Stygian

  “Excuse me?”

  “I would, but there’s really no excuse for this level of incompetence. So I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up if you ever figure out how to open a portal or something else decides to eat you. If I’m bored enough, I might lend another axe.”

  Urian snorted at the irritable ass. He didn’t know why he liked him as much as he did. On his brothers, that attitude was intolerable. For some reason, Ruyn made it charming and funny.

  Though at the moment, he was more than a little tempted to kick him.

  Still, he wondered about Helios’s prophecy. Could there be any truth to it?

  Was there a way to ever free them from Apollo’s curse? Or was it simply another lie from the gods? After all, that was what hope really was. The worst of all the curses Zeus had laid at the bottom of Pandora’s box so that when she opened it, she would release into the world that one stupid thing that would make sure humanity carried on and kept going no matter what despair, degradation, and nightmare the gods heaped on them.

  So long as they had hope, they suffered.

  How he hated that bitch. She was the worst of all plagues ever concocted by the gods and the cruelest joke they’d ever played on any sentient being—hence the real reason it was inside Pandora’s box. But for his own hope that he might find Xyn again, he wouldn’t be here now.

  And that was why he hated Elpis more than any other goddess on Olympus. Because she hid her true purpose behind the guise of lies and treachery. She wasn’t there to comfort. She was there to punish and to prolong the torment of man.

  No more. Urian was done with her.

  Helios glared at the Daimons and Apollites around him. “You were supposed to kill the children of Apollo. Not let them go.”

  “He’s a Daimon, my lord. He can’t have children.”

  Helios sent a god-bolt through him that splintered him into pieces. Then he glared at the others. “Anyone else want to voice a stupid opinion?”

  They quickly backed down.

  Feeling the fire ripple up his arms and over his skin, he turned his blazing gaze toward each of them in turn. “When next I give an order, you will do as I say, without question or fail. I want the death of Apollo’s children and grandchildren. Bring me their hearts or I will have yours in their stead!”

  He was through with this game, and tired of watching Zeus and the other Olympian upstarts feeding him table scraps.

  War had been declared and he intended to win it.

  June 30, 9501 BC

  “You know what today is.”

  Urian flinched at his father’s question as he came into the study where he’d been summoned. “Of course I know.”

  “Did you talk to her like I asked?”

  “I tried. She wouldn’t listen.”

  “Did you get her children to talk to her?”

  Urian arched a brow at that question. “Didn’t you?”

  “Of course I did!” His father paced back and forth. And then he saw it. The tears that glistened in his father’s swirling silver eyes as he choked on the sobs he was doing his best to hold back. “She’s going to die, Urimou.”

  He barely heard those words and the nickname his father hadn’t used for him since he was a child.

  “My precious girl. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I even tried to trick her. To bespell her. Damn her for her stubbornness!”

  Choking on his own grief, he went to his father and pulled him into his arms. “I’m sorry.”

  Urian was unprepared for the ferocity of his father’s hug. While he’d known his father was a powerful man, he hadn’t realized just how much until those arms wrapped around him with the strength of a Titan. Burying his face in the crook of his neck, his father wept with soul-racking sobs the likes of which Urian would never have imagined him capable of making. They made the ones he’d shed for his brother pale in comparison. He fisted his hands in Urian’s chalmys and held him there as if terrified of letting him go.

  He had no idea what to say or how to comfort him. So he merely stood there, holding his father and rubbing his back while his own tears fell.

  When his father finally pulled back, he buried his hand in Urian’s hair in each side of his face and glared at him. “A father isn’t supposed to bury his children. We live to protect them, and we die first so that we can be there to welcome them on the other side. This is so wrong, Uri.”

  “I know, Baba. I know.”

  His lips trembling, his father wiped at the tears on Urian’s face, then kissed his cheeks. “I love you, pido.” With a ragged breath, he released him and headed for the door. “Let me go and sit with your sister.”

