The remaining car ride to Zarek's was very quiet, and very awkward. I sat as far away from Spawn as possible, my hands folded on my lap, silent as a mouse, my eyes wide and my mouth a tiny O.

I was trying to not think about it, I honestly didn't want him to know I was actually putting serious thought into this matter. It was a little embarassing- I was like a teenager, looking far to into this thing.

Did he kiss me just to shut me up? Or was there actually deeper meaning behind it?
"No, I mainly did it to shut you up. You were getting pretty irritating."
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
"No."
"I'M THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL MATTERS!"
"Well, those personal matters did involve me..."
"NOT BY CHOICE!"
He shook his head at me, a smile playing on his lips. "Whatever lie makes you happiest. You kissed back."
"I most certainly did not!"
"Yes, you did."
"No!"
"We could try again, just to see if you actually were kissing back the first time..."
"You know, I could tell on you to Ash, and you would be a shade like that.." I snapped my fingers in his face and he shook his head.

"Not if I said you kissed me first."
"He wouldn't believe you."
"Oh, are you so sure?" He laughed. "That man is downright creepy. He makes my powers look like parlor tricks. He'd know the truth."
"Which is?" I glared at him, and he shrugged.

"I'm sure you know it, too, but you're just not going to admit it." I glared at him, wiping a hand across my lips. I could still taste Spawn on my lips, and I blushed a deep pink. Thank the Gods Zarek couldn't read minds...
"If he could, and he said anything, I would just have to hurt him," He said calmly. I glared at him.

"STAY OUT OF MY MIND!"
He cut me an irritated look. "If you keep yelling at me, I'm going to have to kiss you again."
That shut me up. That shut me up quickly.

"Oh, Gods, It returns," Zarek muttered when I knocked on his door almost an hour later. I glared at the man who looked as though he hadn't shaved in two or three days, and who returned me the withering look with malice in his black eyes. "And the Blondie. What do you want?"
"I wanted to talk to you," I told him calmly. He shot me a surprised look that he quickly covered up with contempt.

"About what?" He laughed angrily. "You're not my Squire anymore, are you? Did Blondie adopt you?"

"Shut up, Roman," Snapped Spawn. Zarek flipped him off, not averting his gaze from me.

"Well?" He insisted. "Are you or aren't you?"
"Aren't I what?" I shouted back at him.
"Still my Squire."
"Yes, I am," I hissed. "But if you treat me like fucking shit I won't be for much longer."
"Hey, I'm not the one with the yelling problem."
Spawn shot me a smirk. I glared back at him, sticking my tongue out. Zarek looked between us, confused, and then he shook his head in what appeared to be disgust before he moved from the doorway to let us inside. I took a seat on the bed, which remained unmade from the last time I'd been here.

Spawn glanced at it, surprised. "I thought you didn't sleep up here."
Zarek glared at him. "I don't."
The other man said nothing more, and Zarek crossed his arms in a defensive manner. I felt the awkwardness creeping into the small cabin, more concentrated than it had been in the SUV, which, hey, might have actually been bigger than Zarek's 'home'.

"You're right, Ivy, it probably is," Spawn smiled. Zarek snorted at him.

"Aw, you're so cute. You two have nicknames now, too. What's yours?" Spawn hissed at him, baring fangs.

"Lucy," I muttered under my breath. Zarek turned to me, his smile absolutely evil and pretty scary as his black eyes gleamed.

"What did you say?" He said, a note of glee in his voice.

"I said Lucy."
He slowly turned to Spawn, holding out a hand. Spawn looked disgusted and gave me a terrible glare that said he'd gladly leave me here.

"What?" He snapped. Zarek sighed, still grinning.

"Hand over your man card."
Spawn snarled a curse as his fist made connection with Zarek's nose, shattering it instantly. His own nose spurted blood and I shouted to try and get their attention. I ended up jumping onto Spawn's back, trying to hold him back from causing himself and the other Hunter more damage then nessicary. When he finally stopped the punches and kicks, and when Zarek stopped trying to stab him, I had my hands around Spawn's neck, my whole weight on my heels as I strained to keep ahold of him as I tried to pull him back from Zarek.

