1
“Just who is Ash?”2
Dom looked at Angie as she sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle as they drove from the clinic. Melissa had opted to stay with Craig, which gave Dom massive relief that he wouldn’t have to hear or see her for a while. 3
“Ash is Ash,” Dom said with a slight shrug. “Basically he’s the head and first Dark-Hunter, the creator of the rules we live by, and one mean mothe-…bad ass,” he corrected himself, not wanting to swear in front of her.4
“If he asked you to jump off a bridge, would you?”5
“Yes.”6
“What?” Angie asked in disbelief. “I know he’s your boss, but don’t you have free will or something?”7
“I have free will,” Dom said, trying to explain. “It’s just that Ash wouldn’t ask me to do something like that unless it was extremely important that I do it.” He paused, then gave a small smile. “Besides, if it was important enough, he’d probably just push me off anyway if I said no.”8
“You’re joking.”9
“Sort of,” Dom said, then glanced at her. “Can you take some time off from work and classes?”10
Angie regarded him with suspicion. “Why?”11
Dom shrugged as he put all his attention on driving. 12
“Take me back to my place,” Angie said. “I have classes in the morning, and I need to get some sleep.”13
Opening his mouth, ready to object, Dom closed it and nodded. “Okay. Probably safer that way.”14
“What are you worried about?”15
“Nothing, everything,” he said, glancing at her. “Losing you,” he added with a whisper.16
Angie stared at him, then went back to looking out the window at the night sky as confusion swirled through her. He told her that he wanted to be with her, but then told her that it wasn’t a good idea, then he wanted her. Annoyed at the yo-yo feeling, she wanted to take some time by herself and just think. 17
“I’m working tomorrow night,” she said. “Will you be there?”18
“Do you want me to be?”19
“I think so,” she admitted. 20
“I’ll try.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angie look at him with a slight frown, then go back to the passing empty streets. “I can’t control what demons do, and I am both honor and duty bound to stop them.”21
“I understand,” she said. “Well, not really, but I can comprehend…no…uh… you’re dedicated to what you do, and I can respect that.”22
The corner of his mouth flickered with a small smile. “If you want some time to think, and to be alone, all you have to do is tell me.”23
“I thought there were dangers all around.”24
“There are,” he admitted. “There are also safe places for people to stay.”25
“Like your place?”26
“If you want,” he told her. “During the daylight, I’m basically banished to my area, and in late afternoon, and early morning, the living room and kitchen are okay as long as the windows are covered.” He glanced at her as he pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building she lived in. “There are a lot of rooms upstairs that are available. Or, the small house that’s part of the property next door.”27
“Maybe,” she said slowly.28
“Offer comes with the complete use of one of my cars,” he said in a completely fake announcers voice. “Except for the Porsche,” he added, referring to his 2008 Porsche 911 GT2. “No one drives that baby but me.”
Not that remaining in her own apartment made her feel nervous, she did feel slightly better at his offer. “Maybe for two nights,” she said. “In one of those houses.”
“Sounds good,” he said, relieved.
“So, if I don’t get the Porsche, then that leaves this Explorer we’re riding in?”
“Uh, no. I have a few more cars,” Dom told her. “They’re in the garage on the neighboring property on the right of the house.” Trying not to sound arrogant or overly rich, he shrugged. “There’s the Jag, the Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz…”
Raising an eyebrow at the list of expensive cars, she shook her head. “What, no Ferrari?”
“Had a 2003 Ferrari Enzo,” he told her. “Wrapped it around a telephone pole a couple months back.”
“Do you have anything a little more low-key?”29
”Toyota RAV4?”
“Perfect.”
“Consider it yours,” he told her, shutting the car off. “Need any help packing a few things?”
