Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter 11)

"That'll work." He duplicated her gesture of snapping his fingers and his own clothes changed to black sweatpants and a white tank top that only emphasized the dark, sculpted muscles of his body.

Oh yeah, baby... She had to stop herself from sucking her breath in as desire tore through her. Good grief, he was yummy when barely dressed. And it made her wonder how much more yummy he might be naked.

Not to mention, his actions proved that he was a lot more powerful than the average Dark-Hunter. He might not have all his god powers, but he had enough to make him extremely formidable.

Wondering what he was going to show her, she followed him down the hallway to a large exercise room.

Ash groaned in his sleep as his dreams twisted through a hazy mist. He truly hated dreaming. He always had. They never made sense and this one was no more helpful or lucid than any other.

There were two women tormenting him that he didn't know. One was tall and blond. Strangely, she reminded him of Artemis. But it wasn't her. This woman had compassion and gentle eyes. She stood over him with a sad look on her face.

"One day we will know each other..."

Then the other stepped forward, but her face was completely hidden by the mist. Even so, he knew she was angry at him. Furious even as her eyes glared at him through the shadows. "Who do you think you are? I hate you! Get out. I don't ever want to see you again. I hope you get hit by a car in the parking lot. If I'm lucky, it'll even back up over you. Now go!"

The venom of the tone tore through him. What had he done to her? Why would she hate him? All women loved him. They coveted his presence.

But not this one.

She wanted to cut his head off.

Ash woke up in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to realize he was in Artemis's bed, safe from the scalding tongue of his tormentor. Wiping his brow, he sat up slowly, letting the white silk sheets pool around his waist.

Gods, how he hated to sleep. He'd never had a good dream in his entire existence. But at least these weren't focused on his past. They were from somewhere else...

"Worthless!"

He scowled at Artemis's shriek from the other room. It was followed by the sound of something breaking.

"I did my best."

"You're worthless!"

Ash didn't hear anything else, but he felt like someone had just slammed him against the floor. Every part of his body ached and he had to know why. Getting out of bed, he manifested his clothes on his body before he stalked across the floor and flung the large gold doors open with his thoughts.

Deimos had Artemis pinned to the floor by her throat. "You ever-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his threat before Ash picked him up and tossed him wide. Deimos hit the wall, then the floor. He sprang to his feet, braced for attack until he realized who he was facing.

His lips and nose bleeding, Deimos wiped at his face.

Ash gave him a cold, emotionless stare. "You should leave now. Really."

Deimos spat blood on the white marble floor. His gaze went to Artemis, who was now sitting where Deimos had left her. For once she wasn't looking arrogant. "If you want the bastard dead, Artemis, you should send your pet after him."

Normally Ash would have let such a comment pass without issue. But today it just struck him the wrong way. He threw his hands out and brought Deimos straight into his grip.

"I'm so in the mood to kick someone's ass for no good reason. Glad you dropped by." He kneed Deimos in the stomach, and just when he was going to punch him, Deimos vanished.

"Oh c'mon," Ash said out loud. "Was it something I said?"

As expected, Deimos stayed quiet. One word would have allowed Ash to follow him to his haven and finish it.

Bastard.

Still not appeased, he went to Artemis, who hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. How very strange for her. He clenched his teeth as he saw her throat was red from Deimos's attack and her cheeks were pinkened by anger.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Like you care," she spat in a snit. "You'd just as soon hurt me, too."

He bit back a sarcastic comment of agreement as he saw the pain in her eyes. Even though they'd had a less than idyllic relationship, it wasn't in him to kick her when she was down and hurting. He'd been hurt enough in his life to never want to deal that to someone else.

He sat down beside her on the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest. "So what happened?"

Her sullen pout would have made a toddler proud. "Nothing."

He drew a ragged breath as he saw where this was heading. She wanted to talk, but she was going to make him drag every word out. Lovely. Just how he wanted to spend his time here. Then again, given what she normally did to pass time with him, this was an improvement. "C'mon, Artie. I know better. You sent Deimos after Sin, didn't you?"

Her pout increased before she sniffed. "What choice did I have? You wouldn't do anything."

Would she never grow up? Just once, he'd like to deal with an adult... "I can't while I'm here. You know that. You refused to give me a break to go talk to him."

"You wouldn't do anything even if you weren't here."

Probably true.

She sniffed again and gave him a sideways glare. "No one cares what happens to me."

"Don't, Artemis," he said between clenched teeth. "I don't play that pity game and you know it. If you want Daddy to baby you, he's in the big hall up the hill."

The anger returned to her eyes. "Why do you stay with me if you feel that way?"