Chapter eight 3 страница. Zack passed his brother the ball

Zack passed his brother the ball. Laughing, Toby caught it and Ash ran him at the basket so that he could slam dunk it in to the basket that had been lowered to accommodate their smaller size. He held Toby over his head and twisted him back and forth, making the boy squeal in delight.

Trish's eyes misted at the sight of Ash with her son. "I don't know what I'd do without that man."

Tory frowned. "What do you mean?"

Trish wiped at her eyes. "Toby and my husband were in a bad car wreck a year ago. Barry was killed instantly and Toby was partially paralyzed. For weeks in the hospital, Toby was unresponsive to everyone. He wouldn't eat or speak. And then one day Ash and a friend of his came in and were singing with the kids on Toby's floor, handing out gifts. When he saw Toby, he went over and the next thing I knew, he had Toby laughing again." She sniffed. "Just look at them out there... God love that man."

Ash was holding Toby low to the ground so he could dribble the ball while his brother tried to block him. Lifting him up, Ash feigned to the right and ran at the basket so Toby could slam dunk it again. The boy lifted his arms up and whooped in triumph. Ash tickled him before he cradled him in his arms and ran him back over to his mother.

He set Toby back in his wheelchair and wiped his arm over his sweaty face. "All right, Tobe, we have to get back to the game. But Zack wants a rematch afterwards."

"He's on!"

Ash ruffled his hair before he glanced to Tory. "You doing okay?"

"Fine."

"Cool. But stay away from Sunshine's oatcakes. Talon says they're disgusting."

"Hey!" Sunshine shouted indignantly. "I'll get you for that, Ash."

Laughing, he stood up and returned to the center of the court.

"How are you doing, Toby?" Trish asked, her voice full of concern. "Did that make you hurt more?"

He beamed. "Nope. I feel great. Ash says I'll be walking again this time next year."

His mother winced as if the thought made her ache. "Oh baby... you know what the doctors think."

Toby lifted his chin. "I believe Ash. He says I'll be walking and I will. Just watch and see."

Tory smiled at the little guy. "That's the spirit."

Toby took her hand while they watched the rest of the game and cheered for his brother Zack.

When the game ended, Talon grabbed a ball to shoot again.

Ash scoffed at him. "Stop embarrassing the gene pool, Celt."

"Shut-up, T-Rex." He shot and missed.

Ash came to stand in front of Toby, arms akimbo. "Ready, squirt?"

"Ready."

Ash picked him up and looked at Tory. "You know how to play?"

"It's been a while, but yeah."

His grin taunted her. "Want to join us for a game?"

"Love to."

Talon handed her the ball as he came to sit beside Sunshine and drink some water. "I'm tired of being laughed at. Go avenge me."

Tory took her jacket off before she bounced the ball on the floor. Ash held Toby to his chest. "All right, Toby, let's annihilate the kyria."

Toby frowned. "Kyria?"

"Lady."

"Oh. Okay."

Tory feigned left and twisted around them as she ran at a basket. She was almost to it when Toby grabbed the ball and Ash put him up on his shoulders. Shouting in glory, Toby shot it at the basket and scored.

"And the crowd goes wild. Ahhhhh," Ash mocked the sound of cheering fans.

"Hey Ash?" Zack asked, running up to them. "Can I dunk one too?"

"Sure." He held Toby out to Tory who took the boy. He wrapped his little arms around her neck and made her melt while Ash grabbed his brother and put him up on his shoulders.

Zack dunked the ball and held his hands up in triumph while he bounced on Ash's shoulders.

Trish came forward, shaking her head at them. "Okay boys, tell Ash thank you, but it's time for us to go and let the next team have the court."

Toby pouted like a pro.

"Aw, mom," Zack whined as Ash set him on his feet.

Then Ash took Toby from her arms and carried him back to his wheelchair. "Don't worry, squirt. We'll beat Zack in a couple of weeks when I'm back in town."

