There was a moment in which we merely stared at one another.
I was frozen into place, staring at my mirror image, drinking her in, my sister who I'd0 never seen in a place I'd never wanted to be. She was everything I could be as a goddess and everything I'd ever wanted to become. My wildest dream and my worst nightmare.
She had straight, jet black hair that fell to her slim waist, and despite the bitter cold she wore a black mini skirt, black fishnets, a pair of steel-toed combat boots and a lacy red tank top layered over another black one. I was disturbed deeply by how similar our features were-she and I shared a nose, the shape of our mouths, and the shape and size of our eyes.
We appeared similar to the untrained eye, but the longer I gazed upon her, the more differences I found-she had a sharper chin, a dimple in her left cheek, and her small, full-lipped mouth was contorted in a bitter smile. Oh, that and the fact that the eyes that appeared to be mine were bloody rose red. That I pretty much saw first thing.
She opened her mouth to speak and I spied long, fang-like teeth that gleamed like the new fallen snow where normal teeth would have been on a normal person. "Sister."
"You're Ebony."
"How did you know?" She asked, smiling a peculiar smile that put me on edge immediately. I shrugged.
"I just did. You look a lot like me. Except for the hair, of course, and the fucking creepy eyes."
"Speak for yourself. I know your powers were unlocked earlier and you're just hiding your true eye color." She put a hand on her hip and seemed to take on the facade of a human teen, but I knew better than to trust this fabricated innocence.
"And so you know we're an even match now?"
The woman laughed bitterly. "Like hell," She laughed still. "I've had a millenea of practice. You've had twelve hours."
Ten, I thought, stepping back and reaching for the handle. But whatever.
She laid her hand on the door and I saw the metal of the latch beginning to melt. It was then that I began to realize something- the strange heat that radiated from her skin, the faint smell of sulfur in the air, the reddish-yellow flames were now consuming her irises, they all pointed to one thing...
"Fire," I whispered softly. She stepped back with another horrible, morbid grin and I saw that the outline of her fingers was melted into the molten hot red metal of the door's latch.
I regarded my sister with shock, watching as her hair fanned like black flames out around her body, whipping in the warm wind that blew almost suddenly through the trees. She threw back her head and threw open her arms to the sky, and I saw heat radiating from her hands and flames playing on her fingertips. She laughed out loud again, sounding hysterical, and when she lowered her head again her eyes glowed strangely, like the embers of a fire themselves. A smirk played on her lips before she spoke again.
"What is it that humans tell their offspring?" She mused, laughing again before she threw out her hand towards me. "Aren't they warned not to play with fire? Yet you test my patience more and more with each breath you draw and each moment that you are not buried under a pile of ashes in a ruin somewhere."
I gasped and closed my eyes, waiting for my skin to burn, to peel away like the residue of a sunburn around me, and then I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt no pain.
Until I opened my eyes again to find the entryway to the cabin burning around me.
* * *
Acting purely on instinct, I slammed the door shut and ran screaming for Zarek. I jumped into the abyss to find him sitting on the floor, his head leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. I shook him, thinking either he was dead or asleep. I was hoping for asleep, under these circumstances.
He opened his eyes to pin me with an irritated glance. "This is an awesome time for a family reunion, isn't it?"
"We're trapped," I told him. "Your house is burning, and it's daylight. She's won. We're going to die."
"Fuck," He said, standing up and waiting until I stood to my full height, many inches shorter than him. "I'm not giving another woman the satisfaction of getting me killed."
I didn't have time to ask him what he ment, because he pointed down another corridor towards a dark, seemingly empty hallway. "I'll meet you there in a minute, I have to get something from upstairs before she burns me out."
"What is it?" I asked, not wanting to risk exposing him to daylight. "I can get it."
He shook his head. "You won't be able to find it," He laughed, pulling himself back up through the opening that led to the burning building, and I started down the corridor as per his directions.
The tunnel was dark as night, and without my mom's gift of my powers, I would probably be stumbling around like an idiot, lost for hours. As it was, I followed the narrow and winding hallway towards an unknown location. I noted as I ran that almost every square inch of the shelving and cabinets lining the wall was carved with the same intricate patterns.
Stopping despite Zarek's orders to run, I stopped and traced one of them with the pad of my thumb, finding the same pattern of a rose etched on its dark brown surface. I frowned, thinking about all the spare time Zarek had. Why spend it carving roses?
"Hey!" I heard someone snap, roughly grabbing my shoulder. I jumped and turned with raised fists to see Zarek glaring at me. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I- nothing. Just thinking."
"Well, stop thinking and start running," He ordered, pushing me away from the bookshelf and towards an unknown destination.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he grabbed my wrist and took off running down the hall. He didn't answer for a minute, and I pulled back, digging my heels into the ground and wrenching my hand from his grasp.
"Are you nuts?" He snarled. "Keep running! She's going to kill you!"
"I thought you didn't run from girls. Aren't you supposed to be all badass and immortal?"
"During daylight, and when that 'little girl' is a revenge-bent Atlantean goddess, I feel that it is best to run, don't you?"
I shrugged. "I just want to kill her."
"Run, make a plan later, and then kill her."
I lowered my eyes and then spotted a small black book in his grasp. "That your address book, or something?"
"Or something."
I snatched the book away before he could stop me, and then held him at bay as I read the title. "The Little Prince?" I laughed, turning to him. Instead of a rude, caustic remark, he was surprisingly quiet, his eyes blank as he surveyed the ground and avoided my eyes. My voice became soft and quiet. "Is this important to you?"
"It's nothing," He growled harshly, snatching it away.
