I stared at my former best friend for about a second and a half before I lunged for her. It took Spawn a lot to hold me back, and the whole time he tried I was spitting curses and snarling at Jen. She seemed unscathed and spoke on while I tried to beat her stupid smug face in.

"I think it would be best for that boy-what's his name? Alexander?" She shrugged. "No matter. I think that he should stay here, too."
"Why?" I snapped.

"Because," She said cooly. "I don't think that he should spend any time with you. You're a terrible influence and you're honestly lucky that you haven't lost your job yet, or gotten every Hunter here killed."
"Screw you, you bitch!" I shouted.

"I think that if you decided to take me to the council about this, I'm sure that they would side with me and that you would probably lose your job. You should leave before I decide to call them." She crossed her arms and stood there. The matter was dealt with. She waited for my reaction. I grit my teeth and walked forward to look her in the eye. I smiled at acted as though I were walking to the door, and then I turned back to see her watching me.

She looked so smug and self-assured, and Spawn looked so broken. I clenched both my fists and then decided that I wasn't going to be accountable for my next actions.

"You are so accountable for what just happened."

I turned back to see Spawn in the doorway. I adjusted my jacket and leaned my crossed arms against the snowy banister, looking to the horizon before me without responding. I felt one of his arms around my shoulder and looked over to see him on my other side.

"I don't care," I sniffed, half from crying and half from the cold I was developing staying here. "She deserved it."
"Ivory," He laughed deeply, "You punched her in the face."
"So?" I pouted. "Where is she?"
"Are you going to apologize," He inquired, "Or extract the rest of your revenge?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm thinking revenge," He said, studying my face, "But I'm new to reading your moods, so you might be thinking of apologizing."
"You were right the first time," I told him miserably, laying my head down on his shoulder.

"She's upstairs, applying ice to a bruised and perhaps broken nose," Spawn finally told me. I turned and looked at the stairs, visible through the foyer windows.

"In my room?"
"No. In another guest room."
"How many do you have?" I inquired.

"Four, I think. Maybe five." He shrugged and I winced as pain split my head. "Sorry."
"S'Okay." I sighed deeply. "I'm going to miss you."
"And I'll miss you," He told me. I sighed again.

"Why does she have to be such a bitch?"
"It's not just her," He told me wearily. "I think we were damned to being with. Hunters and Squires aren't supposed to mix."

"So?" I demanded. "It's not like that matters. We're not just 'Hunter' and 'Squire'. We're people, you know. We're just two people who..."
"No," He said solemnly, stopping me. "You're a person. I'm just a Hunter."
"You matter. Don't act like you don't. And if you ever begin to think you don'tmatter, just look at the broken nose I gave Jen on your behalf." He laughed and I wrapped my arms around him.

"Oh, Ivory," He sighed, shaking his head.

"I should probably go," I said quietly. "I'll come by and visit some time, if your warden will allow it."
"I doubt that she will," He told me. I shrugged.
"I'll break in through a window or something, then." He smiled.
"Here's looking forward to your next break in," He replied, leaning against the banister. I gave him a salute and started to walk towards one of the SUVs.
The one I'd used last still had the keys on the seat, so I took them. I waved to Spawn again and then drove off into the direction of the early dawn, back towards town.

Time has this funny way of going on, even when we don't want it to.

I was miserable for the next five months, as winter rolled by and Zarek's cabin was rebuilt; he offered to let me stay with him, but I honestly needed to be on my own. He understood. He'd known how things had been with Spawn and I- and how deeply Jen's betrayal cut me.

I became a shell of myself. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, and could not focus on anything but fighting. I couldn't keep going on acting like things were fine, living among humans, so I took up residence with the Daimons. Stryker pretty much ignored me, and Urian was an upitty bitch, but most of the others were cool. They didn't, like, try to kill me or anything, I mean. To the furthest extent of my knowledge.

I had a small house, actually, built on the hill by the camp. After a few weeks, I'd decided that living in a tent sucked, and that I needed my own place. Being a loaded Squire has its benefits. It was a small, simple house- two bedrooms, 1/2 bath, a kitchen and a living room, dining room and den. Nothing too special. But hey, it was better than living in Z's cabin.

Stryker's prediction that my sister would strike before the end of the two weeks that Ash was MIA was wrong, but I couldn't say that to his face. I could just wait. And train.

I was getting better with bow and arrow combat, but I had to say that guns were still my favorite. I kept thinking back to the special amunition that Spawn had used against Iccarius, and why it hadn't killed him-but would it kill a zombie? Maybe I could stop by and ask...

No. That annoying, reasonable part of me kept shouting. Don't put yourself through such pain for something that can never be yours.

Shut up, reason, I snapped, glaring at the snowy ground outside my window. There was no reason that I couldn't just call and ask about-

Oh, yeah, I could see that conversation right now. "Hey, Spawn, I- Oh, hi, Jen. How's your nose doing? Yeah, I know you hate me now, but can I speak to the Dark-Hunter who I shouldn't be cavorting with in the first place but who I couldn't resist with all the power in the world? Yeah, I'll hold."
I snorted and leaned against the window frame. She'd probably call the Squire Council as soon as she heard my voice. I'd fallen off the radar, but that was probably just because no one ever really checked on the Hunters or their Squires here in Alaska. I mean, I could probably be dead, and the Council would be none the wiser.

I wasn't dead, but I was alone. I didn't really know which was worse.

