Stygian

  She sucked her breath in sharply. “What have they done to you?”

  Simple. He’d been slapped on the ass the moment he’d arrived into this world, covered in someone else’s blood, and life had been steadily kicking his ass ever since. Without stopping or hesitating. Honestly, he was punch-drunk from it all.

  It seemed as if every time he thought he could stand up and breathe, someone or something else came along with a stunning blow that knocked him to his knees. He could never catch a break.

  But he didn’t want her to worry. “Nothing, Mata. I merely gave in to the demon inside me sooner than the others. Instead of fighting him, I embraced him as a necessary part of me. Now we snuggle up under the covers as great bedfellows. After all, we are Daimons, aren’t we?”

  Her eyes saddened over his words. “You’re part human, Uri, and you’re not a Daimon yet.”

  But he couldn’t afford to be human. Not now. Not ever. That would only get him killed. Just as it had done Davyn’s family.

  The meek only inherited earth six feet beneath their feet.

  And he was about to have his own family to look after.

  Time for childhood was over. This world didn’t allow for compassion or mercy. It required vigilance and a merciless sword arm.

  After tonight, he would be a husband and a father himself. He had much more than just himself to think about now. His gaze went to Nephele and Geras.

  To Xanthia.

  Much more.

  “Urian? You’re scaring me.” No one could miss the terror in his mother’s kind voice.

  “Don’t be afraid, Mata. I’m the very thing you raised me to be.”

  She sank her hand into his white-blond hair and forced him to meet her gaze. “Never lose sight of what I taught you, Urian. Honor. Integrity. Loyalty. Mercy.”

  Aye, but only for his own family.

  No one else.

  After all, he was his father’s son, too. And like Stryker, his mercy had a finite limitation. If I don’t feed on it or fuck it, I don’t give a shit. His father’s code was a simple one to grasp.

  This world was brutal to its core and it cared nothing for them. Therefore, they cared nothing for it. Their only goal was to survive. Whatever it took.

  Over, under, around, or through. Those who stood behind you, you protected. Those who stood at your side were worthy allies, and anyone who stood in front of you was a target to be destroyed.

  It was a simple code. And it was one that kept them alive.

  From this night forward, he would be Urian Kleopas, and they would all rue the night they’d facetiously given him that epithet.

  June 30, 9511 BC

  “Damn, what’s in that woman’s blood that it fuels you so?”

  Urian laughed at Archie’s question as he kicked his brother back and almost beheaded him. “What’s the matter, adelphos? Can’t you keep up?”

  “Theo!” Archie cried out for reinforcement.

  Urian turned to take both of his brothers on at once. They weren’t supposed to use their powers while practicing on the field. It was something their father insisted on, just in case they were ever in some kind of trap or device where their powers were locked or stripped, and they were forced to use nothing except their battle skills.

  Tonight, Archie and Theo decided to cheat. Without warning, both unleashed a god-bolt on him that knocked him flat on his ass. Groaning in pain, he rolled and came to his feet. He felt the fury rush through his veins.

  Before he could stop himself, he lashed out with his own powers. His blast rolled out and sent them flying.

  “Urian!”

  At first, he didn’t recognize his father’s stern voice. Not until Stryker grabbed him and shook him hard.

  Slowly, Urian came to and saw what his family did.

  Peculiar symbols glowed all over his body, iridescent and beautiful. He’d never seen anything like it.

  Blinking, he swallowed. “Solren? What happened?” He had no memory of anything from the last few minutes as he turned a slow circle, trying to get his bearings.

  His father let out a deep, sinister growl. “Do you remember anything?”

  Shaken by what he saw, he slowly scowled. “Nay.”

  His father turned to glare at Archie and Theo. “What did you do?”

  They gaped.

  Then Archie sputtered, “Why’s it our fault?”

  Releasing Urian, his father stalked them like a fierce predator ready to tear them apart. “Because you’re the ones who assaulted your brother.”

  Theo used his sword to gesture at Urian. “That doesn’t make us responsible for the fact that he’s a freak!”