"Is that what you went back for-" I began, but before I could finish my sentance there was an explosion from inside of the cabin and the sparks rained down into the dark cave, scattering dirt and debris everywhere. Zarek cursed again, snatching me up and throwing me over his shoulder, and I was so frightened that I didn't argue.
Watching the destruction of Zarek's possessions was almost disheartening for me, in some weird way. I didn't want to admit it, but I felt bad. I'd caused this to happen. If I hadn't-
-How had Ebony found me, in the first place?
I looked down to my hand again, at the almost-healed blisters. Had my burn had anything to do with her tracking us down? With her being able to shoot fire from her fingertips and all, it didn't seem like that far of a shot for her to be able to track me through fire and burns.
"Ivy!" A voice cackled in a mocking tone. "I'm going to burn you out, you little bitch!"
I closed my eyes. We were going to get away, we'd all be happy (except for Ebony, of course), we'd defeat my sister...
And then we'd all walk off into the sunrise, linked arm and arm.
Riiiight.
(Where'd you go, you little- steal my Iccarius out from under my nose, you little slut, how'd you like it if I stole that hunter of yours while there was nothing you could do about it, cowering in the snow like some little rodent, you...)
I grimaced as I heard Ebony's voice in my mind. Damn her for thinking about hurting...
About hurting Spawn.
And Nikitas . . .
And Ruby (Ruby added this :D)
I froze and then kicked against Zarek, trying to get him to let me go. "Damn it, Z! Let me go!"
"Why? We're both going the same way anyways."
"No, we're not," I told him, twisting to try to remove his arm from my back as he pressed me against his shoulder, trying to bar my escape. "Let me go, damn you!"
"No!" He shouted, but he eventually released me and I fell to the ground in a crumpled heap on my bad ankle. Damn, what was with everything happening to my poor foot? I was going to need corrective surgery or a replacement ankle by the time I was thirty.
Pushing aside thoughts of my wounds and future corrective surgeries, I climbed to my feet and broke into a run, making my way towards the war path my sister was cutting through the labyrinth of tunnels under Zarek's cabin. He yelled something to me, but the sound of his voice was lost against the roaring of the flames that had fully engulfed his home. I tried to see through the eye burning smoke to find Ebony and kick her ass. She was gone, though, and I felt the fear take a hold of my stomach.
I knew where she was going, that bitch. She knew where they were and she knew how to hurt me.
"Zarek!" I yelled. "Find a safe place, I'm going to get her!"
"Don't you dare!" He screamed at me, but I was gone already. I hoisted myself up through the opening of the cave to run towards the door, trying to maneuver through the deadly inferno. I found my way to the door, and in a move straight out of Law and Order, I kicked down the door and ran through it. I looked around frantically, trying to find the car.
She'd taken it. The tire tracks in the snow told me that, and the wires on the ground in a small heap. That bitch had hot-wired the car and gotten away.
She'd been trapped on Olympus for three thousand years, how the hell did she know how to hot-wire a car?
Never mind that now-I had to get to Nikitas and Spawn. That was the important thing. They had to remain unharmed. I'd never forgive myself if they died because of me. I'd feel pretty bad if they were maimed, too.
"Aphrodite!" I screamed in vain, hoping the goddess would appear to help me.
Of course she didn't, but hey, it never hurts to ask. I shivered, trying to think of what I could do, trying to remember- didn't Zarek keep snow mobiles? Yes, I could-
-No, I couldn't. The key to the storage shed, a metal box that was impervious to the fire, was somewhere inside Zarek's cabin, and that was one door I'd break my foot trying to kick open.
It was then that I remembered a conversation between a certain goddess and myself from earlier-it might have been days ago, might have been hours, it might have been weeks.
"Did Aria actually give you back all of your powers?"
"I don't think all of them. It happened about five minutes ago, so I've yet to try out my powers."
"You should try them. You might have some pretty cool stuff."
I realized then what I had to do to get to Ebony before she could hurt what I considered to be my fucked-up little family. Closing my eyes and hoping that I wouldn't have the misfortune to stumble into Kalosis or some other undesireable place, I concentrated and then suddenly the whipping winds that had been cutting at my skin fell silent.
I opened my eyes. Nope, I was right where I'd been standing before. Damn.
I concentrated harder, furrowing my brow and clenching my fists. Come on, stupid goddess powers. Work. Work! I've got to save them!
I opened my eyes again and looked around. Where was I? Zarek's cabin was gone, as was the storage shed and any other recognizable features of Zarek's property. I was in a place I'd never seen before. It was pitch black and I could see a sliver of light under a door, but that was pretty much it. There were no windows or other sources of light.
I heard something stirring, and I turned around, ready for hand-to-hand combat if necessary. Instead of giving me the chance to fight, something grabbed onto my wrist. Imagining something horrible like a zombie or a lawyer, I flipped whoever it was over my shoulder and onto the ground, pressing the weight of my foot against their chest while I fumbled for the light switch.
"What the hell?" Snarled the chest's owner indigitantly. I froze at the familiar, angry voice.
"Spawn?" I cried in disbelief.
"Why are you in my room?" He demanded angrily.
"I can't explain-Ebony's on the way over-why-"
"No, Ivory, you're going to explain. However, seeing as how we have some sort of an emergency on our hands, you will explain later. Can you please get off of me?"
Thankful for the darkness that shielded the horrid blush on my face, I stepped away and continued my search for the light switch. A candle was lit and placed in a holder while I was searching, and I turned to see Spawn in the almost-darkness of the room, narrowed black eyes fixed on me. He wore a pair of black sweat pants, and that was pretty much it, something I noted before I looked away, still retaining my blush. Man, it was some sort of unspoken rule that Dark-Hunter had to be ripped, wasn't it?
Tall, gorgeous, and ripped. I could respect Artemis in her appreciation for her warrior's appearances.
