Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Styxx caught her then picked her up. On the one hand, he admired her bravery. On the other, it was seriously starting to piss him off. If she didn’t cooperate, Camulus would insist on doing this his way. And she would be raped.
“C’mon,” he said in her ear. “Swallow this. It’s much better than what’s going to happen to you if you don’t.”
Guilt stabbed him hard as she drank it, and he remembered what it’d been like when Estes had given it to him the first time on their hunting trip. How it’d felt when the Atlantean gods had forced him to drink it for their perverse pleasure. His anger mounted until he shook with its weight.
Once she was finished, he left her to Dionysus. He didn’t want any part of tying her up or seeing her like that.
“Have you made your call?” Styxx snarled at Camulus.
“I took care of it. Did you write your note?”
He handed it to him then left. Since Acheron would be with the others who came to rescue the woman, he couldn’t risk being here when they arrived.
But the problem was, he didn’t know how to get back to the hotel from here.
“Styxx?”
He glanced over his shoulder to Dionysus. Before he could blink, the god blasted him and sent him back to their hotel suite.
That could have been a little more pleasant.
Of course, it could have been a lot more unpleasant, too.
However, the real unpleasantness was about to begin. As soon as his brother read the note Styxx had left for him, Acheron would come after his blood full throttle.
And who could blame him? The note was terse. Just a handful of words designed to make Acheron insane enough to meet them and guarantee that soon Styxx wouldn’t have to worry about Apollo or anything else ever again.…
I know you, little brother. I know all you’ve done. I know how you live.
Most of all, I know the lies you tell yourself so that you can sleep.
Tell me, what would your Dark-Hunters think of you if they ever learned the truth of your past?
Keep them out of my way or I’ll see them all dead.
And you I’ll be seeing on Mardi Gras.
It was Styxx’s declaration of war against Acheron, and it was one his brother would not let go unanswered.
February 24, 2004
Styxx kept checking the time as they waited for Zarek to bring Sunshine back to them. In less than an hour, if everything went as planned, Styxx would be dead.
Finally.
Please let this work.
He didn’t know if he could take another day of this putrid life he’d been cursed with.
The two gods moved in to flank him.
“He should be here any second,” Dionysus said.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside. The metal door scraped against the concrete as Zarek pulled it open and came inside, pushing Sunshine in front of him. The woman’s eyes widened at the sight of them then she turned to run.
Zarek closed the door and blocked it. All the fingers of his hand on the door were covered with lethal silver claws … this Dark-Hunter’s weapon of choice. He liked to feel the blood of his enemies on his hands when he took their lives.
Styxx could respect that.
Tall and barely one step this side of crazy, Zarek had been born a Greek slave to a Roman master. And from the tormented hell Zarek’s eyes betrayed, Styxx suspected they shared a lot more than their mutual disdain and hatred of Acheron, and the world they lived in.
Camulus grinned at Sunshine. “Come in, come in, said the spider to the fly.”
Styxx hated this game and his part in it. Terrorizing innocents had never been his tactic. He left that to assholes like Camulus.
And Apollo.
Sunshine lifted her chin as she bravely faced them then she spoke to the god of wine. “I’m going to take a wild guess that you are Dionysus.”
He smiled as if flattered she knew him. “Guilty.”
Camulus let out a long breath. “She’s so bright. It’s almost a shame to kill her. But … oh well.”
“You can’t hurt her.” Zarek stepped forward from the door. “You promised me she wouldn’t be harmed if I brought her here.”
“So I lied,” Dionysus said. “Sue me.”
Styxx ground his teeth at those words, which didn’t bode well for any of them. What else had the bastard lied about? Was he planning to throw him to Apollo after this?
He tightened his hand on the dagger.
Styxx wouldn’t go down again without a vicious fight that would cost Dionysus a lot more than just his dignity.
Zarek started for the god, but Sunshine stopped him. She turned back to Camulus. “I’m not going to let you kill me in front of Talon.”
They all laughed. All except for Zarek, and Styxx who was extremely unamused by this turn of events.
Camulus postured like an idiot. “You can’t stop us.”
Zarek glanced down at her then did a double take as his gaze fell to her necklace. “Uh, gods, I think you’ve forgotten something.”
