Acheron

huffed as she sat down on a bar stool and propped her chin in her hand. 'Hook the Simi up with some ice cream, Akra-Tory. I need double scoops.'

Aimee went to accommodate Simi while Tory walked around to sit beside the demon.

'What do you mean the heifer goddess is hurting Ash? You mean Hera?' She was the goddess most often referred to as cow-eyed in mythology.

'Not that one. The redheaded mean one that the Simi wants to eat, but akri say 'No Simi. You can't eat Artemis.' The Simi hates that heifer.'

Tory went cold as she remembered what Ash had told her about Artemis and their relationship. 'Where's Ash?'

'On Olympus. He told the Simi to come stay with you and make sure no one hurts you.'

This couldn't be good and Tory felt ill that she couldn't help him. 'What does Artemis do to Ash?'

'The Simi isn't supposed to say.' She looked around the bar like an impish child before she lowered her voice. 'But akri didn't say the Simi couldn't show you…' She reached out and touched Tory's arm. The moment she did, Tory saw Ash being beaten.

Unable to stand it, she shot to her feet and tried to focus. But she couldn't. Her heart pounding, she was hyperventilating at the thought of causing him that kind of pain. 'We have to do something!'

'We can't. Artemis hurt akri worse if we try. Believe me, I know. He promised her she could hurt him if she didn't hurt you and she say okay, so now… the Simi hates the heifer goddess.'

So did Tory. If she could turn back time, she'd beat the snot out of her in Nashville.

Aimee brought Simi the ice cream while Tory tried to think of something, anything, she could do. She looked at Aimee, then Katherine and Justina, but decided not to ask their opinions. Ash would die of shame if he knew they knew what was being done to him.

You now have the secrets that I would kill to protect.

No doubt this was one of the secrets he held dearest. No wonder he'd been so harsh to Artemis in Nashville.

'If I ever get my hands on her…'

She'd do what? Bleed on her expensive shoes? Artemis was a goddess and Tory was human.

Wait… there had been something in the journal about Artemis and her weaknesses. Her heart hammering with hope, Tory headed toward the kitchen behind the bar where it was light enough for her to read.

But before she could make it to the room, she saw a tall, black-haired woman at a table off to the side.

You want to hurt Artemis? Come talk to me.

Tory looked around at the voice in her head until her gaze returned to the unknown woman.

Yes, it's me talking to you, Soteria. The woman motioned for her to join her at the table.

Reversing course from the kitchen, she patted Aimee on the arm. 'I'll be right back.' Before Aimee could respond, she went straight to the woman who was unbelievably attractive and probably as tall as she was.

'Hi,' the woman said, her voice thick with its Greek accent. 'I'm Satara. You should consider me a friend.'

Yeah, right. Tory would wait and make up her own mind about that. 'How did you do that thing where you talked to me in my mind?'

She smiled before her voice was in Tory's head again. I'm the daughter of Apollo and if you want to help me, I'll be more than willing to help you kill Artemis.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tory was instantly suspicious of the unknown woman and her motives. 'Why would the daughter of Apollo help me hurt her aunt?'

Satara twisted her lips up into a seductive, yet impressed smirk. It was as if she begrudged giving Tory any kind of respect. 'You're a smart little human. Most don't know their mythology. But that's neither here nor there, is it? Let's just say that like you I'm a friend of Acheron's. I'm tired of seeing him hurt.'

Knowing Ash as well as she did, she knew Satara wouldn't have gotten that tidbit from him. Which meant the woman was in league with Artemis and was now trying to turn on her own aunt. Yeah, that really lent itself to Tory trusting her… not even a bit. 'Strange, he never mentioned you to me.' Tory started to leave.

Satara leapt at her and grabbed her painfully by one wrist. 'Give me Ryssa's journal if you want to live.'

Biting Satara's hand, Tory twisted away and ran for the bar. Simi was across the room, hissing at Satara who vanished the moment she saw the demon.

'That the heifer-goddess's mean niece. The Simi don't like her neither.'

Agreeing with her, Tory rubbed her bruised wrist. What else was in that book that she had yet to read? It had to contain a lot more than she'd seen so far. 'Simi, grab your ice cream and come upstairs with me. I think you and I need to do some research.'

As they headed up, Tory considered calling her cousin Geary, but decided against it given how secretive Ash was. He went out of his way to make sure no one knew his business and since she'd promised him that he could trust her, she wouldn't do anything to violate that oath.

But it was hard…

Once Simi was settled in with her in the small room, she pulled out a notebook and pen, and attacked her reading with a renewed vengeance. Though to be honest that was easier said than done. Every time Ryssa wrote about Ash, it broke her heart. The senseless abuse and cruelty was unimaginable and when she saw what they'd done to him during Artemis's feast day she wanted blood for it.

No wonder Simi hated the goddess the way she did.

How could Artemis turn her back on Ash and leave him there to suffer? Truly, she didn't understand this need to save face that Artemis had. But then Tory didn't care what other people thought of her. She never had. Yes, they'd mocked her incessantly in school for being too smart, blowing the bell curve and for being a tall, skinny nerd. Her hair was frizzy, she'd had braces and glasses so thick they'd melt plastic army men.

But then she remembered clearly that day when she'd come home crying to her father over the words Shelly Thornton had assaulted her with at school-your father's a crackpot that everyone laughs at, your mom's an idiot and you're a pathetic geek who'll never have a boyfriend outside of the one you make up in your head and your dress looks like you found it in a dumpster. If that wasn't bad enough, all the girls who were afraid of Shelly being mean to them had laughed at her too. Then they'd joined in on attacking her clothes.

The worst part was, Tory had loved her dress dearly. It'd been one her Aunt Del had made for her out of Greek lace and a bright purple satin material they'd found in the fabric store that Tory had fallen in love with.

Her heart had been splintered that day by their cruelty until her father put her on his knee and kissed her tears away. 'No one can ever make you feel inferior without your permission, Tory. Don't give it to them. Realize that it's their own insecurities that make them attack you and others. They're so unhappy with themselves that the only way they can feel better is by making everyone as unhappy as they are. Don't let those people steal your day, baby. You hold your head high and know that you have the one thing they can never take away from you.'

'What's that, Papa?'

'My love. Your mother's love and the love of your family and true friends. Your own self-respect and sense of purpose. Look at me, Torimou, people laugh at me all the time and say that I'm chasing rainbows. They told George Lucas that he was a fool for making Star Wars -they used to even call it Lucas's Folly. Did he listen? No. And if he'd listened to them you wouldn't have had your favorite movie made and think of how many people would never have heard the phrase 'May the Force be With You.' '

He'd brushed her hair back from her wet cheeks. 'I want you to always hold your head up and follow your dreams wherever they take you. Don't you ever listen to the people out to hurt you or make you cry. Listen to your heart and be better than them. No one gets ahead by hurting others. The only real peace anyone will ever have is the one that comes from within. Live your life on your own terms and make it a happy life.