Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
“Enough!” Apollo roared. His face turned bright red from his fury. Bellowing, he kicked Styxx back. “Get him out of my sight.”
Bethany went to Styxx. She pulled her cloak off and wrapped it around his shoulders then she faced Apollo. “You never did answer the question, brother. Is Prince Styxx forgiven for saving the lives of thousands of Greeks and driving the Atlanteans from our shores, or do you intend to keep punishing him for such awful hubris against you? Do you, finally, release him from your slavery?”
“He’s released. Now get him out of my sight!”
She helped Styxx to his feet.
“Thank you, my lady,” Styxx breathed as unshed tears glittered in his eyes.
Nodding, she let Galen take him from her hands and walk him out of the temple.
And as they moved through the crowd, the people of Didymos went down on their knees to bow before their prince.
Bethany’s smile died as she looked back at Apollo and the wrath on his face. He was not going to forgive this. The only problem was he didn’t know it was Bet’anya who’d embarrassed him.
Crap …
Athena’s going to kill me for this ruse
.
She’d deal with that later. Narrowing her eyes at the bastard, she turned to leave. When she reached the temple door, an old man caught her eye. She started to ignore him until recognition kicked her.
Athena.
Quadruple crap …
The Olympian goddess followed her outside.
Bracing herself for the fight, Bethany turned to face her.
Athena held her hand up and smiled. “You have no idea how many times in my life I’ve wanted to publicly bitch-slap my brother. Thank you for the amusement.”
Bethany laughed and took her hand. “I thought you were going to choke me for it.”
“Not for this. But don’t think for even one heartbeat that we’re friends.”
“I know. But I am a goddess of justice, and while I have no problem tearing open someone who deserves it, I cannot stand to see anyone, even a Greek, wrongfully tortured.”
Athena nodded. “Now can I have my body back? No offense, but I don’t wear old man well.”
Bethany resumed her true form. “I know now why you chose Styxx as your champion, Athena. You did well.”
“You did better, I think.”
“How so?”
Athena transformed into her goddess body. “He might fight under my badge, Bet’anya, but you’re the only one he would die for.”
* * *
“
L
eave us.”
Galen hesitated at the king’s furious order.
“It’s all right,” Styxx assured him, but he held the same doubt about that as Galen.
Inclining his head respectfully, Galen left him alone with his father.
His entire being throbbing and aching in protest, Styxx pulled himself up in the bed as his father approached him.
The king yanked the blanket from him, exposing his full naked body. “This isn’t from a whore. What happened to you?”
Before he could think up a lie, his father hissed as his gaze fell to the cruelest mark he bore. His father rudely grabbed him so that he could examine it. Fury blazed in his father’s eyes and for a moment Styxx was stupid enough to think it was indignation on his behalf.
“You think this is funny or cute?” his father roared in his face. “You’re a prince, for the gods’ sakes!” He backhanded him. “I don’t know what kind of perverse games you play, boy, but if you
ever
publicly embarrass me as you did today, I don’t care what army backs you, I will see you sold as the tsoulus whose mark you proudly wear. Do you understand me?”
Styxx couldn’t answer as memories ripped through him. He heard the roar of voices that called out for his humiliation and punishment.
Fucking Greek whore! He’s even branded one!
Prince, my ass. You’re a worthless dog. Not even worth the brand you carry.
Are all Greek heroes pathetic quims like you?
And the whole time he’d been so cruelly held and tortured by the Atlanteans, he’d only wanted to come home.
For this …
His father backhanded him again then painfully grabbed his hair to force him to meet his angry stare. “Do you understand me?” he repeated.
Styxx nodded.
Curling his lip, his father wrenched his hair so hard, he was amazed he didn’t yank a handful out. “I don’t know what you did to upset Apollo, but you better make it right even if it means licking his ass and sucking him off for the rest of your putrid life. Whatever he asks of you, I expect you to bend over or go down on your knees and do it with a smile while thanking him for the honor.” His father spat in his face then stormed out of the room.
