Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Xirena bit her lip. “Me, too, akri?”
“Absolutely.”
That would get the demons in.
Acheron glanced around at his allies. “I’m weakened—every time I strike them, it drains a portion of my god powers—and the weapons Artemis brought might work on Apollo, but they’re shite on the Atlanteans. We are in over our heads and I won’t lie, it’s ugly. So, who wants to try to go in with me and save my brother’s life?”
They all stepped forward.
“All right. Here goes nothing.” Closing his eyes, Acheron summoned everything he could and teleported them back to Katateros.
For several minutes, he, too, was locked out. When they finally broke through whatever Archon had done to shield the temple, Acheron was completely unprepared for the sight that awaited them. Blood was everywhere. It looked like the stage production of
Evil Dead
. But what scared him was the sight of Styxx’s phoenix shield. Twisted and bent out of shape, it was in the middle of the largest pool of blood. Blood was smeared to the doors as if a struggling body had been dragged out through them.
Demonbrean and Ilios lay moaning on the ground near Apollo who wasn’t in any better shape. Styxx must have beat the crap out of the Greek god before they’d overpowered him. Epithymia was still sobbing uncontrollably and hadn’t moved from her spot where she’d fallen after Kat had drained her powers.
As Styxx had predicted, Dikastis stood calmly in the shadows and appeared to have not fought at all.
Not sure of the god’s loyalties or intentions, Acheron went to him first. “Where’s my brother?”
Raw anger flared in the god’s eyes. “They took him to the temple arena.”
“Why aren’t you with them?”
“I’m a god of justice. I will not participate in something that’s wrong and undeserved.”
“Will you fight with us then?”
Dikastis nodded without hesitation.
* * *
H
is breathing ragged,
Styxx was so battered and bruised at this point, he wasn’t sure why he was still conscious. He’d managed to knock out three of them and weaken the rest, but in the end, he’d been outnumbered and was no match for a dozen gods who’d been asleep and resting for centuries.
Against Styxx’s best efforts, Archon and Asteros had dragged him to the temple Acheron had confined him in years ago.… To the arena where they’d once made his life utter hell. Laughing all the while, they’d secured him to the rack they’d used for his beatings and other things that had left him bleeding internally for eternity.
Damn them.
Archon fisted his hand in Styxx’s blood-soaked hair and jerked his head back. “You’re not defeated so soon, are you, prince?”
As if. Ryssa had slapped harder than Archon hit. “Fuck you.”
“How I wish, but unfortunately, we’re making you a sacrifice.” Archon gagged him then looked over to Leto. “Summon our lady vengeance.”
Leto laughed as she neared Styxx. “You didn’t really think Epithymia had Bathymaas’s heart, did you? Trust me, I kept that for myself. Now I’m going to finish what I started fourteen thousand years ago.”
And when I’m done destroying what’s left of the Greeks, I’m going to tear apart the Atlanteans as I did the Sumerians and Egyptians. No one is going to stop me. No one.
Styxx’s eyes widened as he heard her thoughts loud and clear.
Leto pulled out a knife and sliced open Styxx’s cheek so that she could fill a vial with his blood. She mumbled words he didn’t understand as she blended his blood with another compound. And as she did so, his head began to spin.
All of a sudden, he remembered being Aricles.
He saw Bethany at his side as she held on to his biceps. “Do not fight Apollo for my honor. It’s not worth one single drop of your blood. Run with me, Ari. Let’s leave all this behind and never look back.”
“I can’t, and neither can you, Bathia. We have too many responsibilities. Too many to protect. We cannot abandon this world to their cruel hands.”
“I no longer care about any of that. You are all I cherish now.”
His blood racing with fury and pain, Aricles had pressed his cheek to hers and held her close. “And you’re all that matters to me. I won’t have your reputation tarnished by that pig. You’ve done nothing wrong.” The two of them had secretly married and he wanted Apollo’s throat for the lies the Greek god and his whore mother had told against Bathymaas. “I will beat that bastard down for you, my goddess. Have no fear.”
She buried her hand in his hair as tears streamed down her beautiful face. “You are the heart they claim I was born without. It’s why I can’t be the soul of justice anymore. You’ve changed me forever.… And you can’t leave me in this awful world without you.”
