The moonlight shone down on the bodies as they lay together in the cool sand. The surf pounded in rhythm with the figures, the churning waves pale in comparison to the action on the beach. The beauty of the day was made bittersweet by the knowledge that this was the last time they would ever be together in this way.
“It’s time to say goodbye,” Aiden told him as she lay in his arms basking in the warmth of his body. She slid off his body to the sand beside him, running her hand over his chest and down over the ‘eight-pack’ of abs that he had. Her fingers glided over the well define muscles and then continued lower to tease him yet again. Savitar looked over at her, running the back of a finger over her cheek as she smiled at him.
Her eyes suddenly went wide and she inhaled in pain, eliciting a confused look from him an instant before he pulled his own hand from its tracing and stared at it.
A stylish tattoo of sorts marked his palm, and he felt something akin to massive disbelief build in him. They exchanged glances and he could tell that she held fear in her eyes along with the wonder at the mark the both shared.
Savitar bolted up with a gasp and looked around. His breathing was fast as brought his hand up to check it, and was confused when it appeared fine. He reached over, took Aiden’s hand in his and turned it over, bringing it up for closer inspection.
“What’s up? “ she mumbled.
Satisfied that there was no mating mark on either of their hands, he let hers fall to the bed and licked his lips. “Nothing,” he whispered. ”Just a… nothing.” He was about to say nightmare, but that would be a gross insult to her. “Sorry to wake you. Go back to sleep.”
Aiden watched as he lay down and rolled so his back was to her. She raised her hand and looked at it, trying to figure out what he had been searching for. To her, it looked like a normal palm. Her original mating mark had disappeared when Pierce had died, and she didn’t really miss that part that had been on her body for eighty-five years.
Sighing, she clenched her hand and tried to get back to sleep.
Savitar stared into the dark as the dream replayed in his mind. For him, it truly was a nightmare, but more for the fact that it would seriously limit his pleasure time. They couldn’t stay together, couldn’t mate, and he would make sure that she left…which would basically leave him impotent until she died.
If she remained, and they mated, then he would still make sure that she left…which would also leave him impotent with anyone else except for her. Either way, he would be seriously screwed, and that wasn’t exactly the thing that came to mind when he thought of sex.
Just a dream he told himself. Overactive imagination. At least he hoped that all it was. If the Fates were playing around with him, he’d honestly go medieval on their butts. Not that being mated to Aiden would be a bad thing…it was more of an ‘ain’t gonna happen’ thing.
He sighed to himself, wondering for the millionth time how he ended up this way. Before he met Aiden, he was content in his existence. Beings were scared of him, and he liked it that way. He was a badass that everyone knew not to cross. In fact, he prided himself on not really having anything ‘good’ in him.
Then…he met an opinionated, sarcastic eagle that wasn’t afraid of him, and everything changed. He still didn’t give a damn about some things, and killed others that annoyed him, but he could feel himself mellowing. And that really wasn’t good for him or the universe as a whole. The place needed someone with his power who didn’t really give a damn what others thought, and wasn’t afraid to act on impulse and knowledge to make things the way they were suppose to be.
They had discussed that ‘friends with benefits’ issue, and although both thought it held merit, Savitar wasn’t sure. To be friends, pop in for some casual no strings attached sex, then pop back out seemed… callous. And she deserved better than that…deserved better than him.
He rolled over to look at her, smiling slightly at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful when she slept, her lips slightly parted with the faintest of snores coming out. He knew that he didn’t love her, but he was coming damn close to really, really liking her…and that was a little too scary for him to take.
Scary. In his dream she had fear in her eyes as she looked at him after the mating mark appeared. She was scared of him at that moment… or rather, the dream version of her was. He knew that he did things at times that scared her, and although she tried to keep it from her features, he read it off of her as plain as if she had spoken the words out loud.