Cold and shaking, Styxx wiped away the spittle then curled into a ball as the horrors of the last year replayed through his mind. But what hurt most was the knowledge that his father was fine with whoring him to Apollo.
So long as the Olympian god was pleased and happy what did it matter how his own son felt about it?
“Styxx?”
He couldn’t respond to Galen. He just wanted to go someplace safe and warm. Someplace where no one hated him.
Most of all, he wanted his Bethany back. Only she had ever been able to make him forget the hatred he lived with.
“Highness? Are you all right?”
No. He’d never been right. That’s why no one wanted him. Why Bethany had left him to this nightmare. Alone.
He felt Galen wipe away the blood on his face then cover him with the blanket.
Styxx ignored everything and crawled into the dark place inside himself that he’d discovered in Atlantis where the voices in his head screamed and he found a sick kind of comfort in the pain of it all.
Galen brushed his hair back from his forehead. How weird that the only tenderness he received came from a scarred warrior renowned for his ferocity in battle.
He stared at the xiphos strapped to Galen’s hip … a sword Galen hated to wield. “You should go back to your Antigone.”
Galen frowned at him. “What?”
Styxx blinked slowly. “Families should be together,” he whispered. “Always. Nothing should keep them apart. And you shouldn’t waste time with me when she’s so much more important to you.”
“You’re my family, too, son. And you’re every bit as important to me. More than that, you’re the one who needs me right now. Tig understands and she sends her love to you.”
Galen’s kindness succeeded in breaking him out of his numb cocoon. Styxx sobbed as all the pain stabbed him and he fell apart from it.
The old man gathered him in his arms and held him while he cried until he was completely spent.
Exhausted, he pulled back from Galen. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize for being human, Styxx. I never fought a war that I didn’t go home to my Thia and cry for all the horrors I’d seen and committed. And after she was gone, I cried to my cups.” He wiped the tears from Styxx’s face. “You’re a strong man. You’ve been put through Tartarus. And there’s not a person I’ve ever met who could have done what you did today and not fall apart. It was harsh and it was wrong and you didn’t deserve it.”
“Maybe I did. Surely I had to commit some heinous act to chafe the gods’ asses as much as I do.”
“Bah,” Galen scoffed. “You’re just a pain in my old ass, and if I can tolerate you, I know they can.” He pressed a fatherly kiss to his forehead. “Rest and I’ll get you something to eat before you waste away to nothing. You’re so skinny right now, one blast from Aiolos and you’d blow away.” Patting him on the arm, Galen rose and left him.
The smile on Styxx’s face died the moment he saw Apollo in the corner of his room. “What do you want?”
Apollo screwed his face up. “There’s that tone again.… You still, after all this time, have yet to learn your lesson about humility before a god.”
That was because Styxx had no respect for the rancid dog. “You don’t own me anymore. You released me.”
Apollo laughed then flashed himself into bed with Styxx. He grabbed him by the hair and used it to yank him into his arms. “You’re right. I no longer own you. But no one said I couldn’t still fuck you or fuck with you. In fact, your father told me to let him know should you ever fail to please me again.”
February 16, 9527 BC
Trying not to think about anything at all, Styxx paid for the hand-carved reed flute he was buying for Galen’s birthday. He’d never really understood the old man’s fascination with the instrument, but Galen loved to play, and while staying with Galen in the barracks, he’d learned that his mentor had accidentally left his flute at Antigone’s. The old man missed it so much that his fingers twitched anytime he was around any object that remotely resembled one.
And at least Galen wouldn’t stab or insult him for the gift. He might even appreciate it.
As Styxx took the flute and turned, he heard a dog barking not that far away. He ignored it until a huge black half-horse mongrel almost knocked him over. The giant dog jumped up on him and assaulted him with happy licks.
Recognition slammed into him. “Dynatos?”
The dog gave another happy bark.
It couldn’t be. Styxx looked around for the dog’s owner.
“Dyna? Here, boy!”
He couldn’t breathe at the sound of a voice he’d never thought to hear again.
What do I do?
She’d made it abundantly clear that she didn’t want to be with him.…
Ever.
