Tory was confused by his strange question. "What else would they be? Turnips?"
Ash shook his head at her sarcasm. Though to be honest, it amused him. However, that didn't change the predicament they were in. "Does anyone else know you have the journal?"
"No," Justina said assuredly. "Dimitri wouldn't have broken his word."
He hadn't detected that either. "Then for now, we need to get Tory back to bed to rest."
"I feel fine."
He arched a brow at her protest. "You just had surgery. You need to be in bed, resting."
Tory hated to admit he was right. "Fine. Take me home."
He looked down at the bag and shook his head. "I don't think that's wise given today's adventures. Whoever is after you knows where you live and I for one don't think we ought to make it easy on them. Let the bastards have to search to kill you." He stood up as an attractive blond woman reached them. Dressed in a skimpy black Sanctuary T-shirt with a howling wolf on the front, she was carrying a serving tray.
Pulling her off to the side, Ash talked to her in a low tone.
"No problem," the blonde said. "Follow me."
Ash took the bag from her. "C'mon."
Irritated by his highhanded demeanor and the fact he hadn't asked her opinion on this, Tory followed him to a door not far away. Aimee, whose name was on the back of her T-shirt, pulled out a set of keys and unlocked it. It led to a small room with another door that was locked with a palm scanner.
Tory was impressed by the security. "Get out of town . . ."
Smiling, Aimee opened it to show a large bedroom with no windows. "There's a bathroom through the other door. It's steel reinforced, so nothing's going to pop through it uninvited . . . heavy emphasis on the uninvited part."
Ash inclined his head to her. "Thanks, Aim."
"Anytime." She handed him the key to the outside door. "You can leave this door open so you don't have to use the scanner."
Ash gestured toward Tory. "You want anything to drink?"
"Apple juice would be a godsend."
Aimee nodded. "I'll bring some right up."
Tory headed for the bed as Aimee left them alone. "Can I read now?"
Ash made a low sound of irritation. "Do you mind if I look at it first?"
"Yes, I do." She held her hand out, wanting it immediately. She was desperate to see what all the hoopla was over.
"I read faster than you do," he reminded her.
She made a strong sound of her irritation to compete with his.
Ash paused. In that moment, he wanted to tell her the truth about what was happening and why. Wanted her to know that the beautiful waitress Aimee was Dev's younger sister . . . and a bear in her other form. He had a fantasy in his mind of Tory welcoming him in spite of it all. Of her taking it in stride without freaking out and shrieking. Of her not minding the fact that he was a cursed god.
But he knew better. He wasn't some kid with his first crush. He'd lived long enough to know people and their reactions to things that were radically different was seldom positive.
No matter how much he might want her to smile at him and tell him none of it mattered, he knew better. How many centuries had he waited for it not to matter to Artemis? And she was a goddess who couldn't accept him.
How could a mere mortal take him in stride? Besides, it was a dangerous world he lived in and she didn't have the power to survive in it.
He cleared his throat. "You'll get over your disappointment."
"Ash . . ." she said, with a note of warning in her voice, "don't make me get out of this bed."
He grabbed the bag and was out of the room before she could reach him. Shutting the door, he sealed her in.
"Hey!" Her muffled outrage made him cringe as he felt her anger inside him. He'd been held prisoner enough to hate himself for what he'd just done.
But he had to protect himself . . . and her.
He paused inside the outer room to open the bag. There was an Atlantean seal that had his mother's sun symbol with Archon's hammer and lightning bolt forming an X over it. There were three priestess necklaces that could be used to summon his mother's powers into a human body and the Atlantean dagger.
Ash cursed as he realized this was more destructive than a nuclear bomb. With this, anyone on the planet could end the world in the blink of an eye.
"Is there a reason she's locked up?"
Aimee's voice distracted him. "Yeah," he said, putting the items into his own backpack before he stood up. "I need her to stay there for a bit."
She gave him a sheepish frown. "You like to live dangerously, don't you?"
He ignored the question. "Tell her I'll be back shortly with some of her clothes."
Aimee shook her head as he she reached to open the door and confront a human who looked ready to take on a bear. Literally.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Aimee asked.
Tory glared at the woman. "Are you going to make me?"
"Hopefully, I won't have to. Ash wants you protected and I would think you'd agree with that."
Tory lifted her chin in defiance. "You always do what he wants?"
"No, but I know what it's like to protect someone when you care about them, even when they're being pigheadedly suicidal. So don't make me do something you'll hate me for later."
That took some of the steam out of Tory's anger. That and the fact that Aimee looked pretty stout and not much shorter than her. "I don't like being told what to do and I hate being locked in a room."
"Well if you promise to stay here and behave, I'll leave it open. But don't make me have to chase you down. I assure you, I'm a lot faster than I look."
Even angry, Tory understood why she couldn't go chasing out the door after Ash. There were still people looking for her and she was recovering. So she headed to the bed and got back into it.
Smiling, Aimee handed her the juice. She opened the drawer in the nightstand and pulled out a remote. An instant later a panel opened in the wall to show a large plasma TV. "It's not a prison. Hit the yellow button on the bottom and it'll call for me if you need anything."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, and try not to kill the tall guy in black. He might be an asshole at times, but he's basically a good man and there are so few of them in the world that we don't need to start weeding them out."
Tory laughed at her perfect description of Ash. Aimee was right. There really wasn't a plethora of good people in general. "Have you known Ash a long time?"
She tucked her tray under her arm before she answered. "Since I was a kid . . . he actually saved my life."
Tory didn't know why, but that surprised her. "He saved your life?"
She nodded. "My older brothers were killed in front of me. The men who did it were drunk on bloodlust and when they found where I was hiding, they dragged me out to kill me too. The next thing I knew, Ash was there and they were dead. He picked me up and returned me to my family. If he hadn't found me, I know they'd have killed me, too."
Tory frowned at the conflicting images in her mind that didn't make sense. "But you're older than him."
"No, I'm not."
Her frown deepened. Aimee looked at least a decade older than Ash's early twenties. "How old is Ash?"
"I don't know exactly. I've never met anyone who knows his precise birthday-but I know he's older than me. He doesn't offer and we don't ask. By the way, he said to tell you he'd be back with some clothes for you." Before Tory could say another word, Aimee was gone.
Tory lay in bed with those words running through her head. There was a lot more going on here than she knew and it bothered her that they all thought she was so stupid that she didn't know it.
What was the deal with Acheron? Who was he really?
And how old was he?
She looked up as a shadow fell over her bed. Her heart missed a beat until she realized the shadow was Justina. "You scared me!"
"Sorry. There was something I forgot to give you. It was so small, I didn't put it in the bag with the rest." She pulled a small sandwich baggie out of her pocket. "I think you'll find it really interesting."
Scowling, Tory took it from her and pulled the coin out. They'd found a lot of coins so that wasn't surprising. The back of it was the same as other Didymos coins.
But when she turned it over, she gasped.
The face on the coin was Acheron's.