Night fell, and I awoke again. I pulled on my black leather jacket, a pair of black boots, and blue jeans and a white tee and headed out, slipping a handgun into my back pocket and a pair of throwing knives under the fabric of my jacket's inner pocket. I slipped out the door like a ghost, falling into the knee deep snow. I kicked at it and then cut a path to the tent where I knew Stryker would be awakening.

I pulled the curtain back to reveal the Daimon king reclining on the bed, his swirling silver eyes staring me down. "I did not order an alarm."
"I'm not giving you one," I snapped. "I"m going hunting. I wanted to know if I'd have anyone joining me tonight." Sometimes the Daimons joined me on patrol, and sometimes they came back wiser; other times they came back as dust. In an army such as ours, life was never truly a certain thing.

He made a tsk sound at me. "So early?"

"It's not that early," I pulled back the tent's opening to reveal the black night. "It's dark. The zombies stir. I feel it."
"Those powers of yours get more frightening with every passing day," He remarked, "And careful for any humans you see. Your eyes are the queerest mixture of ruby and amythest tonight."
I blinked and glanced down to the floor. The Daimons talked about my eyes a lot now- they tended to change on a daily basis. They didn't know me as Rainbow Girl- to them, I was Rainbow Eyes. I missed the blue that Spawn had known; but at the same time, it was better this way.

"I'll wear contacts," I snapped bitterly. "Go rip someone's throat out."
And with that said, I stormed out of the Daimon leader's tent. It's not at if I feared his wrath anymore- my powers rivaled his now.

I'l admit it, over the last few months, I'd become a cocky bitch. But as my powers grew, I realized there was nothing I couldn't do. My power knew no boundries; I could become the next Daimon leader if I wanted... But I couldn't take that from Stryker. The bastard had grown on me.

Besides, to be strong was to be overconfident, sometimes; and to be strong here was to stay alive. Weakness of any kind was not tollerated, as I learned quickly. Stryker knew no mercy, and I wasn't about to become a snack for a Daimon because of a few tears. If I acted as though I were the best and had the strength to prove I was, I would be left alone. Simple.

I wasn't so strong, though. I still missed my human family, even if they weren't related to me. I missed Spawn. I missed Nikitas- they were more of a family to me, now. I mourned for the loss of them, for what had been taken from me.

I still loved, I still feared, and I still could be hurt. I wasn't going to become some ruthless ruler, just because I'd had goddess powers restored to me. I was more human that Appolite, I was sure of this.

If only that were enough to save me.

I teleported to where I felt the strongest zombie signal. I sort of had a built-in sensor about the zombies now, kind of like the kind that the Dark-Hunters had.

The tingling on the base of my spine grew as I approached the small, abandoned streetcorner on the very edge of Fairbanks, half-buried in the snow and black without aid of streetlights or car's light. I could hear hushed voices with my new, freakin' sweet hearing, and I could almost smell the fear and uncertainty radiating off the humans.

"Dude, this blows. Let's leave."
"Just stay, for five more minutes. She said she'd meet us here, with two or three friends. C'mon, man, it'll be worth it." The voices were adolescent, maybe sixteen or seventeen year old boys. At least two of them.
"No- it's freezing as fuck out here. Damn, man, no bitch's worth this."
"She is. Promise."
I sighed and stepped out from behind the building I'd been leaned against. "Boys, you'd best get out of here."
They jumped, and I noticed I was right- a skinhead and a junkie, both about fifteen or sixteen, youthful faces covered with peach fuzz beards and zits abound. I scared one so badly, he dropped the cigarette he had clamped in his mouth into the snow, where it burned a deep hole.

"This her?" One of the boys surveyed me with leering eyes. "Day-um."
"I'm not your zombie," I snapped. "She's not here."
The skinhead looked up at me with huge eyes. "What?"
"Get out of here," I snarled again, losing my patience as I brandished my weapon of choice- a double sided long handled ax. Its silver blades gleamed wickedly against the snowy moonlight. One of the boys looked ready to pass out, and they both took a few steps back. "Go back home, and lock your doors. Don't leave again."
"Screw you, bitch, you don't tell us what to do." The skinhead puffed up his chest and turned back to grin at his friend. His friend wasn't watching, though, and the tingling in my spine returned as I spied the look of horror and shock on his face.

I spun around, ducked to avoid the zombie's blade, and then swung the ax. It came in contact with the zombie's throat, and she fell, disolving to gold powder instantly. The boys screamed and one fell into the snow, crawling away from the powder.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" I shrieked, and the boys turned tail and ran as though the devil was on their heels. I watched for a moment before I stalked back into the darkness, following the trail of the other zombies.

I trudged through the snow and pulled my ax back over my shoulder, buckling a bit under its weight. The street was silent spare the wind's shrill shriek, and I was entirely focused on the sensation that the zombie's presence was sending through my bones.

I did not find another group of them for quite some time, and even then there were only two or three. On average, I found seventeen zombies or more roaming the city- it was hard to tell them from the drunk kids, some times. I've yet to kill a college kid, though.

After the latest group of zombie invaders had been disposed of, their remains falling softly to the ground like golden snow, I closed my eyes and tried to get the wherabouts of any more. I was dissapointed when I came to the conclusion that tonight was going to be very boring, with a lack of zombies running about town.

