1
Miguel stared at the monitor in front of him, bored and wishing he could find something to do to get his mind off of his problems with not only the Squire Council, but with Stone. He knew that Stone knew he was innocent, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had let the man down. Stone had been like a second father to him while growing up, and after he became a Squire, an older brother figure. Squires would kill or die for their Dark-Hunter, and Miguel felt no different, regardless of their background. 2
He clicked the mouse, moving the two of hearts onto the three of clubs and sighed. He had work to do, and until this was sorted out, his access to dark-hunter.com was frozen. He couldn’t finish the second virus program he had been toying with, and couldn’t work on the mapping of attacks that he was been compiling just the day before. His life, at the moment, was categorically screwed…all because some woman smiled at him in a bar in Hawaii, and he was too stupid to ignore her. 3
He blinked as a cup of coffee was placed in front of him, and smiled at Ava as she pulled up a chair and sat beside him at his desk. She took the mouse from his hand, clicked a few cards, then returned the game to him. 4
“You’ve got that same look you used to have five minutes before I passed back exam results,” She said mildly. “The ‘I know I’m fine, but what if I’m not’ look.”5
Miguel sighed as he took a drink of surprisingly good coffee. “What did you do, get delivery?”6
Ava shook her head. “Cleaned your coffee maker.”7
“You can clean coffee makers?” Miguel asked, wondering why he never thought of that before. “I wondered why the coffee always tasted like crap.”8
Ava jumped as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She stood and answered it. “Hello?”9
“Ava?”10
“Kari!” Ava smiled. “Hi!”11
“Up for a visit?”12
“Hold on a sec.” Ava covered the phone. “My friend wants to visit.”13
“No one gets on these grounds without mine or Stone’s authorization,” Miguel said, his earlier self-pity gone. “And after yesterday, I’m going to have to say no.”14
Ava nodded, understanding, but annoyed. She went back to the phone. “How about we go grab a coffee and wander around the beach?”15
“Sounds good,” Kari said. “I’ll meet you by the door on the gate.”16
Ava closed her phone, and started for the door. 17
“Leaving?”18
She turned to Miguel. “Going out with an old friend.” She paused and sighed. “And yes, Stone Junior, I shall bring my bodyguards along.”19
“Bring me back a large coffee and a sprinkle donut,” he called as she closed the door. Laughing, he turned back to the computer, switching the screen from the solitaire game to the camera view located outside the gate. 20
He stood so fast that the chair fell to the floor, and he ran across the living room, jerking the front door open, and pulled out his weapon as he ran for the gate.21
Ava’s hand landed on the door handle at the same time he yelled “Stop!” She turned to look, and was thrown off balance as the door slammed open. 22
Miguel skidded to a stop as two men entered and immediately drew their guns at him. He raised his gun in response. 23
“I’m going to have to ask for you two to leave,” he said calmly. He recognized the two as the men who had been in the boat that Ava had taken pictures of. He brought a hand over to tap the panic alarm on his phone, this one calling in to both the guards outside, and the Dark-Hunters own little security force.24
“Put the gun away, kid.” One of the men bent down and reached for Ava’s arm while the other kicked the door shut on the guards who were running to the rescue.25
“Private property,” Miguel said coldly, “trespassers.”26
The man released Ava, who took a quick step back, grabbing Kari’s arm and pulling the confused woman a little further down the wall. The men stared at Miguel, and then one raised his gun slightly. Miguel fired a fraction of a second before the other, and the bullet hit one intruder in the shoulder, then Miguel felt something slam into his chest. 27
Both Ava and Kari screamed as Miguel landed on the ground, and Ava looked from Miguel to the men, stepping back further as something flew through the air and hit both the intruders in the chest. They fell to the ground as the gate door flew open again, her bodyguards quickly checking and fanning out. 28
She quickly knelt on the ground beside Miguel, checking him over, looking for a sign of life. Miguel’s pain filled gaze caught her attention. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.29
“It’s okay, Ms. D.,” he said weakly. “Part of my job.”30
She was pushed aside as a bodyguard/paramedic started to work on Miguel, and she slowly stood to look around in slight shock. Ash was trying to calm down a still screaming Kari, then he abruptly turned and ran for the house. 31
Ava looked, confused as the door shut, then she remembered the blades that came sailing towards the intruders, and the direction they came from.32
“Stone!”33
~~~~~~~~~34
Stone jerked awake, sensing far too many people around than there should have been. He jumped out of bed, pulling on his pants before he even made it to the door, and eased it open. Grabbing two blades from the top of a dresser, he glided down the hallway. Sunlight was filtering in to the living room from the open front door and he skirted the shadows as he made his way to the windows, grimacing in pain as the occasional ray cut across his skin. 35
