"I don't want to live without my Phoebe," