Kim's eyes widened at Ash's harsh words. "A little bloodthirsty isn't it?"
Not to him and not when they so richly deserved it. He flashed her a taunting grin. "Given what they did to Tory, I'm thinking a quick death is merciful. Not to mention they ruined one of my favorite jackets and totaled my bike."
Pam snorted. "Well let's just torture then bomb the bastards. How dare they!"
Ash ignored the sarcasm as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now you're thinking like me. A little eye-gouging, some slit nostrils . . . I could seriously get into that."
Kim shuddered as she spoke to Tory. "I think your new friend is a little bloodthirsty."
Ash stifled a smile at her words. If she only knew that was his primary nourishment. And yes, he could definitely use some blood since it'd been over a week since he last ate.
Kim's phone rang. "Work calls. I'll be back soon."
Ash stepped back toward the bed to check in with Tory. "How are you feeling?"
She smiled up at him. "Amazingly whole. How about you? I thought the car ran you over."
"I rolled out of the way."
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "It didn't look like that from my perspective. I could have sworn it plowed right over both of your legs."
He looked down at them before he shrugged. "Obviously not."
Tory's expression turned sweet and adoring, and it hit him like a blow to his stomach. She placed her hand gently on his arm in the most loving touch he'd probably ever experienced. "Thank you for getting me here. Kim said they told her you were bleeding like crazy when you carried me in through the ER doors."
He felt his face flush at her gratitude. "Don't worry about it. Next time I'm hurt, you can carry me."
She laughed at his humor. "I think it would take at least a team of people to carry you."
"Back to the insults, huh?"
She shook her head at him. "That's not an insult. You are a big man."
Ash opened his mouth to speak, but before he had a chance, the doctor came in to examine her. He moved away while the doctor chatted with Tory.
"You are one very lucky woman. But for your friend getting you here as quickly as he did, you wouldn't have made it. Your spleen was severely damaged in your wreck."
Tory was still amazed by what Ash had done for her. Kim had told her that he'd been in bad shape himself and that he'd been over-wrought when she'd died in his arms. Tenderness for him overwhelmed her.
When the bike had gone down, she remembered him reaching to protect her. He'd tried to keep her near him, but the force of the crash had separated them.
She grimaced as the doctor touched a tender spot on her abdomen.
He pulled back with an incredulous look. "You're healing unbelievably fast."
"Good genes and lots of vitamins."
He laughed at her. "You keep this up and we'll have you out of here in about three days."
Ash cleared his throat. "Is there any chance she can leave sooner?"
Tory caught Ash's meaning. "Yeah, I can't really afford to be out of commission too long."
"Honey," the doctor said in a strained tone, "you died. You might want to think about that for a minute and let it digest. You're really lucky you're still with us so let me watch over you for a few days before we turn you loose, okay?"
It was hard to argue when he put it like that. "All right. Thanks, doctor."
He inclined his head before he left them alone.
Tory looked over at Ash who was standing back with that stoicism he wore like a force field to keep the rest of the world away. She knew how hard she'd hit the ground and it wouldn't have been a bit softer for him. Yet he'd dragged himself to his feet and then carried her. His strength mystified her. "How did you get me here?"
"I have my evil Jedi ways," he said in a flat, even tone. "The Force is strong with this one."
She laughed again. He could be so charming when he wanted to. And so sweet. "Well if the doc won't release me, what do we do?"
He shrugged while keeping his arms crossed. "We keep an eye out for our new friends and make sure they don't decide to finish the job they started."
She nodded. "They think I have the journal, don't they?"
"Would be my guess. Either that or they're just really bored and thought knocking us around would alleviate it."
"Speaking of boredom . . . what am I going to do while I'm locked in here?"
"Wanna read some manga?"
She grimaced at him. "Are you serious?"
He nodded. "It's like crack. Once you start, you have to keep reading. I have some Priest, Hellsing and Trinity Blood issues handy. Interested?"
"Actually, I'd like to read the journal we found. Someone who's really tall and male hasn't finished teaching me Atlantean."
"It's not in Atlantean. It's Greek."
"So say you."
Groaning, Ash shrugged his backpack off his shoulder and manifested the journal inside it. One of the reasons he always kept a backpack with him was so that he could teleport things that he needed without arousing mortal suspicions. Since no one knew what was in his pack, they didn't know when he used his powers to get something he needed or wanted.
It also held the things that meant the most to him and kept them from harm. Ryssa's three journals that he'd found after Didymos had been destroyed, her hair comb and Simi's teething toy that Savitar had given him for her when she'd been a toddler. Her baby fang marks were forever etched into the wood. The backpack also held his mother's medallion wrapped in one of the black scarves that Simi had brought back from one of her many visits to Kalosis.