"Okay and don't forget next Saturday! Nine a.m. sharp!"

Ash gave him a staunch Roman salute. "Ever at your service, my lord and tormentor." He brushed his hand over Zack's hair. "You played unbelievably well today. Keep practicing, kiddo."

"Will do. Bye Ash."

"Bye guys."

Tory walked up to him as they left. "You are so not an asshole."

He glanced down at her, making her wish she could see his eyes through his dark sunglasses. "Trust me, I can be. But I have a height requirement before I break ass on someone."

Talon snorted as he walked past them. "Yeah, take it from someone who's had his ass broken by him. Ash ain't all fun and games."

Without thinking, Tory put her hands on Ash's hips and leaned against his back. The moment she did, she realized she'd made a mistake as a wave of desire hit her so forcefully, it was all she could do not to pull his lips down to hers. Oh dear heaven, the man was sweaty, but he didn't stink at all. Instead, he smelled so good she wanted to take a bite out of him.

And all she wanted to do was run her hands down that hard chest and nibble him until he begged her for more.

Ash couldn't breathe as he hardened to the point of pain. Thank the gods he wasn't wearing tight pants. And the thought of her hands only being a few inches away from his cock only made him ache more.

Clearing her throat, she stepped back. "How many more games do you have to referee?"

"Two."

"Okay, I'm going back to my seat to eat some oatcakes. Good luck with the kids... oh and my favorite has to be the little guy over there, picking his nose."

Ash didn't speak as she went to sit by Sunshine. It took every bit of his willpower not to pull her back to him.

Talon handed a ball to him. "You all right, T-Rex?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"Cause in all the centuries I've known you, I've never seen you do that with a woman before."

"Do what?"

Talon laughed. "Boy, I don't think you need me to tell you what that is." He cast an incredibly quick glance down to Ash's groin.

Ash went ramrod stiff as he discreetly looked down to make sure he wasn't standing at attention. Well, he was, he just wanted to make sure it wasn't obvious.

Thankfully, it wasn't.

Which begged the question... how did Talon know?

Out of nowhere a ball came at his head. Ash caught it. Picking up his whistle, he blew it to call the players to start the game.

Tory was still rattled by what had happened. By how badly she wanted a piece of that man...

Sunshine wiped at the crumbs on her skirt. "Are you sure the two of you are just friends?"

Tory tried to appear nonchalant. "What do you mean?"

"I have never seen Ash allow someone to touch him from behind before. He normally bolts across the room if someone even comes near his back. The fact he didn't even twitch... highly suspicious."

Tory frowned at that new disclosure. "I didn't know that bothered him. He rode me on the back of his motorcycle over here."

Sunshine gave her a wide-eyed stare. "Touch you, girl. You are special."

"You think?"

"Honey, trust me. What you just did was a freaking miracle and I really wish you could appreciate how amazing it was."

Tory took a sip of water as she watched Ash with a set of older kids. And as she watched him and pieced together what little she knew about his past, she had a really bad feeling about his childhood.

There was only one reason she could think of that it would bother him that much for someone to stand behind him. And the thought of it made her sick to her stomach.

"Every time I've ever made the mistake of trusting someone... it was a mistake that I regretted and paid for dearly. I'm really happy that no one has hurt you, but I haven't been so lucky, okay?"

His words rang ominously in her ears as she watched him calling a foul.

Please let me be wrong...

But the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Someone had hurt him badly in the past. So much so that he couldn't even deal with it.

It was why he hid his eyes from the world. Why he pierced a face that was so perfectly handsome it beckoned to be touched... Why he dressed in those FU clothes. It was to keep everyone away from him.

Closing her eyes, it was all she could do not to go to him and just hold him. To promise him that he was safe. How stupid a thought was that? The man was huge and he was fierce. The last thing he needed was her protection.

But he hadn't always been a man...

Tory winced as she remembered what he'd said about his parents. What had they done to him?