~~~~~~~~~~ 30
Aiden rolled her eyes as Fury continued what could best be described as a monologue as they walked along the darkened streets. After telling him that she didn’t need the Omegrion called since she was going to trade the condo herself, Fury reminded her how stupid it was to be doing, then insisted on coming with her. A quick phone call to Paul, and a meeting place was set up.31
Finally having enough of Fury’s talking, Aiden stopped. “If you’re going to tag along, then you’re going to have to be quiet.” 32
“What?” he asked. “I’m just trying to get it through to you that this is a stupid thing to be doing, and that he’s more than likely going to pluck your ass feathers before trying to kill you.” 33
“Don’t make me kick your ass feathers.”34
“I don’t have feathers,” Fury said, insulted. “And like you ever could without magick.”35
“That a dare?” Aiden said as she stared to walk again.36
“Yeah, right,” Fury said, catching up to her. “I kick your ass, and Savitar destroys mine. Not much of a win-win for me, if you know what I mean.” Stopping to sniff the air, he tensed. “Company.”37
“You do have the weirdest friends,” a voice from above said, prompting them both to look up. A man stood high on the ledge of one building, then took a step off, falling the five stories to land in a graceful crouch. 38
“Paul Kalenta,” Aiden said, remembering the eagle that she used to play with as a child. “Long time no see.”39
Shrugging, Paul reached into his pocket, stopping at an animalistic growl that came from Fury. “Easy, mutt,” Paul said as he slowly pulled his hand out to reveal an envelope. 40
“It’s wolf,” Fury snarled, giving an expression that showed why no one really messed with him. 41
“Like I care,” Paul replied. “Why don’t we settle on guard dog, and be done with it.” Immediately ignoring him, Paul turned to Aiden. “Let’s get this trade done, sign a few papers, make it all nice and legal, then I can be on my way, and you can take your pet to find a hydrant.”42
Although Aiden didn’t think it possible, Fury’s snarl deepened to the point where it looked like he might actually attack the other eagle. To his credit, Fury remained where he was, but she was sure all could feel the hatred that poured off him. 43
Taking the papers, Aiden opened them, reading quickly through. It seemed simple enough, trade the condo for the protection of the Dark-Hunter, and allowing Aiden back into the Patria. It should have been enough to please her, but somehow it wasn’t. 44
“Problems?” Paul asked, wishing she would just sign the damned thing so he could leave. 45
Taking the papers from her hand, Fury glanced at them. “She’ll need two months to find new accommodations, and move her things there,” he said, manifesting a pen from the air. Since his magick wasn’t overly trained, some of the things he ‘created’ were hit and miss. Looking at the pen with a smile, he jotted a few things on the papers, then handed them back to a confused looking Paul.46
“Why would she need to move?” he asked.47
Fury gave a sharp laugh. “You expect her to want to live with the rest of you after the shit you’ve put her through these past couple years?” He shook his head. 48
“Fine,” Paul agreed, then looked at Aiden. “Agreed?”49
Taking the papers, Aiden signed her name to it, then handed over the deed to the building. Holding the agreement up, she looked at him. “I’ll just keep this safe for you until I can make a copy.” 50
“You do that,” Paul said in a voice to pleasant that it made Fury cringe. “I expect a copy by morning so I can inform Arion on when he can let you back into the family.” Looking at them both, he took a step back. “Welcome back, Aiden.” Then, he centered on Fury. “Mutt.”51
Fury took a step forward, teeth bared, then stopped at the man vanished from in front of him. “Arrogant fucking dickhead.” 52
“Why did you say I would move?” Aiden asked, her tone more curious than angry.53
Loosing the snarl, Fury looked at her. “Wolfie senses it every time, eagle,” he said. “You’re uncomfortable in your own home, and no one should ever feel unwelcome where they live.” He shrugged. “Besides, once they move back in, you think they won’t come up with any excuse to get you out? Beating them at their own ballgame denies them the chance to whack you upside the head with the bat.”54
“You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”55
Ignoring the statement, Fury shivered in the cool air. “Doesn’t it ever get warm here? I’m going back home.” He looked at her. “Unless you wanted to get started on that packing.”56
Snorting in amusement, Aiden shook her head. “I can get that done in a snap,” she said, snapping her fingers. “Literally.” 57
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~58