Another thing he prided himself on was that nearly every being in the history of the universe had held a healthy dose of fear of him. He didn’t want Aiden to fear him, and that pesky emotion of guilt started to work its way in when he realized that even in his dreams, he scared her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The coroner watched as an extremely tall man entered the room accompanied by a police detective. The visitor was dressed all in black, with black wrap-around sunglasses, a long jacket, leather pants and biker boots. His hair was a deep blue, accented by a pure white streak that highlighted the front of his head. He looked like an incredibly good-looking Goth punk.
Ash stood, stone faced, as he looked down at the body that lay on the cold metal table. The coroner pulled back a sheet and glanced up at him. “That’s him,” Ash said in a bland voice before raising his gaze to the coroner, and removing his sunglasses. “Unfortunate dog attack?”
The coroner was about to object when he lost his train of thought. All he could focus on were those eerie silver eyes. “Yes,” he replied.
Ash sighed, knowing that his suggestion would make its way into the official report on the death. Without saying another word, Ash slipped his glasses back on to his face, turned and walked out of the room. He glanced at the police detective who was still with him. “What happened?”
The detective, who had been on the Dark-Hunter payroll ever since he was a teenager, looked at Ash with a grim expression. “Couple hookers found him in an alley behind the theatre,” he explained. “Flagged down a patrol car, and they called it in. Far as I can tell, there are no witnesses.”
Ash had the feeling that the man was holding something back. “Better tell me all of it,” he said, trying to soften the threat in his voice. He needed someone in the police force, and didn’t want to alienate this valuable person.
The detective glanced around casually, waving at another officer before looking at Ash again. “Last call he made was regarding the newest DH spotting him, and buying him a coffee.”
Resisting the urge to close his eyes in annoyance, Ash merely stared from behind the dark glasses. “Time of death?”
“Estimated to be about two hours after the phone call.”
That made Ash feel a little better…but not much. “I’ll get the Squire Council to talk with Nick Gautier and see if he recalls anything odd about the meeting.” He paused long enough to collect his thoughts. “Any trace on the cell phone GSP’s on both men?”
“I’ll get those sent straight to the council,” the detective said. “I don’t handle… dog bites.”
Ash nodded and walked away, his mind already on the inevitable task of having to tell a family that one of their own had met a fate worse than death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savitar didn’t feel any calmer by the time the sun peeked over the horizon, the small streams of light filtering around the tapestry over the window. In fact he felt worse, his mood alternating between terse and downright surly. He tried to be courteous, but a few hours of turning the dream over and over in his mind had made it very difficult to keep up pretenses.
By mid-morning, Aiden had basically endured enough of his snapping and side-glances. “What?” she asked in a hard voice.
“What?”
“That’s what I’m asking,” she said. “You’ve been moody all morning.”
He gave a disgusted sigh that made her expression change from a slight frown to clenched teeth. “I’m a little preoccupied,” he snapped.
“Fine,” she said with a glare, and immediately vanished.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” he whispered as he immediately followed her.
Aiden turned around in her living room, surprised that she was not alone. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a cool look. “Well. I’m about to be snapped at in my own home. I should be honored.”
Savitar gave her a lethal stare. “I don’t like arguing with you,” he said in a hard voice. “Hate it in fact.” He walked up to her and looked down into her face. “I really like you, and it’s too damn hard when I remember that this has to end. I’d rather be with you for the rest of my existence, but I know that cannot happen, and it seriously pisses me off.”
Aiden stared as she took in what he said. She didn’t know how to respond, and didn’t know how to take that he was saying it in an angry voice…almost like he was incensed with himself for feeling that way.
“I can already see the look you’ll eventually give me that shows that you hate me,” he said in the same tone. “You’ll walk away and never look back…and that will break-,” he stopped, then cleared his throat. “There’s only one thing in this universe that scares me,” he told her. “And that’s the knowledge that one day…I’ll hurt you so badly that it will make you despise me. And I don’t want to ever do that.”
“The best I can do,” he continued,” is to try to find someone who will treat you with respect and make you happy. And I hate that I have to do that and that it can’t be me… and I completely hate that I’ll have to walk away and leave you with someone else who will be holding you while you sleep.”
