~One week later~
Aiden looked through the peephole in the door, not recognizing the person who knocked. It was just before dawn, and she didn’t like the idea of a strange man pounding on her door.
“Hello?” he called out, his voice peppered with a slight Cajun accent. “My name is Nick Gautier. I know Acheron. I need your help.”
Aiden blinked slowly at that. She pulled her phone off the table by the door and quickly dialed. The call was answered immediately by a tired voice. "Yeah?"
“Do you know a Nick Gautier?”
“Yeah,” Ash answered sleepily.
“He seems to be knocking on my door, telling me he needs my help.” Silence greeted her. “Ash?”
“Why is he there?”
“He said he needs my help.”
“He’s a DH,” Ash said, referring to Dark-Hunter. “It’s too close to dawn….could you let him in?” He paused. “I’ll call you later.”
She lowered the phone as he hung up. Ash had sounded a little concerned, which made her nervous. Teleporting outside the door, she arrived behind the young man.
“Whaddaya want?” she asked.
He spun and glared, then relaxed. “Aiden Falconidae?”
“Yes.” The look he gave her set off every eagle instinct she had, telling her that this young man was pure trouble. Deciding to stop anything before it started, she concentrated and could see the reaction in his eyes when Savitar’s mark appeared on the side of her face. She covered it again and titled her head as he continued to stare. “What do you want?”
He looked at the floor. “I…hell…I need a place to stay, and I can’t stay with the other Hunters because of the power drain thing.” He glanced up, hoping she didn’t know that he was a special case, and the normal rules of Hunters didn’t really affect him. He didn’t get a power drain, and he could walk in sunlight.
“Why hasn’t a Squire set you up?”
“I don’t have one.”
Aiden sighed then motioned to her door, stepping past him as it opened. “Come on,” she said, using her magick to darken the patio doors and other widows to opaque so that the sunshine couldn’t get in to kill him.
Nick smiled at her back as he walked in, surprised at how simple this was. The mark of Savitar concerned him, since he didn’t want to tangle with anyone that powerful. He had to find out just how protective it was.
“That mark…” he began, then stopped as if it embarrassed him.
Aiden turned. “Yes, it is what you think it is.” She motioned to a chair, and watched as he sat on the cushion. “And I know that you know that this mark places me under his protection. His complete protection.”
He nodded. “Understood.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The call he had just received concerned Ash. He knew that it was the call that Savitar had referred to a little over a week before, but never, would he have thought that it would concern Nick.
At least he now knew where the newest Dark-Hunter had taken off to. Now he just had to figure out why he showed up at Aiden’s. As far as Ash knew, Nick had no knowledge of the Were-eagle, nor did he ever have any reason to know about her. She was someone outside the Dark-Hunter circle, and there seemed to be no reason to drag her into it any further than he already had.
He swung his feet off the side of the bed and stood, willing clothes on to his body as he headed for his throne room. He had to figure out how to deal with Nick while making sure that the Cajun didn’t get hurt. Ash may have been totally pissed off at the man, but deep down inside, he still loved him like a brother. A spoiled rotten, arrogant little prick of a brother, but a brother none the less.
He contemplated contacting Savitar and asking him about Nick’s time on Neratiti, but the surfer was in one of his strange, cryptic moods, and anything asked would most likely receive a completely random reply.
Ash knew he had to handle this himself without dragging other DH’s into the mixture, and risk setting off an already volatile Nick. He sighed. Eventually, and if Nick didn’t cut the ‘pity me’ attitude, Ash would be forced to take drastic measures, and Nick would end up either taking former Dark-Hunter Zarek’s old position in the wilds of Alaska, or Nick would join the Hunters who roamed the earth forever as a shade.
Not wanting to even think about the possibility of having to kill Nick and let him roam as a ghost forever, Ash rapidly went through scenario after scenario in trying to find out some hint to what the Cajun was up to.
~~~~~~~~~~
After making her impromptu guest something to eat, Aiden settled down at the table with a mug of coffee and tried to get a sense of who this person was. He still had his sunglasses on, but she understood the need for them, since lights tended to hurt a Dark-Hunter’s eyes. She could see them occasionally flick towards her over the top of the glasses, but for the most part, he ate silently and heartily.
