The Dark-Hunters (583 page)

Pulling her off to the side, Ash talked to her in a low tone.

“No problem,” the blond said. “Follow me.”

Ash took the bag from her. “C’mon.”

Irritated by his highhanded demeanor and the fact he hadn’t asked her opinion on this, Tory followed him to a door not far away. Aimee, whose name was on the back of her T-shirt, pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. It led to a small room with another door that was locked with a palm scanner.

Tory was impressed by the security. “Get out of town…”

Smiling, Aimee opened it to show a large bedroom with no windows. “There’s a bathroom through the other door. It’s steel reinforced, so nothing’s going to pop through it uninvited … heavy emphasis on the uninvited part.”

Ash inclined his head to her. “Thanks, Aim.”

“Anytime.” She handed him the key to the outside door. “You can leave this door open so you don’t have to use the scanner.”

Ash gestured toward Tory. “You want anything to drink?”

“Apple juice would be a godsend.”

Aimee nodded. “I’ll bring some right up.”

Tory headed for the bed as Aimee left them alone. “Can I read now?”

Ash made a low sound of irritation. “Do you mind if I look at it first?”

“Yes, I do.” She held her hand out, wanting it immediately. She was desperate to see what all the hoopla was over.

“I read faster than you do,” he reminded her.

She made a strong sound of her irritation to compete with his.

Ash paused. In that moment, he wanted to tell her the truth about what was happening and why. Wanted her to know that the beautiful waitress Aimee was Dev’s younger sister … and a bear in her other form. He had a fantasy in his mind of Tory welcoming him in spite of it all. Of her taking it in stride without freaking out and shrieking. Of her not minding the fact that he was a cursed god.

But he knew better. He wasn’t some kid with his first crush. He’d lived long enough to know that people and their reactions to things that were radically different was seldom positive.

No matter how much he might want her to smile at him and tell him none of it mattered, he knew better. How many centuries had he waited for it not to matter to Artemis? And she was a goddess who couldn’t accept him.

How could a mere mortal take him in stride? Besides, it was a dangerous world he lived in and she didn’t have the power to survive in it.

He cleared his throat. “You’ll get over your disappointment.”

“Ash…” she said, with a note of warning in her voice, “don’t make me get out of this bed.”

He grabbed the bag and was out of the room before she could reach him. Shutting the door, he sealed her in.

“Hey!” Her muffled outrage made him cringe as he felt her anger inside him. He’d been held prisoner enough to hate himself for what he’d just done.

But he had to protect himself … and her.

He paused inside the outer room to open the bag. There was an Atlantean seal that had his mother’s sun symbol with Archon’s hammer and lightning bolt forming an X over it. There were three priestess necklaces that could be used to summon his mother’s powers into a human body and the Atlantean dagger.

Ash cursed as he realized this was more destructive than a nuclear bomb. With this, anyone on the planet could end the world in the blink of an eye.

“Is there a reason she’s locked up?”

Aimee’s voice distracted him. “Yeah,” he said, putting the items into his own backpack before he stood up. “I need her to stay there for a bit.”

She gave him a sheepish frown. “You like to live dangerously, don’t you?”

He ignored the question. “Tell her I’ll be back shortly with some of her clothes.”

Aimee shook her head as she reached to open the door and confront a human who looked ready to take on a bear. Literally.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Aimee asked.

Tory glared at the woman. “Are you going to make me?”

“Hopefully, I won’t have to. Ash wants you protected and I would think you’d agree with that.”

Tory lifted her chin in defiance. “You always do what he wants?”

“No, but I know what it’s like to protect someone when you care about them, even when they’re being pigheadedly suicidal. So don’t make me do something you’ll hate me for later.”

That took some of the steam out of Tory’s anger. That and the fact that Aimee looked pretty stout and not much shorter than her. “I don’t like being told what to do and I hate being locked in a room.”

“Well, if you promise to stay here and behave, I’ll leave it open. But don’t make me have to chase you down. I assure you, I’m a lot faster than I look.”

