Acheron

Tory paused as she entered the room where Ash was sleeping. His breathing was so strange. Not like a human, it reminded her more of a dog panting. Worried about him, she put her bowl and cloth down on the nightstand and sat down by his side.

She placed a hand on his feverish cheek. The moment she made contact, his entire body turned a vivid blue. Gasping, she watched as his skin marbled and swirled with varying shades of blue color. His nails turned black and two small horns emerged from the top of his head.

Shooting off the bed, she scowled as Artemis's bow and arrow mark appeared over the wounds on his back.

Ash growled even in sleep. And when he opened his eyes to look at her, it was all she could do not to run. No longer silver, they were glowing red and shot through with yellow streaks. He opened his mouth and hissed, showing her a set of serrated fangs.

"Baby?" she whispered, searching for some sign of the man she loved in the creature who terrified her.

He blinked as if seeing her for the first time and crouched on the bed.

Tory approached him slowly. Holding her hand out, she gently laid her palm against his blue cheek. He closed his eyes and nuzzled her hand while he took a sniff of her wrist. That seemed to calm him. He said something to her in a language she couldn't even begin to translate. "I don't understand," she said in Atlantean.

"Akee-kara, akra."

She brushed his black hair back from his face. "Do you need something, sweetie?"

Ash was trying to focus, but it was impossible. Everything was so hazy. He wasn't even sure if he was awake or dreaming. The pain in his back seemed to be gone now. And he was around fresh blood-he could smell it and hear the heart beating.

That sound made his mouth water.

Licking his lips, he inhaled the scent of feminine flesh that covered the veins he wanted to puncture . . .

Eat.

He wasn't supposed to. Even in this state, he remembered the rule that he'd taught himself. He wasn't allowed to taste humans. It was wrong. But right now while he was starving, he couldn't remember why.

All he could think of was sating his demanding ache.

He pulled the human closer so that he could inhale her neck. Licking the tender flesh there, he grazed her skin with his fangs, wanting to sink them in deep. He felt the chills sweep over her as she sighed in pleasure.

She spoke to him, but he couldn't understand her words. At least not until her lips touched his. The sweetness of her mouth touched the man inside him and it sent the beast back into submission.

Tory shivered as Ash returned to normal. His skin was once again tawny, his eyes that calm beautiful silver. Even so, there was a ferocity to him that reminded her of a barely leashed tiger.

And when he led her hand to touch him, she hesitated. "You're hurt, Ash. You should rest."

He shook his head as if trying to clear it. Her clothes vanished. And this time when he took possession of her mouth, she couldn't remember her argument. He laced his fingers with hers and pressed her hand against his hardened cock. She felt his shiver in her own body as he rubbed himself against her palm.

He left her hand there so that he could touch her. One moment, she was standing beside the bed and in the next, she was pinned beneath him. She sighed at the wonderful sensation of his naked body lying against hers.

Careful not to touch his back, she cupped his face as he deepened his kiss.

Ash still wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. All he knew was that the scent of Soteria filled his head and he had to be inside her. His heart hammering, he spread her legs and slid himself deep. The moment he did, he gasped at the pleasure he felt. But it didn't last long before the beast inside him was back, wanting to feed as her blood rushed through her veins. It was all he could hear. All he could focus on.

It overrode his pleasure and left him salivating.

Tory whimpered as Ash pulled back. At least until she saw his face. The torment there branded itself on her heart. "What's wrong, Ash?"

Ash wanted to stay with her. He wanted to be inside her again . . .

No, he wanted to feed. The urge to rip her throat out was fierce.

He was losing control. It slipped and broke free until he was no longer able to remember anything other than the misery of hunger. Every second with her brought him closer to the edge.

Unable to handle it without killing her, he left the human realm.

Tory blinked as she realized she was alone. "Ash?" she called, wondering where he'd gone off to.

Completely naked, Ash threw open the doors to Artemis's bathing chamber. No longer human in any way, he was the beast he despised. Nothing mattered to him but feeding. Destroying.

Killing.

Acheron was gone. Only Apostolos was here. And the Harbinger Apostolos wanted blood and there was only one person he wanted it from.

Artemis . . .

Artemis gasped at the intrusion on her bath until she realized it was Acheron. She smiled at his blue skin and black hair. "I told you you'd return to me."