Dionysus curled his lip. “We forget nothing.”
“Oh, okay.” Zarek’s sarcasm was the only thing in this that amused Styxx. They definitely were kindred spirits. “Then you must already know that she wears a Marking Medallion.”
They sobered instantly as recognition hit Styxx. He knew all about divine markings, courtesy of Apollo.
“What?” Camulus snarled.
Sunshine pulled a necklace out of her shirt and held it up to them. “My grandmother said that the Morrigán would always protect me.”
Her amulet was similar to the one Beth had given him so long ago. A necklace he wished he’d kept. But he’d returned it to her for her protection when he’d sent her to Egypt to wait for him.
He hoped Sunshine’s trinket held more power to protect her than Beth’s had.
Camulus cursed. “Oh, this ain’t right.” He cursed again.
“This thing really works?” she whispered to Zarek.
“More than you know,” he whispered back. “He can’t kill you without making the Morrigán angry.”
Amazed, she grinned. “Well, who knew?” She wrinkled her nose. “Cool.”
“Yup.” Zarek’s dark eyes glittered with smug satisfaction that the gods had been quelled. “Better than a cross with Dracula.”
Styxx frowned at a reference that had absolutely no meaning for him.
Sunshine beamed even more. “Does it work against Dionysus, too?”
Zarek nodded.
She stood even taller. “Okay, then let’s talk.”
“Talk about what?” Dionysus snarled.
“Not you. Him.” She indicated Camulus with a jerk of her chin. “I want to talk about Talon’s curse.”
Camulus’s eyes blazed at her. “What about it?”
“I want you to lift it.”
“Never.”
She held her medallion out to him. “Do it or…” She gave Zarek a sideways stare. “Does this have any power to hurt him?”
“Only if he hurts you first.”
Disappointment was written all over her face.
A calculating glint lightened Camulus’s eyes. He sighed as if bored. “Oh well, since I can’t kill you, I guess I’ll have to content myself with killing Talon instead.”
Terror flashed across her brow. “What?”
Camulus shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s rather pointless to let him live happily ever after with you when my intent was to make him suffer. Since you can’t die, he’ll have to.”
Her hand shook. “Won’t Artemis be mad if you kill one of her soldiers?”
Camulus looked at Dionysus who burst out laughing. “Artemis, darling that she is, would most definitely care. However, she won’t start a war with the Celtic pantheon over it. Unlike me, Cam is safe from her wrath.”
“Doesn’t it just reek?” Camulus asked. His happy smile belied his dire words.
Styxx winced as he heard her confusion and pain in his head.
This can’t be happening. How could I save myself and condemn Talon to die?
No, I can’t. I have to do something.
“Okay,” she said firmly, “there has to be another way.”
Camulus narrowed his eyes as if thinking about the matter. “Perhaps there is. Tell me, Sunshine. How much does Talon’s happiness mean to you?”
“Everything,” she said sincerely.
Styxx cringed at that particular stupidity. Poor thing had no idea on how to negotiate. Especially not with a god.
“Everything. Well, that certainly is a lot.” Camulus’s look turned steely cold … frightening. “Does it mean as much to you as your own soul?”
“Sunshine,” Zarek said. “Don’t.”
“You, heel,” Dionysus snarled at the Dark-Hunter.
Zarek cracked his knuckles. “Don’t tell me what to do. I don’t like it.”
Sunshine ignored them. “What are you saying to me, Camulus?”
He tucked his hands into his pockets and acted as cool as someone chitchatting about the weather, not sealing the fate of her immortal destiny. “A simple trade. I lift his curse. You give me your soul.”
Sunshine hesitated. “That seems easy.”
“It is.”
Styxx cringed in fear for her.
Don’t do it, girl.…
Sunshine bit her lip in indecision. “So what are you going to do with my soul once you have it?”
“Nothing at all. I’ll keep it with me, just like Artemis keeps Talon’s.”
“And my body?”
“A body doesn’t need a soul to function.”
Zarek put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t do it, Sunshine. You can’t ever trust a god.”
Styxx couldn’t agree more.
Listen to the Dark-Hunter, woman.
Dionysus pierced Styxx with a glare.