And Nick's soul that he'd traded to Artemis, that Artemis had then given to Acheron.
He pulled out Ryssa's journal and handed it to Tory. "Can you read it without your glasses?"
She sighed irritably. "Not a single word. I hate being blind. Any chance I can talk you into going to my house and getting my spare pair?"
"I can't leave you unattended. You know that."
"Then will you read it to me?"
Ash looked down at the leather as a sharp pain pierced his chest. It was hard to read Ryssa's words because with each one, he saw her clearly in his mind and heard her sweet, calm voice speaking to him.
And it cut him deep in his heart.
Tory touched his arm again. "Please, Achimou?"
A muscle worked in his jaw as her tender voice worked magic on his resolve. "You are the only being who's ever called me that."
"Well I'd call you babycakes, but I think that might offend you even more."
He smiled. "All right, stop the torture. I'll read."
Tory watched the blurry shadow that was Ash as he took a seat near her bed and opened the book. When he started reading, she closed her eyes and listened to the deep resonant tone of his voice. From the ease with which he translated as he read, one would have thought it was written in English. He didn't even hesitate with the words.
"Today I spoke to my father about visiting Atlantis."
Tory straightened up in the bed. "Atlantis?"
Ash cringed as he realized what he'd said. He'd actually forgotten he was reading to an outsider. Tory had become such a part of him that he actually wanted to confide in her. "Yeah, that's what it says."
"See! I told you it was real!"
He had to calm her down. "It doesn't mean anything. For all you know this is an ancient Bridget Jones's Diary."
She scoffed. "They didn't have novels back then."
"History says they didn't have books, yet what's this thing in my hand? It's square, bound paper that's been written on. Looks like a book to me."
"Thank you, Captain Sarcasm. How nice of you to join us again. Can we get back to the story?"
"Just don't throw another hammer at me," he mumbled under his breath before he returned to the book. "Today I spoke to my father about visiting Atlantis and as usual it made him angry. Our negotiations with them aren't going well. Uncle sent word that war could break out again at any moment. But I don't understand why it's too dangerous for me to visit there while my brother and uncle live there. Surely it's not safe for . . ." Ash paused as he saw his name mentioned, "my brother. I can't stand not seeing him. The letters he sends aren't enough for me. I want-" Ash choked on the words on the page as pain hit him hard in his chest.-my brother home with me. Someone needs to make sure Acheron is kept safe from harm and though Uncle swears he's fine, I wish I could make sure of it for myself.
"She wants what?" Tory prompted.
"My eyes are hurting," he lied. "I think it's the lighting. Can we pick this up later?"
Tory frowned at the odd note in his voice. It sounded like he was choking on tears, but that didn't make sense. "If you wish."
"Cool. I'll just return it to my backpack." He got up and rustled around in it.
"Ash?" she asked after a couple of seconds.
"What?"
"Did anyone call my family?"
"I don't know. You want me to ask?"
"Please. I don't want my family invading when I feel fine. Especially not while we have insane people chasing us. I would die if one of them got caught in the crossfire."
"Okay. I'll go get Kim and find out. If you need anyone . . ." He put the hospital buzzer in her hand. "I know you can't see well so if you get scared at all, buzz the nurse and I'll be right back."
His concern touched her. "Got it."
Tory sat in the silence, processing everything that'd happened today. The things she'd learned and those she still only suspected about Ash. Not to mention the fact that she now knew she had people out to end her life any way they could over something she didn't even possess.
What was she going to do?
Ash returned a few minutes later. "Kim spoke to your grandfather and Aunt Del. She said they want you to call them as soon as you can." Ash stepped close enough that she could see him.
"Thank you, Ash."
"You're welcome. Kim also said she'd have Pam bring your spare glasses over to you just as soon as she can."
She put her hand over the one Ash had resting on her railing and gave a light squeeze. "Thank you for remembering to ask about them, too." She picked his hand up and placed hers against it. She'd always thought of her hands as mannish since they were so much bigger than most women's, but compared to his hand, hers were dainty. His fingers were long and graceful with calluses that also marred his palms. They were manly hands and she couldn't help wondering what they'd feel like skimming her body . . .
"Your hands are so huge."
"Yours are soft and little." She didn't miss the catch in his voice before he moved his hand away. "Mine are also really rough." He said it as if it embarrassed him.
"I like your hands. I think they're beautiful."