He flew from the doors to the pool where she bathed. Landing in a crouch on the ledge near her, he reminded her more of a bird than a man.

He grabbed her and pulled her close.

She put her hand on his jaw and pushed him away from her neck before he could sink his fangs into her. "You haven't earned your food. I'm angry at you and you're not going to eat until you please me."

Incapable of language in his destroyer's form, he hissed at her and tightened his grip.

Artemis blasted him away. He tumbled back to land on his side. In one fluid move, he flipped to his feet and snarled.

He bared his teeth in anger before he launched himself at her.

She teleported out of his way, knowing that if he laid hands, or in the current case, claws, on her, she'd be killed.

He stalked her like prey. She should probably be afraid, but her anger overrode that. Normally neither one of them allowed him to go this long without eating. But he'd betrayed her and honestly she didn't care right now if he died.

Refusing to give in to him, she ran for her backroom.

He tried to cut off her retreat, but she shot through him and entered her safe room. Stupidly, he followed. The moment he was inside, she flashed herself to the door and slammed it shut, leaving him trapped inside.

He threw himself repeatedly against the clear door like an animal gone insane. But honestly, as hard as he struck it, she was amazed he didn't break through.

"You can't escape here, Acheron. You're powers are useless in that room and until I let you out, you're mine."

He slammed one clawed hand against the door and let out a howl so feral it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Oh, he would definitely kill her right now if he got free.

Narrowing her gaze, she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a smug glare. "As I said, I own you. Now sit in there and starve until I'm ready to feed you."

Ash could barely understand those words past the hunger gnawing at him. In this state, he was like the Shades of Dark-Hunters who'd died while Artemis held their souls in thrall. Forever hungry and thirsty. Unreasonable and unable to make himself understood. It was the most wretched of existences.

The door solidified and left him alone in a small, dark room. There was no furniture, no windows . . .

No light whatsoever.

For an instant, his sanity returned and he felt like a boy in prison again. He twisted around, looking for the rats that used to bite him. Listening for the telltale sound of their scurrying feet.

"Artemis!" he shouted. "Let me out!"

I'm afraid. Those words caught in his throat.

"Acheron? Are you there?"

He heard Ryssa's voice in his head.

And then his hunger returned, driving all semblance of humanity away from him. He slashed at the doors with his claws. The pain of his hunger was excruciating. Unable to stand it, he slammed himself against the door, again and again, determined to break through it.

Four days went by while Artemis pondered what she should do about Acheron. His incessant slamming against the wall and snarling howls were beginning to wear on her.

But he needed to be taught a lesson. He needed to be punished and until he learned to come to heel, she wasn't about to let him out.

Not to mention, at this point, she was honestly afraid of him. He'd never gone this long without feeding. And past experience told her that a small gobbet of blood would only whet his appetite for more.

She considered feeding one of her maidens to him, but that would be cruel.

And on the tail end of that thought came another one. "Not a Kori . . ."

No. Something that rhymed with it rather. She smiled at her ingeniousness. She'd sworn to Acheron that Soteria wouldn't be harmed by her or one of her minions.

But she hadn't promised to keep Acheron away from her.

He'd told her that Soteria soothed him. Fine, let the bitch soothe him now. Let her feed him.

Preening with satisfaction, Artemis flashed herself to New Orleans where the little slut was teaching a class. Aggravated at having to wait, she stood in the hallway until it was over.

Tory was heartsick as she dismissed her students. She hadn't seen or heard from Ash in days and the fact that he'd left her in sole possession of his prized backpack made her wonder if something bad hadn't happened to him.

Putting her books into her own backpack, she pulled it off the table and headed for the door. But before she reached it, a tall gorgeous redhead stepped inside. Dressed in an expensively tailored white suit and Prada shoes, she was stunning.

Tory wanted to rip every strand of hair out of her head.

"Why are you here, Artemis?" she asked coldly.

Artemis curled her lip as if she hated to be around Tory even more than Tory hated being around her.

Nah, it wasn't possible.

"Acheron needs you, human. He's hurt and he can't come."

Tory scowled. "Why would you come to get me?"

"He wants you. Believe me, there's no other reason I'd be here."

Still suspicious, Tory gripped the strap of her backpack. "Are you lying to me?"

