Ravyn released a perturbed breath. "This is awkward."
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "I'm really getting sick of being dumped on strangers."
He could just imagine. "So why isn't Acheron training you?"
Hatred flared deep in the Cajun's eyes as he curled his lip. "You'll have to ask the bastard that for yourself. Seems he's not man enough to face me after he screwed me over."
Ravyn sucked his breath in between his teeth. He only knew Nick vicariously through the Dark-Hunter bulletin boards that Nick had run as a Squire. In those days, Nick had been friendly enough, if not a bit acidic at times. Then one night, about two years ago, Nick had gone missing. No one had known what had happened to him.
Until now.
Susan gave him a sympathetic smile. "I take it you and Acheron aren't on the best of terms."
"You think?" Nick looked around the room as if trying to place it. "Where am I?"
Ravyn exchanged an awkward glance with Susan before he answered. "Seattle."
Nick frowned in her direction. "And who's she?"
Something about that look and his tone greatly perturbed her. "You know, I am right here in the room, not outside looking in, and to answer your question, I'm a Squire."
"Bully for you," he said coldly. Nick curled his lip. "What's the date?"
Ravyn felt a stab of reluctance go through him. From his past when he was a member of the Omegrion, he knew that Savitar's home, which was a floating island, existed outside of traditional time. Nick most likely had no idea how long he'd been gone or, more to the point, what had been happening in New Orleans over the last few months. "June 3, 2006."
Nick's mouth dropped. "I'm missing almost two years of my life."
"No, Nick," Ravyn said quietly. "You're missing two years of your death."
He grew quiet at the reminder.
"Let me get Dorian," Susan said, her blue eyes filled with sympathy for a man she didn't even know. "I'm sure he has some place to put you." But before she could move, the back door opened to show Otto coming in with a large box in his arms.
He took one look at Nick and froze in place.
Time hung still as the two men faced each other with a shared look of stunned shock. It was obvious that they never thought they'd see each other again.
Nick was the first to recover himself. "Otto? What are you doing here?"
"Me? I thought you were dead..." He set the box down as he approached Nick like a man seeing a ghost for the first time. He offered Nick his hand and when he took it, Otto pulled him against his chest for a man hug.
When they pulled apart, Otto's gaze narrowed on the bow and arrow tattoo on Nick's face. "Jesus, it's true. You are a Dark-Hunter."
Nick's features hardened as if he hated that fact. "Why are you in Seattle?"
"I-uh... I got transferred up here."
"Why?"
A veil fell over Otto's face. Ravyn had to give him credit, he had the best poker face he'd ever seen. Otto, along with a whole crew of New Orleans Squires, had been evacuated out of the city just before Katrina hit. Since then, they'd been slowly moving back to Louisiana, with Otto, Tad, and Kyl being the last to go. They'd been kept here a little longer while the New Orleans Council recouped. Not to mention that the Daimons hadn't been very active there since the hurricane.
"Council's orders," Otto said in a bland tone.
Nick nodded as if in understanding.
Otto's brow furrowed as he continued to stare at Nick like he was a bad science experiment. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm supposed to train him," Ravyn said.
The poker face slipped as Otto's jaw went slack. "You?"
"Apparently."
"What about Ash?"
Nick cursed. "He's recused himself." There was so much tension in the air that it was tangible.
"We need to find Nick some place to sleep," Susan said, trying to alleviate the unspoken hostility.
Otto shifted the box in his hands. "He can bunk in my room. I won't be sleeping for a while anyway." He stepped past Nick, toward the stairs.
They disappeared for a second before Otto came back alone.
He neared the two of them, then spoke in a low whisper. "Whatever you do, don't mention Katrina to Nick. I don't think he needs to know what's happened to New Orleans until he gets some bearing on being back here again. Not to mention, he was originally from the Ninth Ward."
"Don't worry," Ravyn said. "I'm not about to tell him."
Nodding, Otto left them again.
"Are you okay?" Susan asked.
Ravyn shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Any more than I understand why Savitar would release Nick to me. How can I train him with all the crap that's going on?"
"Like he said, Savitar trusts you."
Yeah, but he couldn't imagine why. This day made no sense whatsoever to him. Tired and baffled, he held his hand out to her so that they could return downstairs. "C'mon. We still have a lot of stuff to cover. "
Ash growled low in his throat as he twisted at the rope that held his arm to Artemis's bedpost. At the moment, he hated her.
No, wait, he basically hated her every moment of every day, but at this particular time, he really wanted to rip her head off and play a few games of baseball with it. He stared at the gold hourglass that was set on the shelf across from the bed and watched as the last few grains of black sand fell through it.
He should have known that nothing with Artemis would ever be simple. When he'd made the bargain with her, he forgot to stipulate that she had to stay in the room for a full hour. Instead, she'd finished her fifth orgasm, then vanished out from under him before he could uphold his part.
But not before she'd tied him to her bed to keep him from going after her. Leaning his head back, he ground his teeth in frustration. Yes, he could use his powers to free his arm, but whenever he did that, Artemis went wild on him because the other gods on Olympus could feel it. They weren't "supposed" to know that he was here.
Yeah, right. They'd known for centuries that he stayed with her in her temple, but all of them pretended ignorance so that they didn't have to deal with Artemis's temper tantrums. If only I were that lucky. . . .
Dressed in a long, flowing white gown, Artemis appeared beside the bed. She feigned shock as she saw her hourglass that was now empty. "Oh no, did the hour end?"
"You know it did."
She tsked. "Then I guess we have to start over, don't we?"
"Artie..."
"Don't take that tone with me, Acheron," she said sullenly. "You accepted the terms of your release." She freed his arm, then rubbed at the bruise on his wrist that had been caused by the rope. "Now, now, love, don't be petulant."