DARK SALVATION

She took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm scared. Can you really help me?"

Stunned into momentary silence, Ash looked at the phone and put it back to his ear. He heard her whimper, asking if he was still there. "Yes, I'm still here. Are you still inside Sanctuary, Shiloh? Are you alone right now?"

She sobbed suddenly, finally breaking under the strain of the past few days. "Yes, " She choked back another sob. No, I'm not alone. I'm in a damn bar full of people, over half of which I'm almost positive aren't human, and I'm convinced that the six-foot-tall, built like a brick shit-house bear of a guy with a wicked double bow tat that's guarding me here in my bad-girl corner just growled at me." Acheron could hear Dev fuming in the background. "Yeah, he definitely growled at me."

Trying not to laugh at the already agitated bear, Ash continued to talk to the girl in soothing tones. "Shiloh, I need you to listen to me. Trust them to take care of you until I get there, alright? Everything's going to be okay. Hand the phone to Dev for me."

He heard the scuffle as she very creatively told the Were-Hunter to go back into hibernation and wake up on the right side of the cave before she rearranged his vocal cords.

"Acheron?"

"Hey, Dev, can you not kill a seventeen year old until I extract her?"

"Not makin' no promises, Ash. She got a mouth like a certain Cajun we know, yes?"

Acheron laughed. "Yes, she does, my friend. I'm on my way."

Shiloh sighed as the woman that Dev referred to as Aimee set a plate of garlic bread and a bowl of Jambalaya in front of her on the polished oak-wood table. Remi sat across from her, glowering as he grumbled about babysitting a girl. Taking everything that happened to her so far in stride was a big step for her.

As she dug into the spiced food, she wondered idly what this Acheron character looked like and why he was concerned about helping her find her way.

Remi glared at her. "Stop playing with your food, girl."

"If I was playing with my food, Cuddles," she put emphasis on the name that she called him. "You would be covered in it."

Shiloh glanced nervously around at the people in the bar and shivered. She just couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

"Cold, chère?" Cherif asked coming up to the table. "Remi, Dev needs you at the front door. Apparently there are a few young punks looking for our 'human' friend here."

"I don't think I'm human." She spooned another mouthful of the Jambalaya and grimaced lightly. Both Peltier men looked at her quizzically. "If I am then I'm super-charged and the idiots outside would be thinking twice about messing with you guys in front of me."

Remi sat back in the booth and crossed his arms over his muscular chest while Cherif raised one brow expectantly. "What do you mean 'super-charged'?"

"I can smell them from here. There are three of them with short blond hair and uber-dark blue eyes. I can hear them, too. They're giving the excuse that they are looking for their missing sister, yet their voices don't house a 'fuck-you' of concern."

Both men stared incredulously at the girl. She knew from the looks on their faces that they were looking for proof.

"Call your brother on your headset and find out for yourself." She pulled apart a piece of bread and chewed carefully. "I don't know what I am, but this Acheron dude answered my cries for help. So... What? Why do you look ready to kill me. Remi?"

"'Cause you bring trouble to our door, little girl. We don't do well with trouble."

"I'm sorry!" Fear laced Shiloh's voice. It was a fear that she tried so hard to hide from the people in front of her. Her blood ran like ice in her veins and she trembled under the raw scrutiny that she now faced as she wondered what they were going to do to her. "I never meant to lead them here, I swear!"

Cherif turned suddenly to face a man that looked remarkably like the Peltier's friend. But they knew who he was. "Styxx." Well, that greeting was colder than a polar bear's unmentionables, Shiloh thought absently. "Do Ash know you're here?"

The man shook his head; long, shoulder-length blond hair shifting slightly with the movement. "I'm here for her. I'm going to take her to Acheron now because she's telling the truth about he guys at the door and if she stay's any longer I'm willing to bet on a battle breaking out."

Remi and Cherif shared a dark look. "We were told by Ash that he was picking her up, so the brat stay's." Remi said. His voice was laced with venom. Shiloh gasped suddenly, bringing their attention back to her. Standing in the shadowed darkness of the door stood three young men and, if the brothers guessed correctly, they were Were-Hunters. Wolves, to be exact, and Remi – with the exception of his new in-laws – hated them with an unrivaled passion.

"Fine, take the girl, but have Ash call or we come find you, clear?"

The newcomer, Styxx grinned. "Sure, sure. Don't get your fur in a knot bear. Come along, little one. I'll take you to my brother."

(somewhere in New Orleans)

As he hung up the phone, Simi manifested from his arm and took human form. "She sounds sad, Akri. Are we going to go get her?"
"We have to meet her first, little one. I'm sending you in before me to scout her, OK? I have to tell the others to be on the watch for her as well." Pulling his laptop back over, he scanned the messages one more time and found another message from Shiloh.

"I'm either incredibly cursed or favorably blessed in the eyes of the Gods. Sending a huge thanks to the guy that's saving my butt right now. I owe you big time for this."