I teleported the ax back to my house and then set out in the frigid winter night, searching for anything to keep me occupied. As I neared town, I could hear laughter and love echoing from the houses and the stores. I closed my eyes and blinked back tears. I would never be a part of these circles again, never truly walk among the humans as one of them. I was a goddess now. I was alone. I was the one thing keeping the humans safe from a scurge that would overtake them and destroy them, overtake and destroy the entire cosmos.

And I didn't even get paid for it. Damn, I hated my job sometimes.

I found an open coffee house, one of the few Starbucks establishments in town. I opened the door and slipped inside, feeling the heat rush into my frozen bones and the color return to my cheeks. My eyes were now a rich, dark brown, vibrant and energizing as the coffee beans in the drinks here.

I pulled off my gloves and retrieved my cell phone from my pocket. I dialed a number and waited, then heared a gruff, irritated "What?" in a thick Greek accent from the other line after it connected. I tried to smile.

"Hey, Z, it's Ivory." I tried to sound bright and happy. I failed.
"Hey." His voice changed a little bit, became friendly in the littlest way. But that might have just been my imagination. "What do you want?" Nope, not friendly.

"I'm at the Starbucks at 5th and Lurleine- do you want to meet me? If you're not too busy." I tried to smile again. "I'm buying."
"I don't drink coffee."
"Yes, you do." I'd seen him drink coffee. He drank all of the coffee at Spawn's house, before I'd even had one cup.
"I quit."
"Z, c'mon, I'm gonna go crazy if I don't talk to someone from my old life. Please. It's either you or Spawn, and you know I can't do that." My voice was pleading now, and I was trying to keep my voice down, even though no one here was listening to me.

He paused for a moment and then when he spoke again, his voice was cold and irritated again. "Give me ten minutes. I'll be there. You said 5th and Lurlaine?"
"Yes."
He hung up and I sighed, shaking my head. That man was as moody as any teenaged girl I'd ever met, myself included.

I ordered my drink and then sat down to wait for it, pulling my coat of and draping it over the edge of my chair. I rested my elbows on the table as I scrolled through the phone, passing the time until Zarek arrived. I tried to ignore the stares I was getting from the other patrons as I retrieved my coffee and returned to my seat. I had just sat down again when the door opened and in walked Zarek.

'Walked' isn't really the proper word; I would have called it more of 'storming in' or 'striding in with such rage and malice radiating off of his being that half of the patrons fell silent and most looked very, very scared'. I laughed because, well, it was Zarek.

I waved him over and he cut through the crowd to reach me. I stood and shook his hand politely, and he nodded, taking a seat.

"How're you?" I asked warmly.

"Fine," He said, looking around at the crowded coffee shop. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, killing zombies or something right now?"
I shrugged. "I have the night off."
"Oh, those Daimons who own you now are liberal with their vacations, huh?"
"Shut up, Z. No one owns me."

"Riiight." He looked up. "I'm going to go get coffee."
"I thought you quit."
"I did, too." He stood, head and shoulders over the rest of the customers, and went to stand in the line. I heard his order.

"Hello, sir, may I-"

"Coffee. Black."
"Do you want anything in that, sir? Whipped cream, or-"
"You heard me." His voice was little more than a growl. "Black. Black coffee in a cup. Is that so hard to make?"
The poor barista looked as though she was close to tears, and he hands were shaking as she wrote the order on the side of the paper cup. I sighed and put my head on the table, shaking my head. He came back to the table, and by then I was laughing silently. He glared at me. "What're you laughing at?"
"You know, kindness never killed anyone."
"In my experience, it does exactly that." He leaned back against the wall and propped his feet up on the spare chair at our table.
I shrugged. "So, any news about-"
"No. I haven't seen any of them. We don't patrol the same areas, and I have no desire to go visit that lovely squire of his." He stopped for a minute. "and as for Nikitas, well... I don't know what he's up to. Don't care, to be honest."

I tried to hide my dissapointment by looking down to my drink and stirring it, but it was obvious I was upset. When I looked up again, it was because he had glanced over to the window and was saying in a monotone voice, "Oh. Look over there. How convenient."

I looked up, too, frowning, and saw a man outside of the coffee house window I thought I might never see again. His white-blond hair shone in the moonlight, a sharp contrast to his black-on-black wardrobe, and he was tall, so very tall. He watched us as though he could hear us-or hear our thoughts. My jaw fell.

"Spawn!" I gasped, barely missing a young couple coming into the store as I barreled out into the street. He caught me in his arms and I held him tightly, not wanting to let go in case this was just some whacked-out, sick dream I was having. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't have planned anything like this," Zarek was saying as he, too, exited the establishment, holding both of our drinks and my phone. "It's not as if I contacted him after hearing from you for the first time in five fucking months. It's not as if I told him the address and when to meet us. It's not like I'd ever do anything like that. It's not my style."
He was taken off gaurd when I ran at him and pulled him into a hug. He almost dropped our coffee.

I whispered, "Thank you."

He had nothing to say, except, "My powers are draining. I'm gone," as he extracted himself from my vice-like grip and nodded to Spawn.

"Once again, Zarek, I owe you." The ex-Roman slave shrugged and started down the street, away from us. When he was out of sight, I pulled Spawn down to my level and kissed him passionately. I didn't care that some of the people in Starbucks were staing. Zeus himself could have been watching, for all I cared. I hadn't seen the man in almost half a year.