There was a minute of silence in which I scanned the room in the half-light that the candle produced- I saw that the room was indeed windowless, with no pictures or memorabilia of any kind on the walls, which might have been white. I spied a bed in the middle of the room, farthest from where I stood in my awkward state, canopied and black-sheeted. There was a desk, a CD rack, a dresser or two, but the room was rather barren, for being a bedroom. Mine at home had been filled with posters, pictures, and usually looked as though a bomb had blown up in my dresser drawers.
"Can I use your guns, hand granades, knives, tazers, or any combonation of the above?" I finally inquired in a monotone, still averting my eyes and searching for some sign of individuality in the room. He stepped forward, and extended a hand that held a small silver key. "Thanks," I laughed nervously. He said nothing, and when I speed walked to the door and shut it behind me, I saw the candle flicker out.
God, was my face red, flushing with embarrassment as I held my hands against it to try and cool it down. I was still shaking my head in disbelief. I had been thinking about Ebony-why had my powers taken me to Spawn?
Pondering this still, and trying to think of how I could explain the situation to Spawn, I unlocked the door that led from the kitchen to the garage.
I looked around in disbelief at the weapons that filled the armory/garage, my mouth agape. The garage was three-car and filled with more weapons than I could dream up, and a few I'd never even seen before. Thank god the police had no clue these guys existed- half of this stuff wasn't legal in most states. Butterfly knives, hand grenades, even a flamethrower propped up in the corner told me that most methods of executing Daimons probably weren't too law-friendly.
I was looking over one of the handguns from a rack of many when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I jumped and turned around to find Spawn smiling almost mockingly to me. He'd dressed in a pair of black jeans and a grey sweater, and his hair was pushed back from his forehead, his eyes now awake and alert, only a bit off-putting.
"Don't shoot," He said, mockingly raising his hands. I frowned at him.
"You should go back to sleep," I told him seriously. He shrugged, pulling me closer.
"Not really tired anymore," He replied with a grin. I laughed, shaking my head, and then right when I was sure I was going to be kissed, something slammed into the side of the house with enough force that a display of knives fell from the wall to the floor. The silence that followed was deafening.
I pulled a round of ammunition from a drawer and pointed to the door, all buisness now. "Get back upstairs. If the daylight touches you, you're dead."
"Ivory..." He began, looking as though he was going to argue. I put my fingers over his lips before he could finish what he might have been preparing to say, giving him a serious look.
"Spawn. Seriously. I'm not taking any chances with your safety, especially not during the day time and while Ebony is out there gunning for me." I gave him a pleading look, removing my fingers from his face. "Go make sure Nikitas is alright, okay? Keep him safe. Let me go after her and make her pay. I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can be."
I pulled myself up onto my tip-toes and kissed him softly and quickly, and then I turned away to load the gun, listening until the door shut behind him. I re-checked the gun, pulled a few granades down from the cabinets on the wall, and then opened the door leading outside.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
I looked around, noticing that the snow had stopped, sweeping my eyes over the cars in the drive way and the empty, silent front yard. From this vantage point, I could see most of the property, from the end of the long, winding driveway to the edge of the woods bordering the house. I kept a firm grip on the gun, ignoring the numbing cold that was biting at my fingers.
"Ebony!" I shouted tauntingly. "Come on, you little bitch! Come out and play!" I screamed the last part, my own voice a hoarse shock to my system that echoed off the trees and called back to me, five times worse than when I'd screamed it seconds ago.
Something whistled past my cheek, and I turned away just in time to avoid getting burned by the hot stone that had seemingly come out of nowhere. It landed in the snow, the heat of it melting the surface of the ice so that the rock fell through. I dug it out of the snow and poked at it like the weird-o I am, careful to not burn myself with it. It had some sort of a pattern on it...
I'd seen this before. Someone had drawn this for me once.
No, not just someone. Eli.
Why had he drawn the design I now saw on this random rock that had been thrown at me, probably by my sociopath and psychotic sister?
I remembered what it was now. It was the soul of a Dark-Hunter. Eli had shown me it after he'd drawn it on a sketch pad he'd kept in his top left desk drawer-it was the rock that had held the soul of a Dark-Hunter from Boston who'd recently gone free. I wasn't sure how he'd gotten a hold of the design, but I'd recognize it anywhere.
I held the stone, not caring if it burned me or not. It would pale into insignificance compared to the agony the soul's holder must have felt touching the Dark-Hunter's actual soul.
Why did Ebony have this? Did this rock have any significance, or was it just some random rock she'd decided to throw at my head?
"Ebony," I yelled tauntingly, trying to draw her out to attack her and take my revenge out on her skinny ass, "How do you like my sloppy seconds? Remember, whatever he's shown you, I did with him first!"
Something snatched my neck and I hit the ground; I hit the snow surprisingly hard, and then I kicked and clawed at my attacker with all of my might. But whoever it was seemed stronger.
"You bitch!" Ebony shrieked, her anger getting the best of her. "He loves me, not you! Me! Me!" With each 'me', she slammed my head into the layer of ice-snow.
"I don't give a flying fuck!" I screamed, punching her hard in the neck and forcing her off of me. "I don't want him!"
She froze and then her reddish-orange eyes narrowed into slits. "I don't believe you."
"And I really don't care."
She sat back in the snow and conjured a fire in her hands, burning away her injuries with the ball of flames. I watched her quietly, filled still with suspicion. She'd changed her clothes-she wore a long black leather duster now, and a pair of black jeans with a red halter top. My twin had a choker around her neck and a small silver chain falling between her shirt's collar and her skin.