"YOU!" I shouted, releasing myself from around his throat. "NO PUNCHING!"
I saw Zarek sharpening the tips of his silver claws on his jeans. "YOU!" I shouted at him, pointing a finger in his direction warningly. "NO STABBING!"
"You take the fun out of all of this!" He growled at me. I kept my finger raised, glaring at him. I turned to Spawn. "I need to talk to him alone. I think you should go wait in the car."
"Like hell!" He snarled. "I'm not going to let him hurt you!"
"Oh, what a saint. All of us should aspire to be as great a man as you," Zarek said, clapping his hands and giving a false grin.

"Why don't you just shut the fucking hell up?" Spawn snapped. Zarek looked surprised.

"Why don't you make me?" Spawn started toward the man again and I tried to drag him back.

"NOT THIS AGAIN!"
"STOP YELLING AT ME!" He yelled back.

"NO!"
"Do I have to make you stop yelling?" He hissed in a dangerous voice. I let go of him, and surprisingly, he did not charge at Zarek. Instead, he walked to the door, and turned around to pin the other man with an evil glare. "If I get back here and there is a scratch on her, you're dead."
He slammed the door, and in the deafening silence, I remarked quietly, "Well, wasn't that fun?"
"What is with you two?" He asked. "Are you screwing him or something?"
"No!" I shouted, my face a beet red. "Of course not! That's against the rules!"
"Is that the only thing stopping you?"

"No!" I yelled. "And this is not what I came here to talk about!"
"How was he going to get you to shut up?" He suddenly asked. "Do I have to use that method?"
I shuddered. "He'd kill you if you tried," I said honestly.

"Why?" He took a step toward me and I took a step backwards. "Is it something violent? Weird? Sexual, even?"
"Listen, I am so not discussing this with you, and, once more, we're off topic. So if we could just steer back onto the right track.."
"Not until you tell me how he was going to shut you up."
"Not in this lifetime, buck-o. Or the next."
He rolled his eyes and leaned against one of the walls, the walls which were far too close together for my liking. "You humans are so fucking melodramatic."
"Yeah, well, if imortality makes me an asshole, take me off the list."
He smirked. "What were we going to talk about? You being nice to me from now on? Being best friends again?"

"Oh, you know what?" I hissed. "Fuck it. I give up. Sit and spin, jerk," I remarked loudly, flipping him off, stading, and then when I went to open the door, it slammed shut and locked. I turned around.

"Unlock it. Now."

"Stop being a bitch."
"Stop being an ass!"
He shook his head. "You know, I can see why Daimons go after Squires. I'm glad I've never had to deal with one until now."
The silence was tangiable. "I-I'm your first Squire?"
He nodded coldly. I considered the fact that he'd been living out here for almost 900 years with no human contact, no other Dark-Hunters in the area who actually could stand to talk to him, and nothing to do for days on end but kill Daimons. It would drive anyone insane- I couldn't really blame the guy for being psychotic. I walked over to stand in front of him.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, my voice little more than a whisper.

"Don't be. I don't care."
"Really?"
"Yes," He said, but there was a sort of uncertainty in his eyes that betrayed his words.

"Well, since I'm you're Squire, and I'm here now, is there anything you need?" There was the faintest bit of a smile on my lips, and he smirked down at me.

"Yes. A gun to kill myself with."
"Sorry. No guns. Besides, that wouldn't work, right?" I smiled bitterly. "It would just make a big mess and then I'd have to clean it up."
He scoffed. "Like I'm going to tell the girl who racked me before she even introduced herself how to kill me."
"Ivory!" I heard someone scream from outside. Zarek sighed, opening the door and glaring out at Spawn.
"What the fuck do you want now, Lucy?"
"Listen, fuck you, Zarek, I don't have time for your shit. Ivory, get out here now-We have a situation." I pushed past Zarek to look outside. Spawn was holding a small bundle that looked sort of like firewood.

"What is that?" I frowned.
"It's Nikitas," He said gravely. I screamed loudly, trying to run to him, clawing at the bundle to try and see the tiny boy, crying and shaking my head in disbelief. I felt someone holding me back and I was shocked to see Zarek, who had a tight grip on my shoulders.

