She pouted at him. "You'd like for him to kill me, wouldn't you?"
He let out a small laugh. "Hell, no. I want that honor myself."
How dare he! "You wretched-"
"Don't insult me, Artie," he said, cutting her words off with an irritable tone, "when we both know you don't mean it. I get really tired of the lip service."
A shiver went over her at his choice of words. "Strange. I never get tired of yours." She reached to touch his lips. They were the only part of his body that was soft-like the petals of a rose-and she was ever fascinated by them. "You have the most beautiful mouth, Acheron, especially when it's on my body."
Ash groaned as he recognized the heat in her emerald eyes as she fingered his lips. It made his skin crawl. "Aren't you ever satisfied? I swear if I were mortal, I'd be limping from our last go-round. If not dead. We really need to find you a hobby other than jumping on top of me."
But it was too late, she was already pushing his knee down and straddling his thighs.
Grinding his teeth, Ash leaned his head back as she began to nibble his throat. He tilted his head, knowing what was coming while she lightly tongued his skin. Her heartbeat was already pounding as she slid herself closer to him.
And then he felt her sharp incisors piercing his skin an instant before she began drinking his blood...
"Katra!"
Kat Agrotera sat bolt upright in her bed at the shrill call in her head. "What did I do?" she asked, trying to figure out why Artemis would be angry at her now.
"Were you asleep?"
She blinked as Artemis appeared in the room beside her bed. The room was completely dark except for the eerie glowing blue light that radiated out of Artemis's body.
Kat glanced down at the bed where she sat in her pink sock monkey pajamas with rumpled sheets and hair, then decided sarcasm was not the better part of sanity. "I'm awake now."
"Good. I have a mission for you."
Kat had to bite back a sharp laugh. "I hate to be the bearer of reminders, but you traded my service to Apollymi, remember? Now the big evil of Atlantis that you fear forbids me to do anything you say. She kind of finds it funny that she can irritate you that way."
Artemis's eyes narrowed on her. "Katra..."
"Matisera..." she said, imitating Artemis's agitated tone."I didn't ask for this. You're the one who made the bargain with Apollymi that I have to live with. Personally, it irks the shit out of me to be traded like some Yu-Gi-Oh! card you got tired of having around the house. But trade me you did. So sorry, I'm playing for the other team now. "
Artemis came forward then, and for the first time Kat realized she was actually afraid.
"Is something wrong?"
Artemis nodded before she whispered, "He's going to kill me."
"Acheron?" He was the most likely candidate.
"No," she said sharply, "Acheron would never hurt me. He just threatens it. Do you remember when you were a young woman?"
Well, given the fact that was about eleven to ten thousand years ago, it was a bit of a stretch for her. "I try not to, but some things are still crystal. Why?"
Artemis sat down on her bed before she took Kat's stuffed tiger and pulled it to her. "Do you remember the Sumerian god Sin?"
Kat frowned. "The one who broke into your temple eons ago and tried to take your powers and kill you?"
Artemis's hand tightened on the tiger. "Yes. He's back and he's trying to kill me again."
How was that possible? Kat had personally taken care of that enemy. "I thought he was dead."
"No, Acheron saved him before he could die and made him a Dark-Hunter. Sin thinks I'm the one who drained him of his powers and left him for dead." The terror in Artemis's eyes scorched her. "He's going to kill me, Katra, I know it. The entire world is going to end. We are coming up on the Sumerian apokalypsi-"
"I don't think they use that word."