"NO!" Kim dodged in front of Max and glared out of coal-black eyes she saw the flame and knew that Artemis wouldn't care one way or the other of who she killed.

Max, in turn, never let his gaze waver from the red-haired goddess, he tried to pull Kim in back of him to save her from the bolt. He knew the rules they were made clear to him the day he was remade a dark-hunter, Artemis never played fair nor was she likely to know the meaning of the word.

"It's a stupid rule!" Kim raged, "You appear without any notice and then you're going to kill him because of it?! Not fucking likely!"

"Watch who you're speaking too." Artemis' eyes flashed, "I'm not some mere mortal for you to snap at. I'll do as I please, don't think you could stop me."

"I might not be able too." Kim snarled, "But I'll die before I let you get to him."

She knew what would happen should Max be killed, it was a risk that all dark-hunters took. Should death take them Shadedom waited, it was a place where those without souls roamed. Forever wandering parched, starving, yearning for what they would never again find.

To imagine Max living the half-life, walking through all eternity with a spirit's body being tortured like that forever was abhorrent. There was no way she could calmly step aside, goddess or not this was the man she loved and no one was getting him without a damn good fight.

"Artemis!" Acheron's shout halted all of them, "He is under my protection. You harm him and I'll never forgive you for it. Ever."

"But-" she protested the flame still glowing brightly in her hand.

"No." Acheron's eyes swirled so bright they almost seemed white, "I'm a dark-hunter same as he. You execute him and I'll follow him to Shadedom."

"Fine." She materlialized in back of him, "But you owe me for that later."

"Actually..." Acheron grinned contentedly, "I'm otherwise detained for the next couple of weeks."

"So it's true." Artemis sneered, "You're to stay with one of them. Which one? Tell me that the Fates were kidding."

"Nope, they weren't." for once in his life Ash was glad at the Fates' news.

"It's what they decreed." Margaret spoke up not liking the look on Artemis' face. "And I'm the one he's staying with, here, alone."

"You?" Artemis laughed, "Why you're nothing but a-"

"Watch it." Acheron said softly, "It's no ordinary mortal you're speaking too." They had argued, and he felt a small fission of warmth come to his heart. It was the first time he ever had someone think about helping him.

"Ha." Artemis sniffed, "You'll still have to come to me for your soul. Don't expect to get it... not without a high bartering price. You're mine, akri." She vanished for good leaving a vanilla and cinnamon smell in the air.

"That's the trouble with gods." Samantha gathered her bags together, "They think they own everything."

"In this case..." Acheron looked to Maggie, "She does."

Maggie quickly realized that Acheron wasn't much of a talker, in fact he didn't speak at all staring into the flames of fire in the hearth she could even see his eyes anymore. He had put the black shades on again to hide the ever-changing color of his eyes.

Kim and Max had left them alone, they were on their way back to their own house. Maggie was sorry to see them go, but was glad for the chance to be alone with Acheron. So far nothing was out of the ordinary. She didn't feel any different from before, just a little weirded out by all that had happened.

"Soo..." she tried making conversation, "Are you hungry? Tired?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks." He replied, "If you're tired..."

"Not at all." Maggie answered. Again quiet descended, Acheron could hear the thoughts going through her mind as loudly as if she were saying them aloud. She was nervous, unsure of what to do. That didn't fall far from the target when it came to how he felt.

For as long as the Fates deemed it necessary he was stuck, alone, in a house, with a mortal. Funny how something like that long ago would have enraged him, now he calmly accepted it... ok, maybe not calmly... but she wasn't at all hard on the eyes.

He hadn't noticed before that her hair was all different lengths. It started long and then tapered slowly so that it framed her face becomingly. He could see her in a white Grecian style gown, with flowers entwined in the ebony strands... she would be beautiful beyond belief.

"Akri!!" Ash inwardly groaned as Simi took form from the bid-shaped design on his throat. "I'm bored, there's nothing to do here."

Judging by the shocked expression on Maggie's face, she wasn't accustomed to tattoo's coming to life. Nor did it help that Simi chose to appear as a two foot long fairy with black wings and red eyes.

"Simi, return." Ash commanded hoping that for once she would do as he asked.

"Return, come back." Simi mocked, "You don't ever let me have any fun. Who's she? Not mean like the red-haired heifer..."

"No, she's not mean." Ash tried to placate her, "She's very nice, and has agreed to let us stay here-"

"You stay here!" Simi said incredulously, "Akri don't stay anywhere for too long. You should know that." She said addressing Maggie, "My akri don't like staying anywhere."