Artemis made an ancient Greek gesture of loyalty and truth. "I swear to you, he's in ultimate suffering and he needs you. Are you really so selfish that you won't help him?"

She was selfish? Tory would have laughed if she hadn't been so worried about him. "Take me to him, then."

Artemis flashed her out of her classroom and into what appeared to be an ancient Greek temple. The room was surrounded by columns and above her head was an amazing hunt scene stamped into gold. It was exquisite.

"Where am I?"

"Olympus." Artemis led her into a bathing room that had an ancient styled bathing pond. She didn't stop until she reached a door on the other side of it. As she lifted her hand, the door lightened to transparency.

Tory gasped as she saw Ash lying naked on the floor. His black hair was matted, his breathing shallow. His skin was marbled blue again and two black horns jutted out from his head. His lean muscles were starkly outlined by the dual blue skin tone. His hands ended in long black claws and when he saw them looking at him, he bared a pair of sharp fangs in their direction.

Pushing himself up, he kept one arm around his stomach as if he were about to be ill. He took one step and collapsed on the floor again in obvious pain. He roared a bellow of frustration and agony.

"He's disgusting in his god form, isn't he?"

Tory raked the goddess with a repugnant stare. "He's never disgusting. What's wrong with him?"

"He needs to eat. This is what always happens to him if he ever goes too long between feedings."

"Why haven't you fed him then?"

A slow, evil smile curved Artemis's lips. "Sweetie, why do you think you're here?" She reached out and opened the door.

The next thing Tory knew, Artemis had shoved her inside the room and shut the door, locking her in with Ash. "Bon Appetit."

Tory turned to the door, trying to open it. But it was hopeless. There was no latch or key or anything on this side. All she could do was see Artemis's gloating face.

Oh if she ever had three minutes alone with her . . . It would be a death match worthy of pay-per-view.

With no other choice, Tory approached Ash slowly. Warily. Could he even tell if it was her? By the way he was acting, she didn't think so. "Baby?"

He looked up at her with blood red eyes that held no semblance of understanding. They were feral and cold. The eyes of a predator.

With a speed she couldn't even see with her naked eye, Ash was off the floor. He grabbed her by the throat, threw her down on the ground and sank his fangs deep into her neck.

Ash's head buzzed and his shoulder ached as he finally slaked some of the hunger that had been tearing at him for days. The blood was so good. So warm and satisfying. He licked and sucked, drinking it in until he was normal again.

But as he returned to himself, his anger mounted that she'd let him go so long without nourishment. Even though he hadn't been able to speak, he remembered her watching him through the door.

"You'll eat when you please me . . ." She knew what those words did to him and he was tired of her abuse.

"Artemis, you . . ." His words trailed off as he pulled away from her throat and realized it wasn't Artemis he was holding.

It was Tory and she was extremely pale from the blood loss.

Horror filled him. Her neck was savagely torn from his teeth, her brown eyes half-hooded as she struggled to breathe. No! His soul screamed out. How could he have hurt her?

How could he be so far gone that he hadn't even realized it was Tory he tasted?

Because Artemis had kept him without food for too long. And then she'd thrown a human in with him, knowing a human couldn't survive his feeding.

"Oh gods," he breathed, choking. "Stay with me, baby. I'll get you help."

She coughed as she reached up to touch his lips that were covered in her blood from his feeding. He saw the fear in her eyes and the pain that he'd caused her. The guilt was more than he could bear.

"Soteria?" he whispered her name like a prayer. "Akribos?"

She expelled one last breath before her eyes glazed over and her hand fell limply to the ground where it landed palm up.

Unimaginable grief tore through him as he realized he'd just killed her. Throwing his head back, Ash bellowed from the weight of guilt and pain that assaulted him.

He would never have hurt her. Never!

Then he saw Artemis at the door, safely tucked on the other side of it, watching. The satisfaction in her eyes made him want to gouge them out.

He carefully laid Tory down before he charged at the door, determined to get to the bitch who'd taken everything from him. Again. "Why!" he roared.

She narrowed her eyes in pitiless fury. "You know why." Then the door darkened and left him alone with the body of the only woman he'd ever really loved.

The woman he'd just killed. And in this room where his powers were negated, he couldn't heal her or bring her back. Tory was dead and he'd killed her. Throwing his head back, he roared with pain.

