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Part II CHAPTER 22

 

  Two weeks later

  New Orleans

  Even though Ash trusted Tory, his gut was in a knot as he followed her toward the lecture hall at Tulane where she was going to give another speech on Atlantis. "Why won't you tell me what you're planning to say?"

  The obvious answer was she wanted to torture him, which she'd been doing for days.

  Damn, she could give Artemis lessons on it.

  She gave him that same, warm smile that only served to scare him more. "It's none of your business. But if you start in on me and my reputation like you did in Nashville, you're going to be living in your own apartment again. Alone. Remember, I get Simi custody. Right, Sim?"

  "That's right. " Simi grinned proudly as she skipped along beside him. "Relax, akri. Akra-Tory won't do nothing to make you angry. Only the Simi does that. "

  He laughed even though the knot in his stomach drew tighter with every step they took closer to the room.

  "You still haven't answered my question," Tory said, returning to the topic she'd started on their way over here. "What was Julius Caesar really like?"

  He shrugged nonchalantly. "The man was brilliant, but he cheated at dice. "

  She let out an impressed breath as she tightened her shoulders dreamily. "I can't believe you met him and Alexander the Great. "

  "Well, Alex was an accident. I was chasing a Daimon who ran into the town where he was staying and after I killed it, he tried to get me to join his army. I told him I was leading my own and didn't have time to unite. "

  Tory never grew tired of hearing the memories of Ash's past. He'd done so many fascinating things and had witnessed the history that she'd only read about. He'd been there during the first sack of Rome. Had stood on the Wall of China just days after it'd been finished. He'd debated philosophy with Confucius and had eaten dinner with Kublai Khan and attended a feast with Buddha when he'd been just a young boy. He'd walked in Egypt when the Giza necropolis was being built. He'd played games with the dauphin when the boy had been a toddler and eaten dinner with the real King Arthur . . . it was just incredible the life he'd lived.

  And he made her wonder what future historical events the two of them would share together.

  "What about Jesus?" she asked, dying to know. "Did you ever meet him?"

  "I heard him speak on several occasions. Again, he was brilliant and fascinating. There was just something about him that made you pay attention. "

  "But you didn't meet him?"

  He shook his head.

  "Why not?"

  "For the same reason I never officially met Gandhi. I didn't feel worthy enough. I just liked to listen to them speak. " Ash opened the door to the lecture hall.

  Tory froze as she saw the gathered crowd.

  Ash put his hand on her arm to steady her. "It'll be all right. Simi and I will eat anyone who so much as blinks at you in the wrong way. "

  Still she wasn't comforted. "I don't know about this. "

  "Then let's leave. My bike's outside, fully fueled. "

  She glared at him before she shook her head. "At least my pages are numbered this time. " Taking a deep breath for courage, she forced herself to enter the room where the people looked more like sharks to her than historians, students and archaeologists.

  But at least this time she had Ash with her. And Simi.

  Ash stayed by her side until he reached the first row. He set his backpack down then took a seat. Simi flounced down beside him and smiled encouragingly.

  Tory felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest as she approached the podium. The crowd here was almost as large as the one in Nashville.

  God, how she hated speaking in public.

  As she readied her pages, the door opened to admit Kim and Pam who waved at her before they came forward to sit beside Simi. Grateful for their support, Tory adjusted the microphone. And just as she was about to start her speech, Artemis opened the door.

  She went cold at the sight and what it might mean. Not to mention, she saw the way Ash visibly tensed as if waiting for Armageddon to start.

  Without a word to anyone or a glance to Ash, Artemis moved to sit in the back row, away from Ash and the crowd.

  What the devil did she want?

  Clearing her throat, Tory forced herself to ignore her. Artemis wasn't the important one here.

  "Um, hi everyone," she said, speaking lightly into the mike. "I wanted to say thank you for coming today. I know some of you were there in Nashville to witness the debacle of my extreme humiliation . . . " she narrowed her gaze at Ash who had the good grace and sense to look sheepish and contrite, "but as you know, my team, a couple of weeks ago, excavated a large section of the underwater ruins we believed to be Atlantis. "

  A hand went up from a man she recognized as a historian, but she couldn't recall his name. She pointed at him.

  "I heard that among the things found were conclusive artifacts that date back to 9,000 BC. If you can confirm this, you do know that you will have totally rewritten the historical record?"

  Before she could respond the doors opened one more time to show her a UPS delivery man. Oblivious to the fact that he was interrupting her lecture, he headed straight for her. "Dr. Kafieri?"

  "That would be me. "

  He handed her an electronic pad to sign.