  Urian couldn’t move as he heard him walking away. He was paralyzed by his own grief and anger. This was so wrong. And he felt horrible for his father. Furious for his sister who had to leave her own children.

  And madder than hell that he would be forced to watch her agony on this day.

  Not like they all hadn’t seen it before.

  Countless times.

  They even had a term for it. The Thanatogori—deathwatch, or day-long vigil—whenever one of their species turned twenty-seven and decided not to turn Daimon.

  Already his sister would have begun the painful process of dying. Urian had seen enough of his friends die like that. He’d never watched family perish.

  Dreading this, he knew he had to go sit with his father. So he left and headed to her house, where all of his family was already gathered.

  Even Geras and Nephele, along with Nephele’s husband, were there. The only one missing was Xanthia. But then she hadn’t really spoken to him much since the night he’d returned Nephele to Kalosis. He wasn’t sure why, and since she refused to speak, he didn’t press it.

  Besides, her psychosis wasn’t really his problem, especially now that she was remarried. Though it was ironic that Geras and Nephele still considered him their father. And that was fine by him.

  He continued to think of them as his children.

  Paris and Davyn greeted him first at the door. Both had swollen eyes.

  “I can’t believe she’s doing this.” Paris wiped at his cheeks while Davyn held him.

  “Me either. She’d always seemed more levelheaded than this.” Trying to distract himself, he glanced over to the table, where a strange urn had been set. “What’s that?”

  Davyn winced. “Tobias made it. He wants to put his mother’s dust in it so that he can keep her with him after …” His voice broke off as his tears began to flow.

  Urian understood. Tobias was Tannis’s youngest and her only son. He was the one who was closest to his mother. “Where is she?”

  Paris drew a ragged breath. “On her bed. He won’t leave her side.”

  “Let me go see them, then.” Urian headed to the back and had to finagle his way through the crowd. By the time he reached Tannis’s room, he barely recognized his own sister. She was so much older already.

  Her two daughters lay on each side while her son was at her feet on the bed. His father knelt on the floor, holding Tannis’s infant granddaughter, Marcella, whom her eldest daughter had birthed only two weeks ago.

  Helena, who’d been named for their mother, clung to Tannis, but her other daughter, Rhoda, launched herself at Urian as soon as she saw him. “Uncle Uri! Make her stop this!”

  “I wish I could, stormy. I tried all day yesterday. All I got for it was insults.” He kissed his niece’s head.

  Rhoda wailed in the shrillest of tones. “I’ll never die like this. So help me, I’ll eat every human alive first!”

  “Good girl,” his father snarled with pride. “Make sure you pass that fire on to your children.”

  “Baba!” Tannis snapped. “Don’t you dare encourage her to such things.”

  Someone took Urian’s hand. He glanced down at first, thinking it would be a niece or nephew.

  It was Archie.

  “Think if one of us bit her, it would keep her from dying?”

  Urian con
sidered it. “Might. But then she might kick our asses for the effort. Feel free to try.”

  He snorted.

  And so their day went, with insufferable slowness as they listened to her screaming in agony and watched her dying. Urian had never felt so helpless. Nor had he hated so much.

  By the time dawn came to end her suffering, they were all scarred so deeply that none of them could speak as their father slowly gathered her dust to place in Tobias’s jar.

  Tobias cradled it with the tenderest care and placed it on the mantel before he and his sisters went to hold their silent vigil. Urian’s brothers began to disperse with their families. Theo spoke in a quiet whisper to his father while Paris and Davyn came up to Urian.

  Paris glanced over to their father. “Davyn and I are going Daimon tonight.”

  Urian arched a brow at that. “Pardon?”

  A tic started in his twin’s jaw. “After this … I’m not waiting another day or night. Davyn only has a few more months. We decided not to push our luck. You’ve been one for two years now, yeah?”

  He nodded.

  “It’s not so bad, is it?”