Her original unease with him was still there and she tried to reach out with her Were-Hunter sense and see what she could find. As a rule, Artemis’ army was hard to read, but Nick gave off hatred and suspicion so heavily that she bumped her initial mistrust up a level to a solid wariness.
Nick finished eating, and stood from the table, taking his dishes to the sink where he washed them and then placed them on the rack to dry. His mother had always instilled in him the ‘right’ way to behave, and he saw no reason to abandon everything that he believed in. He turned from the sink to find her watching him.
“Would you like to call Ash?” Aiden asked. She raised an eyebrow at the menacing glare Nick gave her. “Or not.”
“Ash would just grab control of my life again.”
“Well, uh,” she ran a hand over her cheek and neck in reference to his double bow and arrow, “ you sort of have your contract to him written all over your face.”
“The contract is to Artemis,” he growled. “Not to that prick.”
Aiden sighed to herself, wondering just why Ash would ask her to take this snotty little brat into her home. “You want to stay here,” she said, “and you’ll watch your attitude.”
Nick glared, then forced himself to relax. “I’m sorry,” he said in a voice that was a little too sweet. “I’ve been traveling for days, and it’s hard to stay hidden during the days. I’m tired.”
“Why don’t you like Ash?” she asked, wondering why the Atlantean would ask her to take in someone who hated him.
“He’s too secretive.”
“I would assume he has to be,” she replied carefully. Something about Nick’s attitude seemed a little too tightly wound.
“Until recently, I’d never heard of you.”
“Until you knocked on my door,” she replied, “I’d never heard of you.” She leaned forward. “But tell me, how did you hear about me?”
“Did you know that Ash is a god?” he asked, ignoring her question.
Not really liking his overall attitude, Aiden gave him a condescending look. “I wondered why he was able to throw god-bolts.”
“Bet you never knew that Simi was his daughter.”
That, Aiden didn’t know, but suddenly, a lot of things made sense. She had known for a long time that Ash and Simi weren’t boyfriend/girlfriend, but had thought his attitude towards the demon was a result of her being the one constant friend in his entire existence. Simi was always with Ash, and their symbiotic relationship consisted mostly of Simi demanding, and Ash happily giving in.
Ash spoiled Simi, dotting on her like an extremely over-protective father figure. This was something she would have to approach carefully with Ash, and hope that he didn’t fry her on the spot. He may have been a friend, but his personal life was completely off limits.
Nick studied her. The news was a shock to her, too, and he felt a little calmer that he wasn’t the only one that had been lied to and deceived. “Doesn’t it anger you that he hides things?”
“Not at all.” She stood. “Apparently though, for some reason, it annoys you.”
“He held a secret and because of it I’m dead, you stupid eagle!” he growled. “And it’s all Ash’s fault!”
Aiden sighed in annoyance, but let the insult slide. “You died, Nick. You’re not dead now.”
“Ash cursed me and it killed me,” he said in a tight voice. “Then he just literally dumped me on a remote island for two years. The bastard has a lot to pay for, but most of all he has to pay for playing us all for fools.” He paused to take an angry breath. ”My mother is dead! She treated Ash like a son, and he didn’t even raise finger to save her. He didn’t care, and she’s dead.”
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“You have no idea, so shove your fucking sympathy.”
“My mother was taken down by a Katagaria wolf pack eighty-seven years, four weeks, and three days ago.” She stood, annoyed at his arrogance. “I have a little thing called perfect recall, so not even time will dull the memories of watching her die.” She turned. “I’m truly sorry that your mother is dead…but you know what? By trying to get revenge you disrespect her memory. Trust me, I have first hand knowledge of that.”
Nick glared as he slowly stood. “I’m only going to say this once, cause the only time I’ll repeat it is during your eulogy.” He took a step towards her. “Don’t you ever patronize me, or compare my mother to yours again. My mother was a beautiful woman, while yours was part animal.”
