Acheron

It was empty. Frowning, she looked over the edge to see the nobles and dignitaries gathered for the festivities. Surely Acheron wasn't there. He didn't like such events.

Artemis stepped through the doors without opening them. Her frown melted as she saw Acheron already abed. Good. She could join him there.

But as she approached, she slowed her gait. His breathing was shallow and ragged. He lay with his back to her and as she drew closer, she saw the pink stains marring his sheets.

Blood. Acheron's blood.

It was so much more than she'd ever seen before.

Terrified, she moved around the bed to find him weeping soundlessly. But that wasn't what stunned her most. It was the sight of his beautiful face. Or what was left of it.

One side had a vicious gaping wound that exposed part of the bone and on the other was a burn that had left his eye partially closed, his flesh scorched and his mouth twisted.

'What happened?' she demanded as anger tore through her.

He didn't answer but the shame in his eyes, the pain, lacerated her heart. Kneeling on the floor, she laid her hand to his burned cheek.

'Kill me,' he breathed. 'Please.'

That ragged plea brought tears to her eyes. Wanting to understand, she used her powers to see what had happened to him. As every scene of it played through her mind, her fury built.

How dare they do this to him!

She felt her teeth growing sharp as her need for vindication tripled.

Acheron screamed as Artemis healed his battered body. Whenever his injuries were bad, her cure was every bit as painful.

Once he was healed, Artemis gathered him into her arms and held him in a way no one had ever held him before-as though she cared. 'I'm so sorry, Acheron. Why didn't you call for me?'

'You wouldn't have come.'

'Yes, I would.'

But he knew the truth. She'd never have risked being seen. 'You're here now. That's enough for me.'

She nodded as she brushed his hair back from his face. 'And woe to those bastards for this. They won't do this to you and not suffer for it.' Taking his hand, she pulled him from the bed.

When she started for the door, he froze. 'What are you doing?'

'I'm going to make them pay.'

'How?'

She laughed evilly. 'Trust me, love. You'll enjoy it.'

The next thing he knew they were in the ballroom, unseen by the revelers. Artemis walked over to Styxx who stood beside his betrothed, laughing smugly with a group of his friends who were mocking an unattractive young woman in the corner. The woman had tears in her eyes as she tried to ignore their laughter and brutal comments.

Artemis leaned forward to whisper into Styxx's ear. 'You want to see humiliation, you little prick? You're about to get a handfirst lesson on it.'

One second Styxx was smiling. The next he was vomiting all over Nefertari and his friends. In fact, he vomited so forcefully that he lost control of his bladder and wet himself. When he tried to run, he tripped and fell into the mess.

Acheron looked away, as disgusted by it as everyone else.

But Artemis wasn't through. Raising her hand, she opened the double doors that led to the gardens. A pack of angry dogs ran inside and set upon Styxx with a vengeance.

Their father ran to his heir who was on the ground, crying for help.

Artemis gave Acheron a crooked grin before everyone at the party, except Ryssa and the woman who'd been teased, became ill. The guards tried to protect Styxx from the dogs an instant before they unloaded their stomachs all over their prince.

Crossing the distance between them, Artemis clapped her hands together in satisfaction. 'I don't know about you,' she said with an evil glint in her green eyes, 'but I feel better.' She looked around proudly. 'They'll be fine by morning, but none of them will be out of their beds much tomorrow. As for Styxx, he will feel the effects of his cruelty for at least a week.'

Acheron wished he could take pleasure in the pain around him, but he didn't. No one deserved what she'd done tonight any more than he deserved what Styxx had done to him.

She cocked her head. 'Aren't you happy?'

Acheron glanced at the poor wretches around him. 'Thank you for avenging me. It means a lot, Artie. Truly. But having been on the receiving end of cruelty my entire life, I don't take pleasure in harming others, so, no, it doesn't make me happy to see them like this. Especially those who've never done me harm.'

'You're a fool not to. Believe me. They wouldn't be so kind to you.'

In his experience, she was right. Even so, he just couldn't bring himself to laugh at the humiliation they suffered.

Artemis let out a sound of disgust. 'You are such a strange human.' She cupped his cheek in her hand. 'I warn you now though, if he ever scars your face again I'll unleash an agony on him that he'll never recover from.'

The anger and sincerity of her gaze scorched him. Only Ryssa had ever been indignant over his punishments. The fact that Artemis cared went a long way in erasing the anger he'd harbored against the goddess.

In truth, she'd kept her word and had done nothing to hurt him.

Don't trust her.

But his heart wanted to believe that on some level she loved him-that she cared.

She raised up to kiss him. The instant their lips touched, she took him to her temple. Acheron felt a strange fissure go through him.

'What the…?'

Artemis's eyes were glowing bright. 'I've given you the power to fight to protect yourself. You were right. I can't always be there when you need me. But-' she placed her fingertip on his lips. 'You can't use those skills on a god, only a human.'

'Why would I want to attack a god?'

Artemis leaned her head against his shoulder and inhaled his masculine scent. She adored the innocence inside him that couldn't even conceive of hurting her. 'Some men do.'

'Men do a lot of things I don't agree with.'

'And that's why I've given you the powers you need. I don't want you hurt like that ever again.'

Acheron tried to fight the swell of love inside him. But he couldn't. Not when she gave him so much. Not when she touched him like this and made him feel decent and wanted.

Artemis squeezed him tightly, then pulled back to hand him a small box.

'What's this?'

'My gift to celebrate your birth. Open it.'

Stunned, he gaped at her. Honestly, he couldn't fathom what he held in his hands. 'You're giving me a present?'

'Of course.'

But it couldn't be that simple. Nothing ever was. 'What payment do you want?'

She scowled at him. 'I want no payment, Acheron. It's a gift.'

Still he shook his head in denial. 'Nothing is ever freely given.'

She closed his hand around it and caressed his fingers. 'This is freely given to you, akribos. And I wish to see you open it.'

Truly, he couldn't fathom this. Why would Artemis give him a present?

His heart pounding, he opened the box to find a ring inside. Picking it up, he saw a double bow and arrow on it, but when he moved the ring, it shifted to an image of Artemis with a deer.

She smiled happily. 'It's an insignia ring. I give them to my followers whom I grant the ability to summon me. Most of them have to find a tree and perform a ritual and say the right words. But you, my Acheron, you may