Craig knocked on the door, then waited. When it wasn’t answered, he knocked again, fully expecting either a cursed yell from the other side, or the sounds of something being thrown at the wood. Dom hated being woken by anything besides the alarm clock, or his own internal schedule.
So far, it seemed like neither was working. Craig could hear the alarm clock blaring from the bedroom, and he hazard a quick peek to make sure that Dom was indeed in bed, and not off somewhere possibly dead or needing a pick up. 1 It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he made out the outline of the body on the bed. Lying on his stomach, Dom had one arm over his head, and the other under the pillow.
“Dom?” Craig said, knowing it was probably useless, since the alarm was still screaming about one foot from the Dark-Hunter’s head. Deciding that his precognition would kick in long before Craig got to the bed, he started across the hardwood floor.
Surprised that he made it all the way, Craig’s eyes shifted, made sure that Dom’s chest was moving, then went back to the face. Knowing better than to wake a sleeping Dark-Hunter, Craig raised a leg, and kicked at the side of the bed, jumping back out of harm’s way.
Dom jerked as he woke, the confusion vanishing as his other senses started. Moaning in annoyance, he turned off the alarm clock, then rolled over on the bed and closed his eyes again. After the night he had experienced, he wanted nothing more than to sleep a few days away while a Dream-Hunter worked his magic on the images that invaded his sleep.
“Dom?” Craig asked in a whisper.
“Go away,” Dom said, not opening his eyes.
“It’s time to get up.”
“I’m taking the night off.”2 Surprise crossed the squire’s face. “You can’t do that. Can you?”
“I can do whatever the hell I want,” came the reply. “And that includes replacing your ass unless you start taking your position seriously.”
“What?”
“I don’t care who the hell she is,” Dom said in a tired voice. “When I call, you answer your phone.”
Having the distinct feeling that he screwed up royally, Craig folded his arms over his chest defensively and glared at the back on the bed. “I do have a life…contrary to what you think. Just because you have no desire to be with anyone but hookers is no reason to-“ He stopped quickly as Dom rolled over and sat up, glaring at him with a look that promised immediate death if the sentence was finished.
“Get the hell out so I can sleep,” Dom said in a forced voice. He watched as Craig backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Falling back on the bed, he cursed himself for losing his temper, and cursed everything else in general just because he felt like it.
Craig stared at the door for a few seconds, then raised his middle finger at it before turning and heading back towards the ‘normal’ area of the house. The part that Dom lived in during the day had no windows, and an assortment of doors that only the Hunter had the keys to. Craig assumed that they were weapons storage and various other things that he really had no interest in asking about.
He walked through the large oak door, stopping at the sight of someone sitting on one of the couches in the living room. The person was dressed in black, had long black hair, and for a moment, he thought it was Dom. That idea changed the moment the person stood and faced him.
“Evening Ash,” Craig said.
“Craig.” Ash walked around the couch, looking at various things on the walls and shelves. Dragon figurines filled one large display case, while another held nearly every collectible from the dark-hunter.com web site. Rolling his eyes at Dom’s warped sense of humor on that, he finally looked at the squire. “What happened last night?”
“No idea,” Craig admitted. “I had a date, and well… my cell was set to vibrate.” He ran his fingers through his blonde hair briefly. “Apparently, and according to his royal politeness, I missed a call.”
“Three calls,” Ash clarified.
“Oh.”
“Yes.” Ash sat on the arm of a chair and stared. “It doesn’t matter how good she is, or how much you think you care for her, your first priority is to your Hunter.” He told his mind to shut up at the hypocritical feeling that statement brought.
“I know,” Craig sighed. “I messed up.” He looked back at the door that led to Dom’s private area, then back at Ash. “What happened, anyway?”
“Dom didn’t tell you?”
“He’s decided to take the night off,” Craig said slowly. “And, he’s slightly pissed at me right now.”
“He had to set two Gallu ablaze.”
Craig blinked slowly at that. Oh, yeah, he thought, I royally screwed up last night. “Uh…that must have been hard for him to do.”
“I imagine so,” Ash said vaguely. “Taking the night off, you said?”
