The Dark-Hunters (582 page)

Ash cursed. “Looks like they’re opening for business.”

At least that was what he thought until one of the motorcycles opened fire on the cars after them.

Tory scowled at the sight of the bikers helping them. “Friends of yours?”

“Not that I know of.” If not for the fact they were using guns, he’d suspect Were-Hunters since many of them used motorcycles to travel by while in human form. But Were-Hunters would be fighting with magic.

The bikes fell into formation, forcing the BMW to drive into the retaining wall. Then they moved on to the other Beamer before they made short work of it, too.

Ash gunned the engine as they approached. At least until he realized they were definitely on his side. He swerved to the shoulder, then slammed on the brakes.

“Wait here,” he said as he got out to confront the riders.

They stopped a few feet behind his car. The two who were armed swung off first and turned their backs to him as they scanned the road for more demons. But what caught his attention most was the gold sun symbol emblazoned on the back of their Brazilian leather Stitch suits.

His mother’s symbol.

The drivers got off the bikes in unison and approached him like a single trained unit. They stopped before him and stood wide-legged until they each brought their right fist to their left shoulder and bowed their heads. Then they sank down to one knee right there in the street.

What the hell was this?

The one who was the leader got up and removed her helmet. She was breathtakingly beautiful with long blond hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. In the leathers, her broad shoulders would make her easily mistaken for a man, but there was nothing masculine about her. “Sorry we couldn’t arrange a better introduction. I’m Katherine Zanakis, head priestess of the Apollymachi.”

Ash looked them over as he realized they were all human women in service to his mother. “What are you doing here?”

Katherine moved to the side as the others rose and another one came forward and removed her helmet. Very cute and probably a good ten years older than Katherine, she had short black hair and warm eyes.

“Justina?”

He turned at Tory’s confused call to scowl at the imp who was running to join them. “I thought I told you to stay in the car.”

“I don’t listen,” she said dismissively as she joined him.

Justina came forward and pulled the messenger bag off her shoulder. “I was told to deliver this to you.” She handed the bag to Tory.

Tory looked as confused by the gift as he felt. “What is it?”

“It’s what Dimitri died for,” Justina explained. “I was there when the Atlantikoinonia stormed in and I managed to escape out the back door with the journal and seal while he held them off.” Justina crossed herself three times as her eyes filled with tears over their lost friend.

Ash cursed as he remembered seeing Justina in his vision. Only then he hadn’t realized whose side she’d been on. He’d assumed she’d been working for their enemies.

“The Atlantikoinonia?” Tory asked Justina.

“A group of lunatics,” Justina spat. “They’ve chased us all the way from Greece to New Orleans. Every time we turn around, there they are trying to nab the journal.”

Katherine nodded. “They’re a group of men who are sworn to protect the secrets of Atlantis and they’re ruthless.”

“They destroyed our boat,” Justina told Tory. “I killed one of them as he fled and that’s what made me run to Dimitiri to get the journal. I didn’t realize how important our research was until then.”

Tory shook her head as if all this was making her dizzy. “I am so confused.”

Ash put an arm around her to hold her steady. “She also just had surgery and was almost killed earlier today. Not to mention, our friends might find us again and when they do, I don’t want to be in the open where they can get her or take a clear shot at us. Do you guys know where Sanctuary is on Ursulines?”

“I do,” one of the women with the KACs said.

“Then we’ll meet you there.” Ash went to open the door for Tory, who gave him a hard stare.

“What exactly is going on here, Ash?”

“I’m not sure, but I think we’re about to get a few answers.”

“Good. ’Cause I’m tired of being in the dark.” Tory got in and started to open the bag in her lap, but Ash put his hand on hers.

“I’d rather you not do that.”

She looked up with a frown. “Why?”

Because you’ll expose me.
“Let’s wait until we get to Sanctuary.”
And I can safely get it away from you.

“All right.” Her blind trust sent a wave of guilt through him. She folded her arms around the bag and held it tight, not knowing it was his life and dignity she held so close to her heart. Every secret he’d worked so damn hard to keep was right there …

He wanted to curse. His stomach knotted, he went to the other side and slid in before he led the way back to the Quarter.

