True to her words, Athry arrived in Sanctuary five minutes later. Dev, one of the quads escorted her in. 

“Azzy!” She called seeing the brat sitting in the bar like a patron. 

Azail jumped from the stool as soon as she heard her name being called. She turned and saw her sister walking towards her. She ran to towards her with her arms open ready for an embrace only to be disappointed when she met a karate chop dead on the center of her forehead. Grimacing, she immediately covered her swollen forehead with her palm. 

“Oooow.” 

“You deserve that.” Athry retorted giving her a second blow. Clearly the first one wasn't sufficient for her. “I was worried sick! This is the reason why I insisted to pick you up at the airport but you wanted to go gallivanting and refused.” 

Nick stared at the older sister towering above the kid. She was a tall woman at about 6’3” in height with long hair that curled at the ends. She had the same perfect tan and almond shaped eyes like her younger sibling. 

Athry dropped down her knees and suddenly hugged Azail which surprised all of the people who witnessed her tirade. “Please don’t ever do that again,” she said, holding her sister close. 

It was the first time in all of their years together that she didn’t know where her sister was. It was the longest 3 hours of her life. 

“I won’t do it again. I promise.” Az said quietly. 

“You better or I’ll tan your hide.” She said smiling. She looked up at the man who was sitting next to her sister in the bar. Azail followed her gaze and introduced them. 

“This is Nick, he was the one who helped me when I got lost.” 

“I’m Athry. Thank you for taking care of Az,” she said offering a hand. 

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, taking her hand. 

The moment their palms meet, Nick felt some sort of surge from the woman. It was faint but he knew he felt it but he couldn't be sure if what he felt was right as it was gone as soon as he had noticed. 

He stared at the older woman curiously. The woman stared back at him with the same intensity. He knew he was studying his face and he expected her to cringe with she saw the mark of Artemis on his check. He wasn't disappointed. His mark did gather a reaction from her but it was of panic and not of disgust. She turned his gaze from him and quickly grabbed Azail. 

“We’ll be going now. Thanks again.” Athry said as she practically dragged Azail to the door. 

The kid started waiving goodbyes frantically and grinning at everyone. 

“Thanks again. I’ll come back to eat here again. I love your food.” 

“No she won’t.” Athry protested silently. 

“You’re welcome anytime kiddo.” Aimee waived back. 

The ride back to the condo was mostly silent except for the momentary beeping noises from Azail’s handheld game. Athry surveyed her sister from the rear view mirror of her Subaru XV Crosstrek. She did not seem to be harmed in any way but she was certain Az was in some sort of trouble just earlier. 

“So how did you meet Nick?” 

“Oh he saved me from this bunch of blond guys.” Az answered without looking up. 

Athry raised a brow. 

“Were they hitting on you?” She chuckled. That couldn’t be true since her sister most likely resembles a boy and a ragamuffin none the less. 

Az shrugged. “I’m not sure. They were saying something like going out to dinner but I had a sinking feeling about them so I tried to leave. They wouldn’t let me and then Nick suddenly appeared like Batman. He’s kinda like Batman minus the super hero outfit. Shady but cool.” 

Athry had a sinking feeling too but not about the possibility of Nick being Batman. 

“Did you say a bunch of blonde guys tried to hit on you?” 

“Yeah,” Az nodded. “They were totally hot too. Like those underwear models you shoot with, maybe even hotter.” 

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The sinking feeling increased and Athry was almost afraid to ask the second question. 

“Did you notice anything weird about them?” 

Azail paused her game and looked up. “Weird like what?” She asked. 

“I dunno, like maybe fangs or horns.” She chuckled nervously afraid that her sister might say yes. 

Azail pouted at the strange question. “If they had I would have noticed. It’s really hard to miss if someone you’re talking to had a pair of horns protruding in their forehead. That would have freaked me out a lot.” 

Athry sighed audibly. 

“Why do you ask?” 

“Just curious.” 

“Well it wasn’t really that odd an encounter, except the guys called Nick a dark something. Dark Vader, no that was not it. What was that word, right! A Dark-Hunter.” 

“They called him what?!” Athry suddenly jerked to look at her sister. 

There was a screeching sound and the car they were in nearly got in an accident as Athry suddenly swerved to the wrong lane. 

“Eyes on the road woman!” Azail scream from the backseat. “I don’t wanna die in this tender age!” 

“Sorry.” Athry apologized as she composed herself. 

“What did you say again?” She asked, hoping she just heard her sister wrong.” 

“I said, the guys called Nick a Dark-Hunter. Sounds like a mob name to me. Nick was kinda shady too but he’s quite nice--” 

Athry didn’t hear what else her sister had said as her thoughts flew off somewhere else. She knew what Nick was the moment she saw the mark on his face but for her sister to know of what he is called is bad news. She had raised Az to be like everyone else. Like a normal kid and right now is not the best time to have her exposed to the world she left behind—they left behind. Not now, not ever. 

They got back to the condo safely. Azail found her room I no time and started unpacking her stuff. Athry was left in the living room listening to her sister ramble all the way from her room. It was a spacious condo and it was sort of too big for the two of them but she liked space and she had a lot of stuff for work so it was just perfect. 

“Can I get a cat this time, Athry?” She heard Azail say from her room. It was quite enough that they could talk to each other even they were apart in the unit. “You never let me have any pets. 

We’ve been moving for ages but I never get to have a pet. This place allows pets right?” 

“No.” Athry retorted. 

Azail got out to room and stood by her doorway. Her room was parallel to the living room so she could see her sister sitting on the couch sipping tea. 

“What?!” She said incredulously. “I thought we agreed to get a condo that allows pets.” 

“We didn’t.” 

“We did to! Before I left New York you said you’re gonna let me keep a pet and you’re staying in a building that allows pets.” 

“I don’t remember that.” Athry replied. 

Azail growled in frustration. “There you go again. You’re lying.” 

“No I’m not. Oh…I remember, that was in the previous condo before you came here. I moved here a couple of days ago.” 

Az stomped her feet in frustration. “You are so fickle! Fickle! Fickle! Fickle!” She growled again. “I shouldn’t have moved here with you.” 

“Well who’s gonna pay your bills in New York?” 

“I was planning to look for a job.” 

“Who’s gonna hire you?” Athry snickered. 

“I have a degree in Literature and Linguistics!” Az retorted indignantly. 

“You’re 14 and besides you look like you’re in grade school. Just because you skipped a few grades doesn’t mean you can work in the adult world.” Athry smiled. 

“Whenever will you ever stop treating me like a kid, Athry?” 

"Ten years from now.”