Say something to seal this, or I’ll bring you back from the dead and turn Apollo loose on you. And believe me, I can do it. You’ll spend the rest of eternity chained to my brother’s bed and we’ll all take turns with you again.
If the words weren’t bad enough, the memories he conjured for Styxx were truly horrifying. He flinched in reflex.
Styxx didn’t want to do this, but no one would stop his torture. He knew that for a fact.
The only one who had ever saved him was the Atlantean goddess of the hunt who was long dead.
I won’t go back. I won’t.
It was time he looked out for himself.
Swallowing, Styxx met Sunshine’s gaze. “Sure you can,” he said, hating himself for the lie. “Trusting them is the best thing I ever did.”
“I don’t know,” she breathed. Then he saw the determination clouding her eyes before she nodded. “All right. You lift the curse and I’ll give you my soul.”
Styxx winced as she condemned herself.
Camulus let out an evil laugh. “Done. Talon has no curse. He can find love all day long.”
She smiled.
“But you, my sweet…” He blasted her. “Have to die for me to take your soul.”
The shot knocked her back into Zarek’s arms. He gaped as her blood ran all over the two of them. “You bastard!”
Styxx started to go to her, but Dionysus held him back.
Apollo,
he mouthed then dropped his gaze pointedly to Styxx’s groin and licked his lips.
Styxx really wanted to kill them both. But before he could even move, Zarek lifted the woman and ran with her.
A smile curled Styxx’s lips.
Run, Dark-Hunter. Get her to safety.
If Zarek could make it to Acheron, his brother, who wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire, would save her. He knew it.
No sooner had they left than a bright light flashed through the room, temporarily blinding Styxx. Screams rang out. A wind whipped his clothes and hair around his body as a cloud appeared in the center of the room. In the next second, winged demons came pouring out. With rust-colored flesh and three barbed tails that they wielded like whips, they were a terrifying sight to behold.
Camulus grinned at them. “Go get them, my babies. Kill them all!”
The Celtic demons went after Zarek and Sunshine.
And so did the gods.
Styxx hesitated as he felt Acheron’s presence on the premises. He’d forgotten about that ability. As a boy, he’d always been able to tell whenever his brother was nearby.
His throat tightened as he checked his watch and saw that it was almost time.
Strange … he’d killed hundreds of men in battle. As a boy, he’d killed his own uncle. But the prospect of stabbing Acheron …
It was harder than he’d have thought possible. But what choice did he have? Especially now that Apollo knew he was alive. If he didn’t see this through …
He couldn’t bear to contemplate the alternative.
Acheron had already shown him that he didn’t care how Styxx was treated or what happened to him. That Acheron would gladly sit back, ringside, and watch others rape him, and laugh while they did it.
No, it was time to end his own hell. Determined to see this through, Styxx followed the gods down to a locked door. He heard Acheron and Talon on the other side talking to Zarek and Sunshine as they tried to save her life.
The demons began battering the door while Styxx stood back to watch. And listen to Acheron’s kindness toward others, like Styxx had done with Ryssa through the walls of his room. A kindness Acheron hadn’t shown Styxx since they were seven years old.
It seemed to take forever before they finally broke through. The demons spilled into the room, followed by the gods.
Styxx hung back for just a moment more as Talon jumped up and put himself between them and Sunshine. The tall, blond Celt did love his wife, and Styxx definitely sympathized with that.
Ash rose to his feet, ready to fight.
“It’s midnight,” Dionysus said with a laugh. “Let the show begin.”
Taking a deep breath, Styxx headed in. Camulus’s demons moved aside to allow him to walk through them to reach his brother.
Time froze as he finally saw Acheron for the first time since their deaths at Apollo’s hands. Acheron looked better, healthier, than he ever had. No one would ever know this proud man was the whipped dog he’d once been. There was no trace of the Acheron who used to hug shadows and glare his hatred at Styxx. No trace of the boy who’d been so abused and tortured that he’d been terrified of trying to escape his uncle’s hell.
And yet Styxx knew the truth.
They were both nothing more than used whores …
Bought, sold, and degraded for coin and entertainment.
“Hello, Acheron.” He made sure to keep his voice completely steady and devoid of the hate and grief that surged inside him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Eleven thousand years or so?” The Dark-Hunter, Talon, gaped at the sight of him and Acheron together.