Leaving Angie in one of the small buildings he owned was something that Dom didn’t want to do. But, he’d promised her that she could have all the space she needed, and he didn’t see her getting that if he was nestled in between her legs. Besides, the windows of the small house let in a lot of sun, and he didn’t feel like frying come morning. 59
Walking across the lawn to the small door in the fence that joined the properties, Dom took one last look behind him, giving a small wave to Angie as she stood in the window watching him. Entering his usual property, and closing the door, he leaned back against the fence and sighed. He’d shown her the escape route from the small cottage, and had changed the security codes to ones that she would be able to remember in a crisis. Since no one knew he owed the fenced properties on either side of him, he knew she was safer there than she would be with him in the house.60
Dawn wasn’t for a few more hours, but he felt the need to keep active. He didn’t want to go on any patrol and leave Angie alone, and he didn’t feel like going back to the house in case either the eagle or Tria were there. 61
Deciding to get some training done, he headed for the house. The sounds seemed to echo around him as he walked though the living room, everything seeming a little foreign to him. There was no sign of any struggle, and everything seemed to be just a little too neat. It was more than a little creepy.62
Fighting the shiver that ran up his back, Dom headed for the door leading to the area behind the house, grabbing his duffle bag from its usual spot as he walked past. Within a few minutes, and dressed only in a pair of pants, he started his workout routine. The grass tickled under his feet as he swung half-heartedly at random immovable objects.63
Over the past thousand plus years, he had been able to handle everything thrown at him, and either destroy it or beat it into some sort of submission. But now… things were coming at him so fast that he was finding it hard to breathe at times. 64
His squire was in the hospital, and about to be a father. The first part upset Dom, since his squires had always seemed to escape any danger of being associated with him, and this brought that small comfort to an end. The part about Craig being a father should have made him happy, but all he could feel was some sort of protective jealously over a woman he hardly knew. 65
Dom didn’t even want to think about Melissa, and swung harder with the blade in his hand, slicing into a thick piece of wood. Forcing most thoughts from his mind, Dom methodically destroyed the wood in front of him, then turned for another one. 66
Fire sprung out at him, and he jumped back with a surprised cry, holding the sword ready. Blinking, he stared at the log that, a few seconds ago seemed to be on fire, but now was as normal as a piece of log could be. Reaching out, he touched the cool surface, then took a step back swearing at what had been a vision.67
“Great,” he muttered. That was all he needed, some future event involving fire. As if the last couple weeks weren’t funky enough. Add in a monkey juggling bananas and his life would be a bona fide circus. 68
“Dom?”69
He spun at the voice, sword low. He knew who it was, but the vision involving fire made him wary to be around her. “What do you want?”70
Tria stepped over a log and looked at him. “Nothing really,” she said. “I was taking a walk, and I heard a cry. Thought you might have finally succeeded in hurting yourself back here.” 71
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Dom said with more sarcasm than intended. 72
“Is there something I’ve done to make you hate me?” Tria asked, wanting to focus on something other than the beating her ego had received from both Ash and Savitar.73
Dom looked at her in annoyance. “You were a DH for how long?”74
”Thirty years.”75
“Try a thousand,” he said, trying not to sound bitter, but failing. “Be denied that which all humanity takes for granted. Then ask me the question again.”76
“I never asked for this,” Tria spat. “Trust me, I’d rather be sitting in my dark room, getting ready for a night of killing demons than have to put up with this.”77
Sighing in disgust, Dom turned and headed for his house. “When the Tria pity party is over, let me know.” He stopped in his tracks, then crouched low, barely getting below a ball of fire that came flying towards him. Standing, he turned slowly, glaring at Tria as she stood with another ball of fire at her fingertips. He was sure this wasn’t part of his foresight, since in the vision, the fire had come from wood, not a hand. That didn’t stop the anger he was feeling. 78
“You’re not a Hunter,” he said, his voice dangerous and low. “And not really a human, so I can pretty well just kill you.”79
“I’m immortal,” she said, matching his tone.80
