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Saht as daas breaking She and Dev were just getting ready for bed "Ai theed "Come in," he called

It wasn&039;t Aiain, he had that sick pallor to his skin like he was in pain or about to hurl He leaned heavily against the doorjay to stand on his own "Sorry to disturb you guys But I wanted to give you apresent"

Sam was touched by his kindness The Weres had already been spoiling theood wishes "You didn&039;t have to do that, Nick"

"Yeah, I did" He handed her a small wooden box One that looked ancient

She took it and opened the lid There inside was a green aloith an ethereal power "It&039;s beautiful" She reached to pick it up, but Nick stopped her

"That&039;s your soul, Saaped at him as Dev came forward to stand behind her "I don&039;t understand"

Nick gave her a wan smile "You don&039;t have to Suffice it to say, Arteo"

She was incredulous How could this be? "Did you do this?"

That faain "Acheron set the teruys as soon as possible Do you knoorks?"

She had a basic idea from what she&039;d heard as rumors from other Dark-Hunters who&039;d been set free "I have to die and Dev has to release my soul back into my body"

"That&039;s an Ash-type explanation You have to figure out what drains your Dark-Hunter powers and then stop your heart fro At the moment of your last breath, the amulet has to be placed over the bow and arrow oing to burn like fire and if Dev lets go of it even one nanosecond before you start breathing again, you will spend eternity as a Shade" They were frightening ghosts who could never be seen or heard by others Invisible apparitions who spent eternity in perpetual hunger and agony It was a frightening thing to be

Nick replaced the lid "Good luck to both of you"

As he started to leave Sam stopped him "I have one question"

"Yeah?"

"Do I have to becoain?"

Nick hesitated before he answered "No It&039;s your soul to do with as you please As of this moment, you&039;re technically free from Artemis and your powers are yours But if you don&039;t return your soul to your body, you&039;ll have the same limitations as before You won&039;t be able to have children and you won&039;t be able to walk in daylight Worst of all, you&039;re off payroll"

She laughed That wasn&039;t the worst of it She&039;d barely spent any of the money she&039;d made over the centuries so she was flush for at least a few hundred years

Touched by his generosity, she stepped forward and did the one thing she hadn&039;t done in a long time She kissed his cheek

The pain he was in hit her hard and stole her breath But she pushed it aside "Thank you, Nick"

He nodded before he withdrew and closed the door

Dev took the box from her "What do you want to do?"

"I don&039;t knoant tomeant that their life forces would be joined and when one of the Dev&039;s parents had refused to do while their children had been young--they&039;d been terrified of leaving therown, they&039;d bonded and they&039;d died in each other&039;s arms

Sam brushed his hair back from his face "Your life span is finite Mine isn&039;t What say we bond and I stay ioodbye to each other

She hated the thought of death This would be the best of all worlds

Dev scratched his cheek "We won&039;t be able to have children"

She bit her lip, afraid of what he ht say about her next proposal "How do you feel about adoption?"

He smiled "Works for ht?"

And that would be different how? "Been five thousand years without it I&039;m kind of used to it now and really have no patience with sunblock" She kissed the tip of his nose

"All right then" He stepped back froht back"

Saency as she climbed into bed to wait for him While she lay there, she turned her palm over to see her mark

Dev&039;s mark

She still couldn&039;t believe it was real That her life had changed so drastically in such a short period of time But then her birth as a Dark-Hunter had been every bit as quick and dramatic One moment she&039;d been bathed in co had been shattered It only seemed fair that the reverse could happen just as suddenly