Acheron (Dark-Hunter #14)

Acheron (Dark-Hunter #14) Page 48

Three months later

New Orleans

Ash stood in the doorway, looking out in the church that was teeming with people. For the first time in his immortal life, he was actually scared. He didn't want to mess this up or worse, embarrass or shame her in front of her family. This was Tory's dream wedding and he wanted everything to go off exactly as she wanted it.

Her side of the church was packed to capacity from her family. The only one missing was her grandfather who was waiting to walk her down the aisle.

On his arrival in New Orleans, they'd taken Theo aside and told him the truth about Ash.

At first Theo had refused to believe it, but in the end, as Ash told him every detail about their journey across the Atlantic together when Theo had been a boy and about their chess games in the park over the years since, Theo had had no choice except to accept the truth. Then he'd been thrilled to have Tory marrying the man who'd saved his life.

The rest of her family, with the exception of Geary, who knew the truth about Ash, they told that he was the grandson of the man who'd saved Theo. It was a small lie, but so long as it kept peace and the secret of the world Ash lived in, it was a necessary one.

"You ready, T-Rex?"

Ash nodded at Talon who was one of the groomsmen. Since Tory had eleven bridesmaids, Ash had been grateful for all the Dark-Hunters. Her friend Pam, as the maid of honor, was paired with Ash's best man . . . Savitar. Kim was with Vane, Geary with her husband Arik, Katra with her husband Sin, Danger with Alexion-both of whom were in temporary human bodies. Simi was with Zarek, Justina with Kyrian, Katherine with Styxx and Aimee was there with Dev. Sunshine was with Talon and Tory's cousin Cyn, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Artemis, was with Urian-something that had irritated the woman who hated being stuck with a Greek groomsman.

For some reason only Tory seemed to get, that amused her and so Ash had accommodated her request to give Cyn the most Greek of all his groomsmen.

Talon vanished as Savitar came forward. "You nervous, Grom?"

Maybe he should be and yet he couldn't wait. He pulled the three-carat canary yellow diamond wedding ring out of his pocket and watched as it flashed in the dim light of the church. The center stone was flanked by smaller white diamonds in a very antique and unique setting-Tory had decided to go with the more traditional ancient custom of having a single wedding ring with a stone-just as they would have done in Ash's lifetime.

It would be beautiful on her.

"Not a bit," he said to Savitar. "But you look rather ill."

"It's all the clothes I'm wearing. Tuxedos make me itch. I told you the third outcome would be grisly. Marriage." He shuddered.

Ash shook his head, especially as he noted the fact that Savitar was wearing sandals. "You're barely one step up from the Australopithecines, aren't you?"

He cocked one condescending brow. "Hey, be respectful when you say that, snot nose. Haven't you seen the commercials? Us cavemen are very sensitive people."

Ash laughed, relieved that for once he wasn't the oldest person here.

They left the room to stand by the altar and wait as the long procession of bridesmaids and groomsmen began.

Jaden and Takeshi sat in the first row with Tabitha, Xirena, Grace and Amanda-the latter two were riding herd on their hyperactive children as well as Kat's daughter.

Ash was actually stunned by the number of current and former Dark-Hunters who were here. His side of the church rivaled Tory's. Of course that was probably more from the shock value of Ash getting married than anything else. Last he'd heard they were betting on the Dark-Hunter.com Web site that he'd get cold feet and bolt.

Still, it was good to see them for whatever reason and their presence here was why they'd held the wedding after dark.

As Simi came down the aisle, she lifted her bouquet to her lips and started nibbling the flowers. Ash shook his head, grateful she didn't pull the barbecue sauce out of her purse and pour it over the gardenias. When she drew near her sister, she mouthed the words, "Good eats. We'll get you one later."

Then Kyrian's daughter Marissa and Geary's daughter Kalliope came down the aisle, sprinkling red and pink rose petals on the floor.

Ash looked at the door as they started playing the wedding march. For the first time, he was actually anxious. Please don't let her be the one to get cold feet . . .

Then he saw her.

His breath caught in his throat as Tory came down the aisle not in white but wearing black. She'd explained her choice of color to her family by saying that since white was the traditional color of Greek mourning, she wanted no part of it in her wedding. But the truth was, she knew how much he hated it because of Artemis.

She even carried a bouquet of mavyllos-the sacred black roses that had been created by Ash's mother. The 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.