“Throw fire at me again, and that’ll change.”81
“Big talk for the tough guy that’s scared of a little fire,” Tria goaded, the flames at her fingertips growing. 82
“Listen, psycho-bitch,” Dom said, his attention solely on her face. “I’m not sure what your problem is…don’t really care, either…but if you’re going to be threatening me, you best be willing to follow through.”83
Tria glared, wondering why she was so angry with him. It wasn’t like he had anything to do with her current state. In fact, he’d taken her and Aiden in, and even protected them. Staring, she narrowed her eyes… then again, with the long black hair he held a resemblance to Ash, while the goatee reminded her of Savitar. And she was plenty pissed off at both of them at the moment.84
Wondering just why the hell she was mad with him, Dom tried to relax his stance to show that he wasn’t planning on talking to her as an adversary. His eyes kept going to the flame at her fingertips, making him feel more agitated than normal. This woman knew his fears, and had purposely used them against him.85
Exhaling, he tried another tactic. If this didn’t work, then there was always the option of taking her on. “Do you remember how angry you were after becoming a Dark Hunter?”86
“How would you know how angry I was?” she snapped.87
“We all go through it,” Dom said, striving to remain calm. The fire that was still in her hand was eating away at his resolve. “Through no fault of our own, everything we knew was violently taken from us. We had no choice then, but in the darkest hour of our existence, we were given a choice. We take it, and then find out that it’s just another fuck around, this time, for eternity.” 88
“What’s your point?”89
“My point,” Dom said, forcing himself to stay where he was, instead of walking away, “is that you’ve had two lives taken from you…both without your choice. Anger is one of the clearest ways to deal with it. It’s something we all know, and are well versed in. It takes away the confusion and pain that accompanies the loss.”90
Tria stared at him for a long moment, then closed her hand, extinguishing the flame. “It’s hard,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.91
“I know,” Dom replied as he slowly walked to her. Pausing at a thought, he pulled a spare blade from the backpack as he passed and held it out as he reached her. 92
“What?”93
“I think we could both benefit from this,” Dom said, holding the sword until she took it. “Just, no killing strikes.”94
“No killing,” Tria agreed, taking a step back and smiling evenly. This might be just what she needed to get rid of the emotional maelstrom that had been her companion since she got her soul back.95
~~~~~~~~~~~96
The problem with throwing oneself into things to occupy the mind, was that eventually there is a period when, for no reason, the thing trying to be avoided slams the person straight in the face. 97
Such was the case with Ash, and his single-minded pursuit of a few Daimons that were running through the streets of New York. Usually, he would simply teleport himself to a spot in front of them, and it would be done, but this time he needed the distraction that running brought. 98
The Daimons ran across a street, barely missing a car that came around a corner. Ash, however, didn’t miss the car. Moving to fast to stop, he jumped, placed his hands on the hood of the still moving car, and flipped his body over to the pavement on the other side. Landing in a run, he didn’t even look as brakes screeched behind him, then the car sped away. Acrobatics wasn’t high on his list of things, but it was a better deal than having to explain how he wasn’t injured if he’d let the car hit him. 99
Skidding to a halt, he watched as the Daimons cut through an alley, and frowned. He knew where they were heading, and he had to stop them from reaching some sort of sanctuary. Since it was forbidden to wait outside of a Limani, and hunt the strays that tried to get there for protection, Ash stepped into the shadows, and phased himself not quite a block away. 100
Running like the devil himself was after them, the Daimons tore through the end of the alley, and started for their salvation. Ash stepped out of the shadows so fast that two Daimons banged into him before giving a terrified look and turning the other direction. 101
“Um, no,” Ash said in a conversational tone as he raised a hand. Two Daimons immediately turned to golden dust, while the third looked from Ash, to the Limani about a block away.102
“You’ll never make it,” Ash said. “But, I have a proposition. I’m really in the mood to kick the life out of something. Care to volunteer?”103
Eyes wide, the Daimon bolted for the street, trying to cross and get to safety. Shaking his head, Ash sighed, then started walking away. The Daimon vanished in mid stride, leaving nothing behind to show that anyone had been there. 104
