The darkest of night was the only safe time for Reverence to hide, and this dark and forbidding bayou the only safe place. She knew that the Daimons were on her trail, put there because of the Katagaria wolf pack that had plotted her destruction. She sighed and stepped into the filthy, musty smelling water of the dark bayou. Reva, as she was called by her friends shivered as the cold, black water came up to her knees, then quickly to her waist. She continued to walk, carefully watching the bank so that she would not get lost in the swamp. Reva took a step forward and sank until her head was underwater and she rose to the surface, spitting and coughing the nasty water out of her mouth. Enough was enough, she thought to herself as she crawled out onto the sandy bank. If the wolves' or their henchmen caught her and killed her, so be it! She coughed again and looked around at the unfamiliar terrain. She pulled her cell phone out only to realize that the water had made it useless as she opened the case and mud poured from the face of her Iphone. She sighed as she heard a howl in the distance, a lone wolf or coyote howling for a lost mate perhaps, or a Katagaria finding her scent trail?
The huge man looked up at the howl, recognizing it as a message from one pack member to the rest saying he found the location of the Pack's prey. He sighed and started searching again where he had lost the girl's trail. A small footprint a distance away showed that he was moving the right direction as he loped along the bank of the dank swamp. In the distance, he heard growling and yipping followed by a female cry of pain. He took off running in the direction of the cry, manifesting a large sword as he ran. The sight that greeted him made him stop for a full moment to take stock of the situation. The tiny framed woman holding the long staff made of a fallen branch, blood dripping off one end and a large wolf laying still at her feet. The rest of the pack circled her, their teeth bared as they feinted and retreated as they tried to find a place to attack without being hit by the heavy staff. A large bite wound crippled her left leg, the denim torn as well the skin beneath, the scent of blood filling the air around her.
One of the wolves shifted to human form and looked to the newcomer. "You here to help us, Cousin Appolite or to get in our way?" He tilted his head, like a wolf or a dog awaiting the answer from the big newcomer.
"Well, Dog-Boy, I don't like a poor female being ganged up on for one thing and for another, you would be wrong about me being Appolite. I think the lady needs some help and I'm here to give it to her. So unless you want to taste the Atlantian steel of my sword, you and your pack would do well to leave this bayou and never return. Tell your kin to stay away as well and then tell them of the monster who controls the swamp and all things here. I give you this one chance to leave, never to return." The large man smiled menacingly, showing just a hint of fangs that shouldn't be in his mouth.
The Katagaria shifted back to wolf form in a split second and attacked the huge man. The man caught him with a quick backhand with the sword pommel and backed up a step so that the wolf fell to the ground, shaking his head. " I told you to leave my Bayou, now things are going to get ugly wolf." A red tint entered the large man's eyes as he moved with a grace and skill that one would not expect from an entity almost seven foot tall. The huge sword moved with almost a will of it's own as one by one the wolves fell prey to it's sharp blade. The red glow in the man's eyes became darker and more noticeable as the fight continued. One of the wolves struck a deep bite to the man's leg, causing deep red blood to drip from the wound. A second later the young woman knocked that wolf in the ribs sharply with her staff. Working together as if they had been doing so for a thousand years, the two made short work of the rest of the pack, driving off those still able to run as the others lay bleeding and perhaps already dead on the ground.
After the fighting, Reverence looked up at the giant man who had, no doubt, saved her life. He was leaning over the wolves who had been killed or seriously wounded. He gently touched the wounded one's and their wounds healed. They awoke and appeared to be confused as they wondered away. For the dead, his touch brought a hot fire to burn the corpse to just so much ash. He looked up as he realized the girl was watching him and smiled at her. His finely chiseled features looked like an ancient Greek statue come to life, "I guess you'd like to know who I am, eh? " He asked, the smile remaining as he got to his feet to approach her, holding out the hand that had just caused one of the dead Katagaria to turn to ash. "I'm called Max, at least by my friends. And I came here to help you because Ash asked me to keep an eye out on you. You seem to be a bit wounded, let me heal the bite before it gets infected. This bayou is far from clean and infections caught here can send someone to the hospital pretty fast."
Reva took the giant's hand carefully and smiled up at him. "Hi Max, I'm called Reva though if you have spoken to Ash then you know my real name is Reverence I'd be glad for your healing ability but I have to ask, what the hell are you? Some kind of screwed up Dark Hunter or are you something else?"
Max chuckled as he gently touched the wound on her leg and another near her collarbone, the hot energy from his hands causing an almost pain feeling from the wounds before they were completely healed. " I am right up there in the 'something else' category. I guess you could say I am Ash's cousin many times removed though not nearly as strong as he is. I guess that you fit into the 'something else' category yourself, though. Half Appolite and half Arcadian wolf, both and neither the prophecy says that you are an abomination walking in the sun or a shifter who cannot keep her wolf shape. That your birth and those of your siblings are a sign that the world is coming to an end. You are the last of your family as am I. Of course, only you and maybe Ash know the answer for sure, eh?"
