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Ravyn cursed as he realized as going on Susan had been right The Daiether while their poeakened knowing that this would drain thes for the Spathis Dammit, they should have listened to Nick He&039;d even warned them about the phones Who knew the crusty bastard had been telling the truth?

And of course, Nick was the only one of them not here

"We need to separate" The words had barely left Cael&039;s lips before bolt-holes began opening all around they alleyway

Spathis were e from the top and bottom of the hill

"Oh, we&039;re screwed," Belle said as she pulled the whip off her belt and snapped it in the air before her "Anyone got a bright idea?"

"Yeah," Zoe said as she pulled a knife from the top of her boot, "we learn to teleport"

They all looked at Ravyn "Wish I could help folks But that poas stripped from me when I died"

Belle ood are you, leopard?"

He didn&039;t know at present This was a bad situation and they all knew it

His adrenaline rushing at the prospect of a fight that would et you out of here"

She scoffed at hiestured toward the top and botto force "No offense, Cat I don&039;t, I don&039;t think the Dai to let ry that he&039;d allowed hiht like this, he end Stab them in the heart and they&039;ll die" He handed her the stake

Susan&039;s eyes held a degree of fear as she wrapped her hand around the stake and offered him a brave smile "Call me Buffy I&039;m even blond, but don&039;t ask lanced over to Zoe "Or corset"

Ravyn lifted her hand with the stake in it and kissed the back of her knuckles Standing there with his death imminent, he felt a wave of respect for her the likes of which he&039;d never known More than that, so subliht, he only hoped that she got out of it in one piece

Susan offered hi so and turned around to fight

As the Daimons came toward them slowly, the Dark-Hunters formed a circle with their backs to one another

Ravyn tried to put Susan behind hiet in the"Get your head in the fight, Ravyn, and don&039;t worry about th depleted right now "

Zoe scoffed at her bravado "You&039;re also the only one of us who has a soul they can steal and blood they can drink"

Susan opened her mouth to respond, then snapped it shut "Very valid points" Then she literally hopped behind him

Ravyn reached around his back to assure himself that she was as far froon whipped out his nunchakus while Menkaura wrapped a strange golden chain around one fist

The Daiht away Rather, they crept toward theether

"What are they waiting for?" Belle asked

Ravyn ground his teeth as he realized the answer "For us to grow even weaker "

"Screw that," Cael snarled before he let out a war cry He ran at the Dai, Ravyn broke formation to help Cael as two Daimons ran at Cael&039;s back Suddenly all hell broke loose as the Daimons swarmed over theo after the Dark-Hunters There were so many of them, she wasn&039;t even sure if the Dark-Hunters were still standing

She staggered back as a Daimon came at her, then paused a few feet fro who&039;d caught wind of so "You&039;re not one of theleeful smile "You&039;re hurabbed his shirt and fell to the ground with his up and kicked him over her head, away from her, then continued the roll until she was back on her feet He landed in a heap by the Dumpster as the next Daimon came at her She elbowed the wo to stake her

The wos into Susan&039;s arirl fight, but" She grabbed her by the hair and yanked as hard as she could

The Daimon cried out before Susan head-butted her

Ravyn turned to see Susan fighting off her attackers Stunned by her skill, hehot ripped into his shoulder He turned with a curse to punch the Daiered back but left the knife e it out with a curse and a fierce griht into the Daiolden shower that rained down on Ravyn

Ravyn caught the knife before it fell to the ground and headed for Susan She executed a eri or roundhouse kick so perfectly that even Bruce Lee would have been impressed Gods love her, she did kno to handle herself Dragon really had taught her well

And before Ravyn could reach her, she turned on the Daimon nearest her and stabbed him with the stake

Ravyn skidded to a stop as she killed the Daiht herself as she realized he had black hair

He gave her a crooked grin "Reot it"

He started for the Dai at her back, but before Ravyn could take more than one step, she&039;d elbowed the Dairound, where she pinned hiht foot on the sht on her own, Ravyn turned to see Belle surrounded by a group of Dai profusely as an extreht the Daiainst his cheek with her whip The Dai the ax He narrowly ht

Ravyn rushed at the Daimon&039;s back to kick him away from Belle

The Daimon spun on hi her whip and Dragon fighting with his nunchakus while he kept his eyes trained on the Dais Ravyn dropped to the ground and rolled, then kicked the Dai the ax as it fell toward the street, Ravyn arced it toward the Daimon&039;s chest and killed hi

One dove at Ravyn&039;s back, knocking hiround and landed at the feet of another Dai, the Daimon picked up the ax and caainst another Daied into a leopard at the sa He missed Ravyn and decapitated the other Daiht hi, his powers snapped froainst his will He barely had time to summon clothes onto his body and roll away before they were on him

To his surprise, Susan was there with an ax she must have taken fro them away fro buckle under his weight His strength was starting to fail him and he knew the other Dark-Hunters weren&039;t in any better shape No ht like, his pain would keep hi to die

The Daier while the Dark-Hunters eakening by the heartbeat But even so, Ravyn wasn&039;t going to die on the ground like a scared rodent He forced hiht hi his bones He tasted blood as his lip split Spitting it out onto the asphalt, Ravyn head-butted the Daiht his attention to the right

