A/N: Read More... (okay, maybe it's more of a request than a note.) :P

Chapter One

"I saw we impale the jerk and throw his bimbo into the nearest swamp." Holly laughed at her friend's remark, but inside she waited for the clock to speed up so that she could go to her other job. Ferdinand had been such a sweetheart. To think this wasn't even the first time that a man had taken advantage...

"So are your family EVER going to visit you? I don't think anyone has even seen your family." Selena wiggled in her seat as she tried finish eating.

"My family won't ever visit. They...well... you see I..." Selena leaned forward.

"OH MY GOD THEY'RE DEAD AREN'T THEY! OH! I'M SO SORRY!"

"They're not dead. They just disowned me from the family is all." Selena stopped her apologizing as she heard Holly.

"They disowned you?! Why would they do that?"

"Because," Holly sighed as she moved around her food. "I thought I had found a guy that truly loved me. My family didn't like him and my mother took the chance to push me out and when we ended up breaking up my mother had moved the whole family against me. It didn't help that I wanted to have history as a major and physics."

"That's ridiculous! Why would she even care? It's your life not hers!" Holly sighed. The whole thing was ridiculous, but at least she didn't have to worry about family reunions.

"Holly?" Holly cast the thought aside as Selena waved the check in front of her. "So you have to get to your class right?"

"Yeah. I have three classes to still teach and there's the whole 15 minute rule that if I don't get there they have the time off." Selena laughed as they headed out of the cafe and out into the overcast afternoon. Selena went on and on about her family until her husband came.

"Hey hon." Selena leaped into his arms and he laughed. He looked over at Holly. " Ooh Bill this is Holly. You remember? She works with Julian in the historical majors at the university. Holly this is my husband I was telling you about.

"Hello Bill, how are you?" Holly went over and shook hands with Bill.

"It's nice to know Selena has friends who aren't oddballs," Bill laughed as Selena slapped him playfully in the arm. "Like your one to talk." Selena was fun.

Holly laughed until she glanced at her watch. "Oh shoot! Um... It was nice meeting you, but my students are going to get upset if I don't hurry." Holly hurried through the streets and rushed into the building and into her classroom. It was going to be about ten more minutes before any of her students arrived.

Her thoughts went back to Ferdinand. He had mistook the performance hall for the city hall (intelligent) where he had ended up asking her out to dinner. He had spent only a few weeks with her before he finally got tired of only seeing her in clothes.

They had argued through their last date and finally she had left the restaurant and gone home. Not twenty minutes later had she traveled to the store to find that he was having dinner with a negative two waisted blond. Holly sighed as she remembered the phone conversation from the morning.

"Hey who was that girl at that restaurant with you?"

"Oh her? I'm leaving you for her. Unlike you she opens up to me and isn't afraid to get personal."

"OH! I think you mean that she's easy unlike me-"

"Don't even try to compare yourself to her. She's perfect while your fat and you know it."

Holly looked down at her waist. She wasn't fat or overweight. The only thing was that her bust was a little... on the large side... Holly cast the thought aside as her class filed into the room. She started writing the important topics on the board as they all took their seats.

"Alright everyone. Today we are joining the order of the dragon. I hope you all did some reading because I'm not in the mood to be talking the whole time." Holly turned and continued on about the history of the order right up until the bell.

Julian walked in as her class started to leave.

"Hello Julian. How's Macedonia?" Julian taught about Greek history and seemed more into Macedonia for some reason...

"Fine. I heard that you and Selena are friends."
"Yeah. Your wife threw her in my direction and we just went into history and art and paranormal things and then... Well at that point I had to hurry back here for my class." Julian laughed at that.

"Yeah, she's nice though. I heard about Ferdin-"

"OH! I've got to go copy some papers. I'll see you later. Say hello to your family for me okay?" Holly went to the copying room and started up the machine. Julian had meant well, but it was far too soon for talk.

The next two classes went by in a blur and soon Holly found herself out in the evening heading towards the parking garage and hopefully to a tub of ice cream and a movie on her flat screen.

The night was soon all around as the trees rustled and the wind softly blew across the night. Holly saw the garage just in sight when someone tapped her shoulder. Turning she saw a blond man behind her... Well he was a man, but goodness they don't make too many men like that. Julian was an exception, but damn. Holly ogled for a minute before she saw the others behind him... holding blades. Holly rushed toward the garage, but was knocked over by one of the group. Then everything went black.

Prelude wandered threw New Orleans. Unfortunately Artemis had demanded that he be moved from his small Parisian home to here and it now looked to be in many ways permanent. That goddess had issues too complicated for even modern day doctors. The night was only bothered by the sound of the clubs pounding bass threw the night and the chatter of far off pedestrians. He turned the corner and almost ran straight into Kyrian. The former dark-hunter smiled.

"Prelude. How's it going. Glad to be out that sissy town aren't ya." Prelude forced himself not to argue with the Greek.