"Leave him," He replied. "Just leave him alone."
I turned to Spawn, who looked down at the little boy, his black eyes distant. "We need to get him to a hospital."
Spawn shook his head. "It's no use."
I felt my heart stop. "What?"
He looked back up at me, his eyes now sad. "He's gone."
"He can't be-No, he can't. You're lying!" I screamed, turning away to hide my anger and remorse. "He's not dead. He can't be dead. He's so young...no. He isn't."
"He is, Ivy. I'm sorry, but... Nikitas is dead."
I looked between them both and then I closed my eyes, blinking away my tears. "I'll be in the car if either of you need me," I whispered, walking away through the snow. I tried to ignore the feeling of dread and remorse that laid heavily on my heart.

~*~
"Excuse me?" Asked a quiet voice, which echoed through the shining black halls of the god Hades, halls which were filled with the whispering moans of the dead. The god, a tall and threatening presence with black hair and eyes, looked up from his throne to see a boy of about five staring him down from the doorway. He felt a slight surge of surprise, but kept his face impassive.

"What do you want?" He snapped. Hades' queen, Persephone, looked up as well. She was fair, with long golden hair and a white gown on her petite body. It was the queen of the dead who took most interest in Nikitas, sitting up and folding her hands in her lap.

Nikitas was a bit frightened-these people glowed with bright light, and they were both powerful and tall. His hands shook and he stuttered when he spoke again. "I-I need to go home. To my auntie. She needs me."
Hades laughed at this. "How did you get past the gaurds, boy?"
Nikitas frowned. "Gaurds?"
"Yes. You know, skeleton army of the undead, killing anyone who dares to interrupt me? Someone like you?"
Nikitas smiled. "I know about undead armies. My mommy's in one."
Hades frowned. "What's your name?"
"Alexan-" He stopped and took a deep breath, sighing. "Nikitas West."
"Well, Nikitas, why would I let you go home?"
"Because I'm a vitamin part of a-"
"You mean vital?"
"Yeah. Whatever. I'm a vital part of a war that will decide the fate of all Olympians and Atlanteans alike."
Hades was quiet, and it was Persephone who spoke again. "You were killed by the fates, darling, they cut the string. We can't let you go back."
"But I need to!" His voice was no longer quiet or serene, it cracked when he shrieked the words at the queen. Hades stood.

"If we give you one month, and then you retrun here, will you be able to finish this 'war'?" He asked, pitying the small boy. Solemn, Nikitas nodded to him. "Well. Seph? Does it sound like a plan?"
Her eyes unreadable, the woman nodded, and she held out a vial of something dark purple with swirling gold pieces submurged in it to Hades. He walked toward the boy with it and kneeled beside him.

"Take this. Go on now, drink it all. You'll go back to your Auntie if you think about where you want to go." He looked back at his wife. "Good luck, boy, you're going to need it."
Nikitas nodded, did as he said, and then the world went black.

I was silent this car ride, but now for an entirely different reason this time around, and this time, Spawn made no effort to try and speak to me. I avoided looking toward the back seat, because Nikitas' tiny body was laying across the two seats. I shook with repressed remorse and anger. I knew who had done this to him.

"I want to make them suffer," I whispered.

"Ivory, don't do something stupid," He warned. "I don't want you going after them yourself. If you need to, take Stryker or his men, but don't go alone."
"Would you go?" He looked to me now, and there was an uncertain fear and pain in his eyes that I didn't want to associate with a strong warriror.

"I want to avenge him, and his mother, but hot headed anger is what damned me to this in the first place."
"Why do you hate it so much?" I demanded. "Your life is amazing, you kill stuff for a living and you get paid millions to do it."
"My life is not amazing, I have to kill my own kind, and protect the very beings that killed my family," He countered. I watched him in silence. " And I don't give a damn about the money. I- I just don't want to talk about it."
"Well then, don't mention it," I snapped, crossing my arms and feeling a wave of irritation.

We fell silent again, until we pulled up to Spawn's home. I looked up to the second floor, where the only windows that were open were mine, and I sighed, laying my cheek against the cool window before I pulled back and opened it. Spawn picked up Nikitas and walked toward the house, and I followed in his footsteps, staying a distance from the body of the little boy. I felt eyes watching me, and I turned around to see a pack of four Daimons in a clearing by Spawn's property, two of the group being Isla and Solomon.
I was silent and then I nodded to them. Solomon nodded and Isla raised her hand in a gesture of peace.

I turned and walked into the open doorway, shutting it and locking the locks behind me. I saw that Spawn was at the top of the stairs, and he turned down the hallway. Slipping off my boots, I followed him into a spare bedroom. He laid Nikitas on the bed and looked up at me.