Even angry, Tory understood why she couldn’t go chasing out the door after Ash. There were still people looking for her and she was recovering. So she headed to the bed and got back into it.

Smiling, Aimee handed her the juice. She opened the drawer in the nightstand and pulled out a remote. An instant later a panel opened in the wall to show a large plasma TV. “It’s not a prison. Hit the yellow button on the bottom and it’ll call for me if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, and try not to kill the tall guy in black. He might be an asshole at times, but he’s basically a good man and there are so few of them in the world that we don’t need to start weeding them out.”

Tory laughed at her perfect description of Ash. Aimee was right. There really wasn’t a plethora of good people in general. “Have you known Ash a long time?”

She tucked her tray under her arm before she answered. “Since I was a kid … he actually saved my life.”

Tory didn’t know why, but that surprised her. “He saved your life?”

She nodded. “My older brothers were killed in front of me. The men who did it were drunk on bloodlust and when they found where I was hiding, they dragged me out to kill me too. The next thing I knew, Ash was there and they were dead. He picked me up and returned me to my family. If he hadn’t found me, I know they’d have killed me, too.”

Tory frowned at the conflicting images in her mind that didn’t make sense. “But you’re older than him.”

“No, I’m not.”

Her frown deepened. Aimee looked at least a decade older than Ash’s early twenties. “How old is Ash?”

“I don’t know exactly. I’ve never met anyone who knows his precise birthday—but I know he’s older than me. He doesn’t offer and we don’t ask. By the way, he said to tell you he’d be back with some clothes for you.” Before Tory could say another word, Aimee was gone.

Tory lay in bed with those words running through her head. There was a lot more going on here than she knew and it bothered her that they all thought she was so stupid that she didn’t know it.

What was the deal with Acheron? Who was he really?

And how old was he?

She looked up as a shadow fell over her bed. Her heart missed a beat until she realized the shadow was Justina. “You scared me!”

“Sorry. There was something I forgot to give you. It was so small, I didn’t put it in the bag with the rest.” She pulled a small sandwich baggie out of her pocket. “I think you’ll find it really interesting.”

Scowling, Tory took it from her and pulled the coin out. They’d found a lot of coins so that wasn’t surprising. The back of it was the same as other Didymos coins.

But when she turned it over, she gasped.

The face on the coin was Acheron’s.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It wasn’t Ash who brought Tory’s clothes to her later. He sent them up via Aimee, which was a bit disappointing, but if he wanted to be a coward after locking her in, so be it. Besides, she liked Aimee, who had a biting sense of humor and a very keen wit.

It also gave her time to plot revenge on the tall Goth who irritated her to distraction.

With nothing better to do, Tory took a shower in the small bathroom, careful not to get her sutures wet. She was extremely bored with her bed rest. She didn’t understand how she could feel so good given what had happened to her. Honestly, she was only a little sore from the almost fatal wreck.

It was so strange.

Not wanting to be alone where thoughts of Dimitri and worry for her team made her ache, she left the room and headed into the bar area, seeking distraction. As she came out, Justina and Katherine got up from a small round table where they’d been sitting—Justina facing Tory’s door and Katherine scanning the bar around them.

She didn’t know where the other priestesses were, but the fact that those two were still here made her arch an eyebrow.

“What are you doing?” she asked them, curious about their nervous twitching.

Katherine looked away sheepishly. “We were watching you to make sure no one disturbed you.”

Well, at least the man hadn’t made them keep her locked in the room. She should be grateful for some small liberty. “Ash’s orders?”

Justina smiled. “I finally found someone even bossier than you. Who knew? Not to mention he’s a lot more fierce.”

Ha, ha, Tory thought sarcastically. She didn’t really find that particularly funny—most likely because she was on the receiving end of his bossiness. “So where is he?”

Probably out chasing the redhead or some other woman.