It o Dai Belle between the he couldn&039;t reach her in tih all of them as they saw her fall to her knees an instant before the Daimons coldly executed her Susan stared in horror at the woman&039;s body as she lay in a pool of blood on the dark asphalt while the Daih-fived each other

Zoe cried out and started for thes swept out froround facefirst, then rolled to her back to kick out at the Dai to stab her

Ravyn was kicked so hard, he swore he heard three ribs crack

Before he could regain his senses, Menkaura was flung down on top of hi Ravyn&039;s ribs His breathing labored froht thehe had

They had no way to escape

Ravyn pushed the larger man off his chest and tried to breathe past the awful pain that seemed to seep into every part of him

"Summon Stryker," one of the Daimons called out to the others "He&039;ll want to be here to see the off the brick walls around theet ht now"

Ravyn held his breath as he heard the last voice he&039;d expected

Susan hesitated as the Daimons froze in theat the bottom of the hill

She turned to see what had them transfixed and felt her o drop

Yeah, that&039;d do it

Highlighted by the brightblack hair that had a red stripe in the front A strange ethereal fog swirled around hi his entire body like a lover Dressed in black leather pants and a long leather coat that had its sleeves pushed back to expose his forearloves, he looked like the typical Goth who hung out around Capitol Hill But as he walked slowly up the hill with a long, predatorial lope there was an aura of power so dangerous that it made every hair on her body stand up on end

The Daimons summoned their bolt-holes

"I don&039;t think so," the newcomer said as each hole fizzled shut before they could use it

A powerful boom rent the air It eo through her and chill her very soul

And as it touched each of the Daimons, they screamed out in pain, then burst into a colorful dust

Damn, they could have used some of that themselves

Not completely sure thishis ribs and bleeding profusely fro, shoulder, brow, and mouth Menkaura lay beside him, also badly hurt Menkaura&039;s broas laid open and by the way his arm isted it was obviously broken She knelt beside Ravyn and helped him to sit up

"It&039;s about time you showed up, asshole," Zoe snarled as she wiped the blood fronored her as he went silently to where Belle had been killed as if he knew exactly what had happened before his arrival His features tormented, he knelt down on one knee and picked up a small silver necklace that had been around Belle&039;s neck He clenched it tight in his fist before he bent his head as if in prayer and held it to his forehead

Susan was held transfixed by the agony he betrayed It was obvious he mourned the loss of Belle

He moved the necklace to his lips to kiss it before he rose slowly to his feet and faced the to take a wild guess that this was the , who knew the big bad was going to be a child, and not soh he was completely ripped, he couldn&039;t be any older than his early twenties

Still, there was so and terrifying Like Savitar, it was obvious he wasn&039;t human and that he commanded primal powers no one should possess

And it was then as he looked around that she saw his eyes Susan actually fell back onto her butt on the street at the sight of the she&039;d ever seen before and they held so much power, so h her

Those weren&039;t the eyes of a human They swirled like silver mercury as he took in the scene around him And as those eyes went to each Dark-Hunter, the Dark-Hunter&039;s injuries instantly healed

"Thanks, Acheron," Dragon said irritably as he wiped his bloodied hands off on his coat "But couldn&039;t you have gotten here a little sooner?"

Anger bled from every pore of Ash&039;s body as he held his hand out to help Dragon regain his feet "Trust ot here just as fast as I could"

Ravyn pushed himself up from the street, then turned to help Susan up "I heard you were tied up Double-knotted to a bedpost as I recall"

"Excuse , angry birdie on a surfboard"

Ash gave a painful grimace "He knows? Great That&039;s all I need"

Zoe curled her lip at that "We&039;ve been dying because you were lare at Zoe "Mind your own business, A" He looked around at the others "How are the rest of you?"

"Other than pissed off, with severely daos, we&039;re fine," Cael said "Why haven&039;t you been answering our calls?"

"I wasn&039;t able to"

"Uh-huh" Cael looked less than impressed by that answer "Well, welcome to Seattle We have a ue with the police force and are kicking our asses all over the streets We&039;ve lost Troy and Aloysius and now Belle"

"Thank you for the recap, Cael But I already got the picture"

"Good, &039;cause I&039;et your ass kicked for a while"

Menkaura walked over to Ash "I&039;lad you made it, but I really wish you&039;d been here sooner"

As Menkaura left, Susan heard Ash whisper, "Not half as much as I do"

He looked around at the others "Anyone else have a complaint?"

Zoe opened her mouth

"Don&039;t start," Ash snapped "I&039; the entire tirade in your head, Zoe I did the best I could, okay?"

"Yeah, well, your best sucks" And with that, she turned on her heel and left,about her spilled coffee and worthless men

Ravyn patted Susan on the arm, before he walked over to Ash "You okay?"

"No I have people who are dead and an extreain As Zoe says, it sucks"

"You kno Zoe is" As Ravyn clapped Ash on the back, he hissed and stiffened as if he were in an incredible aht?" Susan asked

Ash recovered hier probleht now "

She looked over her shoulder to see what he was staring at It was a police car

She held her breath until after it&039;d rolled past and vanished She looked up at Ravyn "That was close"