Knowing that he would be completely sore from it later, he made it to the darkened window near the door, and looked out. Ava, Miguel and some woman were facing two armed men. Miguel, with weapon raised, said something as the man reached for Ava, who stopped, and shot Miguel.36
Stone’s eyes grew wide and he stepped into the doorway, throwing out his hands, then stepped out of the burning sun as the blades imbedded themselves into the chests of two police officers. 37
He could hear someone whimpering in pain, and realized that he was on the floor, shaking uncontrollably. He’d been in direct sunlight a little longer than he should have after already walking through the lit living room, and although he hadn’t burst into flames, his whole body felt like someone had set him on fire. 38
“Ash,” he whispered. 39
He heard voices outside, some frantic, and Ash’s deep voice over top of them as he worked his mojo and calmed a screaming woman down. Stone couldn’t remember her name, but she was a friend of Ava’s. A shadow suddenly fell over him, and the door was mercifully shut.40
Ash tried not to grimace as he looked at Stone huddled in a corner, burns over most of his torso and face. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad. He raised a hand to heal the Dark-Hunter, pausing when a voice in his head told him to stop. He realized that this was Stone’s chance to regain what he lost almost three hundred sixty years ago. Or, it was his chance to find out first hand just how long forever was as a shade.41
“Are they safe?” Stone whispered. A badly blistered hand reached out to grab Ash when he didn’t reply. “Is Miguel okay?”42
“Stone!”43
He tried to close his eyes at Ava’s voice yelling from outside, whimpering at the pain it brought. “Don’t… let her see me… like this…please…” 44
Ash ran a hand over Stone, healing the outer burns, and forced himself to hold back on healing the internal injuries. Ava burst through the door, casting sunlight over them for a fraction of a second before Ash kicked the door shut.45
“Stone?” Ava said in a worried voice. She saw the pain in his eyes, and started to cry. “This is all my fault.”46
“Don’t cry,” Stone said, and he meant it. If he lost his Dark-Hunter powers now, the internal injuries could kill him. The fear and uncertainty of what was about to happen made him ache to hold her until he woke up from this terrifying nightmare. He couldn’t imagine dying right now, and knew that the pain of leaving her would be a fate far worse than anything an eternity of being a shade could hoist upon him. 47
Ash watched as Stone’s eyes turned to brown, and filled with tears as the pain increased ten-fold. It was what he had been waiting for. He vanished, appeared in the guesthouse, grabbed his backpack, then reappeared by Stone, who was now being cradled by Ava. He took a small box out and carefully placed it on the floor. 48
Grabbing the medallion by the chain, he looked at Ava and held it out.49
“What’s this?” she asked sniffing as she cried. 50
“A way to save him. Hold it on his double bow and arrow,” Ash said. “You’ll only get one chance at this, so…just don’t drop it.”51
“I won’t,” Ava said, swallowing nervously. She gently lowered him to the floor, gasping in guilt as he moaned in pain, then pulled the corner of Stone’s pants down, revealing the tattoo. 52
Ash grimaced at a scar that was right above the tattoo. Stone had come close to death on that one, since piercing the tattoo could also kill a Dark-Hunter. 53
Stone took Ava’s hand in his. “Don’t,” he whispered. “It’ll burn your hand. It’s okay…” he smiled weakly, wishing that he could sense her one last time. “I love you.”54
Ava cried harder and brought up a cold hand to kiss it. He smiled slightly at the feel, then fell still. “Stone?” she whispered, her voice breaking with fear. 55
“Now,” Ash said as he passed the amulet to her. 56
Ava took it, sucked in her breath at the pain and nearly dropped it. She held on tight, placing it against the tattoo, ignoring the agony that shot through her hand and arm. It was nothing, she thought, if it held even the faintest chance of saving him. The amulet soon grew cold, and she looked up as Ash. 57
“It takes a while,“ he assured her. He sat back on the floor wearily and waited. Ava kept her hand on the amulet and laid her head on Stone’s chest. 58
Stone jerked and opened his eyes. Ava raised her head and stared into the most beautiful brown eyes she’d ever seen. 59
“I love you, too,” she whispered.60
~~~~~~~~~61
Kari sat huddled on a hospital bed, her shivering not wanting to stop. She looked around, getting a large déjà vu as she looked at the walls of her room. The feeling grew as a tall man dressed all in black entered. She could swear she’d seen him before, and not just from earlier today.62
Thinking of the events from earlier started her crying again. She’d been so foolish to believe those men, and she’d almost cost her best friend her life. As it stood, the young man who had been protecting Ava might just be dead.63
“Is everyone all right?” she asked in a shaky voice, not looking up into his eyes.64
“Ava is fine, Stone nearly died, and Miguel, well…” Ash replied in a hard voice, his Atlantean accent a little more pronounced than usual. He was trying not to be angry with the woman, although it was a hard thing to do.