She didn't speak much until the last game was over. Ash and Talon stayed on the opposite side to talk to Perry for a few minutes.

Sunshine was packing up as Talon came over. "Did you have fun, baby?" she asked her husband.

Talon grinned at her. "I'm thinking we ought to make a few of those small things for ourselves."

Sunshine laughed. "Anytime you're ready. My mother is more than willing to be a grandma."

Talon kissed her passionately. "Yeah, we definitely need to get home and practice..."

Sunshine pulled back with a smile before she handed him her purse. "Lead the way."

Talon sucked his breath in before he turned to Tory. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too."

Sunshine hooked her arm in his. "Don't forget what I told you. If you need us..."

"Will do."

Ash pulled the whistle over his head as he approached her and tucked it back into his pocket. "I hope you weren't too bored on the sidelines."

"No, it was actually fun. You have great friends."

"Yeah, I do."

He bent over to pick up his coat. The moment he did, she decided to test her theory. She reached down and lightly brushed her hand under the band that held his ponytail over his neck. Her ring caught in his hair and pulled it.

Hissing in anger, he grabbed her hand and snatched it away from his hair. "Don't you ever touch me like that again." His growl was so feral, she actually thought he might hit her.

She swallowed against the severe lump in her throat. "I would never hurt you, Ash."

He didn't respond as he jerked his backpack and helmet up from the floor and stalked toward the doors.

Grabbing the jacket and helmet she'd worn, Tory followed him, wanting to cry. "Ash?"

He didn't stop until he reached his bike. He put his keys between his teeth before he shrugged his coat on.

"Ash?" she repeated. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry."

Ash tried to calm down. She'd done nothing wrong and he knew it. It was just...

He ground his teeth at the memories. He'd shave his hair off except the only thing he hated more than having his hair grabbed was feeling something, especially a breath or breeze against the nape of his neck. He hated people breathing in his ears or standing close to him, especially at his back. Even after all this time, one touch, one breath could make him feel worthless all over again. Make him feel...

Like a whore.

But Tory wasn't a part of that past. She wasn't Artemis who used those tactics to remind him of his place in her world. To remind him that he should be grateful he was allowed any kind of dignity.

Tory was simply a woman who'd touched a man not knowing the scars that lined his soul.

He let out a long breath as he calmed down. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I just don't like people grabbing my hair."

"Duly noted. Will never happen again."

He nodded.

Tory lifted her helmet as she again watched him close his eyes, remove his sunglasses and put his helmet on. Was he aware of what he did or was it so habitual that he didn't even realize his actions?

"Ash?"

He turned toward her as he fastened his chin strap.

"I think you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

Ash froze as those words touched him. But then Artemis had said that to him once... and then cursed him for them later. Don't be suckered in.

"Thanks," he said, his voice hollow as he slung his leg over to straddle the bike. Then he set his backpack over the gas tank while she climbed on behind him.

She slid up against his back, her thighs intimately pressed against his buttocks.

He waited for that familiar disgust to fill him, but it didn't. And when she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his back, he actually savored it. Starting the engine, he looked down at her tiny hands that she had laced together over his stomach.

He'd never allowed another soul to ride on his bike with him... not even Simi.

She squeezed him in a tight hug and it was all he could do not to haul her off this bike and screw her like an animal in the parking lot until the fire he felt was quenched. But he'd never do that to her. He wasn't an animal and she was...

There were no words to describe her. She was infuriating, stubborn.

And wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Touching her hands with his, he gave a light squeeze before he took the handlebars. "Hold tight."

"Will do, Achimou."

He laughed and cringed simultaneously at the Greek endearment of his name. Since the true pronunciation was Ack-uh-rahn the shortened form of it was Ack-ee-moo. Something he'd always feared someone using. So he'd learned to Anglicize his name to Asheron and then later to Ash to keep anyone from doing what she'd just done.

Yet, for reasons that were totally beyond him, he didn't mind her doing it.

