Ash had just stepped back into Tory's room when his phone rang again. Looking at the ID, he sighed. "Excuse me. I'm having to answer another round of 'Help me, Mr. Wizard' calls."
Tory shook her head at the poor man whose phone seemed to be a constant source of irritation for him.
Pam sat down in the chair where Ash had been eariler. "How many friends does he have?"
"I think they're work-related calls."
"Ah, so what does he do?"
"He's a wrangler."
"Uh-huh . . ." Pam's voice was filled with doubt.
"I know. He hasn't told me exactly what he does either, but apparently they're always calling him for it."
Pam's eyes sparked with interest. "Maybe he's an international assassin. Oooo wouldn't that be cool?"
"We have got to get you away from movies."
Ash paused mid-sentence as a unique fissure of power went down his spine. The sensation was unmistakable . . . there were demons in the hospital. And he would pretty much stake his life on who they were after.
Hanging up, he backed into Tory's room. "We have to go."
"Uh, hello?" Tory said sarcastically. "Hooked to an IV here. Not going anyplace in the near future."
He moved to the bed and pulled it out of her arm before she could even blink.
Tory was aghast at his actions and was stunned when her arm stopped bleeding. "What's going on?"
"People who want us dead are closing in. And if we don't get moving, it's going to get ugly."
Her heart hammered at the thought of someone coming after them. "There's only one other problem-clothes. I don't have any."
Pam stepped forward. "Yes, you do. Ash guard the door and give us a minute."
"You have twenty seconds." He hit the door and closed it tight.
"Can you move?" Pam asked.
"Surprisingly yes."
"Okay, switch clothes with me and let's be quick."
Tory was out of her gown in an instant. She was a little sore from the wreck, but not nearly as much as she should be for someone who'd just been operated on. It didn't make a bit of sense.
But before she could think anything else about that, Ash was in the doorway again.
"We're out of time." He held his hand out to her.
"I don't have any shoes."
"We'll cope. Come on."
She took his hand.
Without another word, he hauled her into the hallway, toward the elevators. When the doors opened, he pulled her into a room and motioned for her to be quiet. His actions terrified her. Who was out there?
"Wait here," he mouthed to her before he opened the door and vanished into the hallway.
Tory wasn't sure what was happening. She only hoped Ash knew what he was doing.
A few seconds later he came back and motioned for her to move quickly. He practically shoved her into the open elevator. But as the doors closed, she looked back toward her room where two very tall men were headed. Dressed all in black, they appeared sinister.
"What about Pam?"
Ash pulled her back so that the doors could close. "She'll be fine. They know who they're after."
"Who are they?"
Ash cringed at the question he couldn't really answer. Demons out to torture her just seemed a bit farfetched, especially since he wasn't sure how Stryker had known to send them here. "I don't know their names. But I for one don't want to introduce myself to them right now."
"Are you sure they won't hurt Pam?"
He handed his phone to her. "When we get in the car, you can call her."
"What car?"
He didn't answer since he was focusing all of his power on masking their presence from the demons and on locating the rest of their crew. There were at least ten of them crawling through the hospital. He could shield his powers from them and mask Tory's looks.
At least from everything except an archdemon. Born of a demon's union with a god, they were a unique and highly unpredictable breed. And one of them was in the hospital leading the others.
Ash led her to the parking lot and over to his silver metallic Porsche 911 GT2. He opened the passenger door while he scanned the lot.
She paused in the opening. "Please tell me we're not stealing this."
"It's mine." He dangled the fat Porsche key in front of her.
Tory was still suspicious. Having done the Porsche driving school a few years ago just for fun, she'd learned the various models and their price tags. This was the creme de la creme of Porsche-and it drove like a badass dream. She'd wanted one so badly she could taste it, but the price tag was way out of her reach. "You own a quarter-million-dollar car?"
"Give or take a few ten thousand, yeah. Now get in."
Tory wasn't completely convinced. How on earth could he afford a car like this? But as she looked over at the driver's seat and realized that it was definitely designed for a very tall human, she couldn't deny the obvious. It had to be his. She got in as he slid into the driver's side.
Yeah, the car fit him like a glove and the fact that he knew the key went in on the left hand side said he'd been in the car enough not to hesitate with it.
"Acheron!"
As Ash shut his door, she looked up at the shout to see a large brown-haired man running toward them.
"Buckle up." Ash slammed the gearshift into reverse.
The man ran up onto the back of Ash's car.
"Oh you fucker," Ash snarled angrily. "Getting paw prints on my car . . . I swear, you scratch it, you die." He slammed on the brakes and sent the man flying onto a parked blue sedan.
Ash turned the steering wheel sharply and headed straight for the man who had rolled to the ground.
Tory cringed as she expected them to plow straight into him. Just as they reached him, he jumped out of the way with an astounding agility.
"You're crazy, aren't you?"
Ash didn't answer her as he took a corner so fast, she swore she felt a 2G pull. There on the street was a white BMW that fell in behind them.
"We're being followed."
Ash cursed at the sight of them in his mirror. More demons. But he was grateful they were at least attempting to blend in. Stryker must have had a talk with them about keeping anonymity in the human realm. Their inhibition to blast him leveled the playing field since he couldn't use his powers outright either.
Downshifting, he cut through traffic, heading toward the interstate. He needed to get them out of the populated areas before an innocent was hurt. Something easier said than done as two more cars appeared and then opened fire on them.
Ash threw a shield up to protect the car. He tried to use his powers to flip over the cars chasing them or at the very least stall the engines, but because they were demons inside and not humans, they countered his abilities with their own.
Damn them!
"My God," Tory gasped. "Do they suck at shooting or what?"
He didn't comment as he caught sight of four sleek black Honda Blackbirds closing in on them. Two of the bikes had double riders and the rider on the back was loaded for bear with KACs 6x35mm PDW that they pulled out from under their jackets.
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 over them 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 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 obliged to kill any Daimons he found which meant the Daimons would be running for cover right about now.
The Apollites preferred to not 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.
Pulling her off to the side, Ash talked to her in a low tone.
"No problem," the blonde 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 it. 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 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 he 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.
