"And you trust not at all."
His face grim, he moved away from her. "You're damned right."
Okay, she'd learned a trigger for the ex-god. Don't even tease about trust. He had issues there.
Wanting to restore the comradery they had almost found before it had veered off the road and careened down the hill where it exploded into flames, she sought to change the subject. "So are you going to show me how to fight those things so that the next time Kessar darkens your door I can make him limp and bleed?" Her words almost got a smile out of him.
Almost.
"What about the sfora and finding my brother?"
"Hold that thought a second." Kat closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. She saw her grandmother in her garden and though she wasn't weeping, Kat could feel Apollymi's sadness. Her grandmother wasn't up to receiving visitors just yet and that meant even her alone. She was still angry over Sin's last visit and aching over what had happened to Acheron.
Opening her eyes, Kat gave Sin a pointed stare. "Can we wait a bit? I don't think Grandma wants to see you or me just yet. Give her a little more time... another hour or two, and hopefully this time when we go she won't try to feed you to her demons. Is that okay?"
"Not really. But since I know better than to rush an angry goddess, I'll strive for an ounce of patience."
This was true. "Besides," she added. "We have Simi coming and I think it best we be here when she arrives."
"Yeah," he said with a low laugh. "I definitely don't want a hungry Charonte around my workers and clientele."
It was true. Simi could be a bit ferocious when left on her own. "So are we up for the training?"
He looked at her clothes. "We'll need to get you something else to wear. I don't think that's going to work for training."
Well, it worked for fighting, but she wasn't going to point that out and risk alienating him when she really needed to know how to kill those things that made her skin crawl.
Kat snapped her fingers and her jeans and shirt turned into black workout pants and a black tank top, complete with tennis shoes. "This work?"
"That'll work." He duplicated her gesture of snapping his fingers and his own clothes changed to black sweatpants and a white tank top that only emphasized the dark, sculpted muscles of his body.
Oh yeah, baby... She had to stop herself from sucking her breath in as desire tore through her. Good grief, he was yummy when barely dressed. And it made her wonder how much more yummy he might be naked.
Not to mention, his actions proved that he was a lot more powerful than the average Dark-Hunter. He might not have all his god powers, but he had enough to make him extremely formidable.
Wondering what he was going to show her, she followed him down the hallway to a large exercise room.
Ash groaned in his sleep as his dreams twisted through a hazy mist. He truly hated dreaming. He always had. They never made sense and this one was no more helpful or lucid than any other.
There were two women tormenting him that he didn't know. One was tall and blond. Strangely, she reminded him of Artemis. But it wasn't her. This woman had compassion and gentle eyes. She stood over him with a sad look on her face.
"One day we will know each other..."
Then the other stepped forward, but her face was completely hidden by the mist. Even so, he knew she was angry at him. Furious even as her eyes glared at him through the shadows. "Who do you think you are? I hate you! Get out. I don't ever want to see you again. I hope you get hit by a car in the parking lot. If I'm lucky, it'll even back up over you. Now go!"
The venom of the tone tore through him. What had he done to her? Why would she hate him? All women loved him. They coveted his presence.
But not this one.
She wanted to cut his head off.
Ash woke up in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to realize he was in Artemis's bed, safe from the scalding tongue of his tormentor. Wiping his brow, he sat up slowly, letting the white silk sheets pool around his waist.
Gods, how he hated to sleep. He'd never had a good dream in his entire existence. But at least these weren't focused on his past. They were from somewhere else...
"Worthless!"
He scowled at Artemis's shriek from the other room. It was followed by the sound of something breaking.