David felt the icy wind stroke through his molecules. Shrouded in the shadow of a tree he floated watching, waiting. And for the umpteenth time he questioned his decision of leaving Reaver Manor. Reaver Manor, he shook his head with a smirk. Leave it to Jess to come up with a name for that place. It fit, there was no doubt about that, and he felt a wistfulness come over him at the thought of it. In the past hundred years he hadn't thought of any place as home, but Reaver Manor had come damn close. 

He had grown very fond of Daphne, that woman was a miracle in her own right. Not only had she grown into the protector of the city, but she had also, somehow, thawed Mist's heart. And he couldn't help but admire her for that. He had few friends, mostly because he was always on the move. But Mistrael was one. Granted, theirs was an unlikely friendship, grown from respect and comfortable silence. There was no one in the world he could be silent with in that way. No need for idle chatter, for spoken nothings. If that guy opened his mouth, he had something to say. A quality that David shared.

He sighed into the wind. His mind was pulled in one direction, a direction he didn't want it to go. A direction that had a name. Nicolette. He wondered for what felt like the millionth time what it was about that woman that captivated him. He smiled inwardly at the memory of the first time he had seen her. It had to have been about 35 years back, a short while before she had enlisted to tryout for The Keepers.

He had met her mid-battle. How could it have been any other way with her?

The cold earth dug into his hands painfully as he pushed his body off the dirt. Explosions raked the ground around him, making stones and debris rain down on him. If those bloody witches didn't let up soon he and the rest of his squad were going to be blown to smithereens. Which was probably what the hags intended. David and his men were greatly outnumbered and shifting into shadows was getting harder. The blood loss made him dizzy and it became hard to concentrate.

He hoped to the dark that reinforcements would arrive soon. Hoped that Mist had gotten through the enemy lines and behind the magic field to signal them. Crawling forward he tried to reach the guy next to him, who was not moving since the last blast.

"David, get the fuck up," an angry voice yelled through the sounds of battle. David jerked his head up and grinned, he could feel the dried blood from his head wound crack on his cheeks. The bastard had done it. Mistrael had left last night, without so much as a plan. Close to dawn the zephyr had gotten up, mumbled something about getting help and left. Wroth, a member of The Keepers and the leader of their little squad hadn't even tried to stop him. He had given up trying to command Mist a few hours after getting to know him. Mist usually had that effect on people.

A group of  myres surrounded Mist as he came barreling into the battle, flinging out gushes of wind, beating his black wings against foes and brandishing his sword. David's eyes snapped to the woman at his side.

A demon. Blue and green scales covered her skin while her multi-colored hair fanned out behind her, whipping in the blasts of explosions. Her fangs were bared and she not so much as fought off enemies, she annihilated them. There was a calculated, cold elegance about her, coupled with a lethal recklessness. Her movements bold, but sensual. Powerful, but measured. 

David stared. He had never seen anything like her. Thinking of demonic-turned demons as attractive was not the norm, they looked either scary or hideous. But this one... This one had a mad energy radiating from her, she was a flame, flickering, bringing light into his darkness.

And that had been it. The air about her, her fierceness, her blunt grace and fiery temperament had captured him. Until this day she had never let him go. At first the almost magnetic pull between them had been about one thing and one thing only. Sex. Heavenly, fast and hard, angry, sex. Nick could take his strength, his harshness and force and she gave it back as good as she got. She complimented him in every way.

David had always known where she was, all these years. Which also meant he had scared the shit out of her good-for-nothing, cheating ex. He always had to smile to himself when he thought back on it. It was curious what a few well-placed whispers in the dark, saying the right things could do to a person. At the end of it the scumbag had been reduced to a sniveling heap of anxiety and paranoia. Good times.

When he had seen her again at Reaver Manor he had begun to hope. David sighed and trained his gaze on the entrance to the mountain, the entrance to what had been his home, long ago. He should be concentrating on spying, thinking about her didn't help. He lasted for about a minute.

Hope had been pointless as he soon discovered. That woman had a wall surrounding her that was impenetrable. At least for him. Nick was like a drug to him, one that was slowly killing him. The stolen moments with her had been heaven, felt right and incredible. But seconds after their breaths had cooled she had always started fidgeting and eventually snuck off. Always on guard, always wary of him. Eventually he had tired of it all, of trying, of hoping for something that just wasn't there. 

He shook his head, he didn't want to think about her now. Ignoring her at Reaver Manor had been hard enough. Getting out of there had been the right thing to do. He was sure of it. That didn't mean he had not enjoyed his time there. The people, Mist, Daph, Kate and Aileen, even that Max guy, they had made for good company. Diverse and the way it should be. Free in their own right.

David had always longed for freedom. The suffocating and strict upbringing he'd had had resulted in him rebelling. His curiosity, his questions and rash actions had only furthered his problems. Just thinking about it made the ugly head of his past rear its head and he glared down at the entrance of what had once been his home. He tried pushing at the images that came with it.

Screams of agony, his own; stern, dark eyes, his father's. The gut wrenching training, the pain, the expectations, the hunger and the paranoia that came with sleep-deprivation. God, he'd almost forgotten the tiredness, the jumpiness and the cold. He hadn't known better, had thought the hollow hole in his stomach was normal, until the day he'd gotten out, until he'd eaten so much he'd vomited all of it out again.

His molecules hissed in the dark. All to become harder, to become pure of heart and body. To become the ultimate warrior. The scents around him were familiar, the ground was the same as in those days. It took him back to his childhood, his youth. Hatred boiled inside him, black acidic hatred. He had never wanted to come back here. 

Something shifted in the distance and his molecules stiffened for a second before he forced them to move again, to float and conceal. Two people were walking down the path towards the entrance. His molecules shivered and if he had been in his skin he would have frowned. He was used to being absolutely silent, staying in his shadow form for hours, even a day if he had to. So why was his body calling to him now?