Tory was wandering through a thick, oppressive fog. She felt lost and disoriented. The last thing she remembered was seeing Ash. Seeing the look of horror and fear on his beautiful face while her neck throbbed in pain.

Now there was no pain. There was nothing. No light. No sound. No smell.

The deprivation was terrifying.

"Ash?" she called, trying to get her bearings.

"He's not here, little one."

She turned at the thickly accented, kind voice behind her to find Apollymi standing there in the darkness. "What are you doing here?"

Apollymi held her hand out to her. "I stole your soul the moment you died and brought it to Kalosis, but I can't keep it unless you allow me to. I wouldn't allow it if I were you. Souls are too precious to squander and yours in particular has great value to me."

"I don't understand." She put her hand into Apollymi's and the moment their skin touched, she had total clarity of everything that Apollymi knew about her and Acheron-more than that, she saw the memories of Ash and how he died. Of Artemis turning her back on him and leaving him while he reached out for her to help him.

How could she have done such a thing?

Tears welled up in her eyes and then when she saw her own death and the satisfied look on Artemis's face as Ash cried out, she wanted blood.

"Artemis killed me?"

Apollymi nodded. "She's still punishing my son and there's nothing I can do to stop it . . . but you, Soteria, you can."

"How?"

"I can send your soul back to your body for a brief moment of time. Once I do, the only way you can return to the living is to drink the blood of Apostolos before your soul flees your body again."

Tory had a hard time believing that. "What?"

Apollymi patted her hand. The dim light reflected in her crystal tears as those swirling eyes glowed warmly. "I am a goddess of destruction. His father was a god of creation. Inside Apostolos, our powers are joined and he is one of the rare gods who can both create and destroy life. It's his creative powers that Artemis uses to bring her Dark-Hunters back to life. Without feeding from him, she'd never have that ability. And like Artemis, if you feed from my son, you will share his powers with him. You will have the ability to cure yourself and to return to your life. More than that, you'll have the powers to protect yourself and I will send my priestesses to serve as your guardians to make sure that no one ever harms you again."

It all sounded too good to be true. She could return to Ash and the world with the powers of a god . . . Surely it couldn't be that simple. "What's the catch?"

"It's the same catch Artemis used on Apostolos. Once you feed from him, you will always have to feed from him."

Tory cringed as she remembered the pain of Ash biting her. "Blood?"

Reluctantly, she nodded. "Please, Soteria. Do what I can't. Save my son from that monster who willfully hurts him. Apostolos will never willingly take the blood of another and bind that person to him. Not after the violent way Artemis tricked him into bondage. But if you return and you feed him and he feeds you, he will be free from that bitch forever."

She looked away as she considered what would come. "I can stay with Ash?"

"Yes and I will give you enough of my powers to make sure that neither Artemis nor any other enemy of Apostolos will ever be able to harm you again."

The depths to which Apollymi would go for Ash touched her and it reminded her of her own mother-a mother she missed every day of her life. "But what about you? Won't that weaken you?"

"It will, but I don't care. I want my son free and I want him happy, no matter the cost to me. I'm tired of seeing the weariness in his eyes when we speak. Of seeing the pain that I can't soothe. Will you help him? Please?"

Tory tightened her grip on the goddess's hand, wanting her to know how sincere she was. "I would do anything for that man."

Apollymi smiled. "I thought your cousin Geary would be the one to free my baby. But the moment I first saw you when you were only ten, poking around the ruins of my temple under the Aegean, I knew you were the one. It was why I never allowed any other man to touch you."

She covered Tory's hand with her other and held it tight. "Soteria. The keeper of Atlantis who stood at her post even against my anger, and who went down fighting to protect what she loved most. You do your namesake proud."

Apollymi pulled the necklace from around her neck and then folded it into Tory's palm. "When are you are ready to fight for him, press that to your heart and you'll have the powers of a goddess. Forever."

Tory held the necklace in her hand and studied the red swirling mist inside a translucent stone. Grateful for the gift, she embraced Apollymi.

Apollymi was stunned by the hug-no one had touched her with so much affection since the night she'd conceived Apostolos. Closing her eyes, she held the girl close. "So long as you're kind to him, you will always be my daughter. If you ever need anything, call for me and I will answer."

