Page 42 of Dance With the Devil (Dark-Hunter 3)
So here he sat, his powers restricted, his anger and frustration leashed.
"Akri, can I come off your arm for a little while?"
Simi's voice took some of the edge off his raw emotions. Whenever she was part of him, she couldn't see or hear anything unless he spoke her name and gave her an order. She was even immune to his thoughts.
She could only feel his emotions. Something that allowed her to know whenever he was in danger, the only time she was allowed to leave him without his permission.
"Yes, Simi. You may take human form."
She pulled herself off and manifested beside him. Her long blond hair was braided. Her eyes were a stormy gray and her wings pale blue.
"Why are you so sad, akri?"
"I'm not sad, Simi."
"Yes you are. I know you, akri, you gots that pain in your heart like the Simi gets whenever she cries."
"I never cry, Sim."
"I know." She moved closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. One of her black horns scraped against his cheek, but Ash didn't mind. She draped her arms around him and held him close.
Closing his eyes, he embraced her tightly, cupping her small head in one of his hands. Her hug went a long way toward easing his troubled spirit. Only Simi could do that. She alone touched him without making physical demands on him.
She never wanted anything but to be his "baby."
Childlike and innocent, she was the balm he needed.
"So, can I eat the redheaded goddess now?"
He smiled at her most-often-asked question. "No, Simi."
She lifted her head and stuck her tongue out at him, then flounced over to sit on the railing by his bare feet. "I want to eat her, akri. She a mean person."
"Most gods are."
"No they're not. Some, true, but I rather like the Atlanteans. They were very nice. Most of them. You never met Archon, did you?"
"No."
"Now, he could be mean. He was blond, like you, tall like you, well, taller than you, and good-looking like you, but not quite as good-looking as you. I don't think anyone is as good-looking as you are. Not even them gods. You are definitely one of a kind when it comes to looks... Oh-" She started as she remembered his twin. "Well... you're not really one of a kind, are you? But you cuter than that other one. He a bad copy of you. He only wishes he was as cute as you are."
His smile widened.
She placed her finger against her chin and stopped for a minute as if trying to gather her thoughts. "Now where was I going with that? Oh, I remember now. Archon didn't like a lot of people, unlike you. You know that thing you do whenever you get really, really mad? The one where you can blow stuff up and make it all fiery and chunky and messy and all? He could do that too only not with as much finesse as you. You got a lot of finesse, akri. More than most.
"But I digress. Archon liked me. He said, 'Simi, you a quality demon.' Have you ever seen a non-quality demon, though? That's what I wanna know."
Amused, Ash listened as she rambled on about gods and goddesses worshiped in his mortal lifetime. Gods and goddesses long dead now. He loved to listen to her nonlinear tales and logic.
It was like watching a small child as it tried to sort out the world and remember something. There was no telling from one minute to the next what would come out of her mouth. She saw things clearly, like a child.
If you had a problem, you killed it.
End of problem.
Subtleties and politics were beyond her.
Simi just was. She wasn't amoral or vicious, she was just an extremely young demon with godlike powers who had no comprehension of deceit or treachery.
How he envied her that. It was why he shielded her so carefully. He didn't want her to learn the hard lessons that had been dealt to him.
She deserved to have the childhood he had never known. One that was sheltered and protected. One in which no one was allowed to hurt her.
He didn't know what he would do without her.
She'd been nothing more than an infant when she'd been given to him. Barely twenty-one himself, the two of them had pretty much raised each other. They were both the last of their kind on this earth.
For more than eleven thousand years it had been just the two of them.
She was as much a part of him as any vital organ.
Without her, he would die.
The door of the temple opened. Simi hissed, baring her fangs, letting him know Artemis had returned early.
Ash turned his head for confirmation. Sure enough, the goddess was striding toward him.
He let out a tired breath.
Artemis pulled up short as she saw Simi sitting at his feet "What is it doing off your arm?"
"Talking to me, Artie."
"Make it go away."
Simi huffed. "I don't have to do nothing you say, you old heifer cow. And you are old. Really, really old. And a cow, too."
"Simi," Ash said, stressing her name. "Please return to me."
Simi cast an evil glare at Artemis, then became a dark, amorphous shadow. She moved over to him and laid herself over his chest to become a huge dragon on his torso with fiery spirals that wrapped around and down both of his arms.
Ash laughed darkly at the sight. It was Simi's way of hugging him and tweaking Artemis at the same time. Artemis thoroughly hated it whenever Simi covered so much of his body.
Artemis let out a disgusted sound. "Make it move."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you back so early?"
