Acheron

bouquet had been a gift from Apollymi and to receive them was considered the highest honor one Atlantean could give to another.

Ash smiled in pride. But what still amazed him most was that she was willing to stand up before all these people and claim him. He'd even offered to elope with her, but she'd refused.

'Boy,' she'd said, angry over the fact he'd even suggested it, 'you are mine and I want the entire world to know it.' For his wedding present, she'd even tattooed his sun emblem on her shoulder with his name underneath it.

Nothing in the world had ever pleased him more.

Tory almost stumbled as she caught sight of Ash in his tuxedo. His black hair was slicked back into a sophisticated ponytail. And for once his eyes were plainly visible to all. There were no piercings-he'd forgone them by saying that he wanted nothing to embarrass her before her family.

'You could never embarrass me, Ash,' she'd told him. 'Besides you are my family now.' Even so, he'd toned his appearance down.

Theo released her to Ash with a gentle pat on Ash's hand and a kiss on Tory's. Hand in hand, they stood before the Greek priest and took their vows in ancient Greek.

When it was over, Ash pulled her to the back of the church and held her close. He placed a kiss on her bare shoulder where his emblem was plainly visible. 'I guess it's too late for you to back out now, huh?'

Tory scoffed at him. 'Honey, it was too late for me to back out the first time you opened the door and sauntered into my lecture. I was a goner and didn't even know it.'

He laced his hand with hers. 'I have no idea what our future will hold and it makes me ill. But I promise you that no matter what, you won't ever regret being with me. I swear it.'

She looked up at him. 'You know what amazes me? I went searching for Atlantis and found an Atlantean god. How could I ever regret that?'

Nick stood outside the garden of Kyrian's house, staring in at Ash's wedding reception. Everyone was laughing and celebrating as Ash and Tory danced to the Bee Gees' 'To Love Somebody.' Hatred scalded his tongue as he watched Ash laughing with Tory. And yet the part of him he hated most was glad to see Ash so open and happy. There had always been an air of hopelessness around Ash.

Now that was gone. He only wished he could have been so happy.

'It's not fair, is it?'

He turned his head to see Artemis standing behind him. Dressed all in white, she was unbelievably beautiful. 'What are you doing here?'

'The same thing you are. Spying.' She let out a long breath as she closed the distance between them. 'He turned us both, didn't he?'

Nick frowned at her nonsensical words. 'Turned us?'

'You know, missed us up.'

Missed? What the-Suddenly, he understood what she was trying to say. 'You mean screwed?'

'Yes, he screwed us both.'

She had no idea. 'And what did he do to you?'

'He abandoned me. He took my daughter and what do I have left? Nothing.'

Nick scoffed at her self-pity. 'Yeah, well, at least you're not on the Daimons' most wanted list. I swear I haven't had a single moment's peace. And the last thing I heard, Stryker's getting ready to break badass all over us.'

She rolled her eyes. 'You think Stryker doesn't want me dead? My brother's the one who turned on him. It's a cold world where I live.'

'It could be worse. You could be friendless.'

She gave him an arch glare. 'You think I'm not?'

Nick disregarded her question. She had no idea how miserable his life was. How lonely and heartbreaking. 'How can a goddess be friendless?'

'The same way a human can.'

Yeah, she was insane. 'You have the power to make your life better. I don't.'

'That's not true. I've lost my only friend.'

Honestly that's how Nick felt. He'd loved Ash like his brother and missed the friendship they'd had. Even though Ash had screwed him over, they had been so incredibly close.

Now, because Stryker could see everything Nick could whenever the demigod chose to look, he was completely isolated from the world he'd known before. No friends. No family.

He was alone and he hated it.

Artemis turned a speculative look toward him. 'Would you be my friend, Nicholas? I promise you, you won't regret it.'

A burst of wind blew through the party, lifting the hem of Tory's dress.

Ash looked up at the sky and frowned as he heard the sound of far-off thunder.

'Is something wrong?' Tory asked.

'There's a storm brewing.'

'You mean the weather, right?'

Ash shook his head slowly as his senses tingled. No, there was something coming for them. He could feel it. Dark and deadly, it wanted a piece of him.

'Don't worry, Sota. I'll keep you dry.' But even as he said the words, he knew the truth. He wasn't her haven. She was his, and so long as he had her by his side, he could face anything. 'Bring the rain,' he whispered, 'bring the rain.'

These are two scenes that I wanted to work into other

books, but they really didn't have a place in them. The first

one was originally in Seize the Night, but the length of the

book was such that my editor at the time thought we should

cut it, especially since it didn't really relate to the story at

hand. Our thinking then was that it might fit into another

book, but it never did. So here it is now, in its entirety.

SEIZE THE NIGHT OUT-TAKE

Ash listened quietly as the priest spoke words of comfort outside the tomb in the St. Louis cemetery where Cherise Gautier had been laid to rest. Julian, Grace, Kyrian, Amanda, Tabitha and Valerius stood to his right while Talon, Sunshine and the Peltiers were lined up on his left to pay respect to one of the finest women Ash had ever been privileged to know. He was dressed in the same clothes he'd had on the day he'd first met the woman: a pair of slouchy black pants, an oversized black sweater and a long leather coat. Cherise had taken one look at him and clucked her tongue.

'When was the last time you ate?' she'd asked him.

'An hour ago.'

His words hadn't fooled her at all. Convinced he was lying to save his pride, she'd promptly sat him down in a chair and proceeded to make him a plate of Cajun hashbrowns while Nick had tried not to laugh at them.

In the last eleven thousand years, Cherise had been one of the rare people who'd treated Ash like a human being. She hadn't seen him as anything more than a young man who needed a mother's love and a friend.

And he missed her more than anything.

As he stood with the cold wind cutting through him, he could hear his own soul screaming out in rage that he'd caused this. That he had no one to blame for her death but himself. How could one sentence uttered in anger cause so much damage? But then words were the most powerful thing in the universe. Cuts and bruises always healed, but words spoken in anger were most often permanent. They didn't damage the body, they destroyed the spirit.