"I thought you promised me you were going to break into my prison and visit me some time," He said, his voice lightly accusitory against my lips. I shrugged and he pulled away.
"I had a lot on my plate," I told him breathlessly, pulling him down to me again. "I've been learning how to fight."
"With who?"
"The Daimons," I said, eyeing his lips and then looking up into his eyes. Suddenly, he didn't look too happy.
"Wait- You're still training with the Daimons?" I nodded, and his mouth became a fine set line. "Ivory, that's so dangerous! You're a human, and I couldn't stand it if something-"
"No I'm not," I countered, crossing my arms, my tone borderline irritated. "I am an Appolite and a goddess."
He fell silent. "Oh."
I nodded again and then my irritation faded. "I keep forgetting about how you used to worry about me. You thought I was so delicate, even though I wasn't. I'm still just as tough, but now I have the powers of a goddess in my possession."
He frowned. "You don't sound the same."
I cocked my head to the side. "What?"
"You didn't used to sound so sure of yourself. And there's something different about you... I can't quite tell what it is, but you seem more adult now."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" I asked bitterly, closing my eyes and hoping they were still a nice, normal dark brown. They were probably like red with black with purple with orange with green or something, with my luck.

"They're not," He told me. "They're blue. Just like I remembered them. Have they been changing often?"
"A few times a day," I admitted, noting that he'd changed the subject.

"I'll bet Stryker gets a kick out of that," He muttered, kicking at the snow at his feet. I laughed.
"Don't sound so jealous," I told him jokingly. He looked up, and I saw that he actually wasn't joking. I reached up and brushed the hair from his forehead. "Don't worry. Dude's a man whore. I wouldn't go for him."
His face lightened a bit and I kissed him again. He pulled back with a sigh. "I have to talk to you about something."
"Want to go somewhere more private?" I asked, glancing back at the coffee shop. Most of the patrons had returned to their drinks, but a few watched out of the corners of their eyes. He nodded and I took his hand, hoping that I wouldn't accidentally let go as I teleported us back to my little house on the hill above the Daimon's camp.

Luckily, we both got inside safely, without losing any essential parts in the teleportation process, like heads or fingers. I know from experience how bad it could've been-let's just say teleportation worked better with Hunters than it did with Daimons.

He sat in the living room while I heated my coffee up again, which had frozen sitting out in the snow. I leaned against the counter facing into the living room, and he was doing a very good job at avoiding my eye.

"What did you have to talk about?" I finally asked in exasperation after a few minutes had passed. He looked up at me, his eyes uncharacteristicly blank as he surveyed my irate expression.

Spawn appeared to be trying to choose his words, which also was not like him. It was a few more moments before he spoke again. "You should probably sit down."
One eyebrow flew up and I frowned. That did not sound good; but I took his advice and sat down on the couch in the living room, taking his hand and trying to get him to sit as well. Instead, he remained standing, his expression still grave.

"Spawn?" I said quietly, hessitantly. "You're starting to scare me. Is something wrong? Is Nikitas okay?"
"He's fine," He said, running his hand along his jaw. I'd noticed he tended to do that only during times of stress-it was his nervous tick, just like me messing with my scalp, which is actually more normal than how I've phrased it. He continued to speak, and I tuned back in. "He's started going to school again- he doesn't like his teacher, though, because she refuses to call him Nikitas. He put glue on her chair the other day. Super glue." He smiled slightly. "Jen had to go pick him up in the middle of the day."
I laughed and shook my head. "Jen must have been mortified," I chuckled. His smile faded and his eyes became blank again. I stood finally and crossed the room to him, raking my hand though his hair and looking up at him. "Please tell me what's wrong. I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's something I did or not."

"Gods, no," He shook his head. "It's wasn't you. It's... it's Jen."
"Is she dead?" He looked uncertain.

"No."
"Was she hit by a truck?"
"No..."
"Maimed by bears?"
"No."
"Roped in by a circus troupe?"
He broke a smile again and ran a hand down my cheek. "Nothing happened to her."
"Then what is it? Is she in some dire, mortal danger? Is her soul at stake? Or the fate of the free world?"
"No," He said, and there was heavy pain in his voice, "Ivory; Jen is Penelope. Reincarnated."
I couldn't hear him anymore. All I could hear was Jen's voice, the way she'd smiled to him when she mentioned being his new Squire. The affection I saw. What I'd overlooked as her just being an eager freakin' beaver.
I clenched my fists and glared into the distance, blocking him out. "How'd you find that out?"
"She told me," He said, tugging on my sleeve and trying to move my eyes from the window, trying to make me look to him. "Ivory, please. Look at me."
"I can't," I whispered miserably.
I clenched my fists and continued to look away. "Ivory; please-"
"Why should I?" I demanded. "Go play happy fucking family with your wife."
"I told her I couldn't be involved with her." Frowning, I looked up at him. His features were honest and pleading, and he nodded as if to verify his words.

"Why would you do something like that?"
"Because I-" He closed his eyes and sighed. "Because I can't. I just can't. I loved her once, but seeing her like this... no." He shook his head. I belong-

"What?" I frowned, and then he opened his eyes, looking surprised.
"What?"
"You- nothing; nevermind."
"Ivory," He said, his voice low and quiet, "You know what I was going to say."
I nodded silently, and then closed my eyes. "You should probably go," I said, "Before we both do something we'll regret..."
~*~

I was half-asleep in my bed when Spawn walked back into my bedroom, pulling his jacket on and adjusting the collar of his shirt. I looked up drowsily as he glanced at me in the mirror, and I offered him an embarrassed half-smile, raking my hands through my hair. Memories of the day came rushing back to me and my cheeks warmed with embarassed color.

