Aiden sat in the booth long after Ash had gone. The immortal still seemed completely pissed off, and she was glad that the anger wasn’t directed at her. She looked up as a shadow fell across the table.
“I’m leaving,” Nick said as he put the key in front of her.
“Okay.” She watched him for a moment. “Need a lift?” He gave her a blank stare. “Hate to see you get caught in the sun on your trip…”
“No. Thanks.” Nick turned and walked out of the diner, and made sure that she saw him getting in to a car with a rental sticker on the bumper.
Aiden watched him go, suddenly feeling like she could breathe for the first time in three days. She took out her cell phone and pushed her speed dial. “My houseguest has decided to deny me another day of his charming company,” she said when it was answered.
“What?” Ash asked, his voice calmer than it had been in the diner.
“He came in, gave me the key, then left in a rental car.”
“Did you get a plate number?” He sounded slightly preoccupied.
Aiden shook her head slightly. “Lemme see… would the eagle with photographic memory get a plate number?” She gave him a complete description of the car, right down to a small dent in the rear left fender.
“Thanks, ‘den,” Ash said, referring to her by a name he hadn’t used in nearly half a century. “I’ll call you later.”
Getting up from the booth, and tossing some money on the table to cover the coffee, Aiden walked out into the crisp night air, went behind the building, and then teleported herself to a secluded area of the central park. With a quick check around, she transformed herself into her eagle form, and launched herself into the sky.
Catching an air current, she flowed through the velvet darkness, enjoying the feeling of the wind through her feathers. She loved flying, and regretted that she hadn’t spent much time doing it in the past month or so.
It was after midnight when she finally started towards home, and as she approached, she noticed just how dark the building was. Only eight floors high, it sat on a hill overlooking the city and the magnificent view beyond. Prime real estate, and she was the only resident.
The Were-Eagles who had lived there with he had no desire to return, or at least no desire while she was still living there. She didn’t have any plans to move, but toyed with the idea of leasing the empty condos out to other Were-Hunter families. Her Patria owned the building, but if it meant money in their pockets, she was sure that they would most likely agree to a plan like that.
She landed on her balcony and changed to human as she willed clothes on to her body. Using magick to open the glass door, she entered her condo, looked at the stereo to get some noise going, then walked to the kitchen.
Although she didn’t like to use her powers that often, she had promised Savitar that she would do little things with them so that the magick wouldn’t get stale. She closed her eyes, teleporting the short distance to her bedroom, and then willed her nightdress on.
Covering a yawn, she pulled back the blankets and slipped into the cool bed, welcoming the feel of it against her tired body. With Nick gone, Ash off on one of his hissy fits, and Savitar telling her that he wouldn’t be back for a while, Aiden had firm plans on sleeping in as long as she could.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick looked around in the darkness, his eyes seeing everything without having to turn on a light. He scanned the walls and furniture, looking for any place that would be suitable enough to hide something the size of an arrow.
He had been able to find Keegan’s address from his files, and lucked out when he saw the Squire leaving just as the rental car slowly drove past. He parked a block away, climbed over the tall fence that surrounded the property, and used a little of his demi-god-like powers to get past the security system on the front door.
Starting in the attic, he quickly, yet methodically, checked every closet, box, suitcase… anything that could hide an arrow. He realized that there were a lot of places that were suited for that.
Not sure of the timeline he was working with, Nick pulled out a digital camera, switched it over to video clip, and started filming the rooms of the house in slow steady pans. He had about fifteen video clips done, with three rooms left to go when the batteries finally ran out of power.
Pocketing the camera, he quickly searched through those last three rooms, satisfied that he wouldn’t be missing the hiding spot by not filming. He just hoped that the arrow was in the house…he didn’t relish the idea of having to gain entrance to the safety deposit boxes that he’s discovered the day before.
Darkness was leaving the sky when he opened the front door and walked out. He could tell by looking that it would be another warm, seasonal day, and for a brief moment wanted nothing more than to just go and sit somewhere while the world continued around him.