Amazed by that, he headed out of the parking lot, back toward her side of town. They hadn't gone far when he felt a weird sensation go down his spine...

They were being followed.

Looking around, he saw a gray sedan closing in on them while the car in front of them was slowing down. Ash wanted to pass the car ahead, but there was too much traffic in the other lane.

Suddenly the car in front of him stopped.

He slammed on brakes at the same time a man sat up in the back seat of the car in front of them with a gun and opened fire. "Hold on!" he roared as the bullets slammed into him. Had he been human, he'd be dead. As it was, he put a shield around them to keep Tory from being hit and him from taking any more damage.

Gearing the bike down, he gunned it full throttle and shot around the car to the right, onto the sidewalk to get away from them.

Tory was terrified as she clung to Ash with everything she had. She wasn't sure how the gunshots had missed them, but she was grateful they had.

Now she saw the two cars racing behind them.

Ash took a corner so low to the ground he was amazed Tory stayed with him even with the shield around her. She hadn't been kidding. She had to be an experienced rider to take the corner and not fall off.

He considered using his powers to get them out of this, but that would tip her off big time that he wasn't human and she would lose her mind over the fact that they literally popped back into her yard. No, he was a god. He could surely outrun them.

At least until a third car cut them off. He swung to the left at the same time a fourth car drove straight for them. That car clipped his back tire.

Cursing, he felt the bike slipping out from under him. Before he could react, they went flying off the bike. Making sure to keep Tory shielded as she slid, Ash hit the ground hard as he skidded on the road.

Damn the consequences.

He was about to teleport them out of this right when the car that had hit them ran him over. Ash bellowed in pain as the front then rear tires crushed his legs. Unable to focus on anything but the agony, he dropped the shield around Tory at the same time she went slamming into a set of garbage cans that were lined around a pole.

Tears of pain filled his eyes as he struggled to breathe. He replaced the shield around Tory to protect her from any more harm and to knock her out as he rose to his feet.

Pain hit him hard. He might be a god, but he wasn't immune to damage. It wouldn't kill him. It just hurt like hell.

The men opened fire on him.

Ash slung his hand out and turned the bullets back on them. Fury rode him hard as he killed them as mercilessly as they'd tried to kill Tory.

All except one...

A small, wiry man, he was cowering beside the brown Audi sedan that had run him over.

"Who the fuck are you?" Ash snarled angrily.

The man didn't answer.

Ash grabbed him up by his throat and slammed him against the trunk of the car. "Answer me!"

But then he didn't have to... In that instant, Ash saw everything about him and the organization he served. Don't kill me please...

He heard the voices from the man's past. Voices of people who'd begged for their lives and this prick had killed them without caring.

So be it.

Ash crushed his windpipe and left him sprawled dead on the trunk of the car not caring who saw what he was doing. Still not satisfied, he looked at Tory who lay unmoving.

As he started toward her, he realized his legs were torn open and most of his body was covered with road rash because she'd been wearing his protective jacket. But none of that mattered as he knelt down on the ground beside her. Carefully, he pulled her helmet off to see the bruises on the side of her pale face and the blood on her lips.

He threw his own helmet aside. Fear and grief racked him as he felt for her pulse. She had to be okay. She had to be... His stomach knotted until he touched the faint beat.

He wanted to cry in relief. She was still alive, but she was weak from internal injuries.

Ash held his hand out for his backpack which flashed into his grip. Slinging it over his back, he picked Tory up and teleported them to Tulane Hospital. He cradled her against him as he limped painfully into the emergency room entrance.

Luckily it was someone he knew, Wanda, at the front desk.

A heavyset African-American woman, she gaped as she saw him walking toward her. His leg buckled from the pain and he almost fell. But he wouldn't do that. Not while he held Tory. He had to get her help.

"Oh my God, Ash! What happened?"

He couldn't speak as he felt Tory expel one last shallow breath before she died in his arms.

