Camulus was playing with both of them and Sunshine was going to get hurt.
Talon only knew one real way to protect both of them.
"So where are we going?" Sunshine asked.
"We're going to see a god about a miracle."
Ash ground his teeth as Artemis ran her hands through his long, blond hair. He shuttered his eyes as he watched her draw a lock of it between her fingers and flick the curl back and forth with her fingertip.
"I have to go," he said.
She pouted seductively, running her graceful hand down his bare chest, her fingernails gently scraping his skin. "I don't want you to go."
"Release me, Artie. I have to find Styxx before he hurts anyone else. He almost killed Zarek last night."
"Who cares? Zarek is better off dead."
"That can be said for most of us."
She painfully raked her nails down his arms, which were secured to her bedposts by a pair of soft golden cords. "I hate when you talk like that. You're so ungrateful after all I have done for you."
Oh yeah, she had done so much for him. More like to him and very little of it had been kind or enjoyable.
"Don't make me break your restraints, Artie." If he used his powers to untie her "special" cords, it would send a signal through Olympus alerting the other gods of his presence in her temple. Anytime he "visited" her, his powers were seriously restricted. He could do paltry parlor-type tricks such as open doors or dress and undress, but anything more than that would be picked up by the Olympian gods and would cause them to investigate the unknown source of power.
That was the only thing Artemis feared.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? To have Zeus or one of the others find you in my bed?"
"Then let me go."
The golden cords unwrapped themselves from his wrists. Ash sighed as he moved his arms for the first time since dawn and let the circulation travel back into his hands.
A wave of exhaustion hit him, but he shook it off.
As usual, Artemis hadn't let him sleep at all while he'd been with her, and he'd now been awake for two days straight.
He was so tired, he wanted nothing more than to sleep.
"Oh, guess what I found out for you," Artemis said. "My worthless brother, Dion, has hooked up with yours and with the Gaulic war god, Camulus, in a bid for power. Is that a goof or what?"
Acheron froze. "What did you say?"
"Dion and Cam think they can retake their godhoods and they're using your brother as their ringleader. Can you say, rockball's chance?" She laughed. "Just imagine, a forgotten Gaulic war god, my brother, whose only claim to fame is sucking down wine and getting laid, and your brother, whose only good mark is he happens to look like you. And they think the cabbage can lead them to glory." She snorted, then laughed again. "I can't wait to see what these losers have planned."
Acheron stared at her. She might underestimate their abilities, but he had a sneaking suspicion of what they intended to do.
On Mardi Gras, the barrier between this world and the one where the Atlantean Destroyer was held would be thin.
There could be only one reason for them to have Styxx in on their plans...
They wanted to release the Destroyer and the only way to do that would be by killing Ash.
One way or another, Ash was going to make sure it didn't happen.
Come Mardi Gras, they all had a big surprise coming.
They had no idea who and what they were dealing with. The Destroyer was far beyond their ability to command or control. Once unleashed, she was the most merciless ancient god imaginable. One who had slain every member of her own family. Afterward, she would have destroyed the entire earth had she not been stopped and imprisoned.