"Hi," I said meekly, covering myself back up with the blanket. He smiled back, approaching the bed.

"Hi," He replied quietly. I offered him a place to sit and he laid down beside me in the bed, wrapping his arms around me. We were both quiet for a minute, and the only sound in the near-darkness was our breathing.
"I regret nothing," Spawn told me. "Do you?"
I shook my head quickly. "Of course not!" I assured him. He raised an eyebrow and watched me for a long, awkward minute. "Okay, just a little..." I faltered and looked away.
"A little?"
"God, I'm so sorry," I groaned. "This probably ruins it, doesn't it? Damnit." I sat up and covered my face with my hands, drawing my knees up to my chest.
"No," He said quietly, but when I looked up I saw his face had fallen a bit, and he had averted his gaze to the floor. I leaned over and laid my head on his chest, feeling his heart beat under me as I closed my eyes again.
"I'm sorry," I told him, and I meant it sincerely.
"There's food in the kitchen, and coffee," He said, changing the subject abruptly. "Are you hungry?"
"A little bit," I admitted, and he nodded, standing and then looking back down at me. I watched as he smiled slightly and then turned away, walking down the hallway towards the kitchen. Eventually I stood and pulled on an old grey sweatshirt, brushing my hair back and examining my face in the mirror.

Jeez, I don't think I could have looked any worse. My hair was standing out at a weird angle and had gone from sort-of-wavy-sort-of-curly normal to a frizzy mess. My face looked paler than normal and I had deep purple pockets under eyes that were the rich pinkish-red color of pomegranate seeds. My old sweatshirt had a stain on it, too; awesome. I groaned and searched in vain for anything that might make me look semi-presentable, finding only a hair scrunchy and some old foundation, which I smeared under my tired eyes.

I pulled my hair back violently and fixed it before I walked into the kitchen with a smile that I hoped looked sort of happy. I mean, tonight hadn't been terrible, after all, and god forbid I send that message. I'd just gotten him back, for chris'sake.

There was already a cup of coffee waiting for me at the counter, and I smiled to Spawn gratefully as I took it, sitting at one of the bar stools. I yawned again and rested my elbows on the counter as I watched him.

"I didn't mean to like, offend you or anything by saying that. Sorry if I did." I looked back down to my drink as I spoke, hoping that he wasn't insulted by my regret, which had nothing to do with him an everything to do with my own weakness.

"What do you mean, your weakness?" He inquired, ignoring my apology as he leaned against the counter towards me, watching me intently. I looked down again.

"I-I shouldn't have done that... I mean, I'm a Squire and you're..." I looked to him hopelessly. "You know what I mean."
"No, I don't," He told me seriously, watching me unblinkingly. "I have no regrets, and we didn't do anything wrong. You're hardly a Squire anymore, and no one considers me a Dark-Hunter."
"But you are, and I still am," I whispered, looking to my coffee again. "It can't happen again, Spawn, no matter how much we want it to. It just can't."
"Why not?" He demanded, looking a little miffed. "What's stopping us, Ivory?"
"Are you not listening to this conversation?" I asked him, throwing my hands in the air and glaring at him. "You are a Dark-Hunter and I am a Squire!"

"And I am in love with you!" He shouted back. "Who cares about what we are? Acheron doesn't even notice any of us anymore! He'd never know!"
I stopped for a second and then shook my head. "No, no no. We are not doing this."
"Doing what?" He demanded sullenly, looking like he might pout or something. I sighed and held my head in my hands.

"I need you to leave."

He froze and watched me for a second. "What?" He said quietly. I looked up, and pointed with a shaking finger to the door.
"You heard me. Leave."
"You- we-" He looked scared and lost.
"Spawn," I whispered softly, shaking my head. "We can't do this. You know as well as I do that we can't."

"Ivory," He said quietly, looking to me pleadingly. "Don't do this to me. I've given what remains of my soul to you. Don't do this-please."
"Leave." I whispered it.
And then he did.
It took me a few moments to come to terms with what I had just done. I rested my head on the counter, tears working easy tracks down my cheeks, sobs assaulting my body; but I'd had to do what I'd done.

He couldn't love me. We weren't supposed to be with one another. He was a Hunter and I was a squire- another Dark Hunter's Squire, but a Squire nonetheless. Off limits. No exceptions. Not even for an Appolite and a goddess.

Damn, life sucked right now. I sort of wanted to kill something. Just a little bit. I glanced over at the clock over my stove. It was almost five; darkness had fallen close to an hour ago. . .

It was then that I made up my mind on what I was going to do tonight.

I was ready in another ten minutes; I slipped out of my house and out of Daimon territory without speaking to any of them. Ignoring my regular routine of taking a group of Daimons with me, I struck out on my own to accomplish my deed, my desire for revenge.

The SUV did not drive fast enough for me. I sped down the back roads, down the road I knew well.

Ivory, where are you going?
A blast from the past- Georgia's sweet voice echoed in my ears, and I laughed bitterly.
"Where have you been for the last five months?"
Something was blocking my transmission. I've been screaming for you for months. I thought I'd gone crazy. I was stuck in limbo. What happened to you? Where's Spawn?
Speaking quickly, I filled her in on the events of the last five months or so; my residence in the Daimon camp, getting kicked out of Spawn's house, our day together today (in vague detail). Finishing with my plan for tonight, she finally spoke up.