Tory ran her hand over the sand-beige leather interior of his car as if she admired the German styling. “You know what I think is so off about these cars?”

He had no idea. There was nothing he found off about them. He loved his Porsche. “What?”

“The cupholders.”

He laughed. They were tucked into the trim, which had to be flipped down so that they could swing out and unfold. “Yeah. Transformers. Cupholders in disguise. But that’s not really what’s on your mind, is it?”

“No. I’m trying to distract myself from the fact that I’m holding something in my lap that someone is ready to kill for. That one of my dearest friends paid for this discovery with his life and that if I’d just left Atlantis alone, Dimitri would be alive now. His wife wouldn’t be a widow and his poor mother wouldn’t be burying her only son.” She winced. “I can’t believe my selfish stupidity killed someone. What have I done?”

Ash’s heart lurched as he thought about Nick. “It’s easy to make mistakes. It’s living with the consequences of them that’s the hardest.”

“Tell me about it. Do you have any secret spy ring that helps with the pain?”

“I wish, but no. There are some pains that run too deep for anything to absolve them. The best we can do is pick up the pieces and hope for the strength we need to keep going.”

“Is that what you do?”

“No, I beat shit up—that helps even more.”

She gave a light laugh. “I can’t see you being that harsh.”

She had no idea, but he was glad she didn’t know the part of him that was capable of complete destruction.

Tory leaned her head against the glass and stared out the window.

They didn’t say anything more until Ash pulled into the small driveway behind Sanctuary. The priestesses parked on the street while he led Tory toward the front door.

Dev Peltier was guarding it in human form … while it was still daylight. There were two kinds of Were-Hunters. Those born as humans who could become animals and those who were animals who could become human. During the daylight hours, Were-Hunters preferred their native form, which for Dev would be a bear. The fact that he was human made Ash extremely curious since only the most powerful of their breed could do that.

As a man, Dev wasn’t much shorter than Ash. He had long curly blond hair and a dimple that only flashed when he talked since the bear didn’t smile often. Dressed in jeans and a black Sanctuary staff T-shirt, he sat with a deceptive nonchalance. Even in human form, he could launch into action fast enough to give Ash a run for his money. But what amused Ash most was the Dark-Hunter bow and arrow Dev had on his biceps. He wasn’t sure why the bear thought it was funny to wear the mark of Artemis, but Dev wore it proudly.

And as soon as Dev saw him, he reached to the small remote on his belt to cue the song “Sweet Home Alabama” to play inside the bar, alerting the rest of the inhuman inhabitants that Ash was about to enter the building. It was a game they played. Since the Were-Hunters were cousins to the Apollites, they often sheltered Apollites and Daimons. Ash, being a Dark-Hunter, would be obligated to kill any Daimons he found, which meant the Daimons would be running for cover right about now.

The Apollites preferred not to see a Dark-Hunter so they made themselves just as scarce whenever he was around.

“How you doing, Dev?” Ash asked.

“Good.” Dev arched a brow at Tory and the other women who were approaching. “Nice of you to beautify the bar for us. Appreciate it greatly.”

Ash shook his head. “We need a quiet corner.”

“Upstairs to the right. The whole area’s cordoned off this time of day. I’ll have Aimee head up to bring drinks.”

“Thanks.”

Tory smiled at the blond man, who winked at her as she followed Ash. She’d walked past this place dozens of times, but since heavy metal wasn’t her shtick, she’d never gone inside. It was huge—much bigger than it appeared from the street.

There were three levels with sections set aside for a bar area, a billiards section, a stage and dancing floor, and a restaurant. It was rustic and at the same time rather homey—except for the coffin in a corner by the bar that had a small plaque on it reading
THE LAST GUY WHO ASKED AIMEE OUT
—it had a dismembered skeleton in it.

Obviously Aimee was someone visitors were meant to keep their hands off of.

Tory followed Ash upstairs to a large round table in the rear, against a wall. He walked to the back so that he would be against the wall and waited for all of them to be seated before he sat down.

Once everyone was situated, he inclined his head to them. “All right, ladies, let’s piece this puzzle together.”

“It’s not hard,” Katherine said. “Since Tory’s family first started poking close to the Atlantean ruins, we were assigned by the goddess to watch over them and make sure that the humans didn’t offend her with their actions.”