She blinked slowly and stared at him. “Word of advice, kid,” she said dangerously. “Don’t ever piss off a Were-Hunter.”
He snorted, then his eyes went wide as he was thrown back and pinned against the wall. Aiden slowly approached.
Nick snarled, and closed his eyes, canceling her magick. He stepped easily from the wall and pointed at her.
Aiden vanished as the electricity passed through where she was, and appeared directly behind him. She gave him a shove, vanishing as he spun, and appeared on the other side and ducked low, swiping his feet out from under him.
“I don’t know where you got that lil’ treat from,” she said, “but you ever pull it on me again, and I’ll kill you, regardless what Ash says.”
Nick grimaced as he got to his feet. He walked past her, purposely banging her out of the way and headed for a bedroom. Slamming the door hard, he then kicked it a few times.
“Easy on the condo!” Aiden yelled. “Snotty little punk-ass,” she whispered as she shook her head.
Aiden flicked her phone open and punched at the buttons, talking as soon as it was answered. “I want this little prick out of my house, immediately,” she said. “Send some squire over to get him.”
“Aiden,” Ash said. “Nick’s still trying to work through his death.”
“Acheron,” she said slowly. “Either he gets picked up immediately, or I am going to ram a couple talons through his neck, and squeeze r-e-e-e-al hard.”
Ash paused at that. Nick’s double bow and arrow was on his neck and piercing it would kill the man. Maybe asking Aiden to take him in had been a mistake. No. He couldn’t second guess himself on this.
“Aiden,” he said in a soft voice. “Nick has issues…”
“I thought that was a prerequisite for Hunter-dom.”
He ignored her sarcastic interruption. “He wasn’t suppose to die when he did, and… well… he needs to work through things before he can accept his future.”
Aiden sighed in annoyance. “So, you want me to baby sit this kid who sits around whining about how unfair life is, and seriously hates your guts and would like to see you die?”
“Please.”
Aiden flipped her phone shut, hanging up on the immortal. “I have enough of my own problems, Ash,” she whispered to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ash grimaced as the phone disconnected, and slipped his cell back into his pocket. He had to find out what Nick was up to, and in all honesty, Aiden’s was still the safest place for him to be.
Nick would not harm her, for fear of bringing Savitar down on him, and Ash didn’t really want to risk other Dark-Hunters until he knew Nick’s plans. The guilt Ash felt at Nick’s death still stuck with him, and he had the need to make sure that he could help the former squire in any way that he could. Even if Nick didn’t want the help.
He knew that Nick wanted him dead. But that was just the frustration and pain of the young mans’ death talking. Most Dark-Hunters hated him when they first crossed over, since he was the only figure around for them to take their anger out on. Nick would get over it eventually.The one thing that bothered him was how Nick knew about Aiden in the first place. He filtered out all the voices in his head that he heard all the time and focused on one. Savitar?
Can’t talk, surfing, came the reply.
It’s important.
Always is. Savitar sighed. If you want to know anything, just…ask him.
Ash winced slightly as all the other voices came filing back in to his head, signifying that Savitar had basically ‘hung up’ on him. Yeah, the man was certainly in one of his less than chatty cryptic moods.
Ask him? Sure, no problem, easy breezy. Just pop in to Aiden’s place, look Nick in the eye, and ask ‘who are you working for?’ Ash jerked as that thought crossed his mind. No way. Nick couldn’t be working for someone besides Artemis…Ash would know. Rather, Artemis would know, and she would immediately tell Ash, since she was kind of territorial with her army, even though she ignored them most of the time.
There had to be another explanation to how Nick knew that Aiden was his friend. At least Ash hoped there was.
~~~~~~~~
Nick peeked out the door, checking to make sure that no one was around, then closed it again and pulled out his special cell phone, this one was able to punch through barriers and reach Kalosis.
“I’m here,” he whispered when the call was answered. “You didn’t tell me that she was under Savitar’s personal protection.”
“She is, is she?” Stryker asked in a reflective voice. “That’s good, actually. It shows her to be someone he actually trusts, and can be used against Acheron.” There was a pause, then the Spathi leader continued. “Hang out there for a few days, and try to gain her trust.”
