Ret

by SK

  But none of that mattered to him.

  Only Tory did.

  Swallowing his pride, he kept the hatred from his gaze. “Please. Whatever price you demand of me, I will pay it. Anything, Artie. Just don’t let her die.”

  “She, a pathetic human, really means that much to you?”

  “I would die for her.”

  Artemis pressed her lips together as tears glistened in her eyes. “You loved me like that once.”

  And he’d paid for that love in the most violent ways imaginable. “Please, Artemis. If you ever loved me, don’t make Tory pay. I’m the one who wronged you. Not her.”

  A single tear slid down her cheek. “Would you have ever begged for my life?”

  “When I was human. Yes.”

  She reached out and laid her hand on his cheek. “I did love you, Acheron. As I have never loved anything else, other than the child you gave me. And you’re right to hate me. Because I’d never loved anything, I didn’t know how to take care of it. I didn’t know how to take care of you.” She pulled his head down to hers and whispered softly in his ear. “I’m sorry.” She placed her lips to his cheek and kissed it.

  Then she vanished.

  Ash scanned the room, trying to locate her. “Artemis?” Where had she gone? He shoved open the doors to her bedroom. “Artie?”

  Still no answer.

  Had her apology meant that she was sorry she wouldn’t help? Terror tore through him.

  What have I done?

  Ash raked his hands through his hair as he fought down his panic and rage. Fine, if Artemis wanted to be a bitch, he’d find some way to save his wife.

  Closing his eyes, he went home.

  And froze in the corner as he saw the most shocking thing of all time.

  Artemis with Tory.

  “That’s it, Soteria. Breathe easy.” Artemis had one hand on Tory’s forehead while she gently rubbed the other over Tory’s stomach. “See how calm he is now?”

  Tory nodded.

  “He feels what you feel. He’s trying to protect you both.” Artemis looked at the others. “All of you need to leave.”

  Kat stood up slowly. “Mom …”

  “Leave, Katra. The baby wants peace.”

  “We’ll be downstairs,” Menyara said.

  Ash hesitated. “Am I to leave too?”

  Artemis shook her head. “If you gyou’ll always think I’ve done something to the child to get back at you. Stay and know that I’m not hurting him.”

  One by one, she pulled all the monitoring devices from Tory. Then she cupped Tory’s face in her hand.

  “Breathe slow and easy, then push. Not hard, but gently. Let him know that it’s safe and that you want him here to be loved.”

  Licking her lips, Tory nodded and did what she ordered.

  “Again.”

  After the fourth time, Artemis went to her feet. Then turned toward Ash. “Come, Acheron. Be the first to welcome your son into his new life.”

  She was right, he was still suspicious of her. All their centuries together, the only thing he’d ever been able to count on was her willingness to hurt him anyway she could.

  But he did as she said. He went to Tory and with one more push, his son slid into his hands.

  For a full minute, he couldn’t breathe as he stared at the tiniest, most perfect creature he’d ever seen in his life.

  “Is it a smurf?” Tory asked.

  Ash laughed. Since he was blue in his natural god skin, Tory had been joking with him that she wasn’t having a baby, but rather a smurf. Artemis cut and sealed the cord, then took the baby and woke him.

  He let loose a wail that would have shamed Simi.

  Artemis wrapped him in a blanket, then took him to Tory. “Meet your son, Soteria.”

  Tory stared in wonder at the tiny baby who, even now, looked just like her husband. He was perfect in every way. From the top of his head that was covered with blond fuzz to the bottom of his itsy bitsy toes.

  Artemis started to move away.

  Tory took her hand to stop her. Her emotions swelled inside, choking her. “Thank you, Artemis. Thank you.”

  Artemis smiled at her. “I hope he brings you as much happiness and pride as Katra has always brought me.”

  Ash came closer. “Thank you, Artie.”

  She inclined her head to him, then moved to leave.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  She paused at Ash’s question. “What?”

  “Your payment.”

  Artemis shook her head. “The happiness on your face when first you touched him was enough. I only wish you’d been there when your daughter was born, but that was my fault. I’ve had a lifetime of joy, hugs and love from her and you missed all of that because of my stupidity and fear. His life is my gift to both of you. Let’s hope the future is much kinder to all of us thae past has been.” And then she was gone.

  Tory stared in confounded disbelief. “What did you do to her?”

  Ash shook his head. “I don’t think it was my influence.”

  “Then who? ‘Cause that’s not the Artemis who came at me over you.”

  Ash shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s been hanging out with Nick.”

  “Nick? As in I-hate-your-guts-Ash-go-die Nick?”

  He nodded.

  “Whoa.” Tory looked down at her son while he kicked and squirmed. There was no way to describe what she felt in that moment. This was her baby. A part of her and Ash. The best part of them.

  Ash held his hand so that the baby could wrap his tiny hand around his pinky. “So what are we going call him?”

  “Bob.”

  Ash laughed at the name Zarek used for his son because he detested the name Astrid had picked out. “Really?”

  Her smile set his entire world on fire. “No. I think I’d like to name him Sebastos Eudorus.”

  Ash arched a brow at her choice. “Why that?”

  “Sebastos was the name my parents picked out for me, had I been a boy and I always thought it would make a great name for my son. And Eudorus because he was the son of Hermes and Polymele. As a boy he danced in Artemis’s chair to celebrate her. When he grew up, he was one of the fiercest, most venerated of Achilles’ Myrmidons and Homer wrote more lines about him than anyone else. Plus it means gift of joy, which he is. And while we’ve had our issues with Artemis, but for her I wouldn’t have you and neither of us would have had the baby today. ”

  Only his wife would know all of that off the top of her head. Ash laughed. “Sebastos Eudorus Parthenopaeus. He is really going to hate us when he has to learn to spell all that.”

