house and property belonged to him since most Hunter possessions were placed in a Squire's name.
To get past Dom’s occasional temper tantrum, Craig planned on dropping in on his boss as he sat having coffee in the café, and introduce the woman he was sure was ‘the one’. And hopefully, Dom would keep his sarcastic trap shut, and not mention that this would be the fifth ‘the one’ that he had met in the past four years.
With the security system activated, Craig walked out the front door of the house, or, as he like to refer to it, the mansion. Heading for his 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 that was parked in the circular driveway in front of the house, he climbed in, started the vehicle and drive for the large iron gate that opened up the walled in property to the rest of the world. 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ash stared at the water, ignoring everything around him as his mind whirled at the recent events. He kept the part that Artemis could sense quiet, since she didn’t need her being privy to any of this.
Tria had retreated to another part on the island, telling him that she wanted to just walk in the sunlight and think. Aiden, after giving him a thorough bitching at, had simply vanished. Of Savitar, he saw nothing, and the surfer was ignoring his mental questions.
Not that Ash wouldn’t be able to find all three if he wanted to, but he understood the need to be alone, or to not answer questions.
In the state he was in, being alone was an ideal option. Still pissed off at the deception dealt to him by two people he thought he could trust, he needed time to work through the anger and hurt.
Of course he was happy that Tria was still alive… ecstatic in fact. But that didn’t stop the problems that were about to be caused by this. Although… if handled properly, he might be able to hide Tria from Artemis for years, or even centuries. Then again, he couldn’t be with Tria, then run off to fill his needs with Artemis, and then return to Tria. And he doubted Artie would be willing to supply him with vials of her blood for his survival like she used to back when he first became a Hunter and refused to have contact with her for nearly two thousand years.
Artemis enjoyed making him bend to her will too much to let him off the hook now. Besides, he knew her, and once he was gone from the Dark-Hunters, she would lose all interest in them, and either destroy her ‘army’, or let them flounder in their war against the Daimons and other assorted demons intend on crushing human and the world.
“She can remain here.”
Ash turned to the voice, annoyed that he hadn't felt the surfer when he appeared behind him. Turning completely so he could face Savitar, he waited for him to continue.
“She’s safe here,” Savitar said in a neutral voice, almost like he wanted Ash to refuse his offer. No big surprise there. He wasn’t exactly a people person, and it was a big enough stretch for him to even allow Aiden into his private realm. “I give my word.”
“Your word isn’t exactly sterling with me at the moment.”
“Not once did I say that she died,” Savitar pointed out in a firm voice.
“Not once did you say that she didn’t,” Ash replied.
“I can’t help what you think.”
“Spare me,” Ash growled. “I already got the lecture from Aiden.”7
”Yeah,” Savitar said in admiration. “She’s great, isn’t she?” He stared out at the water, wishing he could just chuck all this and surf. “You know what you have to do.”8
”I do?”9
Savitar nodded. “You know. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“How did you get her soul?”
“I asked for it.”10
”What?” Ash shook his head in disbelief. “Artie let you in her temple and just gave it up?”11
”She didn’t let me in anywhere,” he pointed out. “I go where I want, no questions asked. As for the soul…I made her see reason.”
Anger flashed through Ash’s eyes. Although he hated the goddess, he would seriously harm anyone that hurt her. “If you threatened her…”
“Rather protective of her, aren’t you?” Savitar gave a rare smile. “And for the record, I don’t threaten. I make promises.”
“How did Tria get her soul back,” Ash asked between clenched teeth. Although he knew their powers were similar, he doubted he knew the extent of Savitar’s. The surfer never let things about him known, and Ash knew he probably only displayed a fraction of his abilities.
“I gave it back to her.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Yes, I can.”12
Hope sprung to his eyes. “Could you do it to other Hunters?”13
”No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the souls have to be acquired from Artemis,” he said plainly. “And she pisses me off far too much for me to have to deal with her more than once in my lifetime.” He gave Ash a smirk. “Which would leave only one option for you to get those souls. And, not knocking your stamina here or anything, but that would take far too much one of one with the bitch to make it worthwhile. “ He shrugged. “But hey, to each his own, I suppose.”
“You’re such a…” Ash clenched his jaw shut to stop himself. Even though he was pissed off, he couldn’t risk saying to wrong thing and dooming Savitar. The universe was scary enough with Savitar in it, but it was nothing compared to the horror that it would hold without him in it.
“Trust me,” Savitar said dryly as he heard the insults in Ash’s mind. “It’s nothing Aiden hasn’t called me at one point or another after I’ve pissed her off. Although, I don’t think she’s ever referred to me and a donkey in that way before...thankfully.”
Ash turned away, fighting the temptation to plant a god bolt straight between Savitar’s lavender eyes. “I have to go,” he said. “Could you at least make it so that only a few hours pass until the next time I can make it here?”