"Until preparations can be made, we can keep him here. We'll try and contact Ash tomorrow. In the mean time," He stood and went to leave the room, and I followed him, surprised to see him slipping on his coat again and opening the door.

"Where are you going?" I inquired softly. He looked back up at me.

"I have to go after them."
"Them?" I repeated.
"The Daimons Strykerius let loose," He said, his eyes angry. I walked down the stairs after him.

"You can't!" I cried. He looked shocked.

"Why the hell not?"
"They're going to help. Besides, they're Spathi. You couldn't kill them if you tried. Don't do that-it's suicide."
"It's my job." The three words were said with malice and more than mild irritation, and he glared back at me. "You'd do well to remember that."
"Well, you'd do well to remember I'm not your Squire, buck-o., and the ony reason I'm here is because if you can't help me, no one will." I climbed down the stairs to glance up into his eyes. They were black as flint and cold.

"If that's the way you feel, then leave," He said, his voice angry and quiet.

"No."
"What if I want you to leave?" He said, his voice the same as before, his eyes just as cold.

"Do you?" I whispered back. He paused, and then raked a hand through his hair, sighing and sitting against the door. He slid to the floor, still leaned against it, and then he looked up at me. I paused at the look on his face, so confused and almost childlike, and then I sat beside him, closing my eyes.

"I don't know what I want," He admitted. "Up until two days ago, I knew exactly what I wanted, and what I had. Now, not so much. I have to help you, but that means going against many of my own people."
"You do that every day, though," I reminded him.
"Yes, but I know that I have to do it to protect humans," He almost sneered the word, like Stryker had. "These ones-they attacked people who were already dead. What is their motive? Is it evil, or are they just doing it to reclaim the land they once inhabited?"
I stayed silent, but I opened my eyes. He was looking away now, his eyes distant and sad as he gazed in the direction of the once-broken kitchen window. I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he laid his head against mine.

"Ivy, what if what I'm doing is wrong?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat, much to my dismay.

"What if hunting Daimons is wrong? What if they're just innocent in all of this?" He looked almost frightened. "I spent my childhood raised to fear the very thing I became. It was just a rash desicion, I didn't want to, but..."
"Just don't talk about it."
"But I have to. I have so much on my mind right now." I gave a quiet laugh.
"Just go kill some Daimons for me, and then you can come home and talk about it, alright?" I smiled, helping him up, forcing a smile onto my lips.

"Alright," He replied, looking uneasy. I pulled myself up onto my tip-toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Just don't think about it too much, okay?" I warned him. "Just put it out of your mind and go kick some ass."
"You know, that kiss sorta sucked. If, you- you know, wanted to..." He closed his eyes and leaned forward, and I laughed quietly, pushing him away, toward the door.

"Go!" I demanded, shaking my head and smiling. He winked in response and then was out the door. I looked out again to see that he had dissapeared into the night.

I sighed, leaning against the wall in the foyer. What was I doing here? Honestly?
I knew there wasn't a future for us. I was still getting over the loss of Eli; and this would be the second Dark-Hunter I'd fall for, if I wasn't careful. I should have left a while ago, should have returned to the hotel and maybe requested a Hunter change. I mean, I wasn't even Spawn's Squire.

But why hadn't I? Why was there part of me that felt like I needed to stay?

What exacttly did I stand to gain by staying? And what could I lose?
My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone, which I retrieved from my pocket and answered without bothering to check caller I.D.

"Hello?" There was silence on the other line, and for a second, I thought I might have been prank called.
"That boy's death was a warning to you. If you try and interefere with fate any more, the consiquences will be worse. Can't you just die with some of your dignity still intact, Squire?" The voice on the other end was raspy and grating, and I glared at the wall while I thought of what to respond to this threat with. Finally, I took a deep breath and spoke.

"Listen, jerk-off, I don't know who you are but when I find out, I promise I'll kick your fucking ass for you, okay?