"I don't know about that, but they do what they're supposed to most times I guess."
She shook her head. "You hate compliments, don't you?"
Ash's gut tightened at the unwanted memories her question provoked. As a human, compliments had been followed by either unwanted gropings or all-out beatings from the people who didn't want to be attracted to him. As a god they'd become extinct which, given his former experiences, was fine by him.
"You want me to get you something to eat?"
Tory nodded. "I'm always hungry."
"I'll be back."
She didn't move as she watched him leave again. He was so strange and so seductive. Protective, arrogant and at same time unsure of himself. Which really made no sense to her. How could he ever be uncertain?
She lay there for several minutes as she pondered the dichotomy.
"Hey girl."
She smiled at the blur that was Pam. "Hey hon."
Pam came forward and put Tory's glasses on her face. Tory breathed a sigh of relief as the world came into focus again. "Bless you."
"Anytime. How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good considering I just got hit by a car and died."
Pam growled at her. "You're not funny. And where's your delectable bodyguard?"
"He went to find food for me."
"Ooo, good looking and he quests for food when you're hungry. He's a keeper. So when are you going to sleep with him?"
Ash paused outside the door as he heard Pam's question to Tory.
Tory made a very undignified snort. "Sleep with him . . . pah-lease. Like I don't have better things to do with my day. I swear the way you have sex on the brain, you should have been born a guy."
"Oh yeah right, Tor, look at the man. They don't make a finer model than that one. Trust me. Unlike you, I look a lot. He's without a doubt the finest thing on two legs, or three if you play your cards right."
Tory let out a sound of utter shock. "Stop talking about him like that. He'd die of embarrassment if he heard you."
Pam tsked at her. "I'm telling you right now, Tory, if you let that one get away without sleeping with him, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
"And given my history with men, if I tried to sleep with him I'd kill him. The last guy I tried to sleep with ended up in a body cast."
Pam laughed. "Look at me and tell me honestly you haven't thought about it."
"I'm not that blind, but I don't think of Ash that way. I'm much more interested in him for his brains than his body. Now move on to the next topic before I push the button and tell the nurses I'm being harassed by an insane stalker friend."
"You would, too."
Deciding it was now safe to make an appearance, Ash walked in. Pam's face turned instantly red as she moved to the other side of the bed.
He set his bag down on Tory's tray table and moved it closer to her. "I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I got some of everything."
Tory smiled. "There's not much I don't eat. Curse of my Aunt Del always telling me about the poor children who have to eat dirt just to keep from going hungry."
Ash adjusted the tray for her, then opened her soda.
"Um guys," Pam said as Tory unwrapped a hamburger. "I don't think you're supposed to eat that right after surgery. Don't they put patients on clear liquid diets or something?" She looked uneasily out the door. "Where's Kim when I need her?"
Tory waved her words away. "I feel fine."
Ash pulled the fries out for her and set them down. "I wouldn't have gotten anything for her that would cause her more pain."
Tory held the burger up toward him. "You want a bite?"
"No, thanks."
Looking at Pam, she gestured at him with the burger. "I swear he's living proof that air has calories. Otherwise he'd shrivel up to nothing."
"Oh like you have room to talk. If there was any justice in this world, you'd be bigger than my house. You eat like a man and you're skinny as a rail." Pam smirked at Ash. "My mother used to call her Jack Sprat when we were kids. Thank God her aunt owned a deli, though I swear Tory ate up all the profits whenever she worked there."
Ash laughed.
"Only 'cause Del makes the best koulourakias, kourabiethes and melomacarinas ever."
Pam smirked at Ash. "Did you understand a single word of what she just said?"
"Of course he does, he's Greek. Even if he doesn't eat, he knows the cookies. I'll bet his mother stuffed him full as a kid."
Ash snorted at the image of his mother cooking anything, other than world destruction. "Not really. My mom wasn't the Betty Crocker kind." Not unless it involved napalm or plagues.
A sharp gasp at the door made them all look to see Kim in the doorway. "What are you doing eating that!"
Tory and Pam pointed at him. "He brought it."
Making a sound of distress, Kim rushed to the bed to take the burger from Tory's hands.
Tory pulled it away. "Not on your life, Kim, and I mean that literally."
"You can't eat that right after surgery. It'll make you sick."
"Better the cow than your hand which I'm going to take a chunk of if you reach for it again. I'm hungry. You of all people know better than to come between me and food."
Kim whirled on Ash with a malevolent glare. "How could you bring this to her?"
"She said she was hungry."
