The baby fell over and laughed. Acheron scooped him up and propped him against his shoulder.
He'd just set Apollodorus down for a nap when the doors to the nursery opened. For an instant, he feared it might be his father or Apollo, but luckily it was Ryssa entering with a tiny blond young woman.
It took a moment before he realized who she was.
Maia.
"Acheron! Look who came for a visit with her mother."
Joy filled his entire being as he rose to greet her. "It's so good to see you again." He held her close.
She pulled back to look up at him with a smile. "Acheron . . . it's been far too long. You haven't changed a bit."
But she had. And when she ran her hand down his arm in a disturbing caress, he went cold with dread. Especially when that familiar light came into her eyes. It was as if she couldn't control herself. Damn, his curse.
Not Maia . . .
Stepping back, he put distance between them. "What brings you here?"
"I came here with my mother."
Ryssa gave him a wan smile that let him know her head was still paining her. "They'll be staying for a week."
That news should have made him glad, instead he dreaded it. "Really?"
Maia approached him slowly, like a stalking lioness who was hungry to take a bite of him. "You and I should get reacquainted."
Before he could respond, a maid called for Ryssa.
Ryssa grimaced in pain and pressed her hand to her temple, then glanced to them. "I'll be right back."
Maia took another step closer. "I had forgotten how beautiful you were . . ."
He put his hands on her shoulders to keep her back. "I was told you have a husband now."
"He's not with me." She leaned toward him invitingly.
"No," he said firmly. "I won't do this with you."
She licked her lips as she glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. "I'm not a child anymore, Acheron. I'm a woman full grown with a babe of my own."
"And I have no interest in you that way."
She reached for his groin.
Acheron grabbed her hand before she made contact. "Maia, I tended you when you were a child."
"And now I'd have you tend to me as a woman."
"Please, stop this."
"Why? You're younger than my husband is." She tried to pull her hand away from his grip. "Don't you find me attractive?"
Ryssa returned.
Acheron released her and quickly moved away. "I have to go now."
"Is something wrong?" Ryssa asked.
More than he could ever tell her. "No. I'm fine. I just need to go." He practically ran from the room and didn't stop until he was safely locked inside his own chambers.
Leaning his head back against the door, he cursed over what had happened. What was so wrong with him that everyone past the age of puberty wanted to fuck him?
He was so tired of everyone grabbing at him, winking and looking suggestively. It wasn't normal and now with Maia he realized something terrible.
He would never be able to have a normal relationship with anyone.
Father, sister, even childhood friend.
The moment someone went through puberty, it was over for him. Sick with the thought, he slid down the door and hated whatever curse the gods had given him.
June 22, 9527 BC
Tomorrow Acheron would reach his majority. One and twenty. He should be thrilled and yet the oracle's words haunted him. More than that was the look on Maia's face as she'd attempted to grab him.
"Something has to change," he said with a heavy sigh. His brother was still plotting his father's murder and here he sat doing nothing except trying to stay out of everyone's way, hoping they wouldn't even see him.
"Acheron?"
He leaned his head back to find Ryssa joining him on the balcony. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're taking that stuff again, aren't you?"
"Only for today and tomorrow," he admitted quietly.
"Why?"
Because Artemis had cut out his heart and he didn't have the stamina to make it through the next two days without it.
It was their old fight. He'd asked the goddess to acknowledge him or at the very least come to him on the anniversary of his birth and she'd laughed in his face. More than that he was tired of watching all the special celebrations that were planned for the anniversary of Styxx's birthday. Celebrations planned by a man whose life would soon be ended by the very son he coveted so zealously. Ironic, yes. But it didn't stop it from hurting.
"Acheron." Ryssa gripped his chin and forced him to look at her. "Can you hear me?"
"Not really."
He saw the frustration in her eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Beat me like everyone else."
She glared at him. "You're not funny."
He wasn't trying to be. It was a simple fact of his life that he moved everyone around him to extreme acts of violence.
She shook her head before she stepped back. "You know I won't let Apollodorus near you when you're like this."