He made it to the rental car, got in and drove to the hotel where he had booked a room for a few nights. He needed to stick around to search for that arrow, and the possible weapon that would finally put his soul at ease.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savitar rolled over in a bed that was, after untold millenniums, suddenly too big, and tried to get comfortable. He didn’t want to admit it, but he missed Aiden. Sighing, he sat up, the black silken sheets pooling around his waste, and stared into the darkness.
Scenes from countless futures played out in the space in front of him, thousands of generations shrunk down to a mere ripple in the cosmic pond of eternity. Life was nothing more than a blink in his existence, and years could pass during one of his days.
Because of that, he had to make a conscience effort to keep things in a basic chronological order with Aiden, or else he might just vanish from her life for decades. He didn’t want to do that to her, although he knew that trips to the past would fix it all, and the future Aiden would never know that he’d been gone for long.
Maybe it would be better for Aiden if he actually did just vanish from her life. She would still be under his protection, and he wouldn’t have to be concerned with toasting the cosmos in anger.
He still firmly believed that love destroys, and by viewing the countless futures, he wanted to see if his attraction to Aiden was going to mess up too many things. So far, and beyond him almost killing Stryker, things had been fairly normal. Although, he knew that if the Fates thought that they could pull one little coup over on him, regardless how small, that they would.
Of course, they would pay for it, dearly…which was usually a deterrent enough to keep the bitches from pushing him too far. He wasn’t a tolerant being, and they knew better than to test his limited patience.
Vanish from Aiden’s life completely.
That would be the ideal solution…the best for all concerned. And, the Fates would love it.
Yes. The ideal solution. The perfect solution. Only problem was… he couldn’t do it.
Savitar fell back on to his pillow with an annoyed sigh.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Aiden bolted up in bed and looked at the clock as the pounding that woke her continued. The digital numbers just changed to 5:37 in the morning.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me!!” she said loudly as she got out of bed, willing a housecoat over her light nightdress as she walked out of the bedroom and to the door.
The pounding continued, annoying her and making the idea of just blasting the hell out of whoever was on the other side rather inviting. “What?!” she snapped as she looked through the peephole.
“Aiden Falconidae?” a gruff voice asked.
“Who wants to know?” she called through the door, eyeing the three rather large men who stood in the hall outside her door.
“We’re from the Squire’s Council,” one replied.
“Nick Gautier left last night,” she told them. “You’re too late.”
“It’s not him we’re here to see. If we could come in-“
“Come back at a reasonable hour,” Aiden said, wondering why they would want to talk to her instead.
“We’d rather come in now, please.”
“And I’d rather you come back later, thank you.”
“Open the door, eagle,” the main talker ordered.
Little snot-assed punk! “Why? You gonna bust it down?”
“If we have to.”
Aiden glared at the door as she changed her bathrobe to a pair of jeans and a shirt. “Try it, and the Council will have three dead Squires.”
“Aiden?”
She blinked at the voice, and looked through the peephole again. A fourth man stood front and center of the other three. Tall, jet black hair and dressed as a Goth. “What’s going on, Ash?”
“Open the door, Aiden.”
She suddenly felt guilty without knowing why. “No.” She took a step back as Ash appeared directly beside her. He gave her a cold look that set off every instinct alarm in her body.
Ash turned from her and opened the door, letting the other three gain entrance. She looked at their hands, not surprised to see spider web tattoos that marked them as Blood Rite squires. These were the Squires that were called out to hunt rogue Dark-Hunters, or execute any humans or squires who betrayed their world.
A rather intense looking man walked up to her. “I have some questions, and you’re going to answer them.”
“You’re going to take a step back from me, now,” Aiden said in a tight voice. She glared as he stayed where he was. “Ash? Tell him to move back, or I swear on my mother’s memory that I’ll kill him.”
“Back up,” Ash said in a quiet voice. The Blood Rite Squire immediately took a step back. “Aiden. This is serious.“
She looked at him. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“Keegan is…dead…and someone accessed his private Internet accounts after he died.”
Anger flashed through her as she glared at him. She was sorry that Keegan was dead, regardless how much he annoyed her, but she couldn’t believe that she was being questioned about it.
