The Dark-Hunters (528 page)

How very strange.

“Why does that group keep singing?”

“It’s the chorus,” he whispered, his attention firmly on the actors below them.

“They’re key-off.”

He frowned at her. “Key-off?”

“Their tune … it’s not right.”

“Off-key,” he corrected as he turned away from her again. “No, they’re not. They sound fine.”

She arched a brow at his peeved tone. “Are you arguing with me?”

“I’m not trying to argue with you, Goddess. I’m trying to hear what the actors are saying. Shh.”

No … no, he hadn’t really shushed her! Anger whipped through her. “Excuse me? Acheron? Shh?”

For once he met her gaze and there was no mistaking the agitation in those swirling silver eyes. “I’m not the one talking, Artemis.” He turned back toward the stage.

Aggravated at him, she snatched the cowl from his head to get his full attention. The instant she did, she realized she’d made a mistake. Every person near them was suddenly fascinated by Acheron whose face had lost all color.

Without a word to her, he covered himself and rushed for the exit. Several of the people around her headed after him.

Curious, she followed up the stairs and out of the stadium to find Acheron as he was becoming surrounded by people. He appeared panicked as he tried to push his way through the crowd that continued to try to talk to him.

One of the men grabbed him roughly by the arm.

“Let me go,” Acheron snarled, shoving at the stranger.

The man tightened his grip so much that Acheron flinched from it.

Enraged over the abuse of her friend, Artemis sank her nails into the hand of the man who then grimaced in pain. He let go of Acheron and the moment he did, she took Acheron’s hand and teleported him back to his room.

She expected his gratitude.

He gave her none of that. Instead, he turned on her with fury pouring out of his entire being. “How dare you do that to me!”

“I saved you.”

His intolerant gaze was as accusatory as his tone even though he kept it at her feet. “You exposed me!”

She didn’t understand why he was blaming her for something that wasn’t her fault. “You were ignoring me.”

“I was trying to watch the play. That was why we were there, wasn’t it?”

“No. We were there to keep me from being bored. Remember? I was getting bored again.”

That didn’t placate him in the least. If anything, it seemed to anger him more. “Then you can go be bored somewhere else.”

Artemis was aghast. “Are you throwing me out of your room?”

“Yes.”

Rage clouded her vision. No one had ever taken such a tone with her. “Who do you think you are?”

“The one who almost got attacked because you’re thoughtless.”

“I am not thoughtless.”

He gestured to the door behind her. “Just go. I don’t like being around people. I’d rather be alone.”

She frowned at him. “You are really, truly angry at me, aren’t you?”

He actually rolled his eyes as if he were exasperated with her.

Shocked, Artemis gaped at him. “Human beings don’t get angry at me.”

“This one does. Now please leave.”

She should and yet she couldn’t make herself go. She was too compelled by this man who should be infuriating her and yet she wasn’t really angry. A part of her was even tempted to apologize to him. But goddesses didn’t do that to humans.

“Why did those people surround you like that?” she asked, wanting to understand him and his unwarranted hostility toward her.

“You’re the goddess. You tell me.”

“People don’t normally do that to others of their kind without a reason. Were you perchance cursed?”

He laughed bitterly. “Obviously so.”

“What did you do?”

“I was born. Apparently that’s all the gods need to ruin someone.” He snatched the shoes off his feet and held them out to her. “Take your shoes and go.”

“I gave those to you.”

“I don’t want your gift.”

“Why not?”

His gaze was on the floor, but there was no missing the fury and contempt. “Because you’ll make me pay for it eventually and I’m tired of paying for things.” He dropped the shoes and turned to walk out onto his balcony.

Ignoring the shoes, Artemis followed him. “We were having fun. I liked it until you angered me.”

He dropped his gaze to the floor as all the anger evaporated from his face. “Forgive me, my lady. I didn’t mean to offend you.” He sank to his knees in front of her.

“What are you doing?”

“My will is yours, akra.”

Artemis yanked his cloak off. He didn’t flinch or move. He merely stayed there like a mindless supplicant. “Why are you behaving like this?”