"And who are you, tough guy, to send me e-mails and oh-so threatening phone calls?" I laughed bitterly. "You're like some stupid pre-teen girl. And just a hint, buddy, I'm not scared of pre-teen girls so there's a really good chance you wouldn't scare me. If you're so tough, come out of your momma's basement and face me like a man."
"You're all talk, Squire. And if you think I'm not all that though and too scared to face you, why don't you just take a look outside?"
I turned around to see a tall, dashing man who vaguely reminded me of Gaston from the Walt Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, rippling with taught tanned muscles and his face like that of a god of lust or love. He could, in fact, rival Acheron for the gift of desire, and the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt made it less easy to ignore him. His hair was raven and shone under the moonlight, and his blue eyes practically glowed as he stared me down, his lips turned in a smirk.

"You look good for the years, Ivory," He said into the phone. "How old are you now? two, three thousand?"
I recognized this god, realizing that he was no god at all. He was Icarius. And the second this passed through my brain, I screamed bloody murder and ran into the kitchen, frantically searching for the gun with which Spawn had attacked Georgia. I pulled it out to find that it was loaded, and I tured on Icarius, shooting him through the door. The bullets shattered the glass and buried themself in the man's chest and stomach, but he hardly stumbled. Instead, the wounds healed instantly and he held out a hand to show all five bullets in the palm of his hand. He winked at me, smirking still as he dropped the bullets on the ground.

I stood in shock, staring at him with my mouth agape, and then I turned, screaming, and rushed up the stairs towards Nikitas' resting place. I locked the door, pushed a chest of drawers in front of it, and then threw myself toward my phone. I hit the edge of the bed with my knee and went down, my phone falling to my side. Fantically, I picked it up and dialed Spawn, praying silently that he would answer.

Please, please, please. Pick up your damn phone, I chanted in my head.

He picked up on the second ring. "'Sup?"

"I need help, right now." I whispered frantically. "Icarius is in the house and-"

"He's the there?" He cut me off before I could finish my sentence. His voice was full of a rage that scared even me and before I could answer him he continued. "I'll be right there." Then he hung up.

Suddenly there was a thump, I look up and it happened again. Instantly I ran to the closest object, which happen to be a dresser, and pushed in front of the door along with everything else alredy there.

The thump happened again, but this time it was so much closer that it quickened my heartbeat a bit more, which I didn't think was possible.

Suddenly the door flew open, throwing everything in front of it across the room, towards the boy's tiny corpse. Without second thought I ran to his corpse and covered it with my body, closing my eyes and preparing for imapct.

It never happened.

I hesitantly looked up to see the drawers and both dresser frames suspended in thin air, and looking past them I saw Icarius with his hands in the air, concentrating on the furniture's suspension. He let them down gently and then glared at me.

"Well, that certainly wasn't nice," He commented in an acidic voice, walking towards me. He grabbed my arm roughly, dragging me to my feet.
"Let me go, you fucking asshole," I snapped, ripping my arm away from his grip.

"And what if I don't?" He sneered. "You going to get your big tough Hunter to beat me up?"
"No. She doesn't have to get me to do anything. I beat up assholes like you for fun."
We both turned to see a shadow in the doorway, and Spawn stepped into the light of the spare bedroom, a gun in each hand and his face filled with the rage I'd heard over the phone.

How the hell did he get here so fast?

"Oh, you're scary, Blondie. Excuse me, I'm going to go cower in the corner now," He threw me back onto the bed and approached Spawn with a slow, easy gait that showed that he honestly didn't perceve the other man as any type of a threat. He stopped about a foot from Spawn's face.

"Get out," Spawn hissed, and I had to strain my ears to hear him. "This is your last warning."
"If I go, the woman goes."
"Like hell!" I snorted. "I wouldn't go with you even if-"

"Stay out of this!" They both snapped. I glared at them both, crossing my arms and pretended to choke.

"The testosterone is going to kill me," I explained to them when they both shot me strange looks.

"Is she always like this?" Icarius said, looking back at me. Spawn looked to me too, and he smiled.

"Yes. And do you have a problem with that?" He glared at Icarius.

"Sort of, I mean, doesn't it get fucking annoy-" His sentance was cut off when Spawn grabbed him by the throat and flipped him down onto the floor, holding him there with a foot on his throat.

"I'll ask you again, do you have a problem with that?"
I couldn't see whether he shook his head or nodded, but Spawn aimed at him with the gun anyway and then pulled the trigger until he'd emptied the gun into my ex-husband's face/torso/neck/crotch.

"Guns don't hurt him," I reminded Spawn. He smirked to me, stepping toward me, and then he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Mine will," He assured me. I shook my head.

