them.
His features completely stoic, Nick fingered the edge of blade.
Satara was all but glowing with satisfaction. 'Go on, love. Make me proud.'
Nick paused his hand and looked up at her. 'You know what, Satara? There's only one person I've ever given a shit about making proud.' He gripped the knife tight in his fist. Pulling his sunglasses off, Tory gasped as she realized he had the same silver eyes as Acheron.
He met her gaze before he looked back at Satara who was smirking in pride.
'And that person was never you.' The moment those words left his lips, he buried the dagger deep in Satara's stomach.
Satara stumbled back, gasping as she covered the wound. Blood flowed between her fingers. Her face was a mask of pain and disbelief. 'What are you doing?'
'I'm embracing my fate.' He snatched the keys from her pocket. Spinning around, he removed the thick silver bracelet from Tory's arm and let it fall to the floor where it landed with a loud thud.
Satara let out a shout for her brother as she ran for the door.
Nick threw the dagger at her fleeing form with a lethal aim. It slammed into her lower back and sent her straight to the ground.
Tory was too stunned to move as Nick opened the chains that held her arms in place. 'Why would you help me?'
When he straightened up from freeing her feet, he pulled her shirt closed over her chest. Then he shrugged his jacket off and handed it to her. 'Don't get me wrong, I hate Ash with every part of me and I will kill him one day, mark my words. But I don't have to imagine the pain he would feel if I tortured you. I live with that pain every fucking day because of him. I hear my mother's voice crying out for me to help her. To save her life while she was tortured and killed. And because of her, I'm a better man than Ash is. I won't let an innocent die to get back at him. You don't deserve to die any more than my mother did.'
Tory shook her head, trying to understand him. 'But you threatened me at Sanctuary.'
'No, I only wanted to rattle him. I would never hurt a woman. My mama raised me better.'
She looked to Satara's lifeless body.
Nick scoffed at the pity on her face. 'She wasn't a woman, trust me. She more than deserved what I did and she's done a lot worse to others, including me. I ain't ever going to be a pawn to no one else again.' He left her to pull the dagger out of Satara's back.
Tory followed him. 'That's Atlantean, isn't it?'
He smiled evilly. 'You make sure you tell Ash I have it.'
Then he took her arm and hauled her toward the door.
The instant he cracked it open, she realized that they were in a room that led out into a great hall filled with demons and Daimons.
She shrank back as Nick gave a low curse.
'We can't go that way, can we?'
He shook his head. 'Not unless you want to be eaten.' He was just about to pull back when the impossible happened. The bolt hole in the center of the room opened.
It flared bright and gold.
And when it dulled Acheron and Urian stood there, defiantly facing the Daimons.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Still hidden behind the door with Nick, Tory blinked, then smiled at the sight of Ash standing tough and large in the middle of the Daimons. His stance said it all,
His black hair was streaked through with dark red. The hem of his long, pirate style double breasted coat swung around those cherry red Doc Martens that he'd worn the night they first met. The ruby stud was back in his nose and for once she adored the sight of the sunglasses perched on his face.
Man, Acheron was hot and her heart raced in gratitude that he'd come for her.
The tall, blond man beside him was much more sedate in appearance. With a black button down shirt that was rolled back at his wrists and jeans, his clothes were plain in comparison. But he was almost as handsome with perfect features and white blond hair that he wore pulled back into a ponytail. She also didn't miss the fact that but for the blond hair, the man bore a remarkable resemblance to Stryker.
Like Stryker, he had a deadly air that was only surpassed by the one enveloping Ash.
'I thought Ash couldn't come here,' she whispered to Nick.
'Apparently he's willing to end the world for you. You should be impressed. I am.'
Her eyes widening, she definitely was. Why would Ash take such a risk?
And every demon and Daimon was frozen into place by his presence. Not a single word was said by the crowd outside. It was as if they were all holding a collective breath as they waited for Armageddon to begin.
All except Stryker who glared at the blond man beside Ash with an expression that was best defined as pained hatred. 'You dare to stand with my enemy?'
'Against you, Father, I'd stand with Mickey Mouse.'
Stryker curled his lip. 'You worthless sonofabitch. You should never have been anything more than a cum stain.'
The blond scoffed. 'I could definitely say the same thing about you. It would have saved the world and all of us a lot of misery now, wouldn't it?'
The Daimons started forward, but they were thrown back by an unseen force.
Ash turned to Stryker and growled. 'Enough of the family reunion bullshit. Where is Soteria?'
Tory frowned at Ash's words. Though the voice was his, it had a thick Greek accent and not the more fluid Atlantean one he used whenever he wasn't speaking colloquial American. How odd. Even when he spoke flawless Greek, his accent wasn't that throaty and traditional.
'She's over there.' A tall blond woman appeared a few feet from Ash and indicated the door where Tory stood with an imperious jerk of her chin.
Tory gasped at her beauty as the woman crossed the short distance to embrace Ash. 'At last, m'gios. You've come to set me free.' She placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear.
Tory was stunned as she realized this was the goddess Apollymi. Ash's mother.
The goddess of utter destruction.
Ash hugged her close and nodded before he stepped back. With a sneer thrown at Stryker, he turned and headed for her room.
Before Nick could stop her, Tory shoved open the door and ran for Ash. She threw herself into his arms and held him close from her giddy relief. And when their lips met…
She went cold in confused shock.
This wasn't Ash. In looks he was completely identical, but he neither smelled nor felt like Acheron. And he definitely didn't kiss like him.
Nick ran at the Ash imposter, but before he could reach him, Urian grabbed Nick and shoved him back into the room where they'd been.
'We have to go,' Urian said to her and the fake Ash as he slammed the door shut behind them. He looked at Nick. 'And you need to come with us.'
Nick curled his lip in obvious hatred. 'I'm not going anywhere with him. I'd rather be dead.'
Urian forced Nick to look down at Satara's body. 'I'm going to make the wildly unfounded assumption that Satara's dead by your hand and not Tory's.' Gripping Nick's chin, he forced him to meet his gaze. 'Now, stay with me on this, Cajun. My father slit my throat and murdered my wife because he thought I'd betrayed him by getting married. Before that, he loved me more than his life and I was his last surviving child. His second in command. Now what do you think he's going to do to you once he sees her body? I can assure you, it won't be a fun-filled trip to Chuck E. Cheese. For all their animosity toward each other, Satara is his sister and she's served him well over