She’s just a human a voice in his head said. And they’re usually stupid.
He grimaced at Savitar's statement before replying. Not stupid, just trusting. She truly thought she was helping a friend.
The voice clucked like a teacher when they knew a student stumbled upon the correct answer. Then why are you angry with her? 65
Point taken. Ash inhaled, and then exhaled out all the annoyance he was feeling. He looked at the woman. “They’ll be fine,” he said, then turned and walked out of the room. 66
Ash stopped by another door and peeked in. Miguel lay on the bed, hooked up to various monitors. Ash watched silently for a few minutes, struck with the similarities between the young Squire, and Nick Gautier. Both were fun loving, girl chasing, ultra-annoying…kids, and Ash would do everything in his power to see to it that Miguel didn’t meet the same fate that Nick had.67
His gaze flicked to two people who sat on a small couch pulled up by the bed. Stone looked tired and in pain as he leaned against Ava, but he refused to leave his squire’s bedside. Ash blinked when he realized that Stone no longer actually had a squire, since he was mortal, but decided that was an issue for some other time. 68
Ava slouched against the back of the couch, holding Stone against her as she stared blankly at the young man on the bed. Ash could see the guilt in her eyes as she continued to blame herself for this.69
“This is all my fault,” she whispered 70
Stone closed his eyes wearily. “Stop saying that.”71
“It is.” She paused. “If I hadn’t suggested gong for coffee with Kari, then…”72
Stiffening at the mention of her friend, Stone pushed the anger down to its usual place. He wanted to hate her friend for being gullible enough to believe what the men had told her, and wanted to hold her responsible for this. But he couldn’t. She thought she was helping Ava, and by bringing the men, she had inadvertently set in motion the events that made him able to walk in the daylight again. “It’ll be all right, Ava.”73
“Will it?”74
He nodded, feeling the need to reassure her. “Yeah. Miguel will be fine, he’ll be back to annoying the hell out of me before you know it.”75
“Okay,” she whispered, wanting to believe him. 76
“And then you and I can grow old together.”77
She smiled, and then realized what he said. She stared at him. “Pardon?”78
“You heard me.”79
“Are you asking me to marry you?” She frowned when he shook his head. “Then what?”80
“I’m not asking anything until after your kids meet me. They’re an important part of your life, and have a stake in this, too.”81
Tears seeped from her eyes and she kissed him. “I love you.”82
“I love you too,” he replied as he turned to pull her closer.83
“I think I may barf,” a weak voice said from the bed.84
They pulled apart and smiled. “Migs,” Stone said, relief evident in his voice. “You’re fired.”85
Miguel gave him a week smile. “You can’t fire me. I quit.” He grimaced in pain. “Don’t wanna work for some plain human anyway.”86
Stone stared. “How’d you know?”87
“Your eyes are brown….and it’s daylight out…and you’re not a crispy critter.”
Ash smiled slightly, then took a step back from the door and turned, his long black jacket trailing behind him. He wanted to go some place and lay down for a century or two and just sleep. But, he knew this wasn’t over yet. There was still the danger of Stryker, and since Stone was now mortal, his soul could be taken.
Author notes
Nick Gautier is from the Dark-Hunter series, and if you want to know what happened to him... I'm not telling
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Comments
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thanks for not spoiling it because i intend to read...but man was this an awesome chapter.! so action packed and emotional. great work with ash once again. i always love when the story is more or less from his perspective.
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I like Ash.
He was my favorite character when I first started reading the series... (Savitar took over, but Ash is still my favorite DH). According to Sherrilyn Kenyon, she plans on a grand double novel about Ash, and him being released from Dark-Hunterdom. 
I'm gonna miss him... but not in *my* stories.
So little is known about him, but when it's added together, it makes for a very interesting character that's full of wonderful writing.
And, to sum up my rambling.. I'm glad you're still reading and enjoying. I hope the following chapters don't let down.
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woahhhhhh give me give me the next chapter...give me lol
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