Author's Note (Updated 9/25/17): I try to make my notes all at the beginning and the end so that you don't loose the flow of the story.

For those new to my stories, I write all of my Dark-Hunter fanfics as novella length continuations of the series, as best as I can. I try to avoid making any guesses as to where Sherilynn Kenyon is headed with her series, or over arching story lines. Instead, I simply wrote stories for some of my favorite characters who have yet to have their stories told, so I do guess at their backstory if it hasn't been shared in the DH books yet. Ms Kenyon could easily shatter each one of my stories as new books come out. And, that has in fact happened as I created a story that included Hecate as a character. Then Dragonmark came out and she is referenced in the book. It throws her whole role in my Achilles story out the door in so far as cannon goes. So, please take some of it with a grain of salt. These are just my attempts at giving more characters their happily connected relationships in one form or another.

Also be warned that I do write with Ms Kenyon's foundations of sex, violence and abuse. Though I may cuss a bit more. Depending on the story. They are all rated M for these reasons. And be aware that there may be SPOILERS if you have not read the DH series up to Dragonmark.

I started these stories two years ago and my writing has improved. I hope to spend some time going back to my earlier stories and seriously working on rewriting (not content, but fixing grammar and any major cannon issues as they popped in). I also gave all of the stories dates just to help me remember who was where as I wrote them, as several of the stories do overlap a fair amount.

This story, is rather independent. It is the beginning of a cluster of stories that will lean back on characters from this one. I created many of my own characters for these stories. So, headed into this story, please know that the main female character is not from Ms. Kenyon's book series.

If you would like to read my other stories in chronological order, they are:

Achilles (ancient to modern), Deimos, Colt, Kell, Phobos, Morginne, Remi (has a broader timeline), Ethon (falls during Remi)

If you would wish to read things in clumped information, the order is:

Achilles and Remi can be read completely independently, before or after the other clumps. Clump one- Deimos and Phobos. Clump two- Colt and Kell. Clump three- Morginne and Ethon.

So, enough with my crap, on to the story...

September, 2001, Texas

Roxanne was fishing through the freezer for some rainbow sherbet while she hummed the melody of her favorite song.

"Got it!" She called.

"Well, hurry up little monster! The movie is about to start!" A deep male voice called from the living room.

Roxie grabbed two spoons and then ran out to jump onto the couch with Uncle Kell. She loved it when her parents left for a weekend every year on their anniversary. It was the only time at home when Uncle Kell would let her stay up really late and eat ice cream for dinner while they watched movies.

She looked forward to this weekend more than Christmas!

Roxie had grown up enough that she was starting to understand that her life was not like other kids. There were so many things about her parents and Uncle Kell that she could not tell her friends at school. But, it was only in the past few months that she was starting to learn the reasons why.

It all started when she was watching a movie about vampires and joked about how Uncle Kell could be a vampire. He never comes out during the day. Ever. And she had noticed that he had teeth like a vampire. He hid them most of the time. But, she had seen him brushing his teeth. But, once she said the joke, everyone in the house stopped and looked at her.

So, Roxie's parents had to sit her down and explain that Uncle Kell was not a vampire, but still just as dangerous to anyone that would want to hurt her or other people. And that she absolutely could not ever tell her friends about him.

Yeah, yeah. Like she would ever want to hurt Uncle Kell. He was the only one who let her do anything fun around the house. And he spoiled her rotten.

So, Roxie settled in, next to him and they opened the tub of sherbet to share as they watched "Spy Kids".

It really didn't take long before Roxie had fallen asleep. Kell smiled down at the 11 year old who fell asleep against him. For as much as she got so excited about getting to stay up late, she never managed to make it more than an hour or two passed her normal bedtime.

The little monster had stolen his heart the day she was born.

Kell had lived many lifetimes as an immortal warrior in the service of the goddess Artemis. But, this was the first where his human assistant was married and had children while living with in his home. Normally, he would have insisted that they get their own house, but this case was unique and he let them stay.

Thomas Kostas and his wife Sandra were good people, and good friends, and they had one really bright little girl.

Kell was getting ready to pick up Roxie and carry her to bed when his phone rang. So, he slid out from under her to answer it.

His heart stopped as he watched the sleeping girl on his couch while listening to the person on the other line.

January 29, 2016, New Orleans

It was almost 4:00pm as Roxie stood across the street from the famed Sanctuary bar. The locals and tourists knew it as an edgier, rougher hangout with good food, gorgeous looking men and loud music. To the people in her world, it was famous for a whole other reason.

Sanctuary was more than just a bar. It was a safe haven for a lot of the things that go bump in the night.