She stood suddenly and abruptly, one hand raised as if to hit me, seemingly considering the consequences with silent contemplation. I stood slowly and raised the gun from my pocket until it was level with her face, my own face detatched from the situation and grave. For a second, it looked as though she might back off and leave me and mine in peace.
Ebony instead brought one hand down against my temple, knocking me to my side, into the snow again, and into a swift, almost blissful unconsciousness.
When I awoke, I could not for the life of me get my bearrings. I had no clue where I was-Ebony might have kidnapped me and stuck me at the bottom of the Atlantic, for all I knew. Andrew Ryan, here I come.
Shaking my head to try and clear it, I looked around-this place was unfamiliar to me. it was a plain room of white marble floors and white walls, with no windows or doors tto be seen. There was an off-white chaise lounge and a high-backed eggshell colored -to tell the truth, I try to avoid using the word 'ivory' whenever I can- armchair in one of the farthest corner from where I was situated. A small table with a glass vase filled with dark-red liquid, probably wine, was the only other touch of individuality in this white-on-white room.
"Hello?"
My voice echoed back, unanswered, and I frowned, trying to pull myself away from the wall. Of course I couldn't, because that's the way Ebony operates, but at least I made a conscious effort.
You're stealing another woman's man again, Ivory, aren't you?
A voice in the back of my mind sighed this, and at the same time I felt someones breath on the nape of my neck, someones fingers combing through my hair. I twisted away from my phantom attacker, my eyes wide with shock.
"Who are you?" I demanded loudly, hoping to receive a non-cynical and straightforward answer. I received none, as I expected.
I am you, and I am me.
A door appeared in the marble wall, opening out into the bright light of the day. I flinched away from it and closed my eyes, and when the light faded I saw that it was only my twin standing over my prison of a wall. She wore a white peplos secured with a silver broach over her left shoulder, and her caramel blond hair was down and curling around her shoulders. She was actually wearing a tiara in her hair.
"Oh, hello, bitch," I said to her by way of greeting, and she sneered at me.
"Skank."
"Whore."
"Slut."
"Putah," I sneered, and then she frowned.
"What the hell is that?"
"Aren't goddesses omnlingual?" I laughed bitterly. She paused for a moment and then her face grew angry and red. She strode forward to bitch-slap me, but before she could I spat in her face. Shrieking, she turned away and wiped at her cheek where I'd apparently hit her. I snickered and tugged at my invisible restraints.
She strode forward again, so full of self-confidence as she flipped her hair back from her chest like some stereotypical mean girl at some west-coast high school and crossed her arms behind her back, cocking her head to the side.
"I should just kill you now, you know," She said, running her fingers across the broad side of the dagger she'd taken out from behind her back. She walked towards me and held it against my throat, pressing enough to make me feel highly uncomfortable but not enough to actually draw any blood.
"Go on," I told her, drawing shallow breaths and trying hard not to cut my throat on her blade as her furious face found level with mine. She was shaking with rage now. "Kill me, you weak little bitch. Kill me while I'm tied down so you won't have to face me like a real warrior, you weak-willed little-"
"Shut up!" She screamed, bringing the blade down across my cheek. I screamed out in agony as my skin split and blood streamed down my face and down into my mouth. The taste of it was metallic and bitter, and made me feel as though I might lose my lunch. What disgusted me further was the fact that Ebony's rage seemed to be giving way to interest as she watched my blood drip down onto the white marble floor, staining it deep red. She cut another slash across my other cheek and then ran her fingers down in, studying the blood with narrowed eyes. All the while I snarled curses at her and fought against restraints I could not see.
"You're going to go to hell, you bitch!" I screamed. "You sick fucking bitch!"
"I told you to shut up!" She snarled, slapping me again. My blood splattered against the white-washed walls and then we fell silent spare the sound of my breathing. I glared at her and when she continued, her voice was quiet and disturbingly calm. "I just wanted to bring you here to let you know that your saint of a mother isn't really so perfect."
"Really? Aria isn't the patron goddess of motherhood?"
"Not Aria, you dumbass," She snapped angrily. "Helena. Our aunt." She spat the words. "The one who took you here. Who freed your soul from Hades and gave you human life."
"You know, the way you describe her, she sounds pretty perfect to me," I said drolly. She glared at me and snapped at me to shut up once again. I fell silent and then she held something against my cheek that was cool like the knife, but not nearly as sharp. I frowned and she held up the small glass vial for my inspection. "What the hell are you doing with that?"
"Do I have to gag you, or are you going to shut up on your own?"
"Shutting up," I said innocently. "By the way, where are we?"
"In a realm," She said, concentrating on the potion as she mixed it with some sort of a clear liquid she pulled from another pocket in the dress. Swirling it around, she continued in a distracted voice, "Somewhere outside of Kalosis. By the way, nice going trying to get to the house before me." She snorted.
"Shut up," I snapped. "Sorry if thinking about boys is better than thinking about your ugly mug."
She laughed bitterly and then slapped me again. My ears rang. "And what a boy that is, Ivy. An Appolite... And a Dark-Hunter?"
"Don't talk about him," I snapped. She laughed.
"Would you mind me screwing him after you're gone? Would he really notice the difference?" She grinned, showing off long white fangs. "I mean, if I hide the teeth and dress a little dowdy, I'm sure no one would be able to tell you from me. I'd give him much more fun, though, I'm sure he'd appreciate that." She laughed and then before my eyes, her hair faded to a dark brown, her teeth shrunk to a normal proportion, and the peplos became the jeans and grey sweater I'd worn the day before. She became me; a monstrous, evil me.
"If you touch him, so help me God, I will rip you in half, eat your heart out, and then sew you back together with your bones and guts on the outside for everyone to see," I hissed angrily. Ah, the joys of being the Squire of a psychopath. New, imaginative insults and threats to use on my enemies at will.