“According to him.”3 Ash shrugged. “I guess one night off in one thousand years is acceptable.” He turned and headed for the door.
Craig stared at the door as it closed behind the Head Dark-Hunter. “I’m surrounded by flakes.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Grabbing three coffee mugs off the table, Angie quickly cleaned the surface with the cloth in her other hand, then turned and headed for the cafe's kitchen area. Glancing up as the front door opened, she felt slight disappointment when she realized it wasn’t Dom. She didn’t know why she should be waiting for him to show up, since he only came in about three to four times a week, and especially since he made it quite clear a couple years earlier that he wasn’t interested in her for anything but friendship.
If she could call it friendship, that is. He barely spoke, preferring to listen as she talked during those times when the café wasn’t busy. And in those early days, after the initial novelty of a new place had worn off, the café had struggled for a clientele base.
Regardless of how slim the customers were, she grew to rely on Dom’s familiar presence, and the twenty dollars he left every time, telling her to keep the change. She didn’t mind that all he did was drink coffee, while staring at the intersection like it was hypnotizing him. She asked him once what he was looking for, and had gotten a smart-assed ‘the boogieman’ response from him.
Checking her watch, Angie sighed in relief when she saw her shift was almost over. She had enough time to stop and grab a few groceries on the way home, then straight to bed and sleep for a few hours before getting up and heading off for classes at one of the colleges in the city.
Although she liked her job, but at thirty-two, she just felt like she needed more in her life. Training to be a massage therapist took up a lot of her daylight hours, but she knew that it would all be worth it. Having already put in her two thousand plus hours of study and treating the general public on campus, she was looking forward to her impending graduation.
Cleaning off one last table as her relief walked through the door, she filled the other woman in one the night’s events, then walked to the back to do her end shift routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the door shut behind him, Ash teleported mid-stride and walked on to the beach on Neratiti. Hopefully, it would have only been an hour or two since he left, but knowing Savitar, he wasn’t sure if he could count on that time frame. Looking around, and realizing he was alone, he took those few moments of respite to think.
He knew what he had to do, but it was nowhere near what he wanted to do. If he wanted to be truthful, and being the god of final fate, he had to be, he wanted nothing more than to be completely selfish with Tria. But he couldn’t.
He had already been selfish when it came to her, and as a result had partaken in two extremely forbidden actions. It wasn’t enough that he allowed himself to become sexually involved with Tria, but in exchanging blood with her, he knew he had gone too far. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, though hindsight brought his folly back to him in full vision.
The worst part was, that he knew he would do it all again without hesitation if he were given the opportunity. And that was why he couldn’t allow himself that chance.4 Turning at a feeling of someone watching him, that resolve faltered when he realized that Tria was standing at the end of the beach, staring at him. She turned to walk away, and before he knew it, he was standing in font of her, blocking the way.
“Wait,” he said in a soft voice, working through what he would say in his mind quickly, needing to word it in a certain way so he wouldn’t bend her fate or curse her by mistake. “Our time together were the best few weeks of my life,” he said slowly. “You’re probably the only human that gave to me without expecting anything in return, and I honestly can’t describe how precious that is to me.”
Pausing for a moment to see if she had any response, he continued while she stared at him. “There are far too many complications to even entertain the pleasing fantasy that others seem to think should happen between us.” He stopped when a small smile graced Tria’s lips. “What?”
“You’re scared,” she said kindly. “And that’s all right.”
“I’m not scared,” Ash replied, his tone a little too defensive. “No, wait,” he corrected himself, “I am, but not of this. I know what Artemis would do to you if she ever found out. You’re not a Hunter any longer, and that pulls you out of her vow to never harm one. And trust me, she’s vindictive enough to kill you on the spot.”
“I’m immortal, remember?”
“But you’re not a goddess,” he said pointedly. “Besides, she wouldn’t care.”
“Not even if you asked her not to?”
Ash had to clamp his teeth together to keep from laughing at that. “No.” All he had to do was mention anything about Tria, and Artemis would know. Although she wasn’t the brightest goddess on the mount, she wasn’t the dumbest. And when it came to Ash, she was as shrewd at they came. “Only Savitar could offer you that kind of protection.”