CHAPTER TEN

Ash sank to his knees in the middle of the ER as the pain from his injuries and an overwhelming, unbelievable wave of grief and anger assailed him. He didn't understand why, but he couldn't even breathe at the thought of Tory not being here.

"Tory," he snarled, holding her against his shoulder as he cupped her cold face in his hand and gently shook her body. "Don't you dare fucking die on me. Tory!"

Wanda was there with a doctor and orderlies. Standing behind him, she took his shoulders as the doctor pulled Tory out of his arms.

Ash wanted to fight them and yet he knew he couldn't. They had to save her. Don't interfere. Don't. Interfere.

Wanda's touch was gentle, but it wasn't the touch he wanted to feel. "Ash?" she said, her voice breaking.

He couldn't respond as he heard them calling for a Code Blue. They ripped Tory out of his arms and put her on a gurney before they whisked her away.

Ash knelt there on the floor, his bloodied coat fanned out, watching them run with her through the hallway while his soul screamed out for vengeance against those who'd hurt her.

"I think he's in shock."

Someone touched him. Ash growled, shoving the intern back as he came to his feet and stood there with his legs wide apart. "I'm not in shock. I'm fine."

The intern passed a wide-eyed stare to Wanda.

"Sweetie," Wanda said, touching him lightly on the arm. "You're not all right." Her gaze skimmed down his ravaged body. "You are very hurt and you need to let the nice doctor look at you."

Ash wiped at something warm that was running down his face. Thinking it was sweat, he glanced down to see his hand covered in blood that was pouring out of his temple. How could he explain to them that he'd heal? If they weren't staring at him, he'd make all the injuries vanish...

The one who couldn't heal herself was Tory. She was the one who was dead.

"I'm fine. I swear. I just need to go to the bathroom."

The intern was still suspicious but no one stopped him as he left them and entered the small room. Rage so raw he could taste it scorched him. He wanted blood and he could feel his eyes turning red. He manifested a pair of sunglasses over them before someone came out of a stall and caught sight of him in all his immortal glory.

His fury was so great that it arced a burst of power so strong, it shorted out the lights over him. Sparks rained down and sizzled while he struggled for control.

Save her...

With a mere thought he could heal her back to normal. No cuts. No wounds.

One stone throw and everything changes... He heard Savitar's voice in his head and he hated that part of his conscience. His entire human life had been ruined because of gods playing with his destiny. Of people bringing him back from the dead.

Falling to his knees, he screamed out in raw, unmitigated pain as he buried his face against his arm and struggled for sanity. He couldn't do it to Tory. He couldn't risk what saving her might do to the world. If she was supposed to die, she'd have to die. He refused to tamper with fate.

Fuck fate! You're a god, damn you, Apostolos. Seize your destiny! Save her!

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It was the one code he lived his entire life by.

"Don't die, Tory," he whispered, knowing he wouldn't forsake his oath. He wouldn't be like the ones who'd screwed him over by tampering with what should have been left alone.

Disgusted with his cowardice, he glanced at the mirror and flinched. No wonder they'd been so freaked out. He looked like walking death. His face was battered, his clothes torn and bloodied. He would change them, but then the staff would get suspicious if he walked out totally repaired. So he cleaned up his face and went back outside where Wanda was waiting. His heart stopped as he saw her holding the leather jacket that Tory had been wearing.

Wanda offered him a kind smile. "Your friend was resuscitated. They've taken her into surgery."

He took the jacket as a wave of relief washed over him. "Thank you, Wanda."

She nodded. "You sure you don't want to see a doctor?"

"Positive."

She shook her head as if disappointed by his decision. "Well I'll take you up to the waiting room. Do you have any of her information to fill out the paperwork?"

"No, not really. But you know I'm good for the bill. You do whatever it takes, damn the cost."

"I know, baby." She patted his arm as she led him toward the elevators. "We do need the names of her next of kin though."