He kissed her forehead. “Let me win your honor and then we will go wherever you wish.”
“Swear it to me.”
“On my eternal soul. I will always be with you, Bathia. Nothing will take me from you, ever. Not even the gods.” He lifted the Egyptian ieb amulet from her chest and kissed it then tucked it back between her breasts.
Styxx gasped as he fully understood what Set had told him. Bathymaas had been created by the Source, not born of a mother.…
With no heartbeat whatsoever, she’d been a complete stranger to any kind of emotion until Aricles had taught her how to love.
The Egyptian jug-shaped amulet was the heart Set had given her as a girl when she’d asked her father why she didn’t have a heartbeat like others. It was part of the same amulet Bethany had given him to protect him in battle.
“This holds my love for you, child, and while you can’t understand it, know that so long as you wear it, you carry a vital piece of me with you. My heart has great power and it will keep you safe and warm in my absence.”
That was how Leto had destroyed the Egyptian pantheon and trapped Set in the desert. Once she’d stolen the half of Bathymaas’s heart that Set had hidden in his domain, she’d used Set’s DNA and Seth’s blood to trap the primal god.
Lifting his head, Styxx saw the broken ieb shard on Leto’s wrist that matched the one Bethany had given him. While his half had held Bethany’s bow and arrow emblem, the one Leto wore had the phoenix symbol of Aricles. Two halves of one whole. It was so obvious now, but unless you knew what an Egyptian heart looked like, you’d never guess its origins.
Or its significance.
Leto poured the blood from the vial onto her fingers and waved the ieb over it. Then she wiped it down his other cheek. “History always repeats itself. Poor you to die twice by the hand of the woman you love. And once you’re dead, she’ll destroy the gods for me.” Stepping back, she let out a sharp, piercing ololuge … a sound used in his time to summon a god’s presence when a sacrifice was being offered to them.
All of a sudden, a fierce wind came tearing through the arena. It blew open doors and ripped at his body. Leto stumbled against it.
A baleful howl sounded an instant before a swirling specter joined them. Inhumanly large, it floated on the wind wearing a bloodred cloak. And when it neared Styxx, he realized this was the vengeful spirit of Bethany that had been born after Apollo had tricked her into killing her beloved.
With his gag in place, he couldn’t say a word of warning to her. Just as they’d done fourteen thousand years ago, Apollo and Leto had set Bethany up to fall. And to suffer.
Leto pointed to him as she spoke to Bethany. “Behold the bastard son of your enemy who cost your prince his life and existence. Take your vengeance on them both! Rip out the heart of Apostolos!”
Bethany screamed in furious agony.
Styxx’s eyes widened as he realized she was going to kill him and there was nothing he could do to stop her.
* * *
A
cheron paused at
the temple’s entrance. It was the same one he’d confined Styxx to when he’d brought him here. “What is this place?”
“It’s our arena,” Dikastis answered. “It’s where we held games and competitions, and where we brought those who needed to be punished and taught humility.”
Ash winced as images from Styxx’s memories mingled with his.
And I left him here to rot.…
For that alone, I deserve to have my name engraved in the lowest pit of hell.
How could he have allowed his own pain to blind him to Styxx’s so completely? The knowledge that Styxx had tried to help him when Acheron had been held, and that he had never once reached out to his brother when Styxx had been in captivity, made him ill. How could he have been so cold? So callous?
What spoke highest of Styxx’s character was that he’d never sought credit for his actions whenever he’d done something for Acheron or even Ryssa. He’d given simply because it’d been the right thing to do, and personal glory had never mattered to him. Not once.
Meanwhile both Acheron and Ryssa had slapped him for it. Repeatedly. No wonder Styxx had been so eager to kill him in New Orleans. He’d more than earned Styxx’s hatred.
But he wouldn’t fail Styxx this time.
Ash swept his gaze over Urian, Davyn, Dikastis, Seth, Set, Maahes, Ma’at, Zakar, and the demons. “I don’t know what we’re about to walk into, but let’s move forward with Styxx’s original plan. And whatever we do, save my brother.”
They nodded in agreement, except Dikastis.
“What do you want from me?” the Atlantean asked.