Aiden bit her tongue to keep from crying. He was baring it all, and she didn’t want to cheapen it by being weepy. She had always been strong, and damn it, the least she could do was accept this with dignity. Although, she really felt the need to go somewhere, curl into a small ball and cry until she threw up.
“The worst part is,” he said as he forced himself to keep from touching her, “is that I don’t want this to end. Everything in the universe depends on this ending, but I couldn’t give a damn about it. I just want to experience everything with you, and see your smile after we make love, and feel your breath against my chest when you snore in your sleep.”
“I don’t snore,” Aiden whispered, finally breaking her silence.
Savitar stared for a moment before laughing. She always had a way of breaking through his anger and making him see the important things. He brought his head down to place upon hers. “May the cosmos forgive me for not wanting to leave you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick Gautier watched as the Blood Rites Squire leaned back in the chair opposite him before he grabbed a folder and looked through it. Having been a Blood Rites Squire himself at one time, Nick knew all the little tricks of the trade, and right now the Squire was pulling the time out in an attempt to make Nick nervous.
He also knew that the wall just behind the Blood Rite was a floor to ceiling one-way mirror, opaque enough that it looked like a normal wall from his side, but gave anyone in the room opposite it a clear view of the entire area.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked, willing to play along for the time being.
“Corey Willis is dead.”
Nick stared from behind his dark glasses. “Name sounds familiar…” He watched as the other man flicked a picture across the table at him. He picked it up and looked. “Yeah,” Nick said slowly. “One of the Squires who was watching me. “
“You knew they were watching you?”
Giving the other man a droll stare, Nick placed the image on the table. “I used to be a Squire, remember? I spent a lot of time with the website, and other things, and know basically all the squires and Hunters by sight.”
“You talked to him last night.”
Nick nodded. “Bought him a coffee…chatted for about half a minute.” He glanced at the wall clock, annoyed that this was taking up time that he had set aside for a meeting with Stryker’s mouthpiece, Davyn. The Spathi would probably be in a complete attitude by the time he finally showed up. “Uh…he pulled out his cell phone just as I was leaving. Then I didn’t see him again all night.” He thought for a moment. “Didn’t see the other one, either.”
The Squire nodded slightly. “I think he may have seen you, though. Seems that the Global Positioning Systems in your cell phone place you in the same area a few hours later.”
Keeping the shock off his face, Nick stared, then slowly raised his hand and run it through his dark hair. “Oh, god,” he mumbled. “I know what happened.” He closed his eyes and hoped that he could act contrite enough. “About three in the morning, I came across a few Daimons in an alley behind that big store that sells the tourist crap.”
“And?” The squire placed his hand lightly on the weapon under his suit jacket, the spider web tattoo on his hand flexing slightly.
“Uh... killed two of them, and one was yelling to me that he could provide me with Daimon locations if I let him live. So, I listened.” Nick leaned back as he let the fake guilt consume him. “He gave me a few places to check and…I know it’s not policy, and that I should have called in right away, but…I decided to check them out, and there were Daimons there, and I managed to kill about six more.”
“You let him live.”
Nick sighed. “I know, I know. I fucked up, and… I don’t know. Maybe Corey Willis arrived just after I left, and the Daimon attacked him, or he watched me talk and walk, and somehow it got him killed.” He looked at the wall just past the Blood Rite and shook his head in annoyance.
~~~~~~~~~~
The three men on the other side of the full length one-way mirror watched in silence as Nick berated himself for the lack in judgment that may have led to the death of a Squire. Two of the men whispered between themselves, comparing Nick’s body language and the overall impression that he was giving.
The third man turned and walked away without comment, his black biker boots making no sound as he continued down the hall and out into the cool night air. He could tell that, although the newest Dark-Hunter gave a convincing performance, Nick was lying about something.
