Ethon paced inside his dream. He hurt Rose. He saw it in her eyes. Still, he couldn't bring himself to explain that it wasn't her that he pulled away from, but the damn shrimp she ate. He couldn't trust anyone to know.

Never again.

Iairos had betrayed him with that knowledge. It had brought the proud Athenian prince down. Left him weak and at the mercy of his enemies. Over nothing more than jealousy.

Before he could stop it, the dream shifted to the day he found out about his ridiculous weakness.

"How can you be so skilled with sharpened blades and such an idiot with fruit?" Iairos laughed as Ethon failed to juggle the apples they had been playing with as they sat in the orchard just outside of the palace gates.

Ethon grinned. "It's a skill. Be willing to look the fool thousands of times until you perfect it."

"Don't let your men see this fool. You can't lead an army if you can't hold their respect. Then, they will look to your brother for help." Iairos snarked at him.

It had been years since Ethon had seen his home or his family. As the eldest son of the king, he was expected to become a great soldier and a great leader who would defend Athens from its enemies. As such, he was sent to the Spartans to be trained when he was barely six years old. His younger brother was supposed to join him a year later, but their mother begged to leave one son with her. So, Ioel had managed to remain in the palace and trained by tutors there, escaping the harsh brutality of Spartan training.

Ethon never hated his brother for their different paths, it just left him alone in Sparta. He had missed his brother and his family. All the more so, since the Spartan's held no love for favoritism or Athenians. Not that there ever was favoritism toward him. In fact, it had been the opposite. Ethon quickly became the target of their frustrations and whims. Those above him made their dislike of his title very clear and would go out of their way to set him up for more punishments. Foreign princes were lower than dirt in the eyes of his comrades.

Ethon learned very fast to never trust those he trained with. Never turn his back on anyone. And never wait to be given anything, because the only things that would come where starvation and beatings. It was only with blood and pain that he learned to dish out, that he gained any reprieve from the attentions.

The only exception had been Iairos. Iairos stood by Ethon's side as the others tried to drag him down.

In the ten years since he left for Sparta, Iairos had been his only friend. A foreigner of noble blood, like Ethon, Iairos was handed some tough blows as well. Nephew to King Agamemnon of Mycenae, Iairos had a slightly easier time as his other uncle was also King of Sparta. Still, it didn't carry much leniency.

When they were younger, they lived worse than the beggars and fishmongers in Athens. Over time, they learned to take what they needed at the end of a sword. Few dared to raise a brow to either of them any more. Still, it was nothing compared to life in the palace.

Ethon's brief return home was only to join the latest Athenian reinforcements headed to Illion. The Greeks had been at war for four years already, all to fetch the Spartan queen from her lover's bed.

Iairos went with him, intent on meeting up with his uncle once he got there.

The two boys soaked up the peace and decadence before they left for war. Neither were used to such rich foods or soft beds any more. It would be difficult to leave.

There had been so much peace in that orchard for a few hours.

"Tell me Iairos, what will you miss most when we go to war?" Ethon asked.

His friend laughed. "The women. We might not have had many around the camps, but Zeus only knows how many will be with us at war."

Ethon grinned. "You know, your dick will get you into trouble one day. Aphrodite, please protect Iairos's future wife."

"Like you're any better!"

The two continued to tease and laugh as they joined Ethon's parents and brother for supper. The food was mouth watering. They sampled everything.

But after eating a couple of mussels, Ethon started to feel sick. His face and lips began to swell. His breathing was labored. His father immediately sent for the physician. And he was carried to his room.

"Yet another thing to hide from your men." Iairos's voice droned.

Ethon rolled over in pain. "What happened?"

"Apparently you pissed off Poseidon because you ate seafood and your face just looked nasty. Definitely not getting women looking like that." He teased.

"How long was I asleep?" Ethon asked.

Iairos shrugged. "A couple of days. I was worried that the food would kill you when Spartan's couldn't. How ironic would that be?"

Ethon grinned. "You should know by now. I am too stubborn to die."

"That you definitely are." Iairos laughed. "Just to be sure, you might want to make offerings to Poseidon and avoid seafood for a while."

He wasn't so sure about the offerings, but avoiding shellfish, he did that to the extreme. If only he knew then, that Iairos would use that knowledge against him. That he would be betrayed by a friend that he loved as a brother.

Ethon groaned as he tried to push the memory away. A soft hand caressed his arm as he remained in the bed the physician had placed him in. His eyes snapped open to see Rosslyn.

"I'm sorry you were so sick." She whispered. "You could have just told me that you were allergic to shellfish."

"Get out! Get out of my dreams. Get out of my head!" He screamed at her. His memories were private. He never shared them. He sure as hell didn't trust her being in his head like that.