Tria gave him an arched look. “Mr. Zen-Surfer?”
“He…has his moments.”
“Did it occur to you that since he orchestrated all of this,” she held her arms out, “that maybe he knows what’s suppose to happen, and that should be enough of a guarantee to you?” Bringing her arms to her sides in defeat, she sighed. “But, fine. I know trust is something you struggle with.” She smiled at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have eternity waiting.”
She turned and walked away, leaving Ash standing alone as he stared after her as he fought the urge to call her back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dom slept the entire night, and continued sleeping through the day and into the following evening. He woke just before seven, and sat up in his bed, staring blankly at the dresser across the room until his mind caught up with him. Everything felt fuzzy and if he didn’t know that it was impossible for a Hunter to get drunk, he would swear that he was suffering from a hangover.
Pushing himself up from the bed, he blinked a few times while making his way to the bathroom door. Undressing quickly, he turned on the shower and climbed in, letting the cold water work the lethargic feeling from his mind and body. After a few minutes, he switched the water to hot and got down to the task of readying himself for another night of murder and hopefully some barely-legal mayhem.
After about twenty minutes, he was dressed and feeling more like himself than he had for the past few days. Going to the computer in the corner long enough to download a new play list to his iPod, he walked out of his room and through the private area of the house.
Craig looked up as the large oak door closed, and immediately stood. “Feeling better?”
“What’s the Daimon situation look like?” Dom asked, skirting around the question. He took a paper from the squire’s hand and looked it over.
Craig stared, working up the nerve to ask a certain question. He wanted Dom to meet his newest girlfriend, but he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject with a man who had a healthy abhorrence to ‘love’.
Not looking up from the paper, Dom headed out of the living room, pausing slightly as he got near the door. “Café, ten o’clock,” he said. “And if you told this one that I’m the CEO of some company, I’m going to fire you.”
Craig watched as Dom exited, and exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Okay. So far, so good. And luckily enough, this time Craig hadn’t tried to impress a date by telling her that he was the right-hand man to the CEO of some non-existent company.
Last time he tried that, the woman ended up being an IRS employee, and Dom had to fend off far too many queries into his holdings, donations, and even the house. A call to the squire council, and letting them handle it was all that was needed, but still, the Hunter had been completely annoyed at the hassle.5 This time, he stuck closer to the truth. He was the major domo for a rich recluse that had some gigantic eccentricities. And since the squire council had already investigated and cleared his girlfriend of any ‘sleeping with you just to get close and kill you’ type thing, he felt more at ease with introducing her to Dom.
Ten o’clock at the café. Less than two hours away… Craig suddenly felt nervous for the first time in years.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Aiden watched as the lone woman walked along the water’s edge, completely lost in thought. She knew that Ash had been here a few hours ago, and apparently things didn’t go quite as well as they should have.
Tria looked miserable as she walked; yet she seemed to have a defiantly resigned glint in her eyes. She accepted the fact that she just might be facing the future alone. Aiden shook her head at that, trying to figure out just what it was with immortals that made them so damned annoyingly pig-headed.
“It’s a curse,” a whispered voice said from behind her. Savitar took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her. “She shares Acheron’s inability to trust that he could be allowed to live in peace.”
“Sounds like you,” Aiden said.
“Sounds nothing like me,” he replied, not the least bit insulted. “I have no inabilities. I just plain out don’t trust anything…saves a lot of time and problems that way.”
Aiden slowly turned in his embrace. “In other words, you don’t trust me?”
“No.” Savitar smiled slightly, enjoying the confused look on her face. “If I did trust you, then I would have to kill you. It’s… just the way I am.”
“You’re kidding,” she whispered.
“Of course.” He bent his head down and gently kissed the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry about Ash, he’ll come around… eventually.”
Aiden snorted lightly. “One thing I’ve learned about Ash is that the term eventually can mean a long, long time.”
“It’s all just a blink of the cosmic eye,” he replied, thinking that maybe a little trip to some future times to see Tria’s future might be wise. “I’m hoping that it won’t take years, since I’m not too cool with sharing the island for that long.”
“We can’t have that now, can we?” Aiden said, covering the sudden hurt she felt with indifference. Heaven forbid that that surfer had to share anything for any length of time.