Kim popped him hard on his butt. "Don't do it again! You clear her diet through her doctor or a nurse. You don't just bring food to someone in a hospital. Are you out of your mind?"
Ash was too stunned to even react as Kim went back to the sack on the tray and rifled through it.
"You two are awful, just awful." Kim started to roll the top down.
Tory glared at her like a feral lion. "You take that bag, Kim, and I'll make you regret it."
"Tory, be reasonable."
"My stomach wants food."
Kim held her hand up. "And when you're being attacked by vicious gastric pain later, remember I tried to stop you." She turned back to Ash who made sure his ass was covered. Literally. "If you two weren't being chased by homicidal loons, I'd order you out of here."
Ash backed up another step. "You're not going to hit me again, are you?"
"I ought to. If you were a couple of feet shorter, I'd take you over my knee." Kim made one last sound of disgust before she left them alone again.
Pam shook her head as she met Ash's gaze. "Want me to kiss your boo-boo and make it better?"
"Pam!" Tory snapped.
"Oh like you didn't have that thought, too. Relax both of you, I'm only kidding. Let me go calm down Nursezilla before she gets you two in trouble with your doctor."
Tory sighed as Pam left. "I am so sorry about my friends, Ash. I really did attempt to give them some home training growing up, but obviously it didn't take."
Ash laughed at her words. Truthfully, he found the ease they had in his company refreshing. Most people were either intimidated or frightened by him. Only kids seemed indifferent and treated him like anyone else on the street. "It's okay. I like them."
She took one last bite of her burger before she wrapped it up. "I better stop before I hurt myself. But it is good. Thank you so much for getting this for me."
"There's a ham sandwich, pickles, chips and yogurt also in the bag."
"What a sweetie you are. You really did get some of everything. You sure you don't want a bite?"
"I'm fine."
She handed him the bag. "All right then. How about I swap you the food for the journal?"
Ash hesitated. Since his name was all over it . . . I could tell her it's another name. True. She didn't know what the letters were. If he could convince her it was something like Archon and not Acheron, that would work.
Shrugging his backpack off, he unzipped the top and pulled the journal out. "Here."
She opened it where they'd left off. "Now where were we?"
"Ryssa was talking about her brother in Atlantis."
She drew her brow together in confusion. "Ryssa? How do you know her name was Ryssa?"
Ash tensed as he realized that his sister hadn't written her name anywhere in it. "Uh . . . I don't. I just gave her a name. It seemed more polite than calling her 'hey you, ancient chick.' "
She wrinkled her nose up at him. "FYI, I hate the word chick."
"Then I shall delete it from my vocabulary."
Smiling she put her hand on his arm and leaned against him. "You're so accommodating. Was this the spot?"
It took him a full second to catch his breath at the casual way she touched him. At the way her lips looked so inviting and sweet.
"Yeah," he said, forcing himself to look at the page.
She pointed to a line a few down from where he'd been reading. "I miss him?"
"Yes."
Her finger went to the next sentence. "He was sent away?"
"You're an incredibly fast learner."
"That's what my father used to say. His nickname for me was Athena."
Ash was surprised by that. She was nothing like the Greek goddess. "Athena?"
"You know, she sprang fully formed out of the head of Zeus. My dad used to say that I did the same thing and, like Athena, I gave my father a splitting headache." She smiled widely. "Show me a little of anything and bam, instant expertise. But this language is hard to learn. Beautiful, but difficult. Could you read in it for a moment so I can hear the way it lilts?"
Ash nodded before he obliged the request.
Tory listened to the inflections in his voice, mesmerized not only by how sexy it was, but by his intelligence. Before she could stop herself, she placed her hand to his jaw to feel the way his muscles worked while he spoke.
Ash paused at the tenderness of her touch and met her gaze.
"Don't stop speaking it," she whispered. "I love to hear your accent."
Little did she know he'd do anything she wanted so long as she touched him like this. He swallowed before he spoke again. "I wish Soteria. I wish I could make love to you like a human man. With no pasts to get in our way and no regrets. I would sell my soul for it."
Tory frowned at the words that seemed to come from his heart. "What did you say?"
"That you are an inquisitive imp."
She snorted. "No you didn't."
"Maybe, but you don't know for sure, now do you?"
She growled at him even though she enjoyed the fact that when he spoke in English, his accent was thick and lilting. "You know when you use that accent of yours, you could get away with murder." She pulled his sunglasses off, then folded them and put them in his pocket. "I like looking at your eyes."
"You're a very strange woman."
Perhaps, but there was something about him that made her feel warm and safe. She brushed the pad of her thumb over his lips. "Why do you hide from the world?"
