Acheron

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.'

CHAPTER TWELVE

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.