That's totally insane- Ivory, you're going to get yourself killed!
"I don't care anymore, Georgia! I just want it all to stop! I want life to be normal again!" I was on the verge of tears- the road was becoming blurry. I blinked and it cleared, and I realized how quickly I was flying down the road towards my destination.

Can I stop you from doing this? Her voice was hessitant in my mind, and I snapped back angrily,

"No."
Well, then, I suppose the only thing I can say is good luck, and don't get killed or caught.

I ignored her as the SUV carrened over the side of the hill towards the enterance to La Vie Nocturne. Taking my gas can and a tiny box of matches, I left the keys in the ignition as I parked in the back lot.

I watched the building as it began to burn with only a half-interest. The destruction of this club would not appease my bloodthirsty appetite. I had to take life with my own hands. To know that my hands would and could kill, that I was strong and was truly of deadly stock. I would kill until I could kill no longer.

I had to find a zombie. Or, better yet, my sister- mommy dearest wasn't avaliable quite yet. But some day- oh, some sweet day, hopefully soon- it would be possible. The sweetest, most beautiful revenge would be taken. And all of my enemies would perish.
Ivory, you have to calm down. Georgia sounded scared. Go make up with Spawn and then ignore the rest of this stupid quest. The club is burning down, this has to be enough.

"It isn't," I whispered into the wind, knowing she could hear me. "It will never be enough. Not until they are all dead."
Ivory, please! Think of my son, and of Spawn. What use are you dead?

"I have to do this." And then, using my powers, I shut off the connection between the two of us. With nothing more to block my brain, I thought clearly, sitting back in the snow and listening to the club burn. They wouldn't know it for a few more moments, the poor bastards. And when they finally realized it- well, it would be too late by then.

The flames lapped at the building, eating away at it. I stood up, picked up my gas can, and walked calmly towards my car.

"There's a fire at La Vie."
Spawn frowned as he answered his phone to Zarek's strange greeting. "Nice to hear from you, too, Zarek. How's the family? That's great. Good to hear."

There was silence from the other end. "You're one strange guy, did you know that?"
The Appolite-Hunter laughed bitterly. "I know. And what relivence does the fire hold?"
"I don't know- those are your people, though. Shouldn't you help them, or like, something?"
"I don't have any people. I have me. And Nikitas."
Zarek coughed. "And Ivory."

"Let's not talk about her."
"Trouble in paradise?"
"Drop it." Spawn's voice was forceful and sincerely irate.
"Whatever. But I thought you should know."
"Good to know. Later." Spawn put his phone down and decided that he was going to take the night off. He deserved it, after what had happened today.

He'd told Ivory the truth. Spawn was sure she knew it- he'd been rather blunt, hadn't he? Nevertheless, he'd felt her panic after he spoke. Had experienced first hand the pain of her kicking him out.

Shaking his head, he rolled over in his bed and picked up his phone, tossing it accross the room. He heard it hit the wall with a sharp crack. If she wanted to talk to him, she could come here herself and talk to him.

Gods, he hadn't felt pain like this in a long time. All because of some stupid little Squire, too. How embarassing; to be so hung up on some human.

No, not a human- a goddess.

A hunter and a goddess. Scratch that; an Appolite-Hunter and a half-Appolite goddess. The idea of it was laughable.

So how come he couldn't laugh about it?

He sighed and sat up, resting his elbows on his legs and his head in his hands. What was he going to do about Ivory? He couldn't have a respectable relationship with a squire, as he knew, and seeing her on the side was not an option. His boss was omniscent and not down with squire-Dark-Hunter relationships.

Spawn didn't see this as being very fair. Acheron himself had said that his hunters were to do the right thing. But the right thing was so damn painful.

Speaking of the right thing. . .

He stood with a heavy sigh, slipped his feet into his boots, and slammed the door to his bedroom shut behind him.

I left La Vie in search of blood- not the blood of innocents, taken senselessly from the unwilling, the victims of my people's hunt for survival. I had a craving for the blood of the damned. One in particular.

I stalked through the forest like a cat, slinking behind trees and searching the perimeter of open fields. Suprise was my advantage- if he saw me, I would be dead. The falling snow whispered like tiny white ghosts around me; I tried my best to stay silent wading through knee-high flakes. What would have appeared to a human as a confusing, pitch-black nightmare was a clear and bright wintery wonderland to me.

All the while, I thought of what I was about to do. I had supposedly once loved this man. In a past life, I had given him my soul, my love, and borne him children. We had been as one, a ruling force to be reconed with.
At least, we were until he threw me out a window.

That was once of the forces motivating me to act tonight. I'd been wronged; I'd been mistreated, abused. He'd tried to kill me more than once. He'd actually succeeded once.

Yeah, it was about time Iccarius died.

I knew that he would be staking out his usual hunting grounds by now; he would be searching for both recruits and fast food for himself and his merry band of soldiers. I cursed under my breath, realizing I'd forgotten the backup that he seemed to carry with him- like most leaders, he held control over a group of eliete soldiers- his bodygaurds. Ah, well; I could take care of them before he was to meet his fate- the bastard would die alone,if I had to take out every single one of them first. No help for him. No soothing voice, leading him softly into the unknown. Pain was all he would know before the reaper overtook him. Or until whatever it was Appolites believed happened to them after they died happened.