"I already shot him with your gun. The one from the kitchen." He stood to pull a bullet out of his pocket, handing it to me. It was ice cold but shone like sunlight.

"If you shoot anything imortal with this, they'll die. I loaded my gun with these after you called me, because I knew anything that was two thousand years old and not a pile of dust by now was a god, a demon, one of us, or a very, very successful Daimon."
"Does Acheron know you have these?" I asked in awe, hastily handing him back the bullet, not liking the fact that something so tiny held so much power and destructive potential.

"It's not the type of topic that just comes up over coffee, Ivy," He told me with a slight smile. "He doesn't mention it, and I don't mention anything he thinks about. We have a sort of an agreement."

"What is in those bullets, anyway?" I inquired.

"Ichor."
"You mean like from a..."

"A god."
"But...Who?"
"Like I'm going to tell you."
"Please?" I said, giving my best innocent puppy-dog-eyes look, with a pouted lip and wide eyes.

"No. That look doesn't work on me."

Damn.

"I heard that."
Good. Damn.

"I heard that too."
I should kick you out of my mind.

"How would I know when you're in trouble?"
It doesn't happen that often. By the way, you look like you're talking to yourself, Lucy.

He cut me an evil glare. "Yeah, right. This comes from the chick actually thinking things to me instead of talking like a normal human being?"
Well, you're not a human and neither am I.

"Technically, yes, you are. You bleed and you cry and you breathe. You're human."
You don't bleed? Or cry? Or breathe?
"Well, yes, I do, but I'm also about two thousand years old."

So am I.

"No, you're like twenty."
I will get my goddess powers back and smite you, boy, if you give me any more attitude.

"Smite. That sounds very...interesting." He grinned. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

Eternal torture and torment has nothing to do with sex! I thought, flushing and glowering at him.

"To you." He aised his eyebrows and grinned again, showing fangs.
I shook my head, rolling my eyes, and then I looked down to the body of Icarius. "So...What exactly do we do with him?"
"I think we should leave him in the woods for whatever wants to take a bite out of him," He said, giving the man a disgusted look. "Or whatever wants to rip him in half, that works too."
"He didn't do anything to you," I noted honestly. He gave me a furious glare.

"You told me what he did to you. He raped you. I believe that he should die for his crime."
"But..."
"But?" His glare lessed and he looked to me with almost confusion in his eyes. I looked down to Icarius' corpse and Spawn touched my cheek delicately with the tips of his fingers. I tried to look away, but he turned my face gently toward his.

"But that was so long ago. He couldn't have changed, you don't think?"
"Uh huh. And you think that...so you shot him?"
"Well, he stopped that furniture from crushing me, so I assume that he must have some sort of good in him," I said logically. "He must not be entirely evil. Maybe he was under Ebony's control."
"And whose control is he under now?""
"Maybe no ones," I remarked. "Maybe he's free now, and here to make amends."
"Your mind works in a really warped way, did you know that?"

"Yes," I told him calmly, and he sighed. "We should put him outside."
He sneered down at him. "We should give him to the Daimons."
"Spawn..."
"We should." I looked back down to the sprawled body of Icarius, honestly considering it. I then shook my head, and he frowned. "Well, what do we do with him, then?"
I smiled a small, bitter smile. "Do you have a woodshed?"
"Oh, we're going to cut him in half?" He grinned widely, looking nearly extatic.
"No. We're going to lock him in there until we can get someone to take him off our hands."
"That someone being..."
"Well, I haven't really figured that out yet."
"I still say we should leave him out in the snow for the wolves and the Daimons," He chimed in with a smirk. I shook my head, laughing as I pulled him up from the bed and once he was standing I kept a grip on his hands. When my laughter ebbed, I realized that he was watching me with black eyes that seemed tortured, dark, and somewhere at their very centers gorgeous and kind.

He smiled to me, letting go of my hands and pulling a sheet off of the bed. He wrapped it arround Icarus' body and threw the other man's body over his shoulder, and with me at his heels we ascended the stairs, making our way toward the woodshed in the back yard.