“Yeah,” Savitar said, hearing her thoughts. “Having someone else around would take my attention away from you.”
“Nice save,” Aiden replied dryly. “A little fake, but I appreciate the effort.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The coffee tasted like heaven, and Dom was tempted to remain in his seat all night drinking it. The groggy, hazy feeling from earlier had finally vanished, leaving behind an energy that he hadn’t felt in centuries. Thinking that a night off was a good thing every now and then, he made plans to incorporate it into his routine.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay all night since the café closed at midnight. Besides, he usually only stayed long enough for the college campus across the intersection to clear from night students. Due to safety, most students exited through the main gates at night, and Dom had found more than a few Daimons hovering around the area at bus stops and benches.
He was surprised that they still frequented the area, since not a night went by without at least three or four being dissolved, but he guessed that the opportunity of a free student overshadowed common sense. Since the campus had a large Goth presence, the flash of fangs from Daimons was like offering candy to a kid.
Speaking of candy. Dom silently cursed himself at that thought as Angie walked up with a fresh pot of coffee. He had been thinking of her more often, and once again fully blamed Ash for putting the idea in his brain.
As if it wasn’t bad enough for him to be thinking of her, he also had to contend with Craig acting all…goofy… over his newest girlfriend. If he heard one more happy sigh from the squire, he was sure he would scream.
“More coffee?” Angie asked, her voice sounding like silk.
“Yeah,” Dom said, wondering why he hadn’t noticed that about her voice before. In fact, he found he was noticing a lot of things about her; a lot of nice things. “How’s your studies coming along?” he asked, deciding to retreat to a nice safe neutral topic.
“Pretty good,” she replied with a smile. “I aced the muscle manipulation part.”
Okay... so, maybe not that neutral, he thought as images flooded through his mind at the thought of ‘muscle manipulation’. “Sounds like you’ve picked a great profession for yourself.”
“Maybe I could get you on to my table some day?” she asked, a mischievous look in her eye.
“Pencil me in for every second Tuesday night,” he said before realizing it. “I mean for a… a…”
“You’re cute when you blush,” Angie said, then walked away.
He needed something to get his mind away from where it was heading, and he wished a group of blondes would walk by right about now. Hell, he’d even be happy with meeting Craig’s girlfriend. When the hell is Craig going to get here?!
Nearly on cue, he could see them at the intersection, waiting to cross at the light. Dom stared at the woman with Craig, and then stood, walked quickly out of the café and nearly ran to his car. Getting in, he started the vehicle, and drove away.
Craig watched, slightly confused, and then shrugged. They continued across and in to the café, assuming that Dom would return after taking care of ‘business’.
Dom stared at the street in front of him, forcing his mind to concentrate on the traffic as his fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard that his shoulders started to hurt. Prying one hand off the wheel long enough to grab his cell phone, he activated the speaker function and brought his hand back to the wheel.
“Voice dial,” he said loudly. “Talon.” Waiting while the call to the former Dark-Hunter was placed, he slowed down and turned into a parking structure. Frowning when the call was picked up by the answering machine, he waited until the beep. “Talon, it’s Dominic. Call me back, I-“
“I’m here,” a hurried voice with a light Scottish accent said. “Long time no talk.”
“Got a question,” Dom said.
“I might have an answer,” Talon replied vaguely.
“How…” Dom paused, confident that he was losing his mind. “How did you know that Sunshine was the reincarnation of your wife?”
“Uhhh,” Talon sounded slightly confused that Dom would be calling to ask something like that. His current wife, Sunshine Runningwolf had turned out to be the reincarnated spirit of his first wife who had died before he did far too long ago. “Canna I know why you’re askin’?”
Dom exhaled audibly. "I think I just saw mine."6
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Comments
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Getting even more interesting! (Frikkin' library keyboard
) Is the Ash/Tria, Savitar/Aiden stroy going to be woven throughout this one?
Huh? Wife? HUH?
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Very Interesting
This was a very good chapter. It reveals some interesting things. A shocker for Dom though at the end. Poor guy.
beginning: 4, language: 4, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 4, characters: 5.
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