"I won't let anything happen to him again. I promise."

Apollymi kissed her cheek before she pulled back. "Then go to him, Soteria. He needs you."

Nodding, Tory stepped back and pressed the stone to her heart. The moment she did, a searing pain ripped through her. "Ow! You didn't tell me it'd hurt."

Apollymi shrugged. "Birth is never painless and especially not a rebirth."

She wasn't kidding. Tory felt like something was shredding her from the inside out. Nauseated and dizzy, she blinked at the darkness that was so oppressive it was blinding.

The next thing she knew, she was in Ash's arms again. He sat on the floor, holding her to him, cheek to cheek, as he rocked her and whispered to her, "Please, Tory, please don't be dead. Please don't leave me alone. I don't want to live without you . . ."

Those heartfelt words choked her, but what stunned her the most was the wetness of his cheeks.

He was crying.

For her.

Lifting her hand, she brushed her fingers against the whiskers of his jaw. He pulled back with a startled gasp. "Soteria?"

She nodded, then she felt the hunger his mother had mentioned. It burned through her with an unbelievable ferocity that lengthened her incisors. Determined, she met his gaze. "Let me stay with you, Ash."

Ash couldn't breathe as he understood what she was asking. What she needed. And for the first time in eternity, he was willing to bleed in order to give her life. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

He brushed his hair aside and tilted his neck for her. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the pain of her bite. For the hated sensation of her breath on his neck while she fed.

Tory paused as she felt him go rigid. It took her a second to realize why. Ash couldn't stand to have anyone breathe on his neck and yet there he sat, offering himself to her without complaint or comment. In that moment she loved him all the more.

And with her newfound senses, she knew his neck wasn't the only place she could feed from . . .

Ash opened his eyes as she moved away from him. Frowning, he watched as she dipped down and bit into his inner thigh. He sucked his breath in sharply as a wave of desire blinded him and hardened his cock which was only a few inches from her mouth. But greater than that was the shock that she hadn't grabbed his hair and hurt him while she fed from his neck. She was being gentle and considerate, and when she looked up at him, her eyes matched his.

That deep swirling silver that he hated so much was beautiful on her. They were bound together now. His powers. His blood. They were hers too. But even so, he wanted her as she'd been. Kissing her lips, he turned her eyes back to the brown color that had stolen his heart the first time she'd looked around the room in nervous panic.

This was the woman he loved. The one he couldn't live without.

Tory felt a raw unimagined power deep inside her. She could hear everything now. See the most minute color changes in every object. "Is this how you see the world?"

"Yes."

It was all so vivid. Overwhelming. At the same time her body was hot and needy. She looked at him and he actually blushed before he clothed himself.

Clearing his throat, he indicated the door with a tilt of his head. "We can't do that here."

"Artemis," she growled the name.

He nodded. "We're still locked in her temple."

"Not for long." Rising to her feet, she went to the door.

Ash scowled as Tory closed her eyes and held her hands out by her sides. He felt the wind of his grandmother stirring around them. His jaw went slack as he realized what was happening-his mother had surrendered part of her powers to Tory. She didn't just have his inside her.

And the combination of his powers with his mother's . . .

Scary stuff that.

The thought had barely finished before the door splintered into a thousand fragments.

Artemis shrieked from the other side, then ran to her throne room.

Ash stood up and went to Tory. "Let's go home."

She shook her head. "You go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

He paused at the odd note in her voice. "Tory . . ."

She gave him an impish smile, cutting his words off. "I'm just going to talk with her. Don't worry."

Yeah, right. Don't worry? Was she insane? And for once, he wasn't sure which of them was in the most danger.

Ash hesitated, but ultimately he trusted Tory. "Remind her that I'll know if she hurts you and if she does, there's not enough power on Olympus to protect her."

She kissed the tip of her finger and pressed it to the tip of his nose. "Don't be such a worrywart. We're just having girl talk."

Ash somehow doubted that. Knowing Tory, it would be more like a cat fight. But he wouldn't interfere. It was time someone took the goddess down. "All right, baby. I'll be waiting at my apartment."

Tory didn't move until Ash was gone. The moment she sensed his powers safely back in the human realm, she headed in the direction Artemis had run off to.

Her new powers surging, she went to have a long overdue Come-to-Jesus talk with the goddess.