Simi's eyes flashed dark so fast that Ash barely had time to grab her and hold her back from eating the bitch-goddess. "No, Sim. Leave her alone." Then he looked at Artemis. "Insult her again and she's the least of your concerns."
Artemis scoffed. "You can't hurt me."
"You're right. I can't. But you never said I couldn't give you over to my girl here."
Simi laughed happily. "Oooo, I finally get to eat the bitch goddess? Oh, goodie!"
Artemis vanished instantly.
Ash would have taken satisfaction in that if he wasn't so upset. He released Simi and turned her to face him. "You knew about my daughter?"
She lowered her chin like a child afraid of a spanking-something he'd never done to her.
"Is akri angry at his simi?"
He pulled her to him and held her against his chest. "How could I be angry at you?" She was the only thing in his life that had ever loved him without conditions or embarrassment. But it still didn't stop him from being hurt that she'd kept this secret. "I just wish you'd told me."
"But the queen goddess said it would make you cry to know. She said it would hurt you so much-like she hurts 'cause she can't have you with her. I didn't want you to sit and cry like akra does."
He tightened his hold on her. "I know, Sim. It's okay."
She pulled back to look up at him. "Are you sad, akri?"
"A little."
She took his hand into hers. "The Simi didn't mean to hurt you, akri."
"Oh, baby, you didn't hurt me. I'll be all right."
"Okay," she said gently, " 'cause if you're not all right, I'll eat the heifer-goddess for you and make it all better."
He smiled at her. "You can't do that."
She pouted. "Just a little nip? Maybe her heel or a finger. She'd never miss it... unless she went to pick something up and then, well, who cares. Well maybe you, but no one else would."
"No, Sim. Your little nips are the size of a shark bite. I need you to find Katra for me and guard her."
"Oh, the Simi knows right where she is. I just left her."
His jaw went slack. Though to be honest, at this point he didn't know why anything shocked him. "You what?"
"She with that ex-god who hates the heifer-goddess like I do. They asked for me and Xirena to help them fight those gallu demons you used to let me eat. Apparently, there's a bunch of them out now." She reached into her purse and pulled out a bottle of barbecue sauce. "I'm all prepared."
Ash shook his head, trying to understand. "The gallu are loose now?"
She nodded. "Sin said they're coming out by the dozen-just enough to make a good appetizer for us."
Yeah, and enough to do serious damage to the human race. "Go, Simi. Watch over Katra for me."
"Okay, akri. But don't be sad." She blew him a kiss before she vanished.
He let out a tired breath as he surveyed the empty room. Everything on earth was falling apart and he was trapped here because of Artemis's insatiable libido. Where was the justice in that? "What the hell's going on?" He had to know.
Closing his eyes, he tried to locate Sin and the gallu, but all he saw was a haze with no real form or substance. That didn't surprise him, though. He usually had a hard time seeing anything below while he was in Artemis's temple. She didn't want him to know since it would make him even more restless to leave than he already was.
But there was one person who could tell him what he needed to know...
He returned to the balcony outside Artemis's main room and leaned against the railing. Closing his eyes again, he let his ensyneiditos travel out of his body, through the cosmos until he was in his mother's garden. It was the only break he was allowed while here. Because the ensyneiditos was simply the conscious part of himself and not his body, he could use it to visit others while trapped on Olympus.