Reva's already pale face becomes pasty white as he names her for what she is, Abomination, Neither and yet both, her blood was to thin to be a shifter, to thin to even feed her Appolite Kin, she could walk in the sunlight and eat real food. Was she proof that the curse was going to end or was she something else? She shook herself as she realized that she still held Max's hand. She pulled hers away quickly and stammered, "No prophecy, just a lot of superstitious stupidity. My mother was called to be the Mate of an Arcadian, not the first such mating and probably not the last. The Fates are unforgiving Bitches and like nothing more than messing with mortal affairs. My only regret is that I will die in six months and not leave any children to continue my family line, both sides go back to the original lines of Appolite and Arcadian. My many times removed grandmother was the daughter of the Appolite queen of Atlantis and my many times removed grandfather on the other side was one of the king's human born sons. Kattalakas is my last name, after all." She sighed, depressed as she thought about her dead family
how alone she always felt, running from place to place, always hiding from both sides of the family. Reva looked up at Max and her green eyes shimmered with unshed tears as he took her into his arms to hold.
He ran his hands over her hair, soothing her like he would sooth a hurt child or an injured animal. Max sung a lullaby to her, his melodic voice holding the tune of the ancient Atlantian song. She shuddered and relaxed in his arms as he used his powers to lull her to sleep. He flashed them both to his house in the French Quarter of New Orleans, to his bedroom. Max laid her on his bed, taking a moment to admire how perfect she looked there, long auburn hair in tangles on his pillow. She curled up into a ball on her side, cuddling his pillow to her breasts a small smile of contentment on her face. His cock hardened as he imagined her naked and in his arms. He shook his head, trying to banish the unwanted thoughts from his mind. Ash had trusted him to keep the girl safe until her true Mate was found and that wasn't him. He could never take a Mate or father a child, never could he pass on his genetics to an innocent unsuspecting child. He shuddered as his willpower was tested to it's limits, his inner demon roaring for release. Max flashed himself away from the sleeping girl, into his workshop where he picked up a tiny set of rings in his giant hand. He started to buff them to a serious shine on his grinding wheel. His phone rang and he turned off the grinder to answer it when he saw that it was Ash.
" Max, my man, how's it going? I thought you were going to call me when you found the girl? She OK? No offense man, but trying to read through your Wards is tough, even for me. Did you find her and is she OK?" Acheron Parthenopous's melodic voice asked, "Tell me you have her, Max. Is she OK?"
"She's fine, Ash...I just don't understand why you didn't have one of the Dark Hunters shelter her. I don't like having anyone here, certainly not a woman. I thought it would be easier for her to be here, but, well she has brought up feelings I thought I had banished. Get her out of here soon, Akra, please get her out soon."
Ash smiled into the phone, his mind working quickly to find an answer other than the truth that Max would believe. Reva was right where Ash meant for her to be, with Max to keep her safe. "The Dark Hunters are all on double patrols right now, Max. You know how it is the first few weeks before Mardi Gras, Daimons galore. With Kyrian, Valarius and Talon getting their soul's back, the strongest of my Hunters are reduced to mortals so I need to keep the others working on the street's not babysitting. I'm sorry Max, but you are the only one I trust. Keep her safe for me, Max and the debt you owe me is clear and I will make sure my Mother never calls for your services again either. How about it, Max? True freedom from all your oaths?" It was the one thing Max had always wanted but as a half breed Charonte Demon, he had taken oaths first to Appolimi and then to Acheron at her bidding to serve them in any way they needed.
His mother had abandoned him upon seeing how patheticly 'human' he had been. Left on his own, he had been taken in first by an old Charonte demonness that decided to raise him until he was large enough for a good meal. The other Charonte demons had beaten him and tormented him as a hatchling but Apollimi had found the poor little halfbreed and taken him in because of her sadness over not having her own child. When she became with child, Max had been forgotten like a child's toy until after Ash had been taken away to the mortal world and then the young half demon had reminded her to much of her lost Apostolos that she couldn't stand to be near him. He had been taken and raised away from the court by Xirina, Apollimi's own demon. His other parent, his father was also Acheron's uncle, the Atlantian God Asteros. Asteros had never claimed him in life and now that the God was dead, there was no true way to tell who was his sire.
"I will even claim you as my cousin,as a son of Asteros and I will bargain with my mother to free your true powers so you could claim a place along side of the two of us who are left of the Atlantian pantheon. How about it, Cousin? Freedom, your powers in tact and your rightful place among the Gods?" Max shuddered with pent up emotion as he thought of all the times that having complete access to his powers would have saved him a lot of pain and suffering. But Apollimi had restricted his powers when he was a youngling because he had blasted the treasured son of one of the royal Charonte court into ash. The demon's mother had demanded his death but Apollimi had bargained with her and Max had been allowed to live.
"I will do as you ask, Acheron, but try to hurry and find her Mate, leaving her here for long could cause troubles that I doubt you have even thought of. I want this female, Ash. I want her in the way any male wants a beautiful female and I don't know how long I can keep a reign on my inner demon, as it were. The picture you showed me of her didn't do her justice. Please Ash, don't forget about us here. "
Max hung up the phone before he could betray any more of his weakness to Ash. He leaned against his work bench and sighed deeply and shuddered as he let his human form go and shifted to the demon form he preferred. His skin was a deep burgundy marbled by black, his horns and wings and long hair were also black to go with his skin color. He stretched his aching muscles as he rose to his full height of 7'8" in his demon form. Max left his workshop and went into the small but well supplied gym in the next room and started to work out, hoping to forget the beautiful woman upstairs.