"You know," he said to Ash, "that's so not fair. I don't understand how it is you dress like a freak and still women want to do you."
Ash turned his head and gave him an amused smirk. "When you got it, you got it."
"Yeah, but it's seriously annoying to those of us who want it. The least you could do is share." Nick took a bite of food. "Who are you involved with anyway?"
Ash didn't answer. He never did. "Back to our discussion. The reason you're here is that I need your help to break the news to Kyrian that Valerius is in New Orleans."
Nick choked on his bread. "Oh, like hell."
"Nick, this is serious. Sooner or later they will cross paths and I want both him and Julian prepared for it. If, Zeus forbid, one of them kills Val, Artemis will have free rein to go after them. I don't want to see either one of them suffer or die. They have wives and kids who need them."
Nick wiped his mouth and swallowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to back me up. Help me convince Kyrian that he doesn't need to extract revenge on Valerius."
Nick let out a tired breath as he raked his plastic fork through the beans. That was something that was much easier said than done. "You're asking a lot of me, Ash. Personally, I'd like to help him beat the crap out of that arrogant bastard."
"Nicholas Ambrosius Gautier, you watch your language!"
Nick jerked around at the sound of his mother's melodic Cajun drawl. She stood behind him with the Nick-you're-in-trouble-buster scowl on her face. At forty, she looked a lot younger and had her long blond hair put up in a bun. Dressed in jeans and a blue sweater, she would have been very attractive if she weren't his mother.
Ash moved Nick's beer closer to him.
His mother clucked her tongue at Ash. "Now don't you be covering for him, Ash." She wagged her finger at Nick. "Are you driving?"
"No, Mom, I'm sitting."
"Don't get smart with me. You know what I mean."
He offered her his charming smile that usually worked to get his butt out of trouble. "It's my first, and I won't drive if I have any more."
She turned to Ash with the same motherly scowl that managed to be both peeved and loving. "What about you? Are you on that motorcycle of yours?"
"No, ma'am."
"Mom," Nick said, annoyed by her interruption, "what are you doing here?"
"I was walking to work and saw you two in here. I just wanted to stop in and say hi since I won't be home until late and you busted out of the house at dawn without so much as a goodbye to me." She gave him a hurt look. "Can't a mother spend five minutes a day with her son without it being a criminal offense?"
Now he felt like a total heel. "I'm sorry, Mom. I had to do a few things for work this morning and I wanted to get it done so I could have more study time."
She ruffled his hair. "It's okay, I understand."
Then she looked Ash up and down, opened his coat and sighed in concern. "I swear you're even thinner than you were the last time I saw you." She motioned the bartender over and ordered red beans and rice for Ash. "You want anything else?" she asked him.
"No, thank you."
She wagged her finger at Ash. "You're going to eat all of it, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Nick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at Ash's Eddie Haskell impersonation and his mom trying to mother an eleven-thousand-year-old warrior. Only Cherise Gautier would have that kind of gall. "Mom, he doesn't need you to baby him."
She straightened the collar of Acheron's coat and smoothed it with her hand. "Trust me, Nick, he needs someone to watch out for him, just like you do. You boys just think you're all grown-up and ready to take on the world."
If she only knew...
"Now," she continued, "why don't you bring Ash over to Sanctuary tonight and let me make him some strawberry shortcake and Cajun hash browns to put some meat on those lean bones of his? You can study in the back room if you need to and keep me company while I work."