"You should write greeting cards," She told me drolly, smirking and tussling the dark brown curls on my head. I bit at her in response and she pulled her hand back to smack me around again. I tasted my blood in my mouth and I spat it out on her.
"What the hell is that?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at the concoction.
"It'll open your eyes," She said cynically. She forced open my mouth. "Drink up like a good little girl now, Ivy." Spawn's nickname for me sounded bitter and evil coming from her.
"Fuck you," I started, and when I opened my mouth to curse her again, she forced the vial into it. I choked on the burning liquid, but I did not die, like I thought I would. Instead, I began to feel only a little drowsy, and I grinned to her, feeling victorious now. "It didn't work, moron-I'm not dead..."
She looked down at me, seemingly filled with disgust. "I'm not going to poison you, you bitch. You don't deserve that mercy. And you know, I was going to show you Helen's past to try and hurt you, but the way you just reacted about your Hunter... I know what will hurt you more." She winked and grinned again. "Sweet dreams, sister."
I meant to finish the promise of pain and death aimed at her, but I didn't have the time before the blackness overtook me again.
I awoke in a new setting, blinking and shivering, squinting in the darkness to try and find some marker of where I might be. I saw nothing at first, but as my eyes adjusted, I saw two black leather couches positioned at a 90 degree angle apart from one another, a coffee table, a large mantled fireplace, and the blackout-curtained window which I knew looked out at the driveway. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continued to scan the living room for any sign of life.
"Hello?" I called as I stood on uneasy legs and made my way into the kitchen. Spawn was there, pouring boiling water into one of the mugs on the marble counter. He looked up when I walked into the room but made no comment.
"Uh, sorry about earlier..." I began awkwardly, twirling my hair around my finger and looking away again.
"It's fine." His voice was short and held no sign of warmth whatsoever. This wasn't the Spawn I knew, and I frowned at this stranger with his face, stepping forward to take a closer look. He didn't look sick and what I'd done hadn't exactly been shun-worthy. It had been an accident. So what was wrong with him?
"Hey, are you okay?" I laid the back of my hand on his cheek and he pushed my wrist away, turning back to the cup on the counter. I felt my heart stop for a second there, and then I regained my composure. "Did I do something else wrong? I apologized. That should be enough." My voice was quickly becoming angry and very, very loud. No, Ivory, calm down. Calm, you don't know that he's-
"Ivory, keep your voice down." Oh, really?
"Don't tell me what to do!" I yelled.
"Stop- just stop. Don't act like you're attached to me." His voice was cold again, and then there were tears in my eyes as I saw red when he finished his sentence.
"I am, for the time being!" I exploded, and there was a burning sensation behind my eyes that usually didn't happen. I rubbed my eyes and bit back a cry at the agony I was feeling. I looked up, and when I saw him flinch I knew my eyes were red again. Funny that fighting with my sister and ex hadn't caused my eyes to redden, but a little argument with Spawn turned them red almost instantly. "Listen, apparently you're not very happy with that, but-"
"I didn't say that."
"You sure as hell implied it," I snapped. "But as soon as Zarek gets a new cabin, I can just get out of your hai-" I paled. "What time is it?"
"Six. I was just getting ready to leave." I froze.
"We have to get Zarek." He looked a little surprised.
"Why?"
"Ebony burned down his house trying to smoke me out, and I left him in the catacombs when I came to get help," I paused to glare at him, "And I've been comatose for couple of hours. He probably thinks I'm dead, or something."
"Get your coat on, then," He said in that same bored tone. I glared at him, hurting more than I'd like to admit, and then I spun on my heel to retrieve my boots and coat for the hallway. I pulled them on roughly, ignoring the redness of my irises and the bump on my forehead from where Ebony had hit me that were both reflected in the mirror by the coat rack. Continuing to glare even out of his line of vision, I fixed my hair and tried to ignore what she'd said about becoming me after I was dead. I wasn't going to think about that now. Not while I was still alive.
"Should we take Nikitas?" I called into the room. He appeared in the doorway and looked back up the stairs. He was silent, and I put my hands on my hips. "Uh, you remember him, right? Small human, blond, blue eyed, who we are caring for at the time being?"
He blinked, looking a little surprised. "Yeah, and no. He's sleeping." I heard a voice from upstairs.
"He doesn't sound asleep," I countered, unconvinced.
"Can we just leave now?" He asked, looking a little anxious. I frowned at him, zipping my jacket closed and untucking my hair from my collar.
"Why so eager to leave?" I inquired, opening the front door and letting in the cold air. Spawn would not answer me as he pulled me outside, taking a grip on my hand-which honestly surprised me, given his attitude for the past few minutes towards me- and leading the way towards the black SUV, probably not the hot-wired one. He unlocked my door, and then his, and I sat in silent contemplation for a minute until he opened his door. It had barely slammed shut when he pulled me against him, finding my lips and kissing me passionately, and my heart soared again. I still pushed him away angrily, though, a little bit confused.
"I'm glad you're safe," He told me, sounding a bit breathless but still more like himself than before. I frowned, trying to judge whether his tone held any sarcasm or not.
"What is wrong with you?" I demanded in an angry voice. He moved to touch my cheek and, as a angry comeback for what he'd done earlier, I pushed him away. Spawn honestly looked a little hurt, and I took pity on him, leaning forward to kiss him again. He pulled away first and glared up at his house.
"Your friend, Jen- the one who you thought betrayed you?" I nodded and he continued. "She showed up at the house a few hours ago, looking for you. She said that she couldn't find Zarek's cabin and knew that you'd been staying with me. She explained the whole situation to me-with the phone calls- and she's the one who found you."
"What do you mean, she 'explained the situation' to you?"