His scattered bits hissed again as he was hit with the reason. He would know that form, those horns, anywhere. What the hell was she doing here? His concentration nearly slipped him as he watched Nick being herded towards his people by a vampire. The same vampire he had seen scouting the place since his arrival. 

Every fiber of his being screamed to rush down to her, but he was shocked stiff. What the hell had that woman been thinking? Knowing Nick, he guessed nothing at all. Damn woman. He watched with bated breath as five shadows stepped from the crack in the stone and walked over to Nick and the vamp. Some words were exchanged between the vampire and the shadows then Nick shifted around, snapped her binds and socked the leech in the face with her elbow. Snatching her sword she ran. 

David gaped. He knew her, so he shouldn't be surprised, but she kept doing that regardless. Cursing to the dark he scattered and zipped down, careful to take another path, not too close to his people. They could feel him, no matter in which form he was. But he knew these mountains and with a bit of luck he would be able to intercept Nick and bring her to safety.

"Dammit Nick," he whispered to himself as he turned corporal for a second. That demon was damned fast, he needed to be even faster and hope that the vampire didn't get a hold of her before she ran into him. A soft growl tore from his lips, if the vampire so much as touched her again, he would rip his fangs out. 

He doubled his efforts and made for a line of trees in the distance. They wafted as his molecules pulled through them. David became corporal midair, caught the jump with his bended knees and slid down a slope of ice. Speeding on around the next heap of stones and snow he could already hear her. Cursing as she went. That woman was fast and he felt a smile creep onto his lips at the sound of her grumbled profanities. 

David eyed the bushes across the way, blackberries. This was going to sting. Blue and green scales flashed through the dark, David closed his eyes and listened to her running feet. He breathed in deeply and opened them. Lunging forward he caught Nick around the middle with one arm and threw both of them into the bushes.

Nick shrieked and David placed one palm over he mouth while they skidded down a hill of rocks, the bushes clawing into his skin and clothes, the stones ripping at him as well. He nearly yelped when he felt fangs descending on his fingers. Nick was biting him.

He rolled them over, so he was under her and pulled her face close to his. "It's me, Nick."

Her slitted, yellow eyes widened, but that was it. 

"Stop biting me," he hissed. Her teeth let up, just as his back hit a straight slate of rock. With a thud, the air left his lungs. Nick jumped up and pulled him with her. He was wheezing like a ninety-year old human as she dragged him along. He had trouble getting air into his lungs quietly, without luring their followers. If they were lucky, the others had followed the path further. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nick hissed at him, her eyes glowing.

David gaped at her, not believing his ears.

"I had everything under frigging control, then you had to do your manly move and Evil-Knievel me into the bushes. What where you thinking anyway? Coming back here? Fucking idiot."

David wheezed again and flipped her the finger. Nick chuckled. "Oh, shut it and tell me which way to go."

"I... didn't even... say... a thing."

Nick pulled his arm around her shoulder and hiked him up a little further. "Yeah, if you keep that up we'll get along great." 

"Fuck... you."

Nick chuckled and bit her lip. David knew exactly which retort she was holding in and growled. "Shut... up."

"Just tell me where to go and I will," she responded, still grinning.

David pointed downhill, he knew a cave not far away, they should be safe there for now. Nick nodded and dragged his still wheezing ass along. 

With each step David got more air down his throat and after a couple of minutes he let go of Nick and continued on side by side. He already missed her body pressing against his and cursed himself for it. This was so not the time. 

He often had to hold her back when she got too fast, risking noise. The woman by his side wasn't the quiet kind.

Still, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She had come. Why? The question was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it. Safety first, questions later. 

They took a path down the mountains, hiding behind bushes, trees and boulders from time to time to listen and watch. But nothing made a sound around them. Finally, they reached the cave, they had to climb a steep wall to get to it. It was set into the wall, its roof forming a ledge over it that went far out, making it impossible to get into it from above. They would be able to see anyone come from the bottom so it was the perfect hiding place. 

David scaled the wall without difficulty and helped Nick up over the ledge. The demon slumped to the ground and huffed out a breath, then she looked up.

"Neat," she whispered. "How did you find it."

"During my rite of passage," he whispered in answer. The rite that had him thrown out of the mountain and into the winter. He had survived the biting cold, the snow-storms and even a grizzly. Survived months of near starving and freezing. Survived and come back as a man. Or so he'd been told back then. In all honesty, he had grown up long before that. 

Nick cocked her head at him, curiosity shining from her face but he shook his head. "Story for another time. Come with me to the back, I'll show you something."

He walked with her to the very end of the cave, which took a bend and crouched down. He had stashed some things here back then, including the skin of that grizzly. David let his fingers run over the small pallet he'd made back then, which was nothing but a square piece of dust by now. The wooden box next to it had endured though. He opened it and pulled the somewhat stiff and musty-smelling bear-pelt from it.

He handed it to Nick without looking at her. "You'll need that if you change back."

"I don't need to change back." Her tone was defensive and rubbed David the wrong way.

"Christ Nick, I know you want to. Staying in your demonic form for too long is exhausting, I know that."

She glared at him, but after a heavy moment he could see her scales pale and then vanish. His breath hitched slightly as he watched her turn. She seemed so much softer this way, vulnerable, feminine and beautiful. Her demonic form had attracted his attention in the beginning, but it was this one that had floored him. He softly shimmering skin, her delicious curves and... Like this he could pretend that she had a vulnerable side she was not showing him. 

A/N Hope you liked this newest chapter. How did you like David? I hope all of you had a great weekend. Now go out there and kick the rest of Monday where it counts!!!

Love you guys!