"Megeara and Theo Kafieri. Theo is her grandfather who lives in New York and her cousin Geary lives in Greece."

"All right. I'll show you up and then come back with the forms."

Ash didn't say anything as she led him into the elevators where he'd been a thousand times while coming in here with Simi to do volunteer work. That was how he'd met Wanda. Her father had been on one of the wards where they'd brought presents at Christmas a couple of years ago after her father had had bypass surgery. They'd been friends ever since.

She took him to a small room that was sterile and cold... just like him.

"You need anything?"

He shook his head. What he needed was to know how Tory was doing. But his powers told him nothing.

"Okay. I'll be back."

He sat down to rest his legs that were still throbbing from the car having crushed them. As he moved, he caught a whiff of Tory's scent clinging to his jacket. Holding it to his nose, he inhaled her and wanted to cry. The fear of losing her actually made his hands shake and he didn't understand why. They barely knew each other.

Yet he wanted to storm upstairs and heal her.

All things go rotten. His mind roared at him for allowing himself to care about a mere human. Look at how great Artemis had treated him in the beginning. She'd bought him gifts and made sure he was comfortable, and then she'd turned on him the first time he hadn't pleased her. It was progressive entrapment that always turned against him.

Tory hated you first and then liked you...

He smiled at the memory of her throwing the hammer at his head. She was prickly. And smart. And funny. Most of all, she treated him like he was normal. Of course she didn't know he wasn't, but unlike other people she didn't grope him or make him nervous that she was a hair's breadth from trying to screw him.

She treated him like he was just another guy on the street.

"Ash?"

He looked up to see Tory's friend Kim in front of him. Her face was lined with fear and concern as she looked at him and the bloodied jacket he held.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I work here. Remember? I'm an L&D nurse. I was told by an ER friend that Tory had come in. What happened? Are you okay? Shouldn't you be downstairs being treated?"

He shook his head. "We wrecked on my bike."

Kim swallowed as her eyes filled with tears. "Is she okay?"

"They said she was in surgery. I'm waiting to hear."

She sat down beside him. "No offense, but you look pretty torn up too."

"I'll live."

She gave him a look of supreme doubt. "Why don't you give me your cell number and I'll call you the minute I hear something about Tory. You know I won't leave and you need to see a doctor and get cleaned up." She narrowed her gaze on the hole in his jeans that revealed his ravaged skin. "By the way, that wasn't a request."

Ash nodded as he realized that she was right. He wasn't doing anyone any good like this and he had another matter to attend to. Giving her his number, he left and headed for the elevator. The instant he was alone, he flashed himself to Artemis's temple on Olympus.

His anger mounting, he flung open the doors to her temple with such force, they clamored against the walls. Her koris shrieked before they ran out to leave Artemis alone with him.

Artemis sat up in a huff as she raked him with a feral glare. "What is your wreckage?"

"Damage," he corrected as he stalked toward her. "Can't you tell?"

"What? That you look like crap? You're filthy and you smell. Why didn't you bathe before you came to me?"

"Because a car ran over me, after I was chased by a group of men shooting at me, Artie."

"And that's my fault? How?"

He took a deep breath and counted to ten before he killed the mother of his daughter. Though to be honest, Katra was a grown woman who didn't really need her mother anymore... "Does the Atlantikoinonia ring any bells for you?"

"Yes, they do. So what?" That unrepentant stare went through him like an exploding grenade.

When he spoke it was through his clenched teeth as he fought for the strength not to lash out and hurt her. "They tried to kill me, Artemis. And as you can plainly see, I'm not really thrilled over it."

Her face paled. "They weren't supposed to touch you. Ever."

"No," he said, his voice dropping to the low cadence of a demon's, "their orders were to terminate an innocent human on sight. I just happened to be with her when they struck."

She gave him a droll look as she dismissed his concern and anger. "Why do you even care about the human? I was only trying to protect you."

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30