  Paris draped himself against Urian’s back. “Hear that, Uri. You’re a freak.”

  “Shut up.” Urian shrugged him off.

  Laughing, Paris staggered away.

  But Paris’s amusement and Urian’s irritation were cut short as a scream rang out.

  “Dear gods, what now?” Stryker sighed heavily.

  Until he realized it was Telamon’s wife, Natassa, they heard. Then he teleported to their home.

  Urian stood paralyzed in their practice arena as he felt pain piercing his chest. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Without being told, he knew his brother was dead. He didn’t know how, but he did.

  Rage blinded him as he went running through the dark streets of Kalosis. He was so blinded by it that he didn’t even think to use his powers to flash himself to his brother’s home.

  Instead, he dodged the curious onlookers who were heading toward the screams to see what was happening. By the time he got to Telamon’s house, Urian was breathless and panting. Shaking and sweating.

  Terrified, he pushed his way through the crowd, into the house to where his family was gathered, in hysterics and tears.

  If Urian lived for eternity, he would never forget the sight of his father kneeling on the floor of Telly’s room by his brother’s side. Holding Telamon’s hand, their father wept as if his very soul had been shattered. Urian hadn’t even known that his father was capable of such gut-wrenching tears. Never mind the racking sobs that shook a warrior so fierce. So proud.

  His father clutched at Telamon’s lifeless body as if it were a rag doll. All around him, his brothers were on their knees, every bit as shaken.

  Those communal wails rumbled through Urian’s body like a second heartbeat and shook him to the core of his foundation. Only Apollites left a corpse to bury. Daimons disintegrated upon death. Were his father to die, there would be nothing left of his body for them to mourn. Within minutes of death, all six feet, eight inches of their father’s massively muscled warrior’s body would be nothing more than a fine golden powder that would flitter away, forever lost in the breeze.

  A faint memory.

  But Telamon was still an Apollite.

  His body remained intact. And their father refused to release him.

  His brother looked as if he were simply sleeping. As if he’d awaken any moment and insult Urian. Or call him out for some imagined slight.

  In that instant of his own grief, Urian felt his entire being heating up again. Felt the same electrical charge stirring that had gone through him when his brothers had attacked him earlier. It was bitter and tasted like acid in his mouth. Those peculiar markings on his flesh returned. Only brighter this time. From shoulder to fingertip, his arm glowed.

  Before he realized what he was doing, he moved across the floor to where his brother lay in his father’s arms and splayed his hand against the center of Telamon’s chest.

  The instant he touched him, a bright flash shot from his fingertips and into Telamon. Urian felt the jolt charging through his entire body, radiating through his cells and flowing into his brother’s chest.

  Telamon’s back arched. He vibrated all over as if he were being electrocuted. Then after a few minutes, he went stone still.

  Everyone turned toward Urian. They glared at him accusingly. His father rose slowly to his feet. r />
  Urian didn’t move. Nor did he let go of Telamon’s chest or arm. It was as if they were bonded together. As if were he to let go, it would kill him for sure. He didn’t know why he thought that, but he did.

  Gasping, his brother opened his eyes to stare up at him.

  Then cursed Urian.

  Their father’s jaw fell open. He eyed Urian as if he were Zeus himself, come down from the theocropolis of Olympus to meet them. “What did you do?”

  Stunned, Urian shook his head, every bit as dumbfounded as they were. He looked down at his glowing arm and hand. They continued to throb with a power of some primal energy he couldn’t even begin to describe or comprehend.

  Not until Apollymi appeared in the room in her Destroyer incarnation.

  Her black hair whipped out around her while her red eyes swirled. An unseen wind caused her hair and gown to twist about her lithe body like ribbons in a hurricane. “Who dared to summon a Source god into my domain!”

  His father moved to shield him so that the Destroyer couldn’t see Urian’s glowing arm or anything else. “No one, akra.”

  Those actions only made him love his father more. The fact that he’d seek to protect him was the ultimate act of loyalty, but Urian wasn’t a fool.