Rosslyn quickly backed away and ran. But rather than her disappearing from his view, the scene changed. She tripped and fell to the floor where she cried.

Only, it wasn't the Rose he knew. She was a child with long honey brown hair, lighter than the dark brown he had caught glimpses of in other dreams. The girl cried as she held a woman close to her. The woman looked so much like Rosslyn that Ethon assumed she was her mother, her stomach round with child, but her dress was slowly darkening as blood seeped from under her.

He looked up to see two daimons scowl down at the waste of a soul.

Rosslyn's head snapped up and she grabbed a shard of glass nearby. Her little body shook in rage as she ran after the daimons. They had been so busy laughing at the little girl, that they didn't notice the glass as she sliced one across the chest and he exploded into golden dust before the other could restrain her.

Ethon's eyes went wide. Why would his mind create something like that? Could that be a real memory of her past? He started to move toward the child to comfort her from the memory, but before he could get there, he stopped as he heard Otto's voice.

"Why did you pull me into your lies?"

The dream shifted again and a teenage version of Rose rolled across a disheveled bed, naked. Ethon groaned at the sight of her until he saw the rest of the scene. There was a very naked man laying face down next to her as she answered her phone.

"Because I knew you would cover for me." She whispered.

Otto's voice growled. "What was so important that I had to lie to your father? Where are you?"

"I'm at Nick's." Ethon's breath caught. Oh shit. "Otto, I don't need a lecture. Just come pick me up."

She hung up just as Nick started to roll over. The kid didn't have the Dark-Hunter mark and looked truly happy as he pulled Rosslyn back toward him. He wasn't the same man that Ethon had been working with.

"Please don't go yet." He murmured.

She nibbled on his shoulder. "I have a flight to catch. And if my father found out about this, you would be dead. So, best to not miss my flight."

"Rosslyn." He whispered.

She shook her head. "Don't Nick. I don't regret this. But we both knew it couldn't last." She kissed him. Deeply. Passionately.

Ethon was filled with jealousy. The rage from the prior betrayal of his memories mixed in.

"Why him?" He bellowed.

Rosslyn looked up at Ethon. "Because he made me feel safe and strong. He didn't treat me like I was fragile. Nor did he expect me to be indestructible. He saw me as a strong woman who still needed a kind touch. Until you, he was the only man that I truly trusted intimately."

Yet, Ethon didn't want to hear it. She was messing with his head. And that drew all of his focus. His anger. His jealousy.

He pulled at his hair as he tried to focus his thoughts and his emotions. No. He needed to keep her away. She had messed with him enough. She had a history with Gautier. They obviously had a connection still, if the club was any sign. And she needed to stay the hell out of his dreams.

It was like Samia all over again. Taking an interest in women that chose someone else.

He wouldn't let it happen again. He had to stop thinking about her like that. Keep her out of his dreams. Out of his head. Somehow, he would make it happen.

The following week was more tense between Ethon and Rosslyn. She found that she called Simi and even Nick more often, just to have some connection to the outside world. Otto left town for a bit. So, Nick had become her most constant companion, helping her understand so much.

Since her night out dancing, her sexual hunger had increased to the point that she found it difficult to focus. She tried to hide her reactions from Ethon. The times when her hands were shaky or her skin flushed. She tried to find her own release in the shower, but nothing helped. And she refused to open the topic with Ethon. She knew she would be rejected again.

Ethon woke early and headed down stairs. For the first time since he met her, he had managed to keep Rose out of his dreams entirely. And that meant he hadn't woken up with wood. Thank the gods, he was getting somewhere. He had spent all week running from her anytime she showed up in his dreams.

He stepped into the kitchen as he saw Rosslyn fidgeting while she talked to Nick. Of course, it was Nick.

"Rosslyn, you can't lie to me. What's wrong?" Nick asked.

She sighed. "That is none of your business." Rosslyn didn't want to open the topic of sex with him. She really loved talking to him, but he might see it as an invitation.

Rose closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt like she was starting to go crazy again, back on the drugs. All she could think about was sex. Wanting sex. But she didn't trust most men that way. Not that she had really met many since she lost her memories. But Nick and Ethon were the only two she had met that she actually trusted and she didn't know why.

"Damn it. You know that I can read your thoughts." Nick growled.

Rosslyn blushed. "Well, stay out of my head. Or, if you are in there, at least offer something helpful."

"You know the answer. Sex. You need to have sex."

Oh. Ethon was definitely not sticking around while they had phone sex together or worse, Nick was invited over.

He walked straight out of the house.

Rosslyn sighed again as the front door slammed shut. "Yeah, that's not happening."