By the time Acheron arrived at Sanctuary, Ethon and Carson had to hold the girl down while Carson gave her a sedative. It didn't take long for her to lose consciousness. Again.

Though, to everyone's surprise, Ethon had calmed her down once again. His hands on her face reached through her lust filled haze and pulled her away from the edge until another man had entered the room, having been called to help restrain her. Then the cycle started all over.

"Seriously Ash. We're not supposed to have humans here." Aimee growled. "Now she's back and ready to throw herself on every man she sees." The anger in her voice said that the human had probably tried to go after Aimee's mate, Fang. One thing about the Were-Hunters. Whether they were more human or more animal, they were very possessive of their mates.

Ash tilted his head to the bearswan in front of him. "My apologies, but she's more than simply human. She has been toyed with by a god and his demons. I am not sure human doctors would come close to understanding this."

Ethon listened as Acheron and Aimee discussed the situation with Carson. He wasn't sure that even Carson was prepared for helping the girl.

Sanctuary was a limani, a safe place for all species to seek refuge. Primarily owned, operated, and for, the Were-Hunter community; limani's offered places for those seeking asylum, but also neutral meeting places between rival groups. Were-Hunters themselves were the magical fusion between a cursed race and animals. The hope was to extend their lives from the limits of the curse. Yeah, that succeeded. Instead of dieing at the age of twenty seven, Were-Hunters could live for centuries. Not as long as Ethon, but still a whole hell of a lot longer than twenty seven.

Aimee and her eleven brothers, were bears, and ran the place. Along with their mates and others that stayed in the guest rooms in the back. It was a pretty nice arrangement. A public bar up front, open to the humans who had no idea of the secrets that many patrons kept. While behind the walls was a large array of rooms for the family and preternatural guests. They also boasted their own clinic.

Thus Carson. And their need to be there with the girl.

But she wasn't a Were-Hunter, a daimon, a demon, or even a Dark-Hunter. She was human with some seriously nasty tinkering in her head.

Ethon watched her breath. She seemed so peaceful when she was asleep. Her hair was dyed black with the under layers in electric blue and fell in loose waves to her shoulders with a subtle hint of a curl at the ends. The color wouldn't be as flattering on most women, but on her, it complemented her blue-green eyes that barely showed around her enlarged pupils and contrasted with her skin beautifully. Her slightly bronzed olive skin almost hid the tiny freckles that splattered over her nose. High cheekbones that gave her a timeless beauty. Full, pink lips, slightly wet and swollen from kisses…

From kissing Nick… and Fang… and Carson… but not Ethon. The second she woke up, she lost control again and went for the first male in front of her. It was like Nick triggered her loss of control. It was all very odd, and made him a little green that he was always the one to help restrain or calm her, but never kiss her.

Why in the hell did that even matter? He didn't want to take advantage of her. That would have been all kinds of wrong. Yet, it looked like she could really kiss. And the idea of it sparked a longing he hadn't felt in a while.

Hell, she had even kissed Dev.

Shit, Samia was going to want the girls head for that one.

And that reminder tightened his chest.

Samia.

The one woman that he had loved for thousand years. His eyes closed. Sam was happy. She was mated to Dev and pregnant with his twins. Ethon was happy for her.

Aimee had finally relented on the idea of the girl staying in the clinic for help while Acheron made several calls to see if they could find out more through other sources.

"Do you need me to go play Susie Homemaker with Nick again?" Ethon asked with a snarky edge to his voice. He was a serious badass. He was supposed to be training Nick. And he resented the impression that he was delegated to being a babysitter.

Ash shook his head. The only clear image that he had of the girl's future was that she's connected to both Nick and Ethon. "No. Nick isn't there. He is somewhere safe until we solve this issue. I would prefer you stay with the girl since you seem to calm her." Then he left.

"Today is one of those days where I really want to find out where Acheron sleeps and fill the whole damned room with jello." He grumbled.

Carson looked up. Confusion on his face. "Why jello?"

"It keeps breaking apart, making it hard to remove. And by the time you even have a chance of getting most of the shit out, it melts and stains everything. Pink. Pink would piss him off. Or yellow…"

Carson shook his head and asked for a little help getting the girls jacket off so he could get to her wounds more easily. Ethon stepped over to help with a scowl. Why did it have to be him? Couldn't he be in a battle or something?

As the grey jacket pulled away from her uninjured arm, Ethon noticed a tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. Nearly two inches in diameter, she had a vibrant red Tudor rose.

He looked at it as his thumb grazed her soft skin.

Rose.

He wondered what kind of significance it held for her. As he looked back up at her face, it seemed to fit.

"Rose." He mumbled.

Carson looked at him. "What?"