  “Probably, but I think I’ll call him Sebastian. That way he can grow up and confuse people with his name just like his father does.”

  “Yeah well, I still haven’t figured out how you got Tory out of Soteria.” He leaned down and kissed her gently. “Thank you for my son.”

  Her eyes glistened and the love he saw there never ceased to amaze him. “Thank you for my life.”

  He could stare into her beautiful face all day.

  She patted him lightly on the cheek. “You should probably let the thundering horde in from downstairs. Let them know Artemis didn’t kill us.”

  “All right. You sure you’re ready?”

  “Absolutely. And before you start posting photos on Facebook for the rest of the DarkHunters to see, make sure I on makeup.”

  He scoffed. “You don’t need makeup to be beautiful.”

  “And that’s part of why I love you so much. But the rest of the world doesn’t look at me through silver swirling eyes.”

  “I love you, Tory. I know I say it a lot, but …”

  “I know, baby. I feel the same way about you. Those words never convey what goes through my mind and heart every time I look up and see you sitting in my house. Funny thing is, I always thought my house was full and that there was nothing missing in my life. I had a job I loved. Family who loved me. Good friends to keep me sane. Everything
a human could want. And then I met an infuriating, impossible man who added the one thing I didn’t know wasn’t there.”

  “Dirty socks on the floor?”

  She laughed. “No, the other part of my heart. The last face I see before I go to sleep and the first one I see when I get up. I’m so glad it was you.”

  Those words both thrilled and scared him. Mostly because he knew firsthand that if love went untended it turned into profound hatred. “And I hope you never change your mind about that.”

  “Never.”

  Foolish or not, he believed her. But the one thing he knew for certain. He would never be able to live without her.

  Author’s Note

  As a woman of mixed Tsalagi (Cherokee) heritage, I’ve always been fascinated by the beliefs and legends of all the Native American Nations. I spent untold hours as a child, combing through the library, reading any and everything I could find that would give me insight into that part of my family history as well as listening to countless stories told to me by my family, all of whom wove great magic with their words.

  When I first started writing the DarkHunter series back in college, I decided to base it around Greek mythology with one notable exception. The Daimons. A cursed vampire-like demon that wasn’t immortal and rather than feed from blood, they fed from something a little more … robust.

  The human soul.

  While I created the curse and the mythos around the Atlanteans, Apollites and Daimons from my own mind, there was one thing I did borrow from my ancestors. Part of the tsi-noo (chenoo) legend.

  When I was a child, the tsi-noo was the bogeyman my mother would threaten me with if I didn’t behave (she also used the Manitou, but that’s another story).

  A Wabanaki legend, the tsi-noo began life as a human who was either possessed by an evil demon or one who committed some atrocious crime (usually cannibalism) that caused his heart to turn to ice. Also known as an Ice Cannibal, the tsi-noo stayed alive and grew stronger by consuming humans, especially their souls. This was why my mother told me it was imperative to say my prayers at night and to ask God to keep my soul safe while I slept. f I failed to do so, one could slip into my bed (or my dreams) and steal it away from me … because everyone knew that a child’s soul was the most coveted by the tsi-noo and if you weren’t careful, you could easily give your soul to one. I’m pretty sure all of that last bit was made up by my mother for the sheer fear factor of it as I haven’t been able to find any corroborating story about it.

  But as a little girl, the idea of having my soul stolen or being able to lock one up fascinated me and as an adult, I decided to borrow it for my Daimons.

  I also incorporated the tsi-noo, as well as several other monsters, into this book. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. I introduced Sunshine Running-wolf into the series at the beginning (she was the heroine of the second published DarkHunter novel, Night Embrace). A woman of mixed Native American heritage, she, like me, treasures both sides of her ancestry. And from the moment, I completed that novel, I’ve been aching to return to my roots and explore them more.

  Finally, in this book, I was able to pay homage to many different Native American legends and beliefs, including those of my family, and to explore them more fully.

  That being said, I’ve also created my own Native American history for the purpose of the book. The original tribes/clans, creators and Guardians I’ve used, as well as some of the monsters, are not taken from any Native American belief system or religion. This was done out of respect and on purpose.

  As a very spiritual person who comes from a mixed religious background, I have a deep and abiding love and respect for all religions and points of view. I would never intentionally insult or otherwise offend anyone.

  The Time Untime is a real Cherokee belief that I couldn’t resist borrowing a bit from and it was another story I grew up with. However, I have tweaked it a bit and will continue it on in the 2012 DarkHunter novel that will follow this one.

  I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed my foray into another pantheon. I knew when I sat down to start Jess’s story that it would grab my heart and make me laugh and cry. It did both many times.

  As with all of my books, I’m very proud of this one and I hope you enjoy taking this journey with me. Now I must get back to the voices in my head who, I pray, will never leave me alone and who will sing their songs to me for many years to come.

  But before I go, I’d like to leave you with the first words my uncle taught me to say in Tsalagi. Wa-do (wah doe). Thank you.

  Table of Contents

  Praise for Sherrilyn Kenyon:

  Also in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter World Series: (in reading order)

  Copyright

  William Jessup “Sundown”Brady Man. Myth. Monster. 1873

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Bonus scene

  Author’s Note