Nick rolled his eyes slightly. “Did you want me to seduce her while I’m at it?” he asked sarcastically.
“Ah, sarcastic wit,” Stryker said in a less than amused voice. “I never tire of hearing that from you.” He disconnected the call.
“Pffft.” Nick closed his cell phone and tossed it on the bed. He took a look around the office bedroom, then fell on to the bed, and tried to sleep. More tired than he thought, he soon drifted off to sleep.
He looked around, surprised to find himself in a room in Savitar’s palace. The pool table was where it had been when Nick stayed there, and he felt a sense of ease as he looked around at the rest of the room.
His eyes rested on a figure that was lazily sitting in an overstuffed chair, watching him.
“Very dangerous game you’re playing,” Savitar said calmly.
“Is this a dream?”
Savitar raised a hand, sending a god-bolt straight at Nick. The Cajun cringed, then looked shocked as the bolt passed harmlessly through it.
“Guess so,” Savitar said.
“Who’s Aiden?” Nick had to know how far the protection went.
“She’s Nun-ya.”
“Nun-ya?”
“As in nun-ya business,” the god replied in a hard voice. The corners of his lips turned up briefly at the understanding look that crossed Nick’s face. “You’re searching for some truth in the lies you’ve been given.”
At last, possible answers. “Who lied?”
“That is something you have to discover for yourself. All is not what it seems and what it seems is not all there is.” Savitar gave him a studied look. “When the time comes, can you go beyond your anger and do the right thing? Not what you think is right, but what you know is right.”
Nick turned away with a frown on his face. “How can you protect him?”
“Who says I am?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stryker held the phone in his hand, flipping it back and forth between his fingers and exhaled. The protection mark had been unexpected, but didn’t hold enough to stop the plans he had. All he had to do was alter a few things, including the plan to kill the eagle.
She really wasn’t important in the overall scheme of things, but he still had his code of honor to live up to, and since he had already vowed to kill her, he really should follow through on it.
Maybe she wouldn’t die soon, but she definitely would be dead eventually. Besides, Stryker didn’t really feel like taking on Savitar in another pissed off mood, and killing the eagle would most assuredly piss the god off.
Priorities.
Ash first, the cosmos second.
There was a saying, ‘truth is a flexible perception based on need’, and Stryker embraced that when dealing with Nick. He needed Ash dead, and it had been too easy to mix some lies in with the truth, and feed them to Nick.
The disgruntled Dark-Hunter had been so hungry for revenge that he took all he could handle, and still demanded more. All Stryker had to do was continue to feed Nick the lies about Ash, and the man would do anything he wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savitar remained in the overstuffed chair long after he’d removed himself from Nick’s dream. The young man had serious issues, and if they weren’t dealt with soon, then it would alter the cosmos more than his untimely death had.
Using his magick, Savitar created dominoes, and patiently stacked them so they lined up one behind another. It took a while, but since Neratiti existed outside of normal space, he had all the time in the world.
Ash believed in free will, and although Savitar could see the plus side of it, he much preferred using his free will at times to make people do what he wanted. This time, he couldn’t. The cosmos had shifted, and completely threw time lines into a jumble. With one small thing said in anger, countless futures changed.
Ash knew he had fucked up royally, and was trying to reach Nick so he could ease the Cajun’s mind and try to set things on the general course that it should be on. Savitar set up more dominoes, making an intricate shape, reminiscent of the cosmos as viewed from some distant point.
Trying to make things right was noble, but would eventually fail. Nick had too much anger, and Ash was still entirely too pissed to think completely objectively. Besides, the immortal tended to think with his heart, and that just added to the problem.
Savitar stood and admired his work with a smile. The dominoes covered the entire floor of the large room, the multiple colors melding together perfectly into a thing of real beauty.
“Boom,” he whispered, watching as the domino universe exploded violently, the tiles flying all over the room. Many flew past, but none touched him.
He smiled maliciously at the mess. There, that was far better than hitting a lone tile and watching them all fall one by one by one.
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