"So, your plan is to just keep him in here until he rots?" He inquired when we had covered the body with the blanket and locked the door. I shivered and rubbed my forearms with my hands, thinking of a response.
"Well, at least until daylight comes and I can talk to Acheron or one of the other Squires about it." I looked up at him, at his white blond hair that glowed under the moonlight and the look of seriousness on his handsome face. "I want to apologize for this."
"For helping you hide a body in my toolshed?"
"Well, yes, that, and for all of this. For dragging you into this mess, this whole thing with the Daimons and with my sister, and-"
He smiled, leaning down to pull me against himself and to kiss me again, and when he pulled away, he spoke softly in my ear. "If I wanted nothing to do with it, I wouldn't have bothered to help you in the first place. If I wanted nothing to do with it, I wouldn't have trusted those Daimons for you. I wouldn't have risked the wrath of Artemis and Acheron and all the other gods for you if I wanted nothing to do with it. Don't you understand?"
"I-I understand," I whispered. "And thank you."
He captured my lips again, and I laced my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. We held onto each other for what seemed like forever before I finally pulled away, laying my head on his chest.
"This can't happen," I told him quietly.

"What do you mean?"
"I mean," I said, looking up at him, "That there can never be an 'us'. You're a Dark-Hunter and I'm a Squire, and nothing is going to change that."
"Who says that I am looking for an 'us'?" He smirked. "What if I don't want anything from this but a one-night stand?"
I glared at him, trying to pull away. "Only you would say something so low!" I cried, struggling and then wrenching myself free. "Oh, that's just so-"
He gave a soft laugh, smiling to me. "We shouldn't talk about something like this, certainly not out here. Come on inside, okay?" He held out a hand to me. I sniffed at him and then turned toward the house, stomping away through the snow. He followed me, and slipped in front of me to open the door. I risked a glance behind me, half expecting Icarius to have opened the padlock on the shed and to have been making his way toward us.
I saw nothing.

But that didn't mean nothing was happening. I had a terrible feeling about this whole situation, but I hoped dearly that I was wrong.

Icarius coughed and took deep breaths as he awoke again, pushing himself up onto his hans and leaning back, wincing from the pain in his torso and groin. He briefly recalled the Hunter who had shot him. What what Ivory doing in his home?
Never mind, he'd make her pay for what she'd later.

He groaned in pain, pulling one of the bullets from his chest and examining it. It was gold and dripping with his blood. He'd counted five or six bullets piercing his skin, so that was enough to kill five or six imortals. The Hunter would be on that list, along with Ivory herself, once she learned her lesson, Strykerius, and Acheron. Maybe even the one who had awoken him.

"Oh, Icarius," Said a quiet, sing-song voice from outside of the shed they'd placed him in. He moved back a second before the lock broke and the door was kicked in. Behind it stood a woman who would have been beautiful if she wasn't such a demanding bitch. She had black hair that curled around a goddess' face, with blazing black eyes and a body to die for. She was clothed in a black tank top and a short black skirt, a long black coat on her small shoulders. She should be pretty, and she'd turn the head of any man in any room.

But it wasn't her who captured his attention now, he thought with a bitter smile. He was prepared to take from her what she'd taken from him.

"I got the bullets," He said, holding one up. "We're going to have to dig the others out of me."
"I hope the bitch didn't damage anything," She said, her gaze lingering in a few places. He glared at her.
"I'm fine," He told her through grit teeth. She smiled, stepping forward and offfering him her delicate hand. That hand could kill and it could heal. But it usually killed.

"What a good boy," She said with a small smile. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."
He laughed at this, the sound very fake, and allowed her to lead him out of the home and back toward their Army's camp.

One day, Ebony, He thought with a small, evil smile. One day.

A/N

kaela doesnt believe that i can write this story. so, here i go . . .

once apon a time, in a place far to cold for normal people, lived a shriveld man with no heart or soul. he'd been alone for centuries, until the day the annoyingly perky girl from far away came to be his servant. she annoyed the crap out of him and he eventually killed her.

the end.

(actually, i think this is how kaelas life will end. she will annoy me until i finally give into the urge to kill inside of me and take it out on her. it would be her fault too.)

GO SMAWN ! !

-Ruby :D

THAT'S NOT THE REAL ENDING! It's worse . . . And BTW, Ruby, you're a bitch. And Zarek is NOT shriveled. And you spelled it wrong. And I think you should talk to a therapist about those really weird urges you're having.

-Kaela :D

HAHAHA

-Ruby :D