  No one could hide this from Apollymi. It would be suicide to try. And she’d kill them both for the lie.

  “Something happened to me, akra.” Urian held his arm up for her to see it.

  Her hair turned white again as she lowered herself to the floor and became the goddess who used to let him gaze into her mirror to see the daylight. She cast her gaze around the room to everyone gathered there. “Come with me, Urian.”

  Without hesitation, his father stepped forward. “Akra—”

  “Stay out of this, Strykerius,” she hissed.

  His father hesitated.

  Urian wanted to reassure his father that he’d be fine, but by her tone, he knew better than to speak. She was not in the mood for any kind of argument or another word.

  Though to be honest, he wasn’t quite sure what this mood of hers was. It hovered between a pique and unadulterated fury.

  So instead, he cast what he hoped was an unassuming smile toward his father and followed her from the room, out toward her palace.

  As soon as they were alone, Apollymi turned toward him with a glower that he normally received from his father after he punched one of his brothers. “What did you do?” Her tone was sharp and brittle.

  Urian shrugged. “My brother was dead, and I touched him and …”

  She cursed beneath her breath.

  Completely baffled, he tried to comprehend why she was so angry at him. “What is it?”

  “A power I never foresaw you possessing. Now you must learn to control it or else, like Midas, it will destroy your life. And everyone around you.”

  Those words chilled him all the way to his soul, especially the way she said them. What could she mean? “I don’t understand, akra.”

  She growled deep in her throat before she answered. “Those markings on your arm are from the most ancient of languages. One of the very first. You hold powers from the goddess Bathymaas.”

  His jaw went slack at the mention of the first goddess of balance and life. A goddess of divine justice.

  Long ago, when the gods had warred with each other, she alone had found a way to protect mankind and the Apollites from them. Until the bitter gods had destroyed her for it.

  But it didn’t make sense that he’d have been born with her mark. Why?

  “How is that possible?”

  “You’re born of the gods, Urian, you know this. Such creatures are ever a hodgepodge of peculiar gifts. One never knows how they’ll align inside their children. Not until it’s too late.”

  He supposed that made sense. Yet Bathymaas was one of the oldest of the goddesses. A primary power.

  Enemy of Apollo.

  Why would she choose him as a vessel to carry a gift of such magnitude when they weren’t related and didn’t even share a pantheon? It didn’t make sense.

  Apollymi’s expression turned even grimmer. “But the real question is, what will become of that power inside you once you turn Daimon? Therein lies the rub, pido, as no one has ever done so before. And it’s not something Apollo took into account when he cursed you and your father and brothers.”

  “What are you saying, akra?”

  “That your inherited power from a goddess that powerful could mutate into who knows what.” She let out a long, tired breath. Then she turned to stare at him. “Today you saved your brother’s life, Urian. Tomorrow, you could kill them all … and yourself. Because we know nothing of your powers and you don’t understand how to wield them. One day, you might even have the ability to rupture the very fabric of the universe. There’s just no telling who or what you could become. All we know is that it’ll be an exciting day.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Maybe not a good one for whomever is in your path. But exciting nonetheless.”

  July 9, 9511 BC

  “From leper to god in three heartbeats. It’s terrifying. Really.” Urian passed a disgusted grimace to Davyn as he dislodged another beautiful woman from his crotch.

  This one actually whimpered in protest.

  Urian was tempted to do so as well, especially given how irritated he was at the never-ending line of women who were intent on his seduction.

  “I’m married,” he repeated to her for the third time. Gah! Where had all this attention been when he’d been literally starving and in need?

  She pursed her lips at him. “As am I. My husband said he wouldn’t mind. That your infused blood could fortify us both. He wants me to feed from you. He’ll even join us if you want. My sister, too.”

  Disgusted by that, Urian stood up and moved away as if she were on fire. Last thing he wanted was an orgy from people who only wanted to use him. Forget that!