Blindly searching for a camp full of bloodthirsty zombies is something that I do not reccomend doing. Especially when you are me, the Appolite goddess who fears nothing but still jumps a foot in the air and smothers a scream when a pile of snow drops from a branch about three feet off the ground.

I was about to give up on the entire damned search when I caught the smell of something that had been burned into my nostrils long before my powers had been awakened- the powers made the smell worse. The smell of sterile hospitals, burning hair, and rotting human flesh is one that many do not forget once it is smelled. And when you are me, who spent the majority of the last few years in hospitals, watching my parents wither before my eyes, the smell just remains all the more easily.

I lifted my nose to the wind and nearly puked from the scent. Yes, it was close; coming closer. Summoning a shadow around myself- yeah, ain't it cool?- I slunk behind a tree and waited until the zombies passed, wanting to save my energy to kill the man who had haunted my nightmares and teamed up with my sister to murder me.

At least; I was going to, until I saw him in freaking person, less than two feet from me. And he had no clue I was there.
Reader; there are beautiful, glorious moments in life that make you very, very happy- happy to be breathing the air around you, happy to live. They make you stop and thank whatever may be out there that you have a beating heart and a brain.

This was one of those moments.

There was a silencer on my gun and a shadow surrounding my body, making me a cloud of black that would never be recognized by the brainless worker drones. If I had not been a vindictive, cruel woman, I would have just taken him out now and ended it. However, I rationalized, the gun wouldn't kill him; the only thing that would do that was my ax- that was a little messy but would have to do- and didn't I want to send a message to his people? Yeah.

I hid deeper in the natural shadow of the trees and relenquished my hold over my artificial shadow, which was using up quite a lot of my energy. I attempted to focus in a futile effort to gain it back- no dice. Well, I would just have to kill him without some juice; it made no difference to me.

I formed my ax from nothing, and glanced around the large trunk of the ancient fir to check in on my visitors.

They were gone.

Panicing for a brief moment, I looked around for the men frantically. There was no way that I could give them the upper hand; if I were to let Iccarius know I was still alive, there was no doubt about the fact that I wouldn't stay that way for long.
Setting my ax against the trunk of the tree, I walked around, peering into the darkness and resisting the urge to scream out and give up. The smell of flesh and cleaning products had dissapeared, to be replaced by something that smelled of false, artificial flowers. Almost like-

"Covering it up," I whispered, a second before Iccarius lept out of the tree and onto my back, forcing me down into the snow.

I came to- I'm not sure how long it had been since I had been jumped. I didn't register what had happened until I saw that I had bee tied up and set upright in the snow, and saw the smug look upon Icccarius' handsome face.

He picked up my ax and swung it around his shoulders, laughing and tossing it in the air like a children's toy.

"You bastard!" I shouted. "Give that back!"
"Why, so you can kill me?" He laughed again, his voice dark and deep.

"Yes!" I yelled.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Iccarius taunted me, swinging the ax up- he caught it, glanced to me, and then threw it into the snow, several yards away. His worker drones were nowhere to be found. Apparently, he decided he could tie up and abuse a girl all on his own, without anyone there holding his hand.

The corners of his mouth lifted. "Abuse? Who said anything about abuse?" I glared sullenly through him, and he knelt in the snow as to catch my eye. "I'm just here to sway you to our cause."

I spat in his face; he wiped it away grimly and then stared me down. "Suck it, Ike, you'll never get me on your side."
"What a disrespectful little girl," Iccarius remarked, ruffling my hair like an understanding parent. I threw a few choice words in his direction that dissolved any notions that I was a child. He seemed taken aback by my language. "Ivory, no man is going to want a girl who curses like a sailor."
"Really?" I snapped. "This morning seems to have proved you wrong." My voice was supposted to be taunting, but I sounded like a frat boy kissing and telling; hardly the mature thing to do, but I lived to push buttons.
His eyes flashed with flames of rage and- if I was not mistaken, and I sincerely hoped I was- jealously. He pushed me backwards into the snow and kicked me in the side.
"You slut," He jeered, his face twisted with anger. "Running around after all the Dark-Hunters; is it because they keep you safe from the monsters in your nightmares? What good are they? What good?" By this time, he'd kicked me a few more times- I was bleeding, the blood staining the snow beneith me like a nasty red Snow-Cone. He was screaming now, his words coming quickly and almost inintelligably- it took me a minute to realize what he'd said to me.

I did not speak, because when he knocked me back and into the puddle of my own blood pooling under my ribs, my wrists- tied behind my back with thin but sturdy rope- became wet with blood and regained some sort of mobility. I arched my back and rotated my wrists inconspiciously while Iccarius ranted on and on. If I could just-

"We could have ruled together! Overthrown it all and reigned over all who were left; the king and queen of the free world! But you, you selfish little bitch, you ruined it! Ruined it!"
He kicked me again and I cried out, falling back down on my wrists and hearing something crack. I screamed again, the agony of my most likely broken wrists hitting me like a semi in the middle of rush hour. Losing focus on my chance to escape, I hardly registered that my wrist slipped out of the last of the binding.

This seemed to calm Iccarius down. He glanced down at me and raked his hands through his hair. "Bleeding- you're bleeding. Have to stop the bleeding."
"Get away from me!" I screamed as he approached, trying to help- in his sick little sense of the word. He looked a little worried, and raked his hands through his hair again; was this sicko bi-polar or what?
"I have to stop the bleeding!" Iccarius shouted at me. I shook my head and continued to hold my hands behind my back, as though I was still bound. This guy was one sick cookie- he seemed to be losing it.

