Ash summoned his Charonte protector, who currently resided on his biceps in the form of a dragon tattoo. Simi peeled herself off to take human form in front of him. Appearing around the age of nineteen, she was only slightly shorter than his six-foot-eight stance even though she could pick any height she wanted. Her long black hair with a red stripe in the front matched his and she was dressed in a short plaid skirt, tall biker boots, and a black leather corset.
She flashed a set of happy fangs at him. "Hola, akri. We going to the movie now with Akra-Tory and Marissa and N.J.? The Simi wanna see that tall green ogre man 'cause he reminds her of her uncle--"
"Not quite yet." He hated to interrupt her word flow, but Simi had a tendency to babble on forever at times. Which he loved, and it was usually humorous as hell, but right now they had to stay focused. "I need a favor, Sim."
Her eyes lit up as she rubbed her hands together in excitement. "I get to eat something you don't like? Can I eat the bitch-goddess finally? She be tasty with the right sauce! Take the bitter right out of her meat." She grinned widely.
Ash laughed before he kissed her on the forehead. "Not quite. I want you to go upstairs and guard Tory for me."
Simi gasped. "Akra-Tory okay? Our baby not hurt, is it?"
When he'd first told Simi Tory was pregnant, he'd been terrified Simi would be jealous since she was technically his baby and had been for eleven thousand years. Instead, she'd been as thrilled about it as they were and now she claimed part ownership.
"She's fine, Sim. I just don't want to leave her alone while I do something." And if anyone was dumb enough to come at his wife and powerful enough to break the shield he'd put around his house, he wanted Simi here to tear them to pieces.
Simi was the only person he trusted with his wife.
"Tell Tory I had an emergency and that I'll be back real quick."
Simi cocked her head suspiciously. "Where akri going the Simi can't go with him?"
"Out, Sim. Now please protect her and remember, anyone tries to hurt her, don your mitt, baby, and feast on their entrails."
She saluted him before she vanished.
Ash summoned his street clothes--a long black leather coat, black jeans, and a T-shirt--before he flashed himself from their small modest house in New Orleans to Artemis's temple on Mount Olympus. From the outside the temple was beautiful. Made of gold with forest and nature scenes emblazoned all over it. But it, like Artemis, was definitely a case of skin deep.
His gut twisted in anger as he was forced to go to the place where the bitch-goddess had once tortured him. He hated this temple with a passion that burned as deep as a thousand suns. Now that he was free of Artemis and had discovered what being with someone who really loved him was like, it was hard to go back even for a visit.
He forced eleven thousand years of bitter resentment down as he walked through the gilded doors then pulled up short.
The temple was completely devoid of people. Not even Artemis's handmaidens were in attendance. Oh, this ain't good. He felt sick as he recognized what that meant.
Nick, you poor sonofabitch. What are you doing?
That boy had always possessed a suicidal streak in him and it made Acheron sick to see how badly he and Artemis had screwed up Nick's happy-go-lucky life. Guilt gnawed at him, but there was nothing he could do about the past.
This was about the future.
"Artemis?" Ash called. His deep voice echoed through the marbled room.
She instantly appeared in front of him. Perfect in a way only a goddess could be, she was dressed in her customary white sheath dress that hugged her voluptuous body. Long red hair framed a face so perfect it was hard to even look at it. Yet his centuries of being under her thumb robbed him of the ability to appreciate anything other than her absence, and that he was truly grateful for when it came.
She chewed her long, red thumbnail as she shifted from foot to foot. Ash let out a long-suffering sigh. By the nervous way she was twitching, he knew it was going to be bad.
"What's going on?"
She bit her lip before she answered, and tried to look innocent. She failed miserably. "What do you mean?"
"Dammit, Artemis, don't play this shit with me. I'm done. Where's Nick?"
"Nick who?"
Growling, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. Yes, it was rougher than it should have been, but she'd brutally beaten him for centuries and then tried to kill his wife. She was lucky he was a forgiving god, otherwise...
"I know he's here. I traced his powers. You seem to forget I'm one of the handful of gods who can do that."
She swallowed before she gestured to her bedroom.
More nausea consumed him as he realized what that meant. "You tied him to you?"
She shrugged his hand off her arm. "What business is it of yours? You left me, remember?"
It amazed him that she made it sound like he was the one in the wrong given what she'd put him through. But she was right about one thing. It wasn't his business. Nick was a grown...what ever the hell he was.
Still, this was beyond the pale. She'd now aligned herself to one of the beings who wanted him dead.
Great. Just great. He saw this train wreck coming and unfortunately, his foot was caught in the rails.
"You are such a piece of work," he snarled. Stepping past her, he used his powers to sling open her bedroom doors. They made a resounding crash as they hit the walls.