"Paris had its moments." Unlike this swamp surrounded place.

"HA! Right. Well I had to see who they would bring to New Orleans. You'll like here way more than Paris. You can actually find our countries food here." Prelude didn't bother to correct the Greek. Ever since he had been recruited the other Greek dark-hunters had always confused him for one of them. Even the dark-hunter website had confused him as a Greek.

"I should get back to work..." Prelude moved around Kyrian and headed toward the outskirts of town. Kyrian followed for minute by soon he turned and was gone. Prelude was almost to his car when he saw them. A group of daimons were surrounding yet another victim. The person tried to run but the leader knocked them out.

Rushing across the street he stabbed the leader and another daimon in the crest. The two exploded into dust as the other three ran forward. He jumped over one and stabbed the daimon in the chest while catching another with the blade in his shoe. The last turned to run and received a knife to the back.

Prelude turned to see if the person had survived. The daimons blades littered the ground as he saw the person. They had their face hidden by a large amount of brown hair. He pulled her into his arms and looked at her.

She was stunning. She wasn't like most girls with either a thin waist or a large waist. Her skin was pale as anyone's could be not to mention soft as silk. She looked just like... Prelude stopped his train of thought before it led to trouble. She was obviously alive. He looked around and saw a briefcase nearby. She must have dropped it. He picked it up and carried her to his car. She needed to be off the street this was still a city and she could die out in the middle of the night alone.

Prelude carried the unconscious woman into a guest room and started to search through her bag. Equations, papers on atomic structure and different parts of history in the fifteenth century made up most of her bag. What he needed was a number. Someone's number to call so that she could be back where she belonged and not in his house. His back started to tingle as the night drew to a close. Still no number anywhere.

"Mmm..." His guest started to wake he almost choked at the sight of her. Her eyes were a light blue. She looked exactly like her. The Fates were cruel. She looked around a minute disoriented as he quickly shut her briefcase and stood up.

"I'm pleased to see that you have finally awakened. I found you passed out on the street. Your things are right here and the exit is down the stairs to your left." He quickly walked out before he reacted to his instinct to clutch her and hold her close. Wandering threw his darkened house he made his way to grab a bite before turning in.

Holly looked around after the stranger left. Those people last night had tried to kill her. Had that guy not seen them? Impossible! Those people would never have left me after I was knocked out. Jumping off the bed she grabbed her bag and headed toward the lower level. She looked around until she heard moment in one of the room to her left.

The man was cooking by the stove. She watched as he threw the pancake in the air and had it land on its other side.

"The exit was right out that big door in the foyer." He didn't turn around.

"Yeah, but I didn't get to thank you for saving me." He glanced over and almost smiled.

"It was nothing."

"So... What's your name?" He threw the pancake on a plate and set it in front of her.

"My name is Prelude Andros."

"Really? That is fascinating. Andros means warrior in Greek right?"

"Your know your Greek. Yes." He threw a couple more pancakes onto another plate and sat down next to her. "Well? I have made crepes many times before so they should taste just fine."

"I figured they would be good." They sat in silence as they ate. His crepes were delicious... and he was pretty delicious as well. She raked his person. He was all muscle that was for sure. His buttoned shirt was open revealing a perfect eight pack and chest. He was high class for sure. His clothes were obviously Armani. He looked over as she quickly looked away. His black hair was most tied back except for two long bangs that hung on either side of his face. He had these deep black eyes that almost looked like only pupils and no iris.

Prelude felt her looking at him. He turned to see that she had syrup on her lip. He waited for her to notice and wipe it away. She didn't.

"So do I get to know your name?"

"OH! My name is Holly Tochter Rheia " She blushed.

"Daughter is your middle name?" He tried not to smile, but he was starting to fail miserably. She needed to leave soon.

"Yeah my father left my mother with that in mind for my middle name. My mother though was upset because he was leaving her for some reason." Holly stopped herself before she kept going.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So have you lived here your whole life?"

"Well, no. I just woke up here this morning." Prelude smiled at that.

"I meant have you lived here in New Orleans your whole life." She smiled, revealing some adorable dimples.

"No. I moved down here to New Orleans to get away from my past." Oh the irony. "I liked this guy who seemed right for me, but it turned into a mess and I needed to move far away from it all." That was the opposite of his moving away.

"It must have been hard. Do you have family down here?" He should have been pushing her out the door. The sun would have burned him to a crisp though.

"I actually moved down here to find my father. A friend of his lives here in New Orleans and I've been looking for his address.

"What's his friend's name?" He didn't know why he cared. She wasn't his love from long ago. Her life shouldn't have mattered to him, but for some unknown reason he couldn't fathom it did.

"Acheron Parthenopaeus." He froze as the words came out. There was no way she could be referring to leader of the dark-hunters, favorite dark-hunter of Artemis's Acheron Parthenopaeus.