Tory leaned her head against the glass and stared out the window.
They didn't say anything more until Ash pulled into the small driveway behind Sanctuary. The priestesses parked on the street while he led Tory toward the front door.
Dev Peltier was guarding it in human form . . . while it was still daylight. There were two kinds of Were-Hunters. Those born as humans who could become animals and those who were animals who could become human. During the daylight hours, Were-Hunters preferred their native form which for Dev would be a bear. The fact he was human made Ash extremely curious since only the most powerful of their breed could do that.
As a man, Dev wasn't much shorter than Ash. He had long curly blond hair and a dimple that only flashed when he talked since the bear didn't smile often. Dressed in jeans and a black Sanctuary staff T-shirt, he sat with a deceptive nonchalance. Even in human form, he could launch into action fast enough to give Ash a run for his money. But what amused Ash most was the Dark-Hunter bow and arrow Dev had on his biceps. He wasn't sure why the bear thought it was funny to wear the mark of Artemis, but Dev wore it proudly.
And as soon as Dev saw him, he reached to the small remote on his belt to cue the song "Sweet Home Alabama" to play inside the bar, alerting the rest of the inhuman inhabitants that Ash was about to enter the building. It was a game they played. Since the Were-Hunters were cousins to the Apollites, they often sheltered Apollites and Daimons. Ash, being a Dark-Hunter, would be obliged to kill any Daimons he found which meant the Daimons would be running for cover right about now.
The Apollites preferred to not see a Dark-Hunter so they made themselves just as scarce whenever he was around.
"How you doing, Dev?" Ash asked.
"Good." Dev arched a brow at Tory and the other women who were approaching. "Nice of you to beautify the bar for us. Appreciate it greatly."
Ash shook his head. "We need a quiet corner."
"Upstairs to the right. The whole area's cordoned off this time of day. I'll have Aimee head up to bring drinks."
"Thanks."
Tory smiled at the blond man who winked at her as she followed Ash. She'd walked past this place dozens of times, but since heavy metal wasn't her shtick, she'd never gone inside. It was huge-much bigger than it appeared from the street.
There were three levels with sections set aside for a bar area, a billiards section, a stage and dancing floor, and a restaurant. It was rustic and at the same time rather homey-except for the coffin in a corner by the bar that had a small plaque on it reading THE LAST GUY WHO ASKED AIMEE OUT-it had a dismembered skeleton in it.
Obviously Aimee was someone visitors were meant to keep their hands off of.
Tory followed Ash upstairs to a large round table in the rear, against a wall. He walked to the back so that he would be against the wall and waited for all of them to be seated before he sat down.
Once everyone was situated, he inclined his head to them. "All right, ladies, let's piece this puzzle together."
"It's not hard," Katherine said. "Since Tory's family first started poking close to the Atlantean ruins, we were assigned by the goddess to watch over them and make sure that the humans didn't offend her with their actions."
"Your goddess?" Tory asked.
Katherine smiled. "Apollymi the Great Destroyer. Our Order goes back to the days when Atlantis was the ruling power on earth. After Atlantis was destroyed, under the protection of our goddess who saved us from the great fall, we went to Greece and set up our Order where it's been maintained in secret ever since."
"We were one of the great Amazon tribes," Justina said. "Only where the others were Greek, we kept to the Atlantean ways."
Katherine smiled with pride. "And we were the strongest of them. But since the moment our foremothers escaped to Greece, we've been hunted by the Atlantikoinonia. A group founded by the goddess Artemis. Their mandate is to eradicate all evidence that Atlantis and Apollymi ever existed."
"Which means killing all of you," Tory whispered.
Katherine nodded. "Another reason we've been in hiding for centuries."
Justina pulled her jacket off and put it on the back of her chair. "But for Apollymi's protection, we wouldn't have survived so long."
Tory admired the way they spoke-the loyalty they showed to their goddess. "You speak as if she's real."
Justina smiled. "To us, she is."
"Did anyone read the journal?" Ash asked, changing subjects.
"No," Katherine said quickly. "To our knowledge, no one knows the language it's written in. Our oracle told us to bring it to Tory and that's what we're doing. It's foretold that she, like the ancient Atlantean Soteria, will be its guardian."
Tory was caught off guard by the use of her formal name. "Excuse me?"
"It's an old legend," Ash said. "When Atlantis was being destroyed, the head librarian of the national archives tried to save as much of their work as she could. It's said that her Shade now oversees the treasures of Atlantis and keeps them safe from plunder."
Katherine indicated the entire group with a wave of her hand. "The Apollymachi are her Shades. We are the guardians and the Atlantikoinonia are the destroyers."
Ash looked at the bag that Tory still held against her chest. "Perhaps in this we should be the destroyers."
Tory shook her head. "I want to know what the book says before we destroy it."
"No one can read it," Katherine repeated.
Tory shook her head. "Ash can."
The women looked at him with surprise etched on their faces.
Justina exchanged a glance with Katherine before she spoke. "Is that why the oracle said to deliver it to the Elekti?"
"Elekti?" Tory asked, not understanding the word.
"It means chosen one," Justina explained.
Tory scowled-that could be rather ominous. "Chosen for what?"
Katherine pushed the sleeve of her jacket back. "Our Order speaks of a man in every generation who bears the Destroyer's grace. He's known by her ring that he bears on his right thumb."
Tory looked down to see a thick gold band on Ash's thumb. It bore the same sun symbol that marked the women's jackets and his backpack. "What are you not telling me?" she asked Acheron.
"Lots." He turned back to Katherine. "So what are your orders now that you've delivered the book?"
"We are to guard Soteria and to follow the orders of the Elekti."
"Why?" he persisted.
"Because it's the will of the goddess."
Ash scoffed at her words. "You should never blindly obey anyone. Take it from someone who knows. Your goddess isn't infallible."
Katherine sucked her breath in sharply. "That is blasphemy."
Ash didn't respond but something in his features led Tory to believe that he knew a lot more about their goddess than he was letting on. "These Atlantikoinonia. They're human?"
Katherine nodded.