  Davyn quickly stepped between them to provide a block for him. “Sorry, love. If anyone gets an extramarital piece of his scrumptious ass, I’ve a prior claim to it, as I’ve been the one begging for it far longer than you.” He winked at her.

  Her jaw dropped.

  As did Urian’s. Flashing his fangs in an unrepentant grin, Davyn grabbed his arm possessively and dragged him away. But not before he cast an evil smirk at the woman, then grabbed a handful of Urian’s buttocks.

  “Hey now!” Urian gasped, stepping away before Davyn got them both clobbered by a jealous Paris.

  Or worse, a furious Xanthia. “I can’t believe you just said or did that.”

  Davyn shrugged. “I can’t believe she had the nerve to search your private business in such a public manner. Makes me rather jealous I hadn’t thought to do so, but I’m not so rude. Or suicidal. Paris would kill me if I dared to sit on your crotch or fondle it.”

  “So say you. I recall a few rather daring gropes from you in that particular area in the past.”

  Davyn scoffed. “Name me one!”

  “You were drunk, still—”

  “Those don’t count.”

  Urian snorted in defiance of his glib tone. “I beg to differ, and so does my private business, as you say.”

  Davyn laughed. “Aye, well, be that as it may, I don’t remember it, so it didn’t happen. Besides, I can’t believe we’re now having to guard you as carefully as we used to have to guard my man-lamb and his hind and front quarters from others. Who’d have thought?”

  “Indeed,” Urian agreed. “The world’s gone madder than normal.”

  “It’s not that.” Ophion grabbed Urian away from Davyn and hauled him toward an exit in a different direction.

  Once they were on the street, Ophion reached back into the building and pulled Davyn through the door, then slammed it shut and locked it. “Word’s out on you, adelphos. Everyone knows what you did for Telly. Now they all think you have the powers of a god and can heal them. So if they partake of your semen, they believe they’ll become instantly immortal.”
r />   Urian’s jaw fell again. “I’m not the god Set! Are they insane?”

  Ophie raised his arms in surrender. “Don’t spear Hermes. Merely passing on the town gossip. They’re the ones hailing you as the savior of our people. Sickening, truly, as I know you for the idiot you are. Half of them are proclaiming you as the mystical Day-Walker, prophesied to save us from our curse. They think you’re capable of anything, now.”

  Urian went bug-eyed. “Shite to that! Last thing I need is a bunch of fools tossing me to the daylight like I’m Andromeda to Poseidon’s sea monster or something.”

  “Well, I’d like to feed you to a sea monster, most days, but for other reasons.”

  Urian shoved at his brother. “You’re such a pain.”

  “Learned it from you.”

  Growling, Urian rolled his eyes. “Oh, to have had a solren who could have kept his prick to himself for one night. Damn him for all the brothers I trip over constantly. Should have let Hades take the bastard and beat him, rather than save his life and start this.”

  Ophie kissed his cheek. “Ah now, you’d miss us if we weren’t here to aggravate you.”

  Urian scoffed. “Doubt that.”

  Davyn stopped suddenly and without warning, causing Urian to walk right into him.

  “What are you doing?” He rubbed at his forehead, which he’d banged into the back of Davyn’s skull.

  Davyn didn’t speak. He merely gestured at the crowd lined up outside the door of Urian’s home.

  Ah, bloody hell …

  He’d never seen the like. It was as if they were giving out alms on a feast day.

  Davyn leaned his head back to grin at him over his shoulder. “One well-placed god-bolt could take out about half of them.” He flashed his fangs in an evil grin. “What say you?”

  Urian grimaced in absolute agony of the thought of what waited there for him. “Don’t tempt me.” And it was tempting. These were the same people who’d had no use for him just a few days ago.

  Until he had a power they thought they could make use of.

  Funny how that worked.

  And it left Urian extremely disenchanted with the lot of them. For he’d seen their true colors at a much earlier age than most saw it. Because he’d been born with the abnormality of blue eyes and not their brown Apollite ones, they hadn’t hidden their disdain for him. That made it all the harder for him to hide his resentment of them now.