"She couldn't have talked to you on her home phone in Florida- She was on the plane coming up here all yesterday. I would know if she'd been lying." He brushed the hair back from my forehead and ran his hand down my cheek soothingly. "It wasn't her."
I was relieved, but there were still some things left unanswered. "So what did that have to do with the nasty attitude towards me?" I frowned crossing my arms. He sighed.
"She's upstairs with Nikitas." I froze.
"Are you sure she's not dangerous?"
"I don't know, Ivory-you've been her best friend since before you became a Squire. Is she dangerous?"
"I don't know any more," I replied honestly. He looked a little saddened.
"She doesn't mean him any harm. But she's watching both of us closely-very closely. When she found you in the snow and brought you inside, I admit I reacted in a way that-well, in a way most Hunters don't react when just any humans are hurt. She's suspicious about what's going on between us." He looked down. "I don't want you to get into trouble over me."
"We've not done anything wrong!" My voice was indignant and I glared up at the house too. "And even if I did, well...you're worth it, Spawn." He smiled up at me and I smiled back, feeling a little shy at admitting that. Damn my emotions, always getting in the way of everything.
When the car began to move and the radio crackled to life, I heard only static. Fiddling with the controls to find a station, I listened as talk stations, pop stations, and the Mexican channel flew past. Not really sure what I was looking for, I settled on an unfamiliar station when I heard a few familiar lines of a Frank Sinatra song.
I sang along quietly, tapping out the beat on my knees. I looked back over at Spawn and smiled, and when he gave me an almost sad smile I stopped. "Are you going to be an ass to me in front of Jen from now on?" I asked him suddenly. He looked a little surprised.
"No. I just got a little carried away. I was worried about her finding out- it's better to be a little cold as opposed to acting like we're...well, you know." His surprise faded to an almost ashamed look as he turned away, focusing his attention back on the road. "Sorry."
"It's alright-but if you're ever mean to me like that, or talk to me like that again, I can promise I'm just going to kick your ass. No notice will be given."
"I have no doubt that you would do just that," I grinned again, and he smiled, squeezing my hand. I sighed, my hand still in his as I leaned against the window, closing my eyes and smiling blissfully.
"What was it like for you, being an Appolite?" I asked suddenly. My eyes were still closed, so I was met with silence, and he took his hand from mine. I opened my eyes again to see him watching the road, his grip on the steering wheel tight. I looked up at him, red eyes wide with worry, and I touched his arm. The muscles tensed beneath my hand, through the black fabric of his tee shirt, and we were both silent for a moment.
"Why do you ask?" I shrugged, honestly not sure why I asked. But I didn't know much about Daimon/Appolite lore-I wasn't a Dark-Hunter. Squires didn't really tend to know much beyond the blond, tall, fanged thing.
"I just want to know. I mean, my childhood wasn't something out of a Norman Rockwell, but what was it like for you growing up with that?"
"You say it like it was some sort of a disease, Ivy." His voice was a little bitter, and I shrugged it away once more.
"Some might call it that. I wouldn't have reacted well to it, I can tell you that. I mean, being banned from the sunlight, having to drink someone elses' blood to survive, dying so young..." I trailed off, watching him and wincing when I realizing my error. "You know, I think I might just shut up now."
"I didn't know any better," He finally told me quietly. "I was born long after Apollo's curse on our kind. I just stayed out of the sunlight and drank what I thought was normal- I knew I was going to die, and I must say, for a while I was angry. Eventually I accepted it, though; after I met..." It was his turn to trail off into silence, and I turned away, pleading with my features to show no jealousy.
"Your wife?"
"Yes."
I was silent for a second as I mulled this over. "Were you happy when you were alive?" I asked after an extensive silence.
"Of course. I had a wife who loved me, and beautiful children..." He looked over to me, his eyes pained. "I'm not going to lie to you. I miss them still-I'm not ashamed to admit it."
I met his gaze levely. "I wouldn't expect you to be ashamed. You loved them. It shows-they were very lucky to have you."
"I was blessed with them for a brief time," He said quietly. I took his hand, silent. I didn't know how to respond to this. He obviously still loved them all very much. I would expect as much, if they were the reason he became a Hunter. He became an executioner to his own kind to avenge their demise. They must have meant the world to the man.
I couldn't bring myself to feel jealous or hurt. No way I was hurting more than Spawn was right now.
"Zarek?" I called softly into the darkness The cabin that used to be his home was little more than a blackened and charred wreck, and I worried for his safety. If he was dead, I'd be in trouble, that's for sure.
There was no reply, but I walked further into the darkness anyway, abandoning Spawn, and then I found the secret passageway down into the abyss. Looking back to make sure I wasn't being followed, I slipped down and fell into the ashes of his humble home.
Spitting ashes from my mouth and wiping at it as I grimaced in disgust, I stood again and brushed coal off of my knees. I continued to hunt for Zarek, calling his name through the catacombs. I stopped when I turned and saw a clean white piece of paper taped to one of the bookshelves. Below it was a book, which I picked up along with the note.
Ivory:
If you're still alive and reading this, just so you know, I went out to patrol the areas for that bitch sister of yours. I have a bone to pick with her. If you're not, well, it doesn't matter. Hold onto this for me, I'll stop by your place later to pick it up.
...thanks.
-Z
I scanned the note and then looked down at the book in my possession-it was the worn and dog-eared publication of The Little Prince that he had risked so much to save. This wasn't a book I'd expect Zarek to identify with- for all I knew, it was a children's book. But still, it almost touched me that he'd trust it to me.
Placing it carefully in my pocket, wrapped up in the note, I started back towards the remnants of the cabin. Spawn was at the opening of the abyss, leaning against the stove that had been shoved away to reveal the opening.