Suddenly, he saw her graceful form in the crowd, feeling her way toward him. He couldn’t move at all as agony shredded every part of his heart and soul. Dressed in a long white Doric chiton and a red Egyptian drape, she was stunning. As was evidenced by his inability to move or breathe. Her long black hair was pulled up to the crown of her head and left to fall in thick, fat curls. Her hazel-gold almond-shaped eyes were ringed with kohl and pointed to look like a cat’s. The gold bracelets he’d bought her were coiled around her forearms from wrist to elbow.
All he wanted to do was touch her, but she didn’t want him at all. And he was tired of being rebuffed and thrown aside.
“Dynatos?” she called again. The dog ran back to her then he charged Styxx.
“Highness? You forgot your change.”
Bethany froze instantly.
Shit. He was caught. If he spoke, she’d know instantly who he was. So he took the change and started to leave without saying a word.
But as he drew even with her, she spoke to him. “Styxx?”
He ignored the stares of the people around them who watched with fascination. Deepening his voice to disguise it, he braced himself for her public outrage. “Yes?”
Tears filled her eyes as she reached out for him.
Damn it … he couldn’t stop himself. He took her hand into his and led it to his cheek, where he savored the warm softness of her skin, and the gentle scent of lilies and eucalyptus that he’d missed so much. A scent that hardened him so fiercely and quickly he was sure every person staring at them saw his erection.
She let out a happy sob then jerked him into her arms and kissed him with a passion that left him senseless.
Styxx fisted his hands in her red drape and held her close as Dynatos circled them and barked—as if they weren’t enough of a spectacle without the dog calling attention to them.
Breathless, she pulled back and ran her hands over his face. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Styxx arched a brow. “You kiss every stray man you meet in the market?”
She actually popped him on the biceps hard enough to hurt. “As a matter of fact I do. What was your name again?” She started to turn toward the merchant and reach for him.
Styxx took her arm and gently kept her by his side. He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her cheek. “I thought you were gone forever.”
“We need to talk and I have a bad feeling that people are staring at us.”
He laughed as he kept his face buried in her hair so that he could breathe her in. “They are, indeed.” Reluctantly, he pulled away and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow so that he could lead her through the curious crowd.
“Tell me when we’re alone.”
Styxx hesitated. “Why does the tone of your voice make my sphincter clench?”
“Don’t be crude.”
“You told me to always be honest with you, and so there you have it.”
Anger darkened her brow. “But you weren’t honest with me, were you …
prince
?”
“We’re still in public.”
She drummed her fingers against his arm, letting him know she was in a fierce pique. “Are we alone yet?”
“No.”
“I don’t hear anyone.”
“That’s because they’re all gaping as we walk by. It’s like a temple, precious. Statues everywhere, and they’re listening intently to every word we speak.”
An old woman frowned at them as they passed her. “I thought he sent the Egyptian princess home?” she asked her companion.
“Case in point,” he whispered to Bethany.
“At least they think I’m a princess.”
“You’ve always been a goddess to me.”
Bethany stumbled at a comment that struck a little too close to home.
Styxx stopped immediately. “Am I walking too fast?”
“No. The dog bumped into me.”
He continued walking … on and on.
“Where are you taking me? Asia?” she asked when it seemed like he had no intention of stopping.
“Away from people … Didymos has a dense population that I never considered the density of until right this moment. Damn, there’s a lot of people here. And they’re all really curious about us. Probably because they’ve never seen me in public with a woman not my sister, and since you’re not spitting on me, slapping me, or calling me names, they know you’re not Ryssa.”
“Nor am I blond or Didymosian.”
“Very valid points. How do you know Ryssa’s blond?”
“Same way I know you are.”
“I didn’t tell you Ryssa’s blond.”
“Other people did.”
“Ah … Galen!” he called out, startling her and letting her know they’d entered the military barracks. “May I borrow your quarters?”
“Sure. Good day, Lady Bethany.”
“Greetings, Master Galen.” She tried to find him to converse longer, but Styxx didn’t pause as he continued leading her away.