Artemis gave Acheron a crooked grin before everyone at the party, except Ryssa and the woman who'd been teased, became ill. The guards tried to protect Styxx from the dogs an instant before they unloaded their stomachs all over their prince.
Crossing the distance between them, Artemis clapped her hands together in satisfaction. "I don't know about you," she said with an evil glint in her green eyes, "but I feel better." She looked around proudly. "They'll be fine by morning, but none of them will be out of their beds much tomorrow. As for Styxx, he will feel the effects of his cruelty for at least a week."
Acheron wished he could take pleasure in the pain around him, but he didn't. No one deserved what she'd done tonight any more than he deserved what Styxx had done to him.
She cocked her head. "Aren't you happy?"
Acheron glanced at the poor wretches around him. "Thank you for avenging me. It means a lot, Artie. Truly. But having been on the receiving end of cruelty my entire life, I don't take pleasure in harming others, so, no, it doesn't make me happy to see them like this. Especially those who've never done me harm."
"You're a fool not to. Believe me. They wouldn't be so kind to you."
In his experience, she was right. Even so, he just couldn't bring himself to laugh at the humiliation they suffered.
Artemis let out a sound of disgust. "You are such a strange human." She cupped his cheek in her hand. "I warn you now though, if he ever scars your face again I'll unleash an agony on him that he'll never recover from."
The anger and sincerity of her gaze scorched him. Only Ryssa had ever been indignant over his punishments. The fact that Artemis cared went a long way in erasing the anger he'd harbored against the goddess.
In truth, she'd kept her word and had done nothing to hurt him.
Don't trust her.
But his heart wanted to believe that on some level she loved him-that she cared.
She raised up to kiss him. The instant their lips touched, she took him to her temple. Acheron felt a strange fissure go through him.
"What the . . . ?"
Artemis's eyes were glowing bright. "I've given you the power to fight to protect yourself. You were right. I can't always be there when you need me. But-" she placed her fingertip on his lips. "You can't use those skills on a god, only a human."
"Why would I want to attack a god?"
Artemis leaned her head against his shoulder and inhaled his masculine scent. She adored the innocence inside him that couldn't even conceive of hurting her. "Some men do."
"Men do a lot of things I don't agree with."
"And that's why I've given you the powers you need. I don't want you hurt like that ever again."
Acheron tried to fight the swell of love inside him. But he couldn't. Not when she gave him so much. Not when she touched him like this and made him feel decent and wanted.
Artemis squeezed him tightly, then pulled back to hand him a small box.
"What's this?"
"My gift to celebrate your birth. Open it."
Stunned, he gaped at her. Honestly, he couldn't fathom what he held in his hands. "You're giving me a present?"
"Of course."
But it couldn't be that simple. Nothing ever was. "What payment do you want?"
She scowled at him. "I want no payment, Acheron. It's a gift."
Still he shook his head in denial. "Nothing is ever freely given."
She closed his hand around it and caressed his fingers. "This is freely given to you, akribos. And I wish to see you open it."
Truly, he couldn't fathom this. Why would Artemis give him a present?
His heart pounding, he opened the box to find a ring inside. Picking it up, he saw a double bow and arrow on it, but when he moved the ring, it shifted to an image of Artemis with a deer.
She smiled happily. "It's an insignia ring. I give them to my followers whom I grant the ability to summon me. Most of them have to find a tree and perform a ritual and say the right words. But you, my Acheron, you may summon me at any time."
When he started to put it on his finger, she stopped him. "It should be worn over your heart." A gold chain appeared and as Artemis placed it around his neck, another thought occurred to him. It wasn't just over his heart . . . worn like this the ring was also out of sight.
At least she thought enough of you to give you a gift.
That was true.
She kissed his cheek, then manifested a sword in her hand. Handing it to him, she winked. "Show me what you do."
"What do you mean?"
She inclined her head to two shadow warriors behind him. "Fight them, Acheron. Whatever you need to defeat them will be yours."
Skeptical, he stepped away from her. But the moment they approached, his body knew instinctively how to fight.
Artemis smiled in satisfaction as she watched Acheron spar with the shades. She'd done a good deed for her human. And as she watched, heat invaded every part of her. He moved like quicksilver. His muscles rippled and flexed, straining and defining with every blow he parried and delivered. Her hunger built and she wondered why his blood was so addictive . . . more so than even her brother's.
Why did she crave Acheron so?
Yet there was no denying his allure. Right now, she wanted to throw him on her bed and keep him there for the rest of eternity.
The smile he gave her as he finished off his sparring opponents made her melt.
"I told you," she said, approaching him.
Acheron held the sword in his fist with a confidence he'd never known outside of someone's bed. He couldn't believe that he finally knew how to fight as well as he knew how to use his body to please others. It was a heady concoction.
Power . . .
Grateful to Artemis, he tossed the sword aside and pulled her into his arms. Something strange rippled through him. It was like a part of him had been unleashed and it shook him to his foundations.
Artemis trembled as she saw his silver eyes flash red at the same time his lips turned black. It happened so fast that she wasn't sure she hadn't imagined it.