He offered me a hand and then pulled me up effortlessly, and I handed him the note when I was safely on the surface again. Reading it quickly, he frowned.
"What is he talking about?"
I shrugged. "There was nothing there," I lied. "Just the note."
"Liar."
"No."
"Uh-huh..."
"What, was it something weird? A photo album full of pictures of dead bodies?"
"Exactly, Spawn. I have a large photo album of pictures tucked in my jacket." I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. "Honestly, boy, get some sense."
"Well, this is Zarek we're talking about." He raised an eyebrow and I sighed.
"True, but he's innocent. No bodies here."
"That we know of," He muttered, and I lightly pushed him away, shaking my head.
"You are such a jerk," I sighed, still shaking my head and smiling. He shrugged and didn't deny it.
I had just turned away to walk back towards the car when I felt a hand slip into my pocket. I looked down in shock in time to see Spawn pull the small black book from my coat and rush away from me. I chased after him, desperate to keep the secret of Zarek's book, and I snatched at the book as he held it aloft, much higher than my grasping hands so that he could read it but I had no hope of taking it. Damn him for being 6'7".
"The Little Prince?" He laughed, spinning around to keep me from jumping up like a little rabid dog to rip it from his grasp. I resisted the urge to knee him in the crotch and just take the book when he doubled over in agony. "Ivy, is this yours?"
"Give it back!" I demanded hopelessly, feeling a bit like a bullied child at recess; but I know it would be worse for Zarek if I didn't get that book back before Spawn realized who it really belonged to. "Spawn! Really, give me that back!"
"This is a children's book, Ivy, why are you-" His face became surprised when he read what was presumably a name scrawled on the front page. My face fell, Zarek's secret lost; and then he surprised me by handing it back to me without saying a word. I looked up at him- his face was an emotionless mask again.
I put the book back in my pocket silently and held out my hand. After a brief second of hessitation he took it and we walked back towards the SUV, the scent of sulfur thick in the air.
"Where do you usually patrol?" I asked quietly. He shrugged.
"I usually stick to Fairbanks, sometimes the outlying communities," He told me nonchalantly. I thought for a second before I spoke again.
"Will you get in terrible trouble if you go zombie hunting with me instead?" I asked innocently. He frowned, and it was a minute or so before he responded.
"I think I might."
"Well, I can't really go Daimon hunting right now- it would be kind of wierd, since they're fighting on my side in this- so I guess you're just going to have to drop me off somewhere else."
"Can't I just take you back home?" He pleaded. I shook my head.
"I have to practice fighting on something," I reasoned.
"I thought you couldn't practice on Daimons."
"Not Daimons, darling, zombies."
"'Darling'?" He laughed questioningly. I shrugged and pulled my hand from his to wrap my arm around his waist.
"I figure if you can give me a nickname, you need one too."
"Not 'darling', though," He told me, shaking his head. I smiled.
"Why not?"
"It's girly."
"It's cute."
"Say that in front of Zarek and I'll never live it down."
"Do you care?"
"Yes."
"Well, there 'Lucy'..."
"That's better than 'Darling'."
"It's girlier."
He sighed. "Am I going to win this?"
"No. I have brothers, and they trained me so well that now I can argue with pretty much anything. I can argue a point six ways to Sunday and pretty much confuse the hell out of whoever was debating with me in the first place," I told him with a smile. "But hey, if you're attatched to the name 'Lucy', we can keep that. Whatever floats your boat, buddy."
He gave me an irritated look and I pulled him closer with ain innocent smile. I froze when I felt something odd on his left side through the fabric of his jacket. He froze too, and I unzipped his jacket and pulled it open, and uncertainly he began, "Ivory..."
"Shut up."
I ripped his shirt up over his head and ran my hand down his side again. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. There were four of them, all perfectly round and each about the same size, and the skin around them was healing, but not healed entirely yet.
Bullet holes.
"Did you get shot?" I exclaimed as he pulled his shirt back down and zipped his jacket up to his throat. His eyes were cold again and I hated that. I touched his side again and he jumped slightly.
"If I did, do you think touching the wounds will help them heal?" He snapped in irritation. My face must have betrayed my hurt, because he sighed and pulled me close again, holding me tightly. "Sorry, Ivy. I just didn't want you to know."
"Why?" I asked quietly. "Maybe I can help."
"How?"
"I have my powers back. I can help." I nodded and rested my hands on his side, but he took both my hands in his and pushed them away from him gently, shaking his head.
"I don't want you to try."
"Why not?" I demanded.
"Well, for one thing, you might end up just like chopping off my arm or something-you're not totally the master of your powers just yet. Also, I'll heal in like a day or so. I don't want you to waste your powers on me." I frowned at him.
"When did you get shot?"
"A few days ago."
"Did you clean the wound?"
"Yes, ma'am, the bullets are gone." He gave me a smirk. "Funny, you don't strike me as a nurse."
"Shut up." I pushed him lightly. "Who shot you?"
"Going to go on a vendetta on my behalf? I'm flattered."
"Tell me who shot you before I just pull the name out of your mind and give you a taste of your own damn medicine."
"Are you reading minds now?"
"You better believe it, buster." I grinned and crossed my arms. "Now, name, please; or I'm going to go digging in your mind to find it myself."
"I'm not sure who it was. It was just some Daimon, no big deal." My smile faded as I remembered the sound of a gunshot in the distance, and the phantom pain creeped back into my leg. I watched him with wide red eyes.
"You got shot saving Sharon, didn't you?" He was silent, and I continued to watch him. He looked away and his hand flew to his side, while he remained mute. To try and get him to talk, I took one of his hands in mine until he looked up at me again, and then he sighed.
"Yes. But I'm fine now."