  Confused, she nervously looked around. "Please excuse me," she told the room as she signed her name, then took the small package from his hands. Frowning, she opened it to find Ryssa's final journal, the one that Artemis had had her men steal along with Ash's backpack.

  It was the conclusive proof that would rewrite history and make not only her name but that of her father and uncle legends in their field.

  This was the moment she'd always dreamed of. Ever since they'd laid her father to rest, her sole goal in life had been redeeming his name.

  Her heart hammering, she looked at Ash whose face was now pale. He met her gaze and she saw his fear fade.

  "Go ahead, baby. I know how much it means to you. Give your father back his reputation. " Only she could hear Ash's deep voice in her head.

  Those words brought tears to her eyes. She knew what that would do to Ash. The men and women he called friends would know exactly how ugly his past had been. While she was sure many of them wouldn't care, she knew enough about people to know that not all of them would feel that way. Some of them would never see him the same way again. They would laugh and they would mock.

  Most of all, they would never forgive him for a truth that hadn't been his fault. They would make him feel the same way Artemis had for all these centuries.

  And that would crush him.

  "I'm sorry, Dad," she whispered under her breath before she put the book back into its envelope and returned to her speech. She cleared her throat. "Yes, we found quite a few items that are quite old. Unfortunately, none of them date back to what I believe to be the time of Atlantis. More than that, the ruins we found appear to be nothing more than a small Greek shipping village. I fear that the experts are correct. There is no Atlantis in the Aegean. After all these years, I've come to understand that my family and I have been on the wrong path.

  "That being said, my team is currently heading to the Bahamas to rendezvous so that we can look more closely at the Bimini Road find. If there is an Atlantis, which I now doubt completely, that might be the key to it. "

  She swallowed as she looked around the room and saw the scowls on the faces of her peers. "I wish I had better news for everyone and you can all read my report on our findings in my upcoming paper, as well as on my Web site once I get it finished. In the end though, my quest for Atlantis did teach me something. In all our pasts lie our futures. By our own hands and decisions we will be damned and we will be saved. Whatever you do, put forth your best effort even if all you're doing is chasing a never-ending rainbow. You might never reach the end of it, but along the wa
y you'll meet people who will mean the world to you and make memories that will keep you warm on even the coldest nights. Thank you all for coming. "

  Pushing her pages together, she met Ash's incredulous stare and smiled at him.

  There were murmurs and whispers as the crowd quietly dispersed, including a few derogatory ones about her and her father. But for once, she didn't care. Words were nothing. It was the people in her life who mattered most.

  As they left, Simi punched Ash in the arm. "See, akri. The Simi don't raise no fools. I told you my girl was a good one. Akra-Tory never do anything to hurt her Achimou. "

  Ash laughed.

  Artemis, however, looked less than pleased as she made her way down to Tory.

  Tory tightened her grip on the package that Artemis had sent to her, ready to fight to the end of time to keep the journal out of Artemis's hands again.

  "I thought for sure you'd use that to save face. "

  Tory shrugged. "I loved my father more than anything. But as much as it pains me to admit it, I know he's dead. Ash isn't. Better everyone laugh at me than they laugh at him. "

  Artemis looked incredulous that she'd say such a thing. "You really do love him, don't you?"

  "More than my life. "

  "And more than your dignity. " There was a note of respect in her voice. Artemis turned to glance at Ash. When she looked back at Tory, there were tears in her eyes. "Take care of him, Soteria. Give him what I couldn't. " She gave one light squeeze to her hand before she turned away.

  Ash stood up as Artemis approached him. He saw the longing in her eyes as she started to touch him, but even now she couldn't bring herself to do so in public.

  "I want you and your human to have a good life. But I do want you to remember one thing. "

  "And that is?"

  "There will never be another Dark-Hunter who goes free. Your happiness comes at the expense of their freedom because there's no one else I want to barter with. No one else to pay the fee you set up centuries ago. Knowing that, I hope you sleep well at night. "

  Ash ground his teeth in rage of her coldness as she walked away. He started after her, but Tory stopped him.

  "Let her go, Ash. We have the journal. Her Atlantikoinonia have been neutralized and my team is none the wiser about our search. They just think we've changed directions. All in all, we've done well. "

  "But what about the Dark-Hunters?"

  She smiled with a newfound optimism. "The one thing I've learned most out of all this is that it's not over until all the cards are played. She laid down her ace, thinking we can't beat it. But there are fifty-one other cards in the deck and the game isn't over yet. We'll figure something out. Her little fit right now just shows that she's played her best hand. That was all she's capable of doing to hurt you which is exactly why she did it. Don't let her ruin your day, baby, and don't let her take from us what we have. We've gotten this far together. What's another bitter goddess to us? Like my papou always says, over, under, around or through. There's always a way and we'll find it. "

  By his features she could tell he was impressed. "How can a woman so young be so wise?"