“Nobody ever says yes,” he said to himself. “Maybe if I said please…”105
Glancing in the window of a storefront as he passed, he caught sight of the stripe in his hair, still colored the hue of brown sugar. Staring, he watched at his hair changed from the black and brown, to a deep blue, adding a white front stripe. Turning to walk away, he created a skull and cross bone earring in his left year, and a small nose stud. 106
He saw no sense in keeping the brown sugar front stripe, and knew that it would only cause him discomfort every time he saw it. He had enough issues on a daily basis to contend with, and didn’t need the added problems thinking about Tria would bring. 107
He wanted to talk with Savitar about this, but also didn’t want to be anywhere near the surfer who had basically started this whole mess. Talking with Aiden might bring some insight, but the eagle had some sort of weird thing about wanting Ash to be happy, and wouldn’t tell him squat if it would hurt him. 108
Wondering if Tria had calmed down enough to talk about this, he decided to drop in and try to explain his decision and have a calm, rational conversation over this. Nearly convincing himself that they could be mature adults over this, he teleported himself to Dom’s house. 109
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~110
Jumping off the surfboard, Savitar turned in thigh high water and cast an expert eye over the horizon. Usually at this time of day, the waves were prime but this morning the water seemed content with just lazily lapping at the shores of Neratiti. Deciding that if there was no change by afternoon, then he would simply move his home to some other part of the world. Although he could easily use his powers to create the waves, he found surfing Mother Nature’s waves much more fulfilling. 111
Speaking of fulfilling, he inhaled the crisp morning air and smiled over the way things had been going lately. Aiden had finally worked out the issues with her patria, and the condo, and could move on to much bigger and better things. Although he knew all that would happen, and could have easily stepped in, he needed to let things work out to this result. Aiden had to let go of that part of her past, and have a clear slate to embrace what was coming next. 112
Ash had finally made his decision and dumped Tria, who was still upset about it, but… Savitar smiled… but kicking some serious Dark-Hunter ass in a sword fight designed to work out frustrations from two people that had major issues. 113
Not knowing Dominic beyond the fact that he liked to kill, that in itself a major bonus for what was coming, Savitar dissolved the surfboard beside, then turned to dive into the water. Surfing help him think, and if he couldn’t surf, then he would swim. 114
It should have amazed him how all things tie together, but it didn’t. He was far too used to one event having bearing on another seemingly unrelated event, and possibly spiraling another out of control. Dominic’s desire to kill and protect had worked well when the eagles broke into his house, and worked incredibly well in saving people that were very important in the long run. Aiden was important, and not just in a personal way to Savitar, Tria held that importance to Ash that the Atlantean had to still discover, while sweet, innocent, unassuming Angie would soon hold the power of life and death in her hands. One wrong move, and future generations would feel the effects. 115
Added on to this, were the whispers of some future event that was hiding from Savitar; something, or someone that was skirting on the very fringes of his peripheral vision, vanishing when he turned to look. It wasn’t a malevolent presence, nor was it completely innocent, but one that felt oddly familiar, and although he couldn’t place it, he knew it would greatly piss him off once it was standing in front of him. 116
Not knowing many who would be brave, or stupid enough to take him on in any way, shape or form, Savitar catalogued the constant fleeting presence, then forced it from his thoughts. When it happened, it happened, and he would either destroy, or listen, then destroy… depending on how he felt that day. 117
Turning in the water as he sensed another wave, he vanished from one spot, appearing at the same time a surfboard did, and got down to the preferred business of riding waves.118
~~~~~~~~~~~~119
Spinning fast, but not fast enough, Dom hissed as the blade nicked his upper arm. Holding up a hand to stop the swordplay, he took a step back to check out the cut. A bleeding line ran straight through one of the heads of his Cerberus tattoo. 120
“Ohhh,” he breathed, raising the sword again. “She who dings Cerberus pays.”