  Urian scratched at the back of his neck. “Honestly? It’s not the best. Especially in the beginning. I spent a lot of those first months sick with it. Tricking a human into granting permission to take their soul isn’t as easy as you think. Picking a human with a strong soul is even harder. They’re corrupt little bastards. And the constant whining will drive you to insanity.”

  “Then how do you cope?”

  Urian gave them an evil grin. “I live on venom.”

  “I could do that.”

  He snorted. “You’re too much in love. But I’m here to help. If you need anything, you let me know.”

  Nodding, they left him alone. Urian waited on his father since they were the only two who didn’t have anyone else.

  “You worried about me?”

  He heard the stern note in his father’s tone. “A little.”

  “Don’t. I’m not that fragile.”

  Perhaps. But unlike his brothers, Urian never forgot the fact that his father really wasn’t that much older than they were. He’d been a teen when Archie and Theo and Tannis were born. Barely twenty when Urian and Paris had come along. Too young to have been thrust into the decisions that Apollo had forced onto him.

  Too young to be cursed to die.

  His father met his gaze. “So are you.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I can hear your thoughts, Urian. And you’re too young to have been put through so much.” His father picked up Tannis’s pillow from the bed and pressed it to his face so that he could breathe her scent in. Then he cradled it to his chest like an infant and closed the distance between them. “I don’t want to bury another child. Help me protect your brothers.”

  “I intend to.”

  “Good. And I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

  “About Helios’s prophecy?”

  He nodded. “Apollo had another Apollite mistress. We’ll start with that line before we worry about ours. I want you in charge of hunting down every last one of them and cutting their throats. Let’s see if there’s any truth to this.”

  “You sure?”

  Tears welled in his eyes as he stroked Tannis’s pillow. “Kill them for me, Urian. Every last fucking one of them.”

  He winced at the agony in his father’s voice. It mirrored his own. “I will see it done, Baba.”

  Urian sat by Xyn’s pool, with his feet dangling in the water, seeking some form of comfort, even though there was none to be had for his vacant and damned soul. I am too young to feel this old and defeated.

  Because today, he felt ancient. Indeed, the weight of his soul and grief was so heavy that if he were to throw himself into the water, he had no doubt it would drag him to the bottom of those black waters and drown him. He’d have no ability to swim with it wrapped around him like this.

  How did his father manage? If he hadn’t respected the man before, he definitely did now. Because this shit sucked the very breath out of his lungs and made him want to just surrender to the pain and end it all. It was a struggle to come up with one single reason why he should bother to find another soul and not just allow the one that was currently screaming in his brain to take him to the grave and end it all.

  Unlike the rest of his family, he was completely alone. Even his father had a girlfriend or wife or whatever Nelea was.

  Urian wasn’t really sure what her true role was, other than a convenient meal. As much as she stayed at their home, he was rather sure she lived there and nowhere else. But neither she nor his father had made a firm declaration of their relationship, and Urian wasn’t certain if he wanted to know whether he had a new mother. So he didn’t ask, and they didn’t say.

  He simply remained cordial with her, and passed brief, polite conversation with her whenever their paths crossed.

  Sitting up, he rubbed at his head. For some reason, the human soul inside him was screaming louder than normal. He didn’t know if that was because of his grief or perhaps the human had been whinier than most.

  Whatever it was, it only added to his misery. He should probably go to the hall and find someone to feed with. It might help alleviate some of the internal screaming. But he wasn’t hungry. What he wanted was real comfort. Too bad there was no one to make him feel better.

  “Urian?”

  His heart stopped as he heard a voice he’d never thought to hear again.

  Nay, it couldn’t be. Stunned and unable to believe it, he turned, then stood up slowly. “Xyn?”

  In human form and dressed in bronze armor over a red chiton, she walked slowly toward him. Her vibrant Titian hair was braided and coiled around her head, exposing her pointed ears. “I felt as if something was wrong.” She glanced about nervously. “If Apollymi finds me here, she’ll have a fit, but I had to come and see if you were all right. I can’t explain it. I just had to check on you.”