"Ok." Maggie replied trying to keep track of where the fairy was going, fluttering all over the room in a red blur Maggie glanced towards Ash in question.

"Her name's Simi, she's a Charonte demon."

"That's right!" Simi said proudly, "The Simi watches out for him and he for me. If you hurt him I turn you into a barbecue. I wont let him stop me this time, either. I need barbecue sauce, I keeps forgetting..."

"Simi!" Acheron said as calmly as he could, "No barbecuing, ok? Come back now."

"But I'm hungry, akri!! The Simi needs food! Do you have anymore of those plastic card thingy's? The other one don't work anymore."

"Here." Ash took out a Platinum Visa express card, "Go home, order anything you want." He paused, "Let the people who deliver go though."

"Fine." She sighed, "Their clothes gets caught in my teeth anyway. I think Chinese, maybe Italian-"

"And she lives as your tattoo?" Maggie asked once Simi had vanished, "Where'd she go?"

"Katoteros." Ash replied, "That's where we live. Well actually, that's where she lives. I have houses in nearly every country in the world." He said trying to draw her attention away from the fact that his real home wasn't anywhere near earth.

"Your kidding me!" Maggie stood and walked over to the counter, "Every country!"

"Except Alaska and Greenland, yes." Ash grinned at the picture in her head, she was thinking about run-of-the-mill houses.

"In the entire world!" she picked up a knife and twirled it idly as she chose an apple.

"Yup." He watched the knife worriedly and then decided to just help her out. The knife and apple both flew out of her hands and was cut into nice slices, then the blade washed itself in the sink and dried before going back to the knife rack.

"How old are you anyway?" she wondered outloud, "To have so many houses, I know you were the first dark-hunter..."

"Eleven thousand." Ash said blandly, "Acheron Parthenopaus, at your service."

"Cool. Margaret Panheriou, nice to meet you."

Ash grinned, she was taking the news way more calmly than he expected. Most women he knew, aside from Tabitha, Grace, and the Buffites, would be swooning to the floor in a dead faint, or trying to jump him. He much preferred the swooning, after the nine hundredth woman had tackled him to the floor, he missed the time period when women were secluded to the man's bedchamber.

"Not likely that's going to happen." Maggie snorted, "You try to lock me in my own bedroom and see how far that'll get you."

"You heard that?" Ash asked truly surprised for the first time since he could remember.

"Sure. You were speaking to me, weren't you?" she was giving him the "duh" stare that a few not so fortunate Daimons had tried.

"No, no I wasn't." he watched the shock play across the expressions of her face. Fear, alarm, and a little bit of pride flashed across the brilliant blue of her eyes.

"So I- what- picked the thoughts out of your mind?"

"Seems that way." He was impressed, not even Max or Zarek could get into the planes of his mind when he put the mental block up. That she could was really saying a lot, maybe the Fates were getting more than they bargained for.

"Okay, now this is registering on the weird factor." She said backing away, "The Daimons, I could take. No problem, happens everday anyway. Meeting the legendary Acheron, leader of the dark-hunters, ok, that's fine. Having Artemis herself-"

"Don't say her name so loud." Acheron interrupted her, "You say her name three times and she's back again."

"Whoops." Maggie looked around as if expecting the goddess to reappear, "Ok... I'll definitely keep that in mind. But long story short, so much has happened, you know? Between finding out that Julian and Kyrian knew one another about a billion years ago and fought in the same army. Then Talon and Sunshine becoming immortalized demigods, and hearing about Daimon's, were-hunters, and Appolites... I get all that now."

"So this kind of stuff doesn't faze you at all." Acheron summed up.

"Basically, sorry. Although the thunder thing when you came here, did."

Acheron laughed, for the first time in over a year he was really laughing at something. "Thanks, I'll make sure to pass that on to Talon the next time I talk to him."

"But reading your mind, what do the Fates want with me anyway?"

"No one knows for sure. They're vague, on their best day. They just say that your powers are going to manifest and I'm the one who gets to stay and enjoy the show."

"How fun for you." Maggie sarced.

"I thought so too. We can go anywhere you want, so long as I stay within close proximity. I told you before, Daimons and all manner of things are going to be after us. They're going to want your powers as they make themselves known. The longer they keep you alive, the stronger the chance of power you'll tap."

"So then I become a pawn in this game. Something to be moved around and used as the Gods see fit."

"That's all any of us are." Acheron said darkly, "Just pieces in the game of life."