He looked to me and his face lost most of its malice- for a second, he was the lost boy that me-in-a-past-life had loved and married. The former ruler of the free world gave a sigh and then looked to me with pleading eyes.
"Come back with me. Rule with me- be my queen again."
"So you can throw me out of a window?" I snapped. "Not fucking likely."
"Ivory. I need you to rule with me."
"Fat chance!" I yelled. His eyes lost the pleading, lost boy look and then became the eyes of the cold Grecian general once again. He turned his back on me and walked away; for a second I considered running- however, he turned around again quickly and faced me. This time, my ax- a present from Stryker, with its black body and inscribed gold Grecian luck charms- was in his hands. He weighed it and then walked back towards me.

"Then I'll have to kill you," He said with an almost apologetic air. I looked up as he raised the ax high above his head, and avoided eye contact with me. This would be my only time to act.

At the exact second that he ax came swinging down on a crash course withh my head, I leaped up and threw myself to the side to avoid impact. Iccarius stopped and stared at me. Slowly, I stood and showed my bloodstained wrists, now free of injury, an almost crazed smile crossing my face.

I manifested a sword and looked down at the ax in my once-husband's hands, an eyebrow raised. The sword in my grip became an ax, and Iccarius laughed, stating, "Now the playing field is level- let the best man win."
"She will," I snapped, when he swung the ax at me. I countered with a swining hit to his throat, which missed-barely. His next hit took a few hairs off my head, and then I kicked him in the stomach, which sent him doubling over for a fraction of a second. Iccarius jumped back up and came at me with the weapon again, but I smashed his nose with the flat side of the ax, causing him to stumble back with a curse. When he looked up again, I realized his nose had healed, leaving only a little dried blood. His Cheshire-esque grin evoked feelings of hopelessness and anger.

How do you kill someone who can't be broken?
Fortunately, I couldn't be, either, so I supposed it would be better to have that question left unanswered.

I jumped out of the way of a near-deadly hit that could have seperated my head from my shoulders and then brought down my ax upon Iccarius' shoulder. He shouted out and then grabbed my ankle, bringing me down into the snow. Our blood stained the ground and I sprawled out, trying to get away from him, clawing at the snow. He grabbed my legs and pulled me back, his hands scratching my legs and probably breaking open my skin.

I kicked him, but to no avail. The angry red flames were back in his eyes- I could see his teeth- sharpened to points, points that could cut and break my skin. Kicking him away, I fought back a scream, scrambling for my ax.

He reached his before I reached mine, and then kicked me to the ground again, pulling the ax up over his shoulder. His eyes still blazed.

At the exact moment that there would have been impact, and I would have been dead, there was a shout from the edge of the dark woods. Iccarius looked up, and I kicked him in a place men do not like to be kicked. He doubled over once more, moaning in agony, and I grabbed my ax from his hands. With a grim sense of pride, I kicked Iccarius over and laid my foot upon his neck, tilting up his head.

"Ivy," He said softly, "Don't do this. You know you don't have to do this."
"Yes I do," I crooned softly. "I have to end this little game you've played with me. I do."

"No, Ivory, please, hear me out- you loved me once, you can't kill me now; oh, you can't- please. . ."
"Stop begging, you whelp," I sneered, glowering down at him. "You are even less of a man than I remember."
"Ivory!"
I turned around swiftly to find the source of the voice- It was then that Iccarius grabbed the axe and held its sharp blade to my throat. I pushed the handle onto his hand an he cursed, spinning me around and hitting me. I swung another hit at his most personal parts and he caught my foot, spinning me and pinning me to the ground.
"You little-" He began to snarl, but he was interrupted when the bullet ripped into his arm and he fell to the ground with a scream. He writhed in agony as the skin in his arm burned, and every time he touched the burning hole in his arm, his fingers burned.

"You just almost got your head chopped off by your own ax," A voice chuckled from behind the shadows of the trees around which I had been hiding only moments earlier. I heard the gun being loaded again and then I looked up to see Spawn aiming at the bastard scum writhing on the ground, moaning in agony. Freezing in my place, I stared at him without saying a thing.

"A simple thank you would suffice," He said, his voice almost taunting.

"Thank you for doing what I was about to do before you distracted me," I snapped, putting my hands on my hips. He raised his eyebrows and smirked at me, as handsome as he had been this morning.

"Oh, Ivory. Always independent, aren't we?"
"Yes," I snapped, walking swiftly towards the twitching body of Iccarius, laying in the snow in a miserable puddle of blood and ichor. I brought the ax down on his neck and Iccarius dissapeared in a golden cloud of dust, and that was that.

I wiped my hands on the front of my pants, and then I blew the last of the gold powder from my hands before looking at Spawn.

"Well, what do you want?" I asked bitterly. He blinked to me, and then spoke the words that shocked me.

"I want you to come home."

A/N

Hey guys! I'm so sorry, it's been such a long time since I updated. This isn't going to happen again, I'm going to get more on track with my writing now that summer's started. Again, I apologize, I didn't mean to keep you guys waiting.
Hope you can forgive me. Oh, also forgive my horrible spelling in this chapter. . . I seem to have lost the Spell Check button. . . D:

Heheh. Things are starting to move along, and people are actually dying now! :D Okay. I'll get started on chapter 17 now. As always, questions or ideas, message me.

3
Kae.