  "I'm an old soul. "

  "And I'm a lucky man to have you. "

  She smiled as she handed him Ryssa's journal. "Yes, you are. But that's okay. I'm a lucky woman to have you. "

  "I still say one of you people like people should let the Simi eat the heifer-goddess. She be good eats. The Simi would even share her with her sister. "

  Laughing, Ash took Tory's hand and once the room was cleared, he flashed her to Katoteros. Simi flounced off to watch TV.

  Without a word, he pulled Tory through the throne room toward the ballroom that hadn't been used since his mother destroyed the Atlantean pantheon.

  Tory frowned as Ash turned around and walked backwards while smiling at her. The doors opened at his approach and the minute he was inside the huge dark room his clothes changed to vintage 1978 punk, complete with black combat boots, ripped jeans, a torn Union Jack T-shirt and a black motorcycle jacket with chains and an anarchy symbol emblazoned on the back.

  "What are you doing?" The words had barely left her lips before her own clothes changed to the same exact dress her mother had worn the night she'd met her father.

  The doors closed, sealing them into darkness. An instant later a light came on to showcase a silver mirrored ball at the same time Donna Summer's "Last Dance" started playing. The floor under her feet lit up like a 1970s disco as Ash twirled her under his arm.

  Smiling at her, he began to sing, "I need you. By me. Beside me . . . to guide me. To hold me. To scold me . . . "

  She laughed even as tears of happiness stung her eyes. As the beat picked up, he danced with her until she was outright crying and laughing to the point she was sure she must look insane.

  The fact that he'd recreate this memory for her even though he hated her music with a passion . . .

  He was the best ever.

  She laughed as he moved flawlessly around the dance floor with her. "You would give John Travolta a run for his money. "

  "Yeah and I'm sorry about my clothes. I tried, but I just couldn't bring myself to wear that. Hell, I couldn't do the disco look even when it was popular. I swear I'm allergic to polyester. Thank God for the punk movement. Otherwise I'd have been naked for a decade. "

  She laughed as she tried to imagine him in a green leisure suit. No, it definitely didn't work.

  She much preferred thinking of him naked. But only when they were alone.

  "So what would you have worn back in the days when you were human?"

  "A bedsheet. "

  Tory nodded as she thought about it. "See I knew that's what they made chitons out of. Geary said I was crazy, but I always suspected as much. "

  Ash froze as he realized that she hadn't understood his reference to being a whore. She merely thought he was describing the fabric of his clothes. To her, he was a man. Nothing more and definitely nothing less.

  Lifting her up and twirling around with her, he held her close, savoring the way that she never reminded him of his past.

  And when he set her down, she was dressed as an Atlantean princess.

  Tory gasped at her long, flowing gown. Bright blue, it fell in pleats from a deeper blue underbust bodice that was covered with pearls and sapphires. But what made her face flame bright was the sheer material that barely covered her breasts. Her nipples were plainly visible. "Oh no! Tell me they didn't wear this. "

  Nodding, he turned her to face a mirror that appeared out of nowhere so that she could see the entire outfit as they swayed together. Gold chains draped from her bare shoulders to her elbows and her hair, which was curled into ringlets, was covered with a gorgeous gold headpiece. Tory stared at herself, adoring the clothes but hating that she was too tall, too skinny and too plain to do them justice.

  And as she looked at Ash over her shoulder, still dressed as a punk rocker, she wanted to weep. He was gorgeous and she looked like the booby prize.

  "Ash," she said, her voice catching, "can you do one thing for me?"

  "Anything, Sota. You name it and it's yours. "

  "Make me beautiful. "

  He turned her to face him and he laid a kiss on her lips that set fire to her blood. Pulling back, he smiled down at her. "There you go. You're the most beautiful woman in the world. "

  Tory spun back to the mirror, dying to see what she looked like.

  As she saw herself, she scowled.

  She hadn't changed. "Ash!"

  "What?" he asked innocently, pulling her back against his front so that he could stare at her in the mirror.

  "You didn't do anything. "

  His gaze met hers and the sincerity in those swirling silver eyes scorched her. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Soteria. This is the woman I fell in love with and there's nothing about you I'd ever change. "

  Leaning back ag
ainst him, she reached up to touch his cheek. "Really?"

  "Absolutely. And I hope that one day, we have a houseful of kids who look just like you. "