Before Acheron could turn off the laptop, a message appeared from someone else. Someone not in his contact list. Styxx. The very guy that was currently still trying everything in his power to get his older brother to forgive his past mistakes.

Lost_Boy (Styxx): I'm watching over her now, Acheron. She's like no power I've ever seen in my lifetime and we've been around for a Helluva long time.

He glanced twice at the pen-name that his younger twin had chosen and grimaced. Would Styxx ever let it go?

Ash: Why are you responding to the messages, Styxx?

There was only a one-word response that made Ash raise his brows in confusion and surprise.

Lost_Boy (Styxx): Incoming...

"What the heck does he mean by 'incoming'?"

The spoken word from behind almost made the Atlantian jump out of his chair. He'd been so caught up in the girl and Nick's sudden friendliness that he didn't hear the other man enter his domain. "The girl's just a kid, Acheron. Literately. I did the extract for you 'cause your friend Remi looked like he was about to turn her into his next meal."

Fear for his wife and new-born son flashed in his swirling silver gaze as he watched the other man cradle the teenage girl in his leather clad arms. "Styxx, I..."

"I'm not going to hurt your family, Brother. I have more common sense than that." His voice held an edge of hurt as he spoke. "Besides, they're my family, too, aren't they?"

Wow. Who knew that this man standing in front of him, a man who'd once tried to kill him and unleash world destruction, could be so deep and concerned when it came to getting into Ash's good graces?

Wordlessly, Ash nodded and led his twin-by-circumstance to a small back bedroom of the house. He turned down the covers and watched as Styxx carefully placed the girl in the center of the bed and smoothed back her dark hair.

"I've been watching over her in New Orleans since she moved there with her family." Defensively, Styxx threw up his hands as Acheron opened his mouth to tell the other man off. "I know, I know! You told me never to go back, but some God and Goddess who's names I don't know confronted me and told me to watch over the Stormraven, Acheron. They told me that she would be 'coming to power soon' and that I would need to be here because her life hung in the balance."

Silently, Ash listened as they made their way back to the front of the house to the kitchen. Ash grabbed two beer out of the fridge and handed one to Styxx.

"Alright, I'm listening." He said lightly. "Tell me more."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Styxx took a swig from the bottle. "The man said that she would be seeking help soon so I kept my eye on the website and when she made that first post, I started watching over her. She's telling the truth about her adopted family – they did try to kill her. Three of them tracked her to Sanctuary and that's when I knew that I had to finally interfere otherwise..."

As Styxx trailed off, Ash noticed that there was a soft glow coming from the room where they had left the young girl. He ran down the hall and came face to face with a Goddess who's name he didn't know.

The woman standing before him stiffened when he entered the room, but remained silent as her partner, a young God kissed the teenager on the forehead. A God that Acheron recognized.

"Asaziel, what are you doing here?"

The woman turned to him, her eyes full of pain and loss. "My daughter... your brother promised us to watch over her."

"Acheron," the man, Asaziel said in a voice that was filled with pain. "Please, you have to find them, Acheron. Others will hunt our children down for their powers. Please, from one God to another, I beg of you to watch over my children, Acheron."

"Your children, Ziel?" Known for his love of tranquility and peace, Asaziel smiled numbly. Ash cocked an eyebrow at the pair. Surly, they wouldn't have... would they? "By the Gods, Ziel, what have you done?"

"I wanted to stop the fighting. To bring peace to the humans as they have brought me peace." Gently, Ziel ran his fingertips along the unnamed woman's jaw and kissed her lightly. "Such as the light and love that my precious Natalia has brought to me by bearing my shadow children."

"Shadow children?" Styxx asked curiously from the doorway.

"Styxx! You did save her!" The woman, Natalia, exclaimed. "You have my thanks, Styxx, for she is the firstborn of her kind. A Shadow-Hunter."

Ash paled slightly. Shadow-Hunter's were myth. They had to be... there was no way that they could actually exist. Could there?

"Ziel... why?"

"Because they will be the one's to end it all, Acheron." Ziel said as he gazed lovingly at his daughter. "My Stormraven. Shiloh will be more powerful than her siblings for she will lead them. They will not bring hate to the world of mortals. Instead, they will cast their light into the dark and their dark into the light for they are Shadow-Born."

As Asaziel spoke, a pale gray light surrounded the young girl on the bed, encasing her in powers that seemed to come from inside of her body. When the light faded both Asaziel and the woman were gone, but the girl was still there. From somewhere unseen, Natalia's voice filled the air.

"She will gather them all, Styxx. I choose you to help her learn. Protect Shiloh for me and you shall be rewarded greatly for your aide..."

***And so, my dearest readers, the plot thickens. Who are these Shadow-Hunter's and what will their presence mean for the Dark-Hunter's and Daemon's? Keep reading to find out!***