Acheron

hers. He liked the fact that Tory saw him as a normal human.

Then again, she now knew him to be a god and her treatment hadn't changed. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe he could trust her.

'You can't live in darkness all the time, kid'-Savitar's words haunted him. 'Sooner or later, everyone puts their ass in a sling. But you know what, most of the time you're still laughing about it, grateful you had the fun that caused the injury.'

It was true. Yet the one thing Ash understood to the depth of his soul was that a physical pain healed a lot cleaner and sooner than a mental one.

'Please don't hurt me, Soteria,' he whispered in Atlantean. Feeling sick with dread, he decided to trust in his mother. He held his hand out and used his powers to bring his backpack into his grasp.

Tory let out a nervous laugh. 'You weren't joking about those evil Jedi tricks, were you?'

'Not really.' He reached to the bottom and pulled out the last journal. His stomach knotted to the point he feared he'd actually be sick, he handed to her. 'I grant you the ability to read this fluently. But know that I'm doing this against my better judgment and I'm trusting you with something about me that no one else has ever known. No one. This is the secret I'm willing to kill to protect. Do you understand?'

Tory swallowed at the ominous note in his voice. What could it contain that was so appalling to a god? 'I understand.'

He put the backpack down on the floor. 'I'm going to shower while you read.'

She didn't move until after he'd left the bed. Curious, she opened the book and gasped as she realized that she was able to read it as if it were English. She knew every letter, every definition. It was incredible and as she read, she saw the scenes as clearly in her mind as if she were watching a movie unfold.

At first it was just the intimate and innocuous details of a princess's life until it started talking about her brother…

The whore.

Ash let the water slide over his skin as he fought the pain and anger inside him. Tory would never look at him the same way again. Ever.

Why the hell had he listened to his mother? He should have destroyed every one of his sister's journals.

I'm such an asshole.

There was no denying the truth of him. He was forever tainted by a past he'd never wanted. In this moment he hated Estes more than he'd ever hated him before. That one foul bastard had deprived him of everything.

Even Tory's respect.

Turning the water off, he stepped outside the shower to find her standing in the doorway, staring at him. Shame and embarrassment filled him at her silence as he reached for a towel to dry himself. He braced himself for her insults and anger. 'I'm sorry I tainted you, Soteria. I had no right.'

A single tear slid down her face as she approached him.

Ash tensed in expectation of her slap or insults. He deserved no less and he expected nothing more. So when she pulled him into her arms and kissed him, he was stunned completely.

Tory pulled away from his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him close as the true horror of his human life tore through her. And to think she'd dared to accuse him of not understanding what it was like to be mocked or humiliated. Thank God she had no idea of the depth of his sorrow that made a mockery of hers.

She couldn't speak for the tangle of emotions that gathered in her throat to choke her. She was angry for him and heartbroken.

And in that moment, she realized how much she loved this man. Now Takeshi's words made complete sense to her.

'Take care of him, Soteria. And remember it takes great courage and heart for a man who knows no kindness to show it to another. Even the wildest of beasts can be tamed by a patient and gentle hand.'

She ran her hand down his smooth, perfect back as she remembered the stories of his beatings. They hadn't even allowed his back to scar so that the thicker, scarred skin would help to shield him from the pain of new lashes. What had been done to him was so wrong… 'I'm so sorry for what they did to you, Acheron. I'm so sorry.'

Ash closed his eyes as he held her against him and breathed her in. 'You don't condemn me for it?'

'For what?'

'I'm…' He couldn't bring himself to say the word whore to her.

Tory tightened her hold as she remembered his words about being broken the night before. This was what he'd meant by them. Pulling back, she cupped his face in her hands so that he could see her sincerity. 'Nothing has changed between us. I don't care about your past, Ash. I don't. All that matters to me is the man in front of me right now.'

'I'm not a man, Soteria.'

No, he wasn't. He was a god. Powerful. Humble. Kind and deadly. For the first time, she understood all the glimpses of him that she'd seen. 'I know. But if you think your godhood excuses you from putting the toilet seat down, think again.'

Ash laughed, amazed by her strength and humor no matter the situation. 'I'm not used to anyone standing with me.'

'I know. I was always lucky. My family would fight back the devil himself to keep me safe. I can't imagine the strength it took for you to be alone in the world. To have no shelter from those out to hurt you. But I won't abandon you. If I'm nothing else in my life, I'm loyal to those I call friend. And I'll be more than honored to be your friend, Acheron, if you'll let me.'

Pain ravaged his heart at her offer and at a single truth he couldn't deny. 'I've never had a friend who knew all about me before.' He didn't count Artemis as a friend and that lack of knowledge was how Nick had ended up dead. Had he trusted Nick enough, just once, to introduce him to Simi, Nick wouldn't have slept with her because he'd have known she belonged to Ash. It was a mistake that had cost them both everything.

'I know what you're thinking, Ash,' she said, stepping back to look up at him. 'You have trusted me and I will never forsake you.'

Time would tell.

She looked down and smiled warmly. 'By the way, you're very cute naked. Now get dressed. I have some questions for you.'

He was instantly clothed.

Tory's eyes widened at his powers. 'You know that could come in handy. I'll bet you're never late, huh?'

'I try. Now what questions do you have?'

She led him back into the room where the journal was lying on the bed. 'You told me last night that you have a pregnant daughter. Now from the journal's date, I know how old you are. How old is she?'

'I was twenty-one when she was born.' It was the easiest explanation for Kat's age.

Tory picked the journal up and opened to the scrap of paper where she'd left off reading. 'Okay so she's a great-great-great-grandmother. Messes with my head, but I can deal with that.' She made a note in the margin of the journal. 'Who's her mother?'

'I'd rather not say.'

'Artemis. Understood. We never talk about that.'

He frowned at her ability to guess and to be so accommodating about his redheaded problem. 'How-'

She put her hand to his lips to keep him from speaking. 'I got it from the journal that you protect her even when she refuses to return the favor. But my next question to you is what is she going to do when she finds out about me?'

Satara stayed back in the shadows of Sanctuary, pretending to be a patron at a table sipping her longneck beer-a rather nasty concoction-as she waited for Acheron to leave the room where he was holed up with his newfound pet. The only real gift her father, Apollo, had ever given her was the ability to pass undetected by other gods. He'd done that so she could spy for him. Little did he know that she used her gift against him more than for him-for a god of prophecy, her father could be unbelievably dense. Then again, his ego was such that he couldn't conceive of anyone not absolutely adoring the very ground he stood upon.