Advancing on Tria, he faked going high, spinning as she went to block, and caught her in the ribs with the hilt of his sword. Continuing around as she stumbled to the side, he brought his sword up to block the swing that she tried to get him with. Initially, he was taking it easy in the sword fight with Tria, not wanting to hurt her since his experience with the blade outnumbered hers by at least ten centuries. That was until she made it past his defenses and sliced along his thigh… after that, all niceties and gentleman ways were off. 121
He was right when he said they both needed this. He was working off a lot of annoyance, and she looked to be in some zone that wanted his head, but was willing to settle for blood instead. If he was smart, he would have called a halt to the activities … but then that would take away the fun he was experiencing. There was not much better than fighting someone, and knowing that both would walk away made it even better.122
And even better was that since Tria was no longer a Dark-Hunter, Dom didn’t have to worry about that pesky rule of getting back ten times fold any pain he dealt out to her.123
Blades clanged in the early morning darkness, neither one getting any sort of upper hand over the other. With both breathing hard, and bleeding in more than a few places, they continued to come at each other. 124
Sensing something, Dom paused enough to let Tria get by his defenses again, but managed to bring up a hand to swat the blade away before it could hit. Taking a quick step back, he lowered his own blade and turned. 125
Sitting on one of the logs, Ash had one foot on the ground, and the other up on the log so he could rest his arm on the bended knee. “Don’t stop on my account,” Ash said smoothly.126
“How long have you been here?” Dom asked. 127
“She who dings Cerberus pays,” Ash said, repeating his words. Standing, he approached like he had no cares in the world. “I need to speak with you, Tria.”128
“And… that’s my cue,” Dom said, holding his hand out to accept the sword from Tria. He smiled slightly as her fingers tightened around the hilt. “Pass it over.”129
Letting go of the blade, Tria ignore Dom as he quickly put his equipment away, grabbed his shoes and shirt, then left for the house. “What?”130
“You okay?” Ash asked.131
“Sure,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”132
“I thought that after-“133
Placing her fingers on his mouth, she smiled slightly. “I would really rather not talk about that right now,” she said. “I want to go through all that’s happened and work it through before I even attempt to bitch at you.” 134
Watching as she turned and walked away, Ash was tempted to follow, but knew better. He knew she was still mighty annoyed with him, and more than a little hurt that he didn’t desire to spend eternity with her. The one thing she didn’t know was that he was positive that he’d made the right decision. Things that were muddled for the past three months seemed a little clearer now, while residual emotions that he was trying to avoid had dissolved into nothing.135
Taking a look around, he sighed. “Alone again,” he said to the empty yard. “Much like life.”
136
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Comments
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“Besides, if it was important enough, he’d probably just push me off anyway if I said no.” Mwahahaha
I love the banter between Aiden and Fury. Sort of like two antagonists, but best friends.
“Why don’t we settle on guard dog, and be done with it.” Ouch... that hadda hurt. And, awwww, he's looking out for her and making sure no one messes with her.
"As if the last couple weeks weren’t funky enough. Add in a monkey juggling bananas and his life would be a bona fide circus."
Too funny!
Ooohhh... Tria's goin' Psycho bitch on Dom.
Chapter 99 'Moving to fast to stop' should be too fast....
"“Nobody ever says yes,” he said to himself. “Maybe if I said please…”" oh, Ash... you too funny.
Interesting part with Savitar. Kind of lets the reader in on a few things, but makes them wonder about others. ("When it happened, it happened, and he would either destroy, or listen, then destroy… depending on how he felt that day" ... typical surfing god attitude
)
Nice swrod fight scene... like when Tria didn't want to hand over the sword when Dom went to take it so she could talk with Ash.
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