“Of course.” The surfer cast an expert eye over the surf.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, Dom’s night was not going to be complete without a romp through the deserted streets of the warehouse district while chasing two Gallu. He had first come upon them while they were closing in on a group of people heading home from a late shift, and cursed when they decided to run rather than face him. Dom’s breath was coming in even gasps when he finally cornered the pair, and he didn’t stop as his hands went into the motorcycle jacket’s pockets to pull out two butterfly knives. Flipping both to open at the same time, he lunged at one Gallu while kicking the other one in the chest.
The knife sank into the area between the eyes, killing the Gallu before he even hit the ground, then twisted to slice across the second demon as she jumped from the ground.
Pivoting as she reached him, Dom elbowed her in the face as he spun around to the area behind her. A quick thrust, and the blade entered her back, severing the spinal column. As the Gallu fell to the ground, he jumped back, then stabbed down, getting her between the eyes.
Keeping an eye on both, he took his jacket off, and pulled his shirt off over his head. He had seen a flash of double fangs as he spun by, and felt a tugging near his elbow. There was a definite rip in the leather of the jacket, but his shirt was fine, and he could see no scrapes or punctures on his skin to indicate being bitten.
Satisfied that all was fine, he pulled out his cell phone and placed a call. Not getting a response, he frowned, closed the phone, then opened it again to redial. After three more attempts, he angrily shoved the phone back in to his jeans pocket and stared at the demon bodies.
His squire wasn’t answering his cell phone, or even the house phones, and that gave Dom both a slight worry, and a major piss off. The bodies had to be burned to keep them from spreading and to basically hide the evidence.
He stared for a long time, contemplating things as one thought seemed to run through his mind. Before he could stop himself, he reaching into a pocket, dug a lighter out, and crouched by one of the bodies. Closing his eyes, and trusting his powers to warn him of any danger, he flicked the lighter, and lowered it to the clothing.
Feeling the heat from the flickering flames, he quickly got to his feet and walked far enough away so he could see the burning, but not have to witness it up close and personal. He remained long after the bodies were reduced to a fine powder that blew away gracefully in the nighttime breeze, his mind alternating between trying to tell himself that he had done the right thing, and chastising him for breaking one of his biggest distinctive principles.
His mind sent a message to him, and he stiffened slightly when he saw what it was. It would happen before he had time to get out of the area, so he stayed where he was, staring at a patch of grass that no longer showed anything drastic had happened.
Ash appeared about twenty feet away, his silver gaze automatically drawn to the only other person in the area. Walking to the Hunter, he stopped about five feet away and stared.14
“You threatened a human,” he said, not wasting any time on idle chatter.
Dom didn’t even look at him. “Yes.”
“Why?” the question was more of a demand than interest.
“Because you told me that Angie needed me. And I don’t think you meant that she needed me to stand by and watch her die. But hell, knowing your fucked up sense of humor, you just might have.”
The one thing that Ash didn’t need at that moment was someone else’s mocking sarcasm. “Keep up your threats, and the Blood Rites might be heading your way.”
Dom stared, not believing what he just heard. “Ash. I’ve served you and Artemis faithfully for over one thousand years. You’ve asked me to do things, and even though I didn’t agree with them, I did it. If you’re going to threaten me, at least have the ‘nads to do the deed yourself. ‘Cause if I see one Blood Rite gunning for me, and all vows are off.”
“Dominic,” Ash said, his voice a complete warning.15
”Fuck it,” Dom said, raising his hands to his temples briefly. “Just fuck, fine, whatever. Toast me, roast me, flambé my sorry fucking ass, because I really don’t care any more.”
Ash stared, his anger momentarily forgotten. Dom may have been a lot of things, but a defeatist was not one of them. Searching through his memories to see why, Ash was slightly surprised when Dom made no attempt to block him mentally. He watched as Dom, unable to contact his squire, stared at the remains of the gallu for at least twenty minutes before slowly reaching into a jacket pocket, pulling out a lighter, and doing the only thing that scared him.
Dom’s eyes suddenly widened when he realized Ash was pocking around inside his mind, and he snarled as he forced Ash out. “Don’t do that again,” he said, his voice more of a plea than a warning.
“Go home,” Ash said evenly. “Don’t worry about the Blood Rites.”
“Wasn’t going to.”16
Author notes
This story is going to move a little faster than the last few...
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Just as your other stories this one is, alas, also amazing! Aye, I have to admit, I have not seen something quite as therrowly put as the tales you tell so well.
Freedom -
WOW. good work
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The weenie comment still stands. Geeze, dude. And wow on Aiden birching him out (love the mention of the 'Savitar swagger')
Threatening a human? That's a huge no-no.
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No callin' Ash a weenie
(Aiden birching him out? How about bitching him out
)
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