Katherine pointed over the banister down to the stage area. Tory looked below, then gaped as she saw the one man at the back of the stage who didn’t have a spotlight on him. There was no mistaking the giant dressed only in black as he played a black guitar emblazoned with red flames.

Justina joined her at the banister. “The band’s guitarist jammed two fingers right before they were supposed to play so they begged Ash to cover for him.”

Tory was absolutely stunned as she watched his long fingers fly over the neck into perfect chords. “Get out.”

Justina grinned. “Yeah, I know, he’s impressive, isn’t he?”

No, he careened past impressive and went straight into the realm of guitar god. Because she played herself, she could easily appreciate the talent it took to make what he did look and sound so effortless. He didn’t make a single mistake.

And when he broke into a screaming solo that rivaled Hendrix, Rhodes or Van Halen, the crowd went wild.

Before Tory even realized what she was doing, she was heading down the stairs to watch him play at closer range.

*   *   *

Ash didn’t normally look at the crowd what few times he’d filled in with the Howlers—which was only during practice sessions or when the bar was closed to anything not preternatural, but for some reason he felt an uncharacteristic compulsion to do so now. He immediately saw Tory in front with Justina and Katherine behind her.

Time seemed suspended as he met those beautiful brown eyes that always seemed to see through him, straight into his soul. As he stared at her, he forgot everything else, especially when he finally heard her thoughts above those of the people around him.

Why do you live in the shadows away from everyone else? You should be out front and shining with that talent. I’ve never heard a better guitarist. How do you do that? Were you born with a guitar in your hands?

She looked at him in awe.
You are so beautiful, Acheron. All of you. Why do you hide from the world and from me in particular? I would never hurt you
 …

The sincerity of those words reached out to him in a way nothing had before. But more than that were the other glimpses he finally had into her. Some of them he would never have guessed. Her soul was beautiful. Her heart unbelievably kind. He was used to dealing with those who, like him, were jaded. Those who expected only the worst from other people and the world.

But not her. She saw even the evil around her with a childlike hope.

Gods, how he wanted to touch that purity. To feel the magical way she saw the best in people, even when they didn’t deserve it. Most of all, he wanted to see himself the way she did. To be the person she thought he was, instead of the animal he knew himself to be.

Just for one minute.

This had to be the greatest gift anyone had ever given him and she hadn’t even realized she’d done it. It was just who and what she was. That was what made it perfect.

And he wanted to return the favor to her as they ended the Godsmack cover they were playing. He went over to the lead singer of the band, Angel Santiago, who had long brown hair and a cocky grin, and whispered to him.

Angel shook his head, laughing. “For you, man, anything.” Angel went to the others while Ash adjusted the mike in front of him to accommodate his height.

An instant later, Ash cringed as a spotlight was turned straight on him. He’d never craved this kind of attention and every part of him wanted to run for cover.

But Tory had a stupid fantasy and the part of him that she’d unknowingly touched wanted to give it to her.

His throat dry from embarrassment and fear, he met her gaze. “This is for Soteria.” He went into the opening strains of Nickelback’s “Savin’ Me.” The moment he did, he wanted to die as he realized how badly he’d just screwed up—in public. The club was filled with people and animals in human form who knew who and what he was. Beings who would be dying to know who Soteria was and why he’d dedicate a song to her when he
never
did such a thing.

More than that, he’d most likely angered Tory by linking her name to his. Damn it. He knew better. No one wanted to be seen with him. Ever.

When was he going to learn that one basic fact? Decent people only wanted to interact with him in private. He was an embarrassment. A freak.

But it was too late now. All he could do was see this through and hope she didn’t publicly bitch-slap him for the affront when it was over.

I’m such an idiot.

Tory couldn’t breathe as she heard Ash sing. He had the most amazing voice. Low and deep, it sent shivers over her.

Good gods of Olympus …

She’d never heard this song before but the lyrics were beautiful …

Heaven’s gates won’t open up for me.

With these broken wings I’m fallin’,

And all I see is you.