Within a month, the city had lost one Hunter, and one Squire. Those losses were something that Ash didn’t particularly like. He continued walking down past the stores that were still open, and made his way to the alley where Nick had said he met the Daimon.
He didn’t really know what he was looking for, but Ash cast a slow gaze around the entire area, taking in the bloodstains where Corey had been discovered, and…nothing else out of the ordinary.
If Nick had fought with the Daimons, then there should be some hints to it. There were no scuffmarks anywhere, or anything to indicate that Daimons had been here. He glanced again to the spot where the body had been found. Small marks in the dirt on the paved surfaced showed a struggle of sorts, but in the alley itself, there was nothing.
Nick may have been good at killing, but there was no way that he was that good. Ash knew that there was more here to than what was being told, and he only hoped that the Squire council didn’t take Nick’s word on the events. If they did, then he would have to step in, something he rarely ever did, and make sure that the council took a long hard look at Nick Gautier.
~~~~~~~~~~
The moonlight coming through the patio doors caressed the figures that lay intertwined on the living room floor. The bodies slid together in perfect harmony, the tempo of their passion reflected in the moans that reached a crescendo before erupting in pleasure that left both smiling as they held each other while gasping for breath.
Savitar looked at the woman below him as he took one of her hands in his and brought it above her head. He lowered his head to her neck, nuzzling slightly as she squirmed in delight below him.
He had finally accept the fact that they had to stop being together, and had accepted the fact that he would be with her regardless of what the universe had to say. It was a fairly liberating moment, and one that he welcomed by spending the day inside her on nearly every available surface in the condo.
Sex invigorated her kind, and he used that to his benefit. He could feel her magick snapping around her, and realized that it was an immense turn on. Aiden moaned in delight when she discovered that he was ready once again and rolled suddenly, using the momentum to flip so that she was sitting on top of him.
“So, Mister Bad-Ass Surfer Dude,” she whispered in a husky voice. “Looks like the tables are turned.”
“Table…” he whispered in a thoughtful voice. “What a great idea.” Immediately, they were positioned on a blanket on top of the counter table that separated the kitchen from the living room.
She smiled as she bent low to kiss him, jumping as her cell phone rang. She ignored it then sighed when her regular phone began ringing too. “Answering machine,” she muttered against his lips. She sighed as someone started knocking on her door, and placed her forehead against his in amused annoyance.
“Let me just kill whoever that is,” she said as she slipped off his midsection, “and I’ll be right back.”
Savitar looked at the door as he sat up on the table, and willed clothes on to his body, then leaned over to lay back on the table, propping himself up with an elbow. He noticed Aiden stop in mid stride as he used his powers to dress her, too.
Figuring it was someone she probably shouldn’t kill, Aiden looked through the peephole in the door, and then opened it.
“Ash?”
“Aiden?” Ash replied in kind. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”
She couldn’t believe the innocence he managed to put in his voice just then. She took a step back as he entered the condo, and had the pleasure of watching him stop in surprise at the sight of Savitar lounging in the middle of her counter-table.
Not sure that he even wanted to know what he had interrupted, Ash glanced at her. “You’re busy. I’m sorry.”
“No you’re not,” she said with a sigh.
“Okay,” he admitted. “I’m not. I actually need to talk with Savitar.”
“So,” Savitar said, breaking his silence, but not his ultra-relaxed position on the table. “Talk.”
Although she couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark sunglasses, she could tell that his gaze flicked to her. “I’m…gonna take a shower,” she said and turned to head down the short hall to the rest of the condo.
Ash watched as Savitar’s eyes followed Aiden as she walked away, lingering on the hallway for a moment before they turned back to him. Casually sitting up, he easily stood from the table and then approached.
“You two feel… different,” Ash said in a speculative voice.
“You were right about Aiden and I,” Savitar said easily. “And I was wrong. I know, I know, shocking, isn’t it? But anyway, that’s not why you’re here.”
“It’s regarding Nick.”
“What about him?”
“I need to know about his time on Neratiti.”
“No you don’t.”
Ash stared at him. “What?”