Ethon rolled her arm to show the doc the tattoo. "Seems like a better name to call her than 'human girl' or something."

Carson smirked and returned to his work, cleaning the wounds before stitching them closed.

Yet, as Ethon moved to set her hand down, his thumb slid over the top of her hand. There was a change in texture that caught his attention. He lifted her hand and tilted it to see the subtle coloration and raised skin of a black light tattoo.

"Check this out." He showed Carson once more.

"There's a black light in the lower right drawer of my desk."

Ethon found the hand held light and turned it on to look at her tattoo. "Damn it."

He quickly called Ash who answered on the first ring. "Seriously Ethon, you are not getting off the hook on babysitting duty."

"That's not it. Though, I am still not happy about that part."

"I don't care. Why did you call then?"

Ethon glanced down at the spiderweb tattoo on the girl's hand. "Ash, she's a Squire. Blood Rites."

"Well that does add a complication. I'll make a few calls and be there in a bit. Just have something else to do first."

Around an hour later, Ash returned. He left the clinic door open while he turned to greet one of the local Squires walking up the stairs. Acheron had obviously called him.

"So, should I just move in here? I seem to be here way too much." The man's face was so stern and intense that it nearly hid the sarcasm in his words. "And you know that you could have asked Roxie for help. She actually does live here."

The man was only an inch shorter than Ethon's six foot five, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He tried to play the tough guy. Ethon supposed he was for a human. But up against Ethon's charming self, it was laughable.

Only a tilt of Ash's head into the room gave the new arrival any indication of what was going on.

"What the hell happened?" Otto Carvalletti growled when he saw the girl. Wow. Was that real emotion? Even Carson looked shocked at the response.

Otto ran over to her side and brushed her hair from her face. "Rosslyn, what did you get into?" He mumbled as his eyes trailed across her body to take in any and all injuries.

Acheron watched him. "I'm sorry Otto, I hadn't recognized her until now."

"Who is she?" Ethon asked.

Otto watched her face as he talked. "Rosslyn Bera. My cousin. She's supposed to be in London." He finally looked up at Acheron as his teeth ground together.

The Atlantean weighed out what to say. As Otto's cousin, her family was very powerful among the Squires Council. He had called Otto to just let them know about the issue with one of their own, but family put a whole new level of personal affront. And her personal history made the sting all the more deep.

The Squires were humans who protected the Dark-Hunters. Dark-Hunters were immortal warriors with some significant handicaps, primarily the fact that they burned up in the sun. So, Squires through history were sworn to protect the Dark-Hunters as they slept, run errands, take care of the details. Over time, that task had grown in complexity as society evolved. The more elite members, which Otto and Rosslyn both belonged, were also watchdogs over the secrets. Making sure no one revealed the world of Dark-Hunters to those who were uninitiated. Plugging up any leaks that sprung.

Noir sure did pick the wrong girl for that experiment. Or perhaps that was the point? Noir knew that Acheron was protecting the Malachai. Perhaps he thought that a Squire would be able to get closer. Could it indicate that Noir knew who the Malachai was already? Nick was a Squire before he became a Dark-Hunter. He was well known and well liked. Perhaps using the Squire was a ploy at reaching Nick at a personal level. Damn, the Squires needed to know that they could be targeted. Or could Noir know about Nick's history with Rosslyn? Too many questions.

With a deep breath, Ash answered Otto. "It appears that your cousin was assaulted by a god."

"Assaulted how?" Otto roared.

Ash shook his head. He knew where Otto's mind was headed. "We don't know the full extent of it yet. But she was drugged, her mind had been scrambled a bit. She doesn't remember who she is. She doesn't know how she got here. And she appears to have some intense…" He wasn't sure that Otto wanted to know that part.

Ethon finished it. "Sexual urges." Ash closed his eyes at Ethon's bluntness.

Otto whimpered as he moved to cradle the girl.

"It's something that Azura specializes in." Everyone turned to see a man with curly auburn hair lean against the door.

"How do you know? Who's Azura?" Otto questioned.

The man gave a half laugh.

"Azura is one nasty bitch, a very powerful primal goddess. And he knows, because Seth used to be enslaved to Azura and her brother, Noir. Now, he's free and on our side. That's why I called him in on this." Ash answered in a tone that brokered no patience for continuing to question Seth's presence.

"Didn't Jenna trap Azura?" Ethon questioned. Several had to go into Jenna's dreams to save her from an all out assault from Azura several months back. The Egyptian demigod certainly caught the wrong attention from Azura and Noir. But as Jenna was the great granddaughter of Ethon's brother… yeah, he was all for helping to save family. Jenna and her father, Ramsey had become friends as well as family.

