She flipped off the limb and came to stand by his side. “Where we go now, akri? Will you take Simi somewhere cold again? I liked that last place we went. The mountain was very nice.”

Acheron?

He paused as he felt Artemis summoning him. He let out another long-suffering sigh.

For two thousand years, he had been ignoring her.

Still she insisted on calling out to him.

There was a time when she had sought him out in the “flesh,” but he had blocked her from that ability.

Her mental telepathy to him was the only contact he couldn’t sever entirely.

“Come, Simi,” he said, starting his journey that would take him back to Therakos. The Daimons there had set up a colony where they were preying on the poor Greeks who lived in a small village.

Acheron. I need your help. My new Dark-Hunters need a trainer.

He froze at Artemis’s words.

New Dark-Hunters?

What the hell was that?

“What have you done, Artemis?” his voice whispered along the wind, traveling to Olympus where she waited in her temple.

So, you do speak to me. He heard the relief in her tone. I had begun to wonder if I would ever hear the sound of your voice again.

Acheron curled his lip. He didn’t have time for this.

Acheron?

He ignored her.

She didn’t take the hint.

The Daimon menace is spreading faster than you can contain it. You needed help and so I have given it to you.

He scoffed at the idea of her help. The Greek goddess had never done anything for anyone other than herself since the dawn of time.

“Leave me alone, Artemis. We are through, you and I. I have a job to do and no time to be bothered with you.”