“I said no you don’t,” Savitar repeated.
“Why not?” Ash asked, trying to keep the aggravation from his voice.
Savitar gave him a searing look. “Because if you needed to know, then you would have asked about it then, instead of now. The only reason you’re asking now is because you need to find some reason for something he’s done, and you want a nice tidy explanation for it.”
“What’s your point?” Ash asked.
“The point,” Savitar replied knowingly, “is that you’re looking for something that isn’t there.”
“Savitar…” Ash let a little growl into his voice.
“If you cared at all for the kid when he was sitting around the beach with me, then you should have swallowed that pride of yours and tried to make amends. You dumped him, in more ways than one, and forgot one important detail.”
Basically ready to punch something, Ash inhaled, and then replied. “Which is?”
Savitar sighed in disappointment like a teacher who just discovered that all his students hadn’t paid one bit of attention the entire year. “Free will, Atlantean.”
“Just get to the point,” Ash said in exasperation.
Savitar placed his hands on the back of the couch and leaned forward slightly. “You may have cursed him, but I know, and you know that there are far too many variables involved for a curse to be a sure bet. He exercised his own free will on that. And Artemis… well… never mind her part in this little drama.” He paused for a moment. “You asked me to take Nick in, and I agreed.
“Now, you were too wrapped up in your anger with him, and he was too pissed off at you for the things he thought you did to him, and well, neither one of you is too overly concerned that both were, and still are, acting out of free will.” Savitar gave him a cold stare. “Mr. Gautier is going to get slammed pretty hard if his actions continue, and you’re going to be on the receiving end of that same hammer if you’re not careful.”
“What has he done?” Ash asked carefully.
Savitar gave him an annoying looking. “Acted on his own free will.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick stared at the walls in the small room he had been given, not pleased that he had to spend the day at the Squire’s headquarters. He thought he was ready to go back home when a phone call halted all of that. Suddenly, he was being looked at with greater suspicion, and he somehow knew that Ash had been the person on the other end of that phone call.
Still playing the innocent, but making it look like he held guilt to maybe causing the Squire’s death, Nick had been sullen and speculative all day, trying to sleep but not quite succeeding.
When they asked him to describe, in detail, how he had killed the original two Daimons, he knew that something big was up. Keeping things a little vague, he told them how he surprised one with a quick thrust to the chest, before turning on the other one. A small scuffle, not even enough to break a sweat on either fighter, and it was over.
With facts needing to be checked, he was asked to stay so that they could confirm things if they needed, instead of waking him at his home. Nick knew better, but he played the willing Dark-Hunter the whole way.
Ash’s interference was starting to bug him, and he spent his time trying to plan a way to get his one-time friend out of his way. Killing the eagle might work, since she was a friend of Ash’s, and if he could pin the blame on Ash, then Savitar would most likely be extremely pissed off and hopefully put the hurt on Ash.
Not knowing if it would work on not, but it being the only plan he could think of, Nick worked it through his mind, fine-tuning things. Besides, he needed something for Stryker, since the Spathi Leader would be more than annoyed that Nick had missed his appointed meeting with Davyn. It wouldn’t matter that Nick was in questioning and really couldn’t just slip away… he had missed the meeting, and Stryker would be pissed.
His mind was working too fast for him to sleep, regardless of how tired he was, so Nick spent the day thinking of ways to kill Aiden and pin the blame on Ash.
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Comments
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ugh, I love the name Aiden.lol. but about the write, it was fantastic, I like how you write, how you put things together, very nice!
Freedo -
A great addition to a great set of stories.
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try and try again the bad guys will, but never will they succeed in killing aiden. silly silly bad guys! they need to find a new hobbie.
im still confused about savvys and aidens relationship but im glad that savitar isnt. just as long as he has it right im happy.
and ash just needs to forget about thwe past and kill nick... where is that bad ass killing machine when you need it?! act before you think man! -
woah
okay you still rock no matter what Barbara so keep on doing what you do hun
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