"What about my store?"
"Have Marla watch over it for a couple of weeks."
"Yeah, but-"
Ash's features hardened. "Don't argue with me, Tabitha. Desiderius is a major power with one hell of a grudge against you, your sister, and Kyrian. He's not going to be playing with the three of you this time. He's going to kill you."
Normally, she would argue with him just for spite. But she knew that tone of voice. No one argued with Ash for long. "Fine."
"You have your orders, General," Ash said sternly to Valerius.
Valerius gave him a rather sarcastic Roman salute.
Rolling his eyes, Ash flashed out of the room.
Now that they were alone, Valerius stared at her without speaking. Fury was burning so raw inside him that it actually hurt her.
"What?" she asked.
Without a word, he went to the picture on her buffet of Amanda's wedding and pulled the Russell Crowe picture off Kyrian's face.
He cursed. "I should have known when you told me her name was Amanda."
The look of repugnance on his face set her off. "Yeah, and my name is Tabitha, not Amanda. What has that got to do with anything?"
But he didn't hear her. She knew it.
He stalked quietly from the room and went back upstairs. She jumped at the sound of her bedroom door slamming.
"Fine," she said out loud. "Be a baby. I don't care."
Valerius sat motionless on the edge of the bed as his mind ranted over who Tabitha really was.
The twin of Kyrian's wife had saved him. This was priceless, truly priceless. Here he'd spent the last two thousand years avoiding the Greek so as not to hurt him by reminding him what Valerius's family had done to him, and now this...
He clenched his teeth as he felt for Kyrian's betrayal. Valerius's grandfather, an exact look-alike for Valerius, had seduced Kyrian's beloved wife Theone centuries ago and used her to betray her husband. Kyrian hadn't been captured on the battlefield as befitted a man of his stature. He'd been drugged by the hand of his wife in his own home as he tried to save her, and then handed over to his mortal enemy.
Valerius's stomach churned as he remembered the weeks where his father and grandfather had tortured the Greek general for information and for fun. Remembered Kyrian's screams.
The sight of the man lying bloody and defeated haunted him to this day. Kyrian had lain there with his eyes pain-filled and empty. Only once during those weeks had their gazes met and the look in Kyrian's eyes was still seared into Valerius's soul.
Worse, Valerius remembered his grandfather laughing at dinner the night Kyrian had been crucified after Kyrian's father had tried to save him.
"You should have seen his face as his wife came in my arms right in front of him. I had his whore moaning and begging for my cock as he watched me fuck her. Too bad he died before he could see her face when I threw her out."
Valerius had never understood that cruelty. It was enough to defeat an enemy, but to use his woman in front of him...
And now he was sleeping with the identical twin of Kyrian's wife.
History did, in fact, repeat itself.
And Acheron had known and not told him. Why would the Atlantean insist on the two of them being together when he had to know what this would do to Kyrian? It didn't make sense. Any more than Tabitha saving him when she herself knew Kyrian hated him.
Jupiter knew the man had every right to wish him dead. No wonder Selena had hated him so passionately. As Kyrian's sister-in-law, it was a wonder she hadn't been even more violent toward him.
The door opened.
Valerius tensed as he saw Tabitha come inside. She didn't speak to him as she set about packing a small suitcase... of weapons.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What Ash said to do. I'm going to move in with you."
"Why not go and stay with Kyrian and Amanda?"
"Because I trust Ash. If he says I should be with you, then I'm going."
"Will you be spitting on me as well?" The question was out before he could stop it.
Tabitha paused at his untoward question. "Pardon?"
A tic started in Valerius's jaw. "It's what your sister Selena does every time she sees me. I was wondering if I should make sure to keep a good lougie distance from you, too."
Tabitha would have laughed had he not been deadly serious. "Lougie. Interesting word for you. I wouldn't have thought you knew that one."
"Yes, well, your sister and my latest Squire have tutored me well on the mighty lougie." He stood up and moved toward the door. "I shall wait outside until you're through."
Tabitha kicked the door closed before he reached it. He turned with a supreme look of arrogance.
"What has crawled up your butt and died?"
"Excuse me?" he asked, his voice every bit as icy as his look.
"Look, there are a few things you need to know about me. One, I don't take crap from anyone. Two, I don't hold anything back. Whatever I feel about something or someone, I let it be known."
"I noticed."
She ignored his interruption. "And three, I am an empath. You can stand there and act all nonchalant as you want to, but at the end of the day, I feel what you do. So don't act all secretive and cold when I know better. It just pisses me off."
His jaw slackened ever so slightly. "You're an empath?"
"Yes. I know that Ash's presence in the kitchen hurt you, but I don't know why, and I felt your fury flare the minute you uncovered Kyrian's face." She reached up and placed her hand to his cheek. "My mother always said that still waters run deep. The only time your actions have matched your emotions was last night when we were making love and when you came up here and slammed the bedroom door."
He tried to move away, but she refused to let him. "Deal with me, Val, don't walk away."
"I don't understand you," he said, his heart pounding. "I'm not used to anyone liking me, especially not people who have every right to hate me."
"Why should I hate you?"
"My family ruined your brother-in-law."
"And my Uncle Sally was a loan shark who died when one of his shakedowns shot him dead in the street. Every family tree has an asshole in it. That's not your fault. You're not the one who killed Kyrian, are you?"
"No, I was just a child when he died."
"Then what's your problem?"
For an unreasonable person, she had moments of strange lucidity. "Every person I have met in this town who knows Kyrian has hated me from the moment they saw me. I assumed you would be like them."
"Well, you know what they say about assume... it makes an ass out of u and me. Jeez. I love Kyrian, but the man really needs to learn how to let go of the past."
He couldn't believe her. That she would be so accepting of him was...
She pulled him into a tight, oddly invigorating hug. "I know I can't keep you, Valerius. Believe me, I understand fully the life you have and the calling. But we are friends and we are allies."
He held her close as those words resonated deep inside him.
She let go and stepped back. "And we have things to do tonight. Right?"
"Right."
"Very good then, let's rocket."
He frowned. "Rocket?"
She gave him a silly grin. "My nephew Ian is addicted to the Power Rangers. I think I've been watching the videos way too long with him."
"Ah," he said, reaching for her suitcase. "Let's get you settled at my place and then we can head out tonight and see what Daimons we find."