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Three days later as she walked across cah to spit out iron nails How dare Dr Alexander give her journal to thatthat

One day she was going to think of a word that would adequately describe Acheron&039;s particular breed of low, gutter, nasty, vileness

"Dr Kafieri?"

She turned to see Kyle Peltier, one of her students, running up to her He was a typical junior, with blond hair and a sweet face He&039;d just transferred from another school this semester and was one of her better students "Yes?"

"A friend of ive you this" He held out a box wrapped in kraft paper

She stared at the unexpected gift "I don&039;t understand"

"Me either, but when he asks for a favor, you do the favor without asking why"

Tory frowned at his cryptic words as she took the box Kyle i " The box was heavy She shook it, but couldn&039;t figure out what it ht contain

Her current luck, a bomb

Pushing the thought aside, she rabbed a cup of coffee and then set about opening it which was easier said than done It was like the giver had hermetically sealed it shut with tape "I hate when people do this!"

Finally, after no less than five minutes, she was able to detach the lid fro it up, she froze It contained a hale red rose, and a leather pouch the sa, she picked up the brown leather pouch and opened it to find her journal

A sht thing Now she was able to laugh about the hammer and the olive "branches" he&039;d put inside She picked up his note and opened it to find a beautiful masculine script

I&039;m really not the asshole you think I a woman in an isolated part of Greece and docuhteen , but if you want more details, call me 555-602-1938

Eirini,

Ash

Eirini-Greek for peace Tory shook her head Not the asshole she thought, yeah right But it was kind of a sweet gesture and he had returned her journal

With a rose

Holding it up, she inhaled the sweet scent and debated whether or not she ever wanted to lay eyes on the troll again

With his arms crossed over his chest, Urian frowned at Ash while Ash sat on his throne in Katoteros and played the guitar Al white blond hair that he wore pulled back into a ponytail A former Daimon, Urian had been saved by Ash after Urian&039;s father viciously cut his throat And like his father, Urian had a most acerbic personality that he wasto deal with Urian&039;s ill nored theMatchbox 20&039;s "Push" under his breath

Si QVC as she devoured a tub of barbecue-flavored popcorn She was dressed in black tights and a short plaid skirt with a pink and black peasant top and corset

Urianat Ash as if Ash were a science experi For thousands of years, Alexion had been the only person Ash allowed in his houilt since Alexion had been Ias-one of the first Dark-Hunters Artehost existence by using his blood to keep Ias fro a Shade

Too bad Savitar hadn&039;t explained those powers to Ash sooner It would have saved both hirief But at least Ias wasn&039;t in constant pain and misery

"What&039;s the deal with the bossed "I don&039;t know He caht with a book, went to his roo and has been playingthose songs ever since"

Those songs were ballads, which Acheron never played God-smack, Sex Pistols, TSOL, Judas Priest, but not

"Is that" Urian physically cringed before he spat out the narimaced in horror "I didn&039;t even know he knew any odsis he ill?"

"I don&039;t know In nine thousand years, I&039;ve never seen hi to get scared This has to be a sign of the Apocalypse If he breaks out into Air Supply, I say we sneak up on hi him outside and beat the holy shit out of him"

"I&039;ll let you and the de state too much to jeopardize it"

Ash looked up and pierced theirls have sorinned "Not really"

Ash growled a loarning, but before he could really threaten thehed in frustration Da off This ti with hihts scattered as he saw a New Orleans area code He didn&039;t recognize the nu it open, he answered

"Is this Ash?"

"Soteria?"

Tory&039;s throat went dry at the way he said her naht Greek was a pretty language, but when he spoke it

She could barely foro by Tory"

"Oh, I didn&039;t know Can I do soet naked and

She shook her head She never had thoughts like that and she didn&039;t knohy she had them nohen she had business to discuss with so about the journal Is there any chance you could meet me later and tell me ing up on her after she&039;d tossed a hammer at him, she smiled "I&039;ll be ho up

It wasn&039;t until Tory closed the phone that she realized so She hadn&039;t told him where she lived "Oh

She answered it to find Ash there with that deep,voice "I just realized I don&039;t have your address"

Laughing, she shook her head at her overactive iination "I&039;m not hard to find I&039;m at 982 St Anne down in the Quarter"

"I shall see you later then"

The archaic way he said that actually sent a shiver down her spine Hanging up, she couldn&039;t help but smile and she didn&039;t even knohy

He&039;s a jerk A complete and utter ass

Who&039;d sent her a rose and who appeared to kno to read a language no one else could A language she desperately needed to understand This was business It wasn&039;t a date She could stand his pushy arrogance long enough to get what she needed and then she was going to toss him out on his butt

Ash hesitated as he flashed himself a few houses down from Tory&039;s Like the woman ned it, it blended in with the rest of the houses on the street Really nothing about it stood out, yet it was plainly beautiful Painted a very pale pink and trimmed in antique white, it was a typical New Orleans turn-of-the-century shotgun rowhouse The shutters were drawn tightly closed and as he tried to see inside to find her, he saw nothing

Nothing

You should probably run

But why? All it meant was that they&039;d be friends of some sort This wasn&039;t the first time this had happened to him

Bullshit Even when you were destined to be friends with soli

That actually scared hi on it

He heard what sounded like so knocked over inside followed by a lohispered, "Shoot!" He bit back a s about before she opened the door

Her brown hair was down today Thick, shiny and wavy, that hair beckoned to be touchedno, it beckoned a man to bury his face in it and breathe her in How could he have ever thought it plain? No wonder she&039;d worn it up the other night Not to er when it was down around her face Her cheeks were flushed which low

And those lips

Plu

But the best part had to be her glasses which were ever so slightly askew As if sensing it, she straightened them and blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes "Sorry I have technical difficultiesThank God round I&039;d probably killif I was this bad under water"

"No problem" Ash ducked down to enter the doorway

Tory&039;s eyes widened as she watched hi rooe, his presence in it see He literally filled the roo presence "You are freakishly tall, aren&039;t you?"

He arched a black brow over the rilasses that seemed to be per my help you are ever determined to insult me Should I make this as painless as possible and leave now before the die-painfully-you-asshole-prick stuff starts again?"

She shut the door "I would say I&039;m sorry about that, but you have to admit you were an asshole What would you do if someone had done that to you?"

Ash didn&039;t answer It depended on if it&039;d been before or after his godhood had been unlocked Before he&039;d have taken it Nowoh they&039;d regret it for eternity

He scanned the small house that was littered with ancient artifacts from Greece and Rome, as well as tons of framed photos of their ruins Then he saw the small trash can she&039;d stumbled into The contents were still half on the floor She was a walking disaster that he found oddly char place you have here"

"Yeah, I love old things"

A wave of ae "How old?"

"Oh, the older the better You can never be old enough where I&039;round he walked on

"Can I get you solasses up on her nose

"You got a beer?"

She scowled at him "Isn&039;t it a little early in the day for that?"

"Wine?"

Rolling her eyes, she ust "I swear you are such a frat boy Are you even old enough to drink?"

The insult amused him "Yeah Trust me, I&039;m a lot older than I look"

"I&039;ve heard that before I&039;d ask for your license, but it&039;s probably fake"

Actually, it was, but only because no one would ever believe his real birth date and if they did, they&039;d be trying to lock hievity

"Don&039;t you want soood, really I don&039;t want any more insults I&039;d like to experience three whole ainand we really should make sure the tools are all locked up" He pulled the sleeve of his jacket back to look at his watch "Let"

She opened her ot two o"