"You have four bullet holes in your hip."
"Ribs, actually, and one flew right past my stomach. But no, nurse Saint-John, I heal faster than humans do and the wounds will be gone in a day at most." He in turn took my hand and raised it to his lips. "Don't worry on my behalf. I'm not worth your worry."
"Of course you are," I said before I could censor the words that my heart said and my mouth was not supposed to say. I regained my cool and smiled slightly, hoping it was a cute smile and not an oh-my-god-I'm-an-obsessive-freak smile. You know, the one that serial killers almost always give their victims in movies, the wide-eyed grin with the creepy...
Ah well. You understand what I'm talking about. But it didn't appear to be that kind of a smile, because I got a nice, normal one in return.
"What did I do to deserve someone like you?" He laughed softly. I shrugged.
"Maybe you killed someone really important in your past life and you're paying for it now," I offered, and he laughed at this, too. I was glad to see him so lighthearted. I seldom saw lighthearted Dark-Hunters; usually they were pretty creepy or really serious.
"We should go, now- the zombies await." Damn. There was the stupid serious side again. My displeasure must have shown on my face, because he smiled and put an arm around me. Well, it was either that or the fact that I growled low in my throat like some sort of rabid animal. "Unless you want to go home..." He looked a little hopeful that I'd back down, but I shook my head determinedly.
"Well, I can't let the zombies down now, can I?" I sighed. "Take me to them."
I giggled like a little kid when the zombie burst into a fine golden powder like a Daimon. We'd found them in a regular Daimon hotspot, scoping out another bar on one of Fairbanks' main roads, and obviously these ones were new, because it only took a few stabs to the chest with a knife to finish them off. They swirled around in the snow like pixie dust, and I laughed again at the Disney analogy.
My laughter stopped when I started choking on the gold powder and it got in my eyes. Then it stopped being funny and got irritating. Spawn sighed and walked over to me, taking my knife from me.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking less than pleased. I nodded.
"Fine and dandy," I replied bitterly, rubbing at my eyes. He rolled his eyes and I glowered back up at him, sticking my tongue out. He laughed again and picked up one of the throwing knives off the ground, where it had been sticking in a zombie's chest before its disintigration, offering it back to me. I took it and glared at him again. "Just choking on the ashy remains of a zombie's corpse. No big deal."
"Of course not," He replied in a bored tone, smiling widely now. He reached over to brush something off my hair, and I saw more gold dust sparkle down to the ankle-high new snow. I smiled up to him and he leaned down to kiss my cheek, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and gave him a real kiss.
There was a cough from behind us and I pulled away from him, growling again before I turned on whoever had interrupted us. I froze when I saw Zarek, and he pretty much did the same thing. Oh, god. He'd seen us kissing. We were so freaking dead.
We all were silent, my hand in Spawn's, Zarek less than a yard away from us. He wore a black ski jacket and black jeans tucked into Harley Davidson boots, and his silver claw flashed under the almost-full moon's glow.
"Uh..." I began, and Zarek held up a hand, his eyes closed and his head bowed. We were all silent for a minute and I looked to Spawn uncertainly. He was very pale and appeared to be shaking, though whether it was out of shock or rage was yet to be seen.
Zarek's eyes were still closed when I appreached him and put his copy of The Little Prince in his hands. His ebony eyes opened again and he studied it for a second.
"I got your note," I told him softly. "Why did you leave the book?"
"I wanted to see if you were actually coming back, or if you'd just died."
"Ebony could have found it," I told him.
"She would have just burned it. She doesn't strike me as the brightest match in the matchbook, so probably not a reader, either."
I shrugged. "I got the brains, I guess."
"I guess." He cleared his throat again and absentmindedly flexed his claws. I felt Spawn's grip on my hand tighten slightly, and I looked back at him, shaking my head softly.
What Zarek said next shocked both of us, I'm sure. "I'm not going to tell on you."
"What?"
"You two." He nodded to me, and then to Spawn who remainded cold and indifferent but who still held onto my hand protectively. "Whatever you have going on with each other."
"We're noth-"
"Bullshit, Ivory, I know it when I see it. You two are...something." He waved his hand at us and then shrugged. "I'm not going to play snitch and run to Artemis, and if they ask, I never saw anything that pegged you as anything but Squire and Hunter. I doubt Acheron'll tell either-he's an ass, but I'm pretty sure he has a heart."
"I'm your Squire," I said quietly, looking down to the snowy ground.
"Yeah, but he treats you better."
"I'm your Squire," I told him more forcefully. His black eyes met my ruby ones.
"And you don't want to be." His voice was painfully obvious and, what he said might have been true, once. As it was, I knew now that Zarek, too, had a heart.
"I don't mind being your Squire. Not anymore, at least. I mean, you used to be pretty irritating, but I've pretty much gotten used to you now."
He smirked and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could he fell to the snowy street with an 'omph!'. I jumped back and noted with some shock that his chest was smoldering and there was a hole through his black sweater, and it was then that I knew what had happened.
"Get down!" I screamed to Spawn, looking around for the source.
And then I found it, smirking back at me from across the street.
My sister.
A/N:
We had an assignment in one of our classes to try and read as many classic novels as we could. One night, while scanning the bookshelves in my parent's living room, I found a small paperback copy of The Little Prince. Having read about it in Dance With The Devil, I was thrilled to have the chance to read it.
I sat down and read it in about an hour, from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM one night. It's a little simple, but very cute; I see how Zarek identified with it, and it had a powerful message for being only 111 pages long. And I see why he loved the book; I fell in love with that little melancholy children's book and adore the little prince at its center and the love he felt for his little rose. If you haven't read it, would you kindly do so?
Just thought ya'll should know.
Much love,
Kae