"I don't hide from anything."
"Yes you do. The clothes you wear . . . they're your armor that you use to keep everyone away. You like to look dangerous and rebellious . . . it's like there's a part of you that thinks, if you give people a cause not to like you, then, when they don't it's okay because you were the one who decided they weren't allowed to like you anyway."
He started to pull away, but she stopped him.
"I would be a friend to you, Ash. A good one, if you'd let me."
Ash looked away as he remembered Artemis offering her friendship to him. "No offense, Tory, people say that with all good intentions. Unfortunately when the test comes, we inevitably fail it."
"Have you ever failed it?"
"Yes, I have." His sister had trusted him to protect her and he'd let Artemis get in the way of that. Nick had been the closest thing to a real friend and he'd cursed him to die.
As a friend, he sucked and he wouldn't wish his friendship on anyone.
"Well I haven't failed," Tory said firmly. "Not once. But the only way for you to know that is to trust me. And since I know you can't give me your trust, I'll forget we had this discussion." She looked back at the book. "What's this word?"
Ash hesitated as he saw his name in Ryssa's handwriting. He started to lie to her, but it caught in his throat. He wanted to trust her. He didn't understand it. But he couldn't help himself. With a deep breath, he did what he hadn't done in centuries. He trusted. "It's Acheron."
Tory looked at him intently. "It's your name?"
"Yes," he said, making sure he kept all emotion out of his voice. "She had two brothers. Acheron and Styxx."
"Named for the rivers of woe and hate? How morbid of their parents."
"More apropos perhaps."
"That would be worse, I think." She turned the page. "It's so weird reading this. She seems like anyone you'd meet today walking down the street. Her main concerns are pleasing her father and she misses her brother. She has the same fears as modern women-being taken seriously. Being listened to." She let out a wistful sigh. "Can you imagine the world she lived in? I wonder what kind of clothes she wore. What kind of bed she slept in . . ."
"I imagine she was a lot like you. Gentle and unassuming. Determined and protective of those she loved. And she probably annoyed both of her brothers from time to time."
His words touched her. "Is that what you see when you look at me?"
"No. I see a homicidal maniac who hates my guts."
She laughed. "Seriously?"
His teasing look sobered. "Yes, Soteria. That is what I see when I look at you."
She laced her fingers with his.
Ash stared at their hands entwined. It was the most incredible sight he'd ever witnessed.
Pam rejoined them. He expected Tory to let go of him and stiffen uncomfortably as everyone else did. She didn't. She kept her hand in his.
"Did you save our skin for the burger?" she asked Pam.
"You're off the hook for the moment. What can I say? Super Pam to the rescue."
Ash put his sunglasses back on as Pam moved to the other side of the bed. She saw their hands and smiled. "I'm glad you two made up."
"Hey, the man saved my life. That ought to be worth a bump or two on my ego."
Pam arched both brows. "Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?"
Tory looked up at Ash. "Dying tends to put a few things into perspective."
She had no idea.
"Have you ever had a near-death experience, Ash?" Pam asked.
"You could say that."
Pam snorted. "What? You get caught sneaking out of the house by your dad, too?"
If the woman only knew. "That one definitely left a lasting impression on me."
"Yeah. I ended up grounded for a month."
Tory was watching Ash. There was a note in his voice that told her there was a lot more to his story than he was letting on. But if he wouldn't tell her anything in private there was no chance he'd say anything in front of Pam.
His phone started ringing. Releasing her hand, he stepped back to check the ID. "I have to take this. Excuse me."
Tory watched as he walked into the hallway.
Pam let out a low, appreciative whistle. "Jiminy Cricket, that man has the finest ass I've ever seen. No wonder he wears long coats. We should swathe him head to foot just to save human sanity."
Tory playfully slapped at her friend's arm. "Would you stop."
Pam gestured toward the door. "You have your glasses on. Do you not see how fine an ass that is? And he's Goth too." She made a purring sound deep in her throat.
"We've got to get you hooked up with someone soon. The extra hormones are eating away your brain."
"I know. It's so sad, isn't it?"
Tory laughed as she returned to staring after Acheron and wondered what was going on with his call.
"Are you sure about this, Urian?"
"Absolutely-it pays to have friends on the dark side. Stryker is sending out scouts even as I speak to find the journal. He wants to take down Artemis and Apollo and absorb their powers. He's also hoping there's something in the journal to hurt you, which now has your mom going ape shit and sending out her demons to look for it too." Urian laughed evilly. "Welcome to Armageddon, buddy. Looks like they're starting without you."