“Your goddess?” Tory asked.

Katherine smiled. “Apollymi the Great Destroyer. Our Order goes back to the days when Atlantis was the ruling power on earth. After Atlantis was destroyed, under the protection of our goddess who saved us from the great fall, we went to Greece and set up our Order where it’s been maintained in secret ever since.”

“We were one of the great Amazon tribes,” Justina said. “Only where the others were Greek, we kept to the Atlantean ways.”

Katherine smiled with pride. “And we were the strongest of them. But since the moment our foremothers escaped to Greece, we’ve been hunted by the Atlantikoinonia. A group founded by the goddess Artemis. Their mandate is to eradicate all evidence that Atlantis and Apollymi ever existed.”

“Which means killing all of you,” Tory whispered.

Katherine nodded. “Another reason we’ve been in hiding for centuries.”

Justina pulled her jacket off and put it on the back of her chair. “But for Apollymi’s protection, we wouldn’t have survived so long.”

Tory admired the way they spoke—the loyalty they showed to their goddess. “You speak as if she’s real.”

Justina smiled. “To us, she is.”

“Did anyone read the journal?” Ash asked, changing subjects.

“No,” Katherine said quickly. “To our knowledge, no one knows the language it’s written in. Our oracle told us to bring it to Tory and that’s what we’re doing. It’s foretold that she, like the ancient Atlantean Soteria, will be its guardian.”

Tory was caught off guard by the use of her formal name. “Excuse me?”

“It’s an old legend,” Ash said. “When Atlantis was being destroyed, the head librarian of the national archives tried to save as much of their work as she could. It’s said that her Shade now oversees the treasures of Atlantis and keeps them safe from plunder.”

Katherine indicated the entire group with a wave of her hand. “The Apollymachi are her Shades. We are the guardians and the Atlantikoinonia are the destroyers.”

Ash looked at the bag that Tory still held against her chest. “Perhaps in this
we
should be the destroyers.”

Tory shook her head. “I want to know what the book says before we destroy it.”

“No one can read it,” Katherine repeated.

Tory shook her head. “Ash can.”

The women looked at him with surprise etched on their faces.

Justina exchanged a glance with Katherine before she spoke. “Is that why the oracle said to deliver it to the Elekti?”

“Elekti?” Tory asked, not understanding the word.

“It means chosen one,” Justina explained.

Tory scowled—that could be rather ominous. “Chosen for what?”

Katherine pushed the sleeve of her jacket back. “Our Order speaks of a man in every generation who bears the Destroyer’s grace. He’s known by her ring that he bears on his right thumb.”

Tory looked down to see a thick gold band on Ash’s thumb. It bore the same sun symbol that marked the women’s jackets and his backpack. “What are you not telling me?” she asked Acheron.

“Lots.” He turned back to Katherine. “So what are your orders now that you’ve delivered the book?”

“We are to guard Soteria and to follow the orders of the Elekti.”

“Why?” he persisted.

“Because it’s the will of the goddess.”

Ash scoffed at her words. “You should never blindly obey anyone. Take it from someone who knows. Your goddess isn’t infallible.”

Katherine sucked her breath in sharply. “That is blasphemy.”

Ash didn’t respond but something in his features led Tory to believe that he knew a lot more about their goddess than he was letting on. “These Atlantikoinonia. They’re human?”

Katherine nodded.

Tory was confused by his strange question. “What else would they be? Turnips?”

Ash shook his head at her sarcasm. Though to be honest, it amused him. However, that didn’t change the predicament they were in. “Does anyone else know you have the journal?”

“No,” Justina said assuredly. “Dimitri wouldn’t have broken his word.”

He hadn’t detected that either. “Then for now, we need to get Tory back to bed to rest.”

“I feel fine.”

He arched a brow at her protest. “You just had surgery. You need to be in bed, resting.”

Tory hated to admit he was right. “Fine. Take me home.”

He looked down at the bag and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s wise given today’s adventures. Whoever is after you knows where you live and I for one don’t think we ought to make it easy on them. Let the bastards have to search to kill you.” He stood up as an attractive blond woman reached them. Dressed in a skimpy black Sanctuary T-shirt with a howling wolf on the front, she was carrying a serving tray.