“And this had what to do with me?” she asked.
“The internet connection used was traced to you.” Ash stared at her, hating what he was asking. “Who used your computer yesterday?”
“Just me,” she said, then paused. “And Nick. He wanted to check his e-mail.”
“When was that?”
“The late news was on, so sometime after ten. About a half an hour before I talked to you.”
The squires looked at each other, then Ash, who sighed deeply. “Aiden,” he said, “the account was accessed in the afternoon.” He slowly approached her.
She took a step back, straight into one of the squires, who placed his hands on her upper arms. The man then stumbled a few feet back as if he were pushed, and Aiden whirled to glare.
“Touch me again, and-“
“Aiden!”
She spun to face Ash. “Just what are you accusing me of doing?” she demanded. “Fuck! How about asking me nicely, instead of this bully tactic?” She folded her arms over her chest. “Like… how about asking me if the internet connection is on a hub, and shared by more than one computer, or if the same network runs through all the condos on this floor, including the one used by the extremely charming Nick Gautier.”
“Are they?”
“No. But you could have asked.” She glared. “Instead, you’ve already tried me and are ready to hand down judgment.”
“We’re not-“
Aiden whirled on the Squires. “You, you, you… wait in the hallway.” The three men vanished, only to appear in the hall outside the open door, which immediately slammed in their faces.
“Aiden,” Ash said with forced patience.
“Stop.” She shook her head. “You know…I expected better from you. But, hell… whatever. Yesterday, for the whole day, I was not alone, and I wasn’t alone until early evening.”
“Who?” he demanded slightly. He needed something concrete to help her out of this situation. It was why he made a rare trip with the Squires. If he had let them handle it in their usual ‘intimidate now, apologize later’ way, he had no doubt that the council would be hiring three new ones.
She hadn’t wanted to mention Savitar in front of the squires, since it was none of their business, but Ash knew about the relationship. Aiden concentrated, showing the mark on her face.
“Oh.” Ash let out a sigh of relief. “I thought you two decided to stop seeing each other.”
“Well,” she said, “ the lights were off.”
“Okay, that was far more information than I needed to know.” Ash took off his sunglasses to look at her. “I’m sorry that it had to come to this.”
“So am I.”
“They’ll need to see the condo Nick was staying in.” He turned for the door, and it opened without him touching it. “She’s got an alibi.”
“Who?” one of the squires demanded, then took a step back at the look Ash gave him. “Never mind.”
Aiden stuck her head out the door, pointed at the condo Nick had used, and then closed her door as the other one opened. She turned, and jumped at the sight of Ash standing in her living room.
“You need a bell,” she said as she walked past him.
He watched her walk to the kitchen, pull out the coffee pot and put it back with a disgusted sigh when she realized that it was empty. She looked calmer than she had been a few minutes ago, with the totally pissed off expression downgraded to a mildly pissed off one.
“I came with them so that you would be treated fairly,” he said.
“Your Blood Rites usually treat people unfairly?” She looked at him. “Charming.”
“They have a job to do, and are rather enthusiastic about it.”
Her brow creased in memory. “Nick was a Blood Rite, wasn’t he?”
“He was.”
“Well, then… if he was, then he would know the tricks of the trade, and what would happen in any situation.” She hopped up to sit on the small island counter that sat between the kitchen and living room. “Since I didn’t access the accounts, and I’m fairly certain that Savitar didn’t, then logically that leaves Nick.”
“I don’t like the idea of him being able to do that.”
“Oh?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “But you were willing to believe that I had something to do with it?”
He sighed and turned away. Since he really couldn’t tell a lie, he opted for avoidance. “Is there anything Nick said that seemed…weird, to you?”
“Everything that kid said was weird.”
“Yeah.” Ash drew the word out as he stared at a spot on the floor that only he could see. “In the diner, you mentioned something about electricity…”
“He shot a bolt of something at me. Looked like electricity, but I didn’t stand still long enough to find out what it was.” She looked at him, wondering if he was listening at all to what she had just said. He had the far away look of someone who was in heavy thought, twisting scenario after scenario through his brain in rapid succession.