“Help us any way you can.”
But what concerned Ash the most was the fact that none of the Atlanteans had come out to challenge them on their arrival. They had to know they were here. So why were they so quiet while they had this many foreign gods in their domain?
His heart pounding in fear of what awaited them, he entered the building. Inside the dark hall, a feral wind howled and plastered their clothes against their bodies.
It took them several minutes to make it to the arena, and to fight the wind so that they could see what was happening. The Atlanteans were all pinned down.
The moment Ash located Styxx, his stomach hit the floor. A ghostly image dressed in red was wrapped around him and held a dagger over his heart.
“Bathymaas! No!” Set shouted.
Without the slightest hesitation, she sank the dagger deep into Styxx’s chest, all the way to the hilt then threw her head back and roared in satisfaction. When she spoke, she used Atlantean only. “Take your bastard back, Apollymi. Now come and face me, you wretched bitch, so that I can bathe in your putrid blood! Taste my vengeance, whore, and choke on it!”
Horrified, Ash looked to Set whose expression was every bit as pain-filled as his own.
They were too late.
Again. Styxx was dead and it was final. The coating on that dagger would kill anything with a heartbeat. Even Styxx. It didn’t matter that their life forces were joined. It didn’t matter that Styxx held Apollymi’s powers. The sap of the ypnsi didn’t discriminate. It was absolute.
Tears filled Acheron’s eyes as he failed his brother for the last time. Now he would never be able to make amends and show Styxx just how sorry he truly was for the things he’d done to him. And it wasn’t until this moment that he realized just how much he had loved his brother, after all. Styxx had been right. They were two halves of a single whole, and the pain of Styxx’s loss slammed into him harder than he would have ever imagined possible.
Wishing with all the powers he had that he could bring his brother back, Ash felt a single tear slide down his cheek.
I’m so sorry, adelphos. I should have been the brother to you that you were to me.
An image of his mother appeared. It was the same ethereal shade form she used whenever she visited Acheron. “What have you done?”
Bathymaas ran at her and then through her. “Are you afraid to face me?”
Her expression one of deep sadness, Apollymi shook her head. “You did not kill Apostolos.” Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Styxx’s body. “I am still trapped in Kalosis. The man you killed is Styxx of Didymos.”
“No,” Bathymaas breathed. Disbelief widened her eyes as she turned back toward Styxx and paled. “You lie!”
Blood dripped from the wound she’d given him and as it did so, it drained Apollymi’s powers from Styxx. His hair returned to blond, his skin darkened, and the scars that had been hidden reappeared on his body.
Leto’s laughter filled the room. “Poor Bathymaas … you are damned again by your own hand.” She materialized behind Bathymaas and ripped the necklace from where Styxx had placed it before he sent her to Egypt to wait for him.
Set ran for them, but before he could close the distance, Leto put the two pieces together.
“Now I will be the soul of justice and you’ll…” Leto frowned as the amulet refused to reunite. “What? Why isn’t this working?”
Ash met Urian’s gaze and jerked his chin toward the pinned gods.
Urian nodded in understanding and made his way toward them with Davyn in tow.
Ash had just started for Styxx when all of a sudden, Styxx gasped and arched his back as if something possessed him. The knife Bathymaas had buried in his chest shot through the air and landed harmlessly on the ground. Light streamed out of the wound, sealing it closed. In the next heartbeat, a shock wave went through the room, knocking everyone off their feet, except Ash, who’d seen this twice before.
The last time in New Orleans.
A slow smile spread across his face as he realized that Styxx had finally received his Chthonian powers that prevented any god from killing him. This was a Chthonian rebirth and it was painful as hell. But the drawback was that his brother would have no idea what those powers were or how to use them. Whenever they manifested, they took control over their master and were hard to use or to fight.
Especially the first time.
The chains that held Styxx in place shattered, sending shrapnel in all directions. Styxx rose to hover over the floor.
“What’s happening?” Archon roared.
No one answered as lightning bolts shot from Styxx’s body, blowing out the windows and ripping the doors from their hinges. Bolts of light pierced Styxx’s eyes and mouth. They exploded through his body, strengthening him and bringing him back from his undeserved death.