  His throat was so tight from the sudden rush of happiness and grief that he couldn’t speak. Cupping her face with his hands, he did the one thing he’d always wanted to do.

  He kissed her.

  Xyn gasped as she breathed Urian in and melted against him. He smelled so intoxicating. Of leather and haxyn, and sweet rowan. No one smelled quite the way her Apollite did. They never had. And she shuddered as his tongue swept against hers. Fisting her hand in the linen of his chalmys, she felt his muscles bunching beneath her fingers.

  When he finally pulled away to stare down at her, she smiled impishly up into those beautiful blue eyes. “I take it you missed me?”

  He laughed at her question. “More than you can imagine.” A stricken expression darkened his eyes. “I found your letter. And I’m sorry for everything.”

  She toyed with his soft hair. “So am I. But I can’t stay.”

  The agony in his eyes tore at her heart and made her ache for him. She brushed his hair from his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  His lips trembled. “Tannis died today.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

  A single tear fell down his cheek. “I’ll be fine.” He cleared his throat and fell into that staunch, tough leader role of his. “You should go before you get into trouble.”

  How could she leave now, knowing what had happened? Knowing what his sister had meant to him? “Do you have anyone with you?”

  When he hesitated, she scowled. “Where’s your wife?”

  He sighed. “Sheba was killed.”

  Xyn felt sick to her stomach. “When?”

  “A few years ago.”

  Years? He’d been alone all this time? She couldn’t believe it. “You haven’t remarried?”

  He snorted with a hostility that set her back. “Why would I?”

  Companionship would be the normal reason, but he had one that made a lot more sense. “To eat?”

  “I have women willing to feed me now. No need to rush into that again when I don’t have t
o.”

  She barely caught herself before she rolled her eyes. He sounded so much like her brother Veles that it was frightening. “So you’re alone?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  Well … aye. But she didn’t want to think about that. She was a dragon. It wasn’t quite the same thing. They were used to being alone. It was in their DNA. In all her life, his was the only company she’d ever craved.

  And crave him, she did. More than had ever made sense.

  Burying her hands in his hair, she tugged playfully at it. “My poor Uri. You’ve ever been my aggravation.”

  He arched a brow at her.

  “It’s true.”

  With a tender light in his eyes, he buried his hand in her braids so he could toy with them. “I’m so happy that I got to see you again. But how did you get in without being detected?”

  “I have friends among the Charonte. You’d be amazed what they’ll do for a taste of honey cake.”

  “I’ll have to remember that in the event I ever get locked out of here.”

  She smiled. “Well, I should be going.”

  The sadness returned to his eyes. “I’m sure your husband misses you.”

  “I don’t have a husband.”

  When he opened his mouth to speak, she caught his jaw to keep him from speaking. “I’ve already told you. There’s only one person I love, Uri, but as much as I love you, I can’t stand by and watch you feed on the blood of another woman, knowing you’ll be cheating on me.”

  His eyes turned dark and stormy. “I hate my grandfather.”

  “So do I.”

  He hesitated. “But what if I could find a way to break the curse?”

  For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Could it be so simple? “What do you mean?”

  “We think we might have a way out from under the death sentence.”

  “You know my answer. I want to be with you, Urian, I do. But I can’t share you. That’s not fair to me.”

  She saw Urian’s happiness return. “Then I have twice the reason to end this curse, twice as fast.” And this time when he took her into his arms, his kiss was possessive and filled with a deep promise. His lips tasted of passion.

  Wanting something she knew she might never have another shot at, Xyn unpinned his chalmys and let it fall to the ground. When he didn’t complain, she made sure his chiton followed it down to their feet, exposing his chest to her hands. He sucked his breath between his teeth as she touched his hard, hot body.