Instead, he pulled out his phone, and made a call. “I need a Dark-Hunter,” he said in a hard voice when it was answered, “and you’re it. Keegan is gone, so you can stay at his place until you find one of your own. Go to the Squire’s office first for your information.” He gave the address to the Squire office in the city, and then flipped the phone shut.
“I’m sorry,” Ash said. “He shot what?”
“A bolt of something.”
Ash nodded briefly, then turned for the door. “I’m going to see if the Blood Rites have found anything. You go back to bed.”
“Yeah, right,” Aiden said, figuring that something important just happened, and she completely missed it. “I’m going to change the lock on the building’s front door. The one it has now obviously doesn’t work.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Nick had to pull over to the side of the road in disbelief at the phone call he just finished. He hadn’t expected to hear Ash’s voice on the other end, but the anger at him was soon overshadowed by the orders that he had been given.
This was just too frigging good to be true. Nick followed the directions to the Squire’s office, more than ready to start his posting as the city’s newest protector from Daimons. And since he would be staying at Keegan’s house, he had free reign to search all he wanted for the arrow.
Ash had stupidly given Nick the means to kill him.
He sighed in contentment.
~~~~~~~~~~
After leaving the Blood Rite Squires to their search, Ash teleported himself to his home in Katoteros, and walked to the throne room. As usual, the moment he crossed through the door, his clothing changed from his basic black Goth look, to a long flowing black sleeveless formesta with a yellow sun embroidered on the back, pierced with three lightening bolts.
He walked to a solid marble pillar, placed his hand on the cold surface, and pressed. A small door opened, followed by a tray sliding out. Ash looked down at the lone object that rested in a sturdy see-through case. Pikoi’s Arrow seemed harmless enough, but Ash knew the legends to be true, and also knew that once pierced with it, anything would die.
The day he arrived to Ash for training, Keegan had presented him with the arrow, more out of spite to those that killed him than anything. Ash had it placed in a virtually unbreakable case, then sealed it away so that no one would be able to get their hands on it ever again.
To the world, the arrow would be one more artifact that had been stolen and never returned. Someone had been looking through Keegan’s online accounts, searching for something. The arrow was the only thing Ash could think of that would peek anyone’s interest enough to risk being tracked via the internet.
Ash sighed. He knew who had been searching, although he didn’t want to admit it to himself. Placing Nick as the city’s newest Dark-Hunter, and letting him stay at Keegan’s place was one way to keep tabs on the Cajun, and keep him occupied while Ash figured out his next move.
If Nick were indeed looking for the arrow, then he could search for an eternity and never find it. No one knew that Ash had it, or where he kept it. Not even Simi.
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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wholey crap for all of two seconds i freaked out cause ash gad called nick... but now i get it! he is so freakin smart!
i still cant believe that though deep down he knows it is nick he still put him anywhere near aiden! grrr...
also i wanted to say i love the way that you said 'heavy in thought' instead of just deep in thought. i'll have to use that sometime -
Hello! Time to read! Yay!!
First typo. Second section, second paragraph, second sentence:
"He parked a block away, climbed over the tall fence that surround the property..."
"surround" should be "surrounded"
Second typo. Fourth section, nineteenth paragraph, fourth sentence:
"He gave her a cold look that set of every instinct..."
"of" should be "off"
Third typo. Fourth Section, twenty-first paragraph, second sentence:
"'I have some questions, and you're gong to answer them.'"
"gong" should be "going"
Fourth typo. Fifth section, second paragraph, second sentence:
"Nick followed the direction to the Squire's office more than reading to start..."
"reading" should be "ready"
Wow. Another chapter that kept me riveted. I couldn't believe Ash would think that Aiden could do something like that- made me kind of mad. But I guess Ash is just in denial about Nick- not total denial, just a little bit. This was great!
MoonNight
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5, characters: 5.
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Thanks! Dang, and I just read through this tonight, and missed those errors.
Ash is a mystery that I love playing with
He can be sweet, sarcastic, or downright scary, at any given time.
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