He kept his gaze on the ground. “It’s what you want, isn’t it? A servant to entertain you?”

Yes, but she didn’t want that from him. “I have servants. I thought we were friends.”

“I don’t know how to be a friend. I only know how to be a slave or a lover.”

Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the door behind her swung open. She made herself instantly invisible as she stepped back into the shadows.

Two guards came in.

The moment Acheron saw them, he rose to his feet and backed up on the balcony as they made their way toward him. His face went cold and stoic.

Without a word, they grabbed him roughly and pulled him to the hallway. Wondering about their intent, she followed them, making sure to keep herself hidden.

Acheron was taken to the throne room where she’d popped in on him three days ago. The guards forced him to his knees before the thrones, which were occupied by an elder human and a young man who was identical in looks to Acheron. Only he didn’t have Acheron’s silver eyes and he lacked the same compelling nature. The one on the throne was the same as any human and she took an instant dislike to him.

“As per your instructions, he hasn’t left his room, Sire,” the guard on the left of Acheron said firmly. “We’ve made sure of it.”

The king’s blue eyes were piercing. “You weren’t in the square earlier, teritos?”

Artemis’s eyes widened at the word that meant slug.

Acheron gave the king a defiant glare. “Why would I have been in the square, Father?”

The king curled his lip. “Thirty-six lashes for his insolence, then return him to his room.”

Acheron closed his eyes as the guards grabbed him by the hair and hauled him through a set of double doors that opened into a small courtyard. Scowling, she watched as they stripped him bare, then tied him to a post. His perfectly formed back was covered with dark bruises, red welts and cuts. No wonder he’d recoiled in pain when she’d touched him. It had to hurt fiercely.

Unable to detect her presence, the younger guard walked to her side and pulled a whip from the holder before he returned to Acheron.

Acheron stiffened and braced himself against the post as if he knew what would happen next.

The whip whistled through the air, then tore through his bruised back.

Gasping, Acheron gripped the post so tight that every muscle in his arms and legs was taut and outlined. It was as if he were trying to merge himself with the post …

Mesmerized by the sight, she watched as lash after lash rained down on his back. Never once did he cry out or beg for mercy. The most he would do was gasp or curse them and their parentage.

When it was over, the guards freed him. His face ashen, Acheron picked his chiton up from the ground where the guards had thrown it but didn’t have time to dress before they dragged him back to his room and threw him inside. The doors rattled as the guards slammed them shut with an echoing clatter.

Artemis walked through the locked doors to find Acheron lying on the floor where he’d landed. His bloodied blond hair was tangled and fanned out behind him while blood seeped from the wounds on his back. He made no move to cover himself or to cry. He merely lay there staring into space.

“Acheron?”

He didn’t speak to her.

She materialized in front of him, then knelt by his side. “Why were you beaten?”

He drew a ragged breath as he tightened his grip on the wadded-up chiton. “Stop asking me questions I don’t feel like answering.”

Her heart hammering, she reached out to one of the bleeding welts that curved over his right shoulder. He hissed in response to her touch. Withdrawing her hand, she frowned. His warm, sticky blood coated her fingertips. She drew back, staring at his naked body. For the first time, she felt a wave of guilt stir in her breast.

His punishment was her fault. Had she not taken him out of his room, they wouldn’t have done this to him. Part of her was even angry that he’d been injured.

“I don’t like you like this,” she whispered.

“Just please leave me alone.”

But she couldn’t. Wanting to comfort him, she placed her hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes before she healed him.

Acheron panted as a searing pain tore through his battered body. A second later, all the pain was gone. He tensed, expecting it to return.

It didn’t.

“Is that better?”

He stared at the goddess in disbelief. “What did you do?”

“I’m a goddess of healing so I healed you.”

Rolling onto his back, he was amazed that the pain didn’t return. For the last three days, he’d been beaten at various intervals because he’d dared walk to the temple with Ryssa. Honestly, he’d begun to fear that his skin would never heal completely.