Ash shook his head. "Apollo attacked Olympus recently. The bastard let her go."

"Damn. I was hoping to get all crafty and make her into a pincushion for someone's birthday." Ethon would have loved to rip her apart. "Papa Ghede offered to teach me how to turn her into a living Voodoo doll."

Carson grimaced at him.

"So, what's going on with Rosslyn?" Otto growled in frustration. He couldn't follow the conversation enough, but understood it wouldn't matter if he did.

Seth looked straight at the man. "She was infected with demon blood. Azura uses a mix of it and a small amount of a rare drug, then she puts a few spells on the whole concoction and pours it down her victim's throat. The end result is that the human usually goes insane, but as they slip, they are single mindedly focused on one task. Once they find their target, one of the spells break, allowing the drug take full affect. It leaves the victim in a sex crazed stated. Wanting their target, but willing to grab anyone to slake that hunger. Usually, their mind is mush before the drug wears off."

Ethon caught Acheron's gaze. Single mindedly looking for the Malachai and seducing him. Rosslyn hadn't been so over the top in her lust until Nick touched her. So, Nick was the Malachai? His eyebrow raised as he put two and two together.

Ash glared at him to drop it.

"Is there anything that we can do for her?" Otto asked.

There was a long pause before Seth continued. "The drug will wear off. It is a small enough amount that a few good orgasms should help calm her. Any volunteers?"

"Fucking hell no!" Otto roared. "No one is getting their jollies at my cousin's expense!"

Seth shrugged. "I am happily married, so I wasn't raising my hand."

Everyone turned to glare at Ethon. The only single man in the room that wasn't related to her. Wait. Carson was single. Why weren't they looking at him?

"Seriously?" He rolled his eyes. "I like my women a bit wild. But too high to remember… not interested in that Spring Break experience. I don't have my 'get out of jail free' pass."

"That's enough. No one is going that route." Acheron stated firmly. If she had a boyfriend, someone that she chose, that would be one thing, but strangers… that would cause more damage to a girl who had already been hurt enough.

Otto growled at Ethon for even thinking about it. Ethon scoffed. The girl was cute. Yeah, he wouldn't turn down a consensual romp. But just what kind of monster did that human boy think he was? He wasn't going to get a girl off while she couldn't even remember her name.

Seth shook his head. "As the drug wears off, the spell will eventually break. At that point, the overwhelming need to complete her task will diminish quickly. The problem is that as you wait for that to happen, the demon blood has time to slowly take affect. She will start to change. And the damage done to her mind would most likely be permanent. Even if she does survive the next week to reach that point, without complete loss of sanity, she will then be something other than human." Seth ran a hand over his face. "The only thing that I can think of is to give her more demon blood."

"What?" Ethon questioned at the same time that Otto asked if he was out of his ever loving mind.

Seth shrugged. "You can't remove the blood that is already there. It's already changing her and breaking her down. As she changes, her mind is flooded with images that relate to her mission. Sex, violence, orders from the psychos that did this to her. Giving her more blood would let her transition to be a demon type entity more quickly, hopefully before the tidal wave of information burns through her mind entirely. If the source demon was strong enough it could even help to break the spell and burn off the drug faster."

He looked at Ash. "This is all just hypothetical. I have never seen it attempted in this kind of situation. But from what I do know about demons and how the power transfers work, it should help. She might not get her mind back to how it was, but it should stabilize her enough and allow her to move forward with powers and strength to protect herself. However, she would have to be seriously watched over for at least a week, maybe more to be sure she makes it through it all and has control of herself before she ever be allowed to venture near anyone else. And Azura doesn't like to leave loose ends, so she would still be a target until she shows that she is stronger."

"You want to turn my cousin into a demon?" Otto was floored.

Ash grimaced. "Demon blood can carry their powers. And since a human doesn't have any other genetic defenses, it could alter her in some way. She would be something else. More of a hybrid. Taking on some of the demon traits. We wouldn't know exactly what does or doesn't express itself until it's done. Gaining those powers would help, if the donating demon is strong enough."

Otto glared at Acheron. "This is sick! I can't believe you are alright with this. You are supposed to be protecting humans."

The Atlantean's face softened. "Otto. I know this is hard for you to understand. Especially with Rosslyn. But she's already infected with a small amount. Enough to cause her harm. Seth is right, more of it could help her. But there is no going back. She won't ever be completely human again and not trying to help her would leave her at risk of insanity and more vulnerable to Azura."

His shoulder's slumped. "What do I tell her parents?"

"The truth."

Ethon had remained quiet as he couldn't offer any advice and didn't know the girl. But he felt bad for her. "Shouldn't she have a say in what you do to her?" He finally spoke up.