Acheron

BPD.'

'BPD?'

'Bitch Personality Disorder.'

Ash laughed bitterly. 'Are you sure they didn't misspell your name on your birth certificate? I'll bet if you check, your real name is Jaded.'

Instead of answering, Jaden grimaced as he rubbed at his neck as if it were burning. 'You know what? I'll trade you my demons for your Dark-Hunters any day. You haven't seen crybabies until you deal with a freakin' demon who is pissed he sold his soul or something else and things didn't turn out just the way he or she envisioned it.' He curled his lips. 'Demons without backbones should be shot. I'll catch you on-line Saturday.' Jaden vanished.

Ash shook his head. He didn't envy the man his role as go between. As bad as the gods were, he'd hate to have to deal with the primary source and while immortals were annoying, they didn't carry the kind of power a demon did and as a rule, they weren't quite so… impulsive.

Not that any of this mattered to him at present. The only thing really on his mind was Tory and the bastards out to kill her.

They were still out there. Damn it, he'd gotten so tangled in other matters that he forgot about the fact that the Atlantikoinonia was still gunning for her. He had to get back to the hospital and protect her.

He started to flash out, then remembered he needed to speak with Simi first. She lay on the floor alone, cell phone in hand, ready to shop. 'Sim?'

She didn't look at him. 'Not now, akri. Kirk's Folly is about to come on.'

He turned the TV off with his powers, making her shriek in protest. 'Don't bother Jaden again.'

She looked up at him and pouted. 'But Xirena say he can get the Simi anything she wants. All the Simi has to do is tell him what she will exchange for it so it won't cost akri money so I offered him my boots, but he say no, Simi. I don't like no, Simi.'

Ash rubbed his head. 'Don't listen to Xirena, Sim. Listen to your akri. Just put it on my card like always and don't barter with Jaden for anything. Ever.'

She gave him a childlike smile. 'Fine. Can we have TV now?'

He turned it back on.

She went back to ignoring him.

Hoping she could stay out of trouble for the next few days, he returned to the hospital. Pam was now in the waiting room where he'd been earlier.

'Any word?' he asked.

'Not yet. Kim went to check.' She skimmed his body which was now covered with his long duster, a gray hoodie and black shirt and jeans. 'You don't look as near to death as Kim said you did.'

He shrugged as he pushed his sleeves up on his arms. 'A shower does wonders for a body.'

'So they tell me.'

Ash sat down beside her, his heart heavy as they waited and waited with no word. Kim joined them and after what seemed like forever a doctor came out to talk to them.

'How is she?' Kim asked before he had a chance.

'Amazingly resilient and very lucky she got here as fast as she did. Her spleen was damaged, but we've got it put back together. Barring a bizarre infection, she'll be good as new.'

Ash let out a deep breath in relief.

'Can we see her?' Pam asked.

'She's still in recovery, but we'll have her out within the hour. You'll be able to see her then.'

Kim shook the man's hand. 'Thanks, Phil.'

'No problem.'

As the doctor walked away, Ash turned to Kim. 'Since she's going to be here for a couple of days, I have something you need to know.'

Kim's face blanched. 'Oh God, you're a serial killer aren't you?'

Her logic baffled him. 'What?'

'See this is what happens,' Kim said to Pam before she looked back at Ash. 'You're too perfect which means you're probably Dexter right? Hiding bodies someplace weird. You probably have your mom's body stashed away in your closet.'

Ash shook his head. 'No, at least not this week.' He paused as he hoped he was doing the right thing by telling them what'd really happened this afternoon. 'We didn't just wreck. We were run off the road.'

Pam narrowed her eyes. 'What do you mean?'

'Someone was trying to kill us. Last night, her friend Dimitri was murdered in Greece and his house searched. One of her team must have found something significant and someone wants it bad enough to kill for it. I don't think Tory should be left alone until we know more about it. The guys who came after us today, could very easily show up here.'

Pam paled. 'Can we get security on her?'

Kim shook her head. 'The police won't do anything without concrete proof.'

'I can guard her,' Ash told them, 'but I wanted you guys to know why if I'm not here, another guard needs to be. She can't be left alone.'

Pam nodded in agreement. 'Don't worry, I'm a major conspiracist anyway.'

'And on that note,' Kim said, stepping back, 'I'm going to cruise by the recovery room and check in on her just to make us all happy.'

'Thanks.'

Kim patted him on the arm. 'No problem. I'll be in touch.'

But even so, Ash didn't breathe comfortably again until Tory was in a private room with him by her side.

She was hooked to several monitors and an IV. Her face was so pale that it scared him and he hated that sensation. It was also strange to see her without her glasses on.

Brushing her hair back from her forehead, he smiled at how beautiful she was. Not in a classic way-she honestly had nothing on Artemis in terms of looks, but there was something about her that even while she was unconscious shined through. Her spirit and her impishness. He could already hear her insulting him.

I thought you knew how to ride a bike. Gah, I can't believe you wimped out and lost control like that.

He could almost laugh at her imagined barbed comments as she took him to task for letting her get hurt.

His gaze dropped to her hand. Picking it up, he studied the daintiness of it. Her fingers were long, thin and graceful. The kind of hands that were made to stroke and to soothe. Fingers made to suckle and nibble. Before he could think better of it, he held her hand to his cheek and savored the soft feel of her skin. All his life, he'd craved a loving touch. One that wasn't selfish or hurting.

The only one to touch him like that had been Ryssa, but even she'd been stingy with them. Part of it had been his own fault. So many years of being slapped, pinched and hurt had preconditioned him to tense whenever someone came at his face. Even now he didn't really like anyone to touch him and yet he craved it.

I'm psychotic.

No, not really. He wanted what he didn't know and he didn't know how to get what wanted. It was that simple and that difficult.

But as he held her hand against his cheek, he imagined her awake, touching him. His cock hardened with need and his heart broke over the reality that he could never be with someone like her.

He was forever tied to Artemis. Forever tied to a destiny he'd wanted no part in. Trapped between his mother and a goddess who claimed ownership of him. What he wanted was one single day of freedom to be a normal man who could make decisions that would only affect his own life. A day to laugh and to relax.

And people in hell want ice water.

Wishes weren't magical and his life was what it was. All the wishing in the world wouldn't change that. Sighing, he led her hand back to the bed and placed it beside her.

What he was about to do was wrong and he knew it. He tried to rationalize it by saying that she was going to heal anyway… barring infection and what were the odds she'd get an infection? She was young and healthy. He was just speeding the process up so that she wouldn't be tied to the hospital in case the men hunting her came