But Artemis had helped him. “Thank you.”

The goddess smiled at him as she brushed his hair back from his face. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

Acheron covered her hand with his before he kissed her palm that tasted like roses and honey. To his complete shock, he felt his body stirring. For that alone, he expected Artemis to jump on top of him.

Instead she watched his cock as he hardened even more. “Does it always do that?”

“No.” He rarely got hard unless it was required of him or he was drugged.

Her brow drew tight as she touched his chest. He was used to people being curious about him. Since the assumption went that he was the son of a god, everyone wanted to touch him, to explore his body.

Yet she was hesitant. Her hand drifted over his abdomen lightly as if she were afraid to touch the part of him she was staring at.

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to,” he told her quietly.

Her eyes flashed. “Of course not. I’d kill you if you did.”

No one had been quite so blunt before, but that threat had always hung over his head. He’d had plenty of clients after leaving Atlantis who’d threatened him for numerous reasons. Mostly political or possessive. They were afraid he’d tell on them for what they wanted to do to their Prince Styxx or they didn’t want to share him with anyone else.

Three times he’d almost been killed.

He didn’t know why people reacted to him the way they did. He’d never understood it. Artemis, even with her divinity, didn’t seem any different than anyone else.

Except her touch set him on fire.

Acheron closed his eyes as her hand lightly brushed the tip of his cock. The need inside him for her was unexpected and shocking. He should be angry at her for what she’d done to him and yet he couldn’t find any anger inside himself right now. Only a desire to please her that he didn’t comprehend.

A noise sounded out in the hallway.

Artemis pulled back with a sharp intake of breath. “We could be seen.”

The next thing he knew, they were inside a bright, white marble bedroom. Acheron shot to his feet as he turned around slowly, trying to understand where he was.

There was an incredibly large bed against one wall. The sheets and curtains were as white as everything else. The only color to be found was gold trim.

“Where am I?”

“Mount Olympus.”

His jaw went slack. “How?”

“I brought you to my temple. Don’t worry. No one ever enters my bedchambers. These are sacred to me.”

Artemis approached him with a smile on her face. She rubbed her cheek against his an instant before a red chiton appeared on his body. “We can be alone here.”

Acheron couldn’t even form a coherent thought as he looked at the splendor surrounding him. The ceiling over his head was solid gold and carved with brilliant forest scenes. How could this be? How could a whore be in the bedroom of a goddess renowned for her virginity? The mere thought was laughable.

Yet here he stood …

Artemis took him by the hand and led him toward her balcony that let out onto a garden resplendent with flowers. The riot of color was almost as beautiful as the goddess beside him.

“What do you think of it?” Artemis asked.

“It’s wondrous.”

She smiled. “I thought you’d like it.”

He frowned at her. “How could you be bored here?”

She looked away and swallowed. A deep sadness darkened her green eyes. “It gets lonely. There’s seldom anyone who wants to talk to me. Sometimes I walk in the woods and the deer come to me, but they don’t really have much to say.”

He let out an awed breath at the incredible scene. “I could happily lose myself in those woods and never speak to a soul again as long as I live.”

“But you’ll only live a few more years. You’ve no idea what eternity feels like. Time has no meaning. It merely stretches out and hangs on ever the same.”

“I don’t know. I think I should like forever … If I could live it on my own terms.”

She smiled at him. “I could see you as you are now a thousand years in the future.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh wait, there’s something I have to share with you.”

Acheron cocked his head in consternation as she snapped her fingers and a peculiar brown package appeared in her palm. She held it out to him.

“What is it?”

“Chocolate,” she said breathlessly. “Hershey’s. You must try it.”

He took it from her and held it to his nose. It smelled sweet, but he wasn’t sure about the taste. As he started to take a bite, Artemis jerked it out of his hand.

“You have to unwrap it first, silly.” Laughing, she tore the brown paper and an odd silver material from it before she broke a piece off and gave it to him.

Gingerly, Acheron took a bite. The minute it melted on his tongue, he was in heaven. “This is delicious.”