She watched as people wandered in and out of the bar, completely unaware that the their world is not as safe as they think.

Roxie pulled out a pendant from below her shirt so that she could rub her thumb over the medallion. It had the double bow and arrow mark of the goddess Artemis on it. After all, it was her service that Roxie was committed to for the rest of her life.

She knew the truth. The gods and goddess of the old mythologies were real and many of them are still living. And because of their interventions, a wide range of entities wandered the streets at night. Everything from demons created by various pantheons to Apollites, created by the god Apollo. Though, later, Apollo cursed them over the actions of one jealous queen and her loyal guards.

But, that curse lead to Artemis creating Dark-Hunters, warriors who died in horrific acts of betrayal, who then sell their souls to the goddess in exchange for a single act of revenge, and then spend the rest of eternity as immortal soldiers in her army, whose goal is to hunt down the Apollites that found a way to circumvent Apollo's curse by feeding off of human souls.

Oh, and of course, the desperate king who used dark magic to fuze the Apollite blood of his sons and other innocent victims with that of animals to elongate their lives, thus creating the wide range of Were-Hunters. There are twelve animals that were combined with Apollite blood, each resulted in one line of humans that could turn into animals, or animals that could turn into humans.

As Roxie stood there watching the bar, she cringed. This bar was owned and operated by a family of bears that could look human. Though, as a safe haven, they had others inside of other animal groups as well.

She had no interest in ever interacting with the Were-Hunters, let alone Were-bears. But, unfortunately, she is a human assistant to a Dark-Hunter… a squire. And as a squire, she is overseen by the Squire's Council. The past several months, she has been training to become initiated as a Blood Rites Squire. Basically, the badasses that keep everyone else inline and kill the leaks from going public with the information of their secret world.

To be a Blood Rites Squire was her ultimate goal. Anything less was unacceptable.

But, the asshole in charge of her assessment insisted that she meet him at this location before she begins her last test.

Taking a deep breath, Roxie approached the door.

The bouncer at the door stood back, leaning against the brick wall with his arms crossed and one foot propped up against the wall behind him. As she approached, she noticed that just below his shirt sleeve, the bottom edge of a double bow and arrow tattoo showed. That was a gutsy symbol to get if you are not actually serving Artemis.

The bouncer tilted his head when she looked at the mark.

"See something interesting?"

Roxie grimaced. "Apparently just an animal with a death wish if Artemis catches you with that."

He scoffed. "Who are you with?"

"I am just meeting someone." She moved to enter the bar, but he blocked her.

"Everyone declares themselves before they enter. What family?"

She scowled at him. "What are you talking about? She pulled out her medallion. I don't have family unless you count the Squire's Council or my Dark-Hunter."

The bouncer quickly said something in French over the earpiece and mic system that he wore. Then he let her in.

As she entered, she moved toward the bar where two men were stocking bottles but stopped to watch her walk up and take a seat.

"What can we get for you?" One man asked, he was tall with black hair and hazel eyes. The other man had shorter black hair and a pair of dark brown eyes that watched her closely.

Roxie's lip curled. "Nothing. I am just here to meet someone."

"And who are you meeting?" He asked.

"That is really none of your business." She replied coldly. Then she took out her phone to start searching her Facebook page in an attempt to not watch the people around her. They were suspicious and she was nervous. Best to not notice long enough to survive this whole day.

It was really hard to ignore them when she could feel all of the eyes on her. Especially the two bartenders.

Colt didn't know what to make of the new girl that walked in. Dev had asked her about her family affiliations at the door. Fang tried to learn more. But, she was tight lipped and absolutely oozed contempt toward everyone there.

It really made everyone nervous. What business could she have in the bar that she would not be outright with it and how would they all be drug into it? And, she claimed to be a squire?

He watched her. She was attractive enough. She looked to be in her early 20's, but her actual age was difficult to tell. She wore tight jeans, a tight red tank top with a loose black sweater pulled over. Even though the sweater was loose, he could tell she had some serious muscle tone for a woman. Not to say she looked manly, she was very definitely all woman and feminine. But, she seriously worked her muscles. She carried her leather coat that she took off near the door. Her long dark auburn hair was braided down the center of her back. And her deep brown eyes showed an anger of being there. But, it was her full lips that really caught his attention. Lips that just begged to be kissed.

"Well, at least you are punctual." A voice called out behind her.

"Yeah, great. I am here. Now can we leave?" She rolled her eyes at the new comer.

There was a loud clash of plates in the kitchen and Colt could hear Remi starting to hit the roof. So, he ducked into the kitchen to help deal with the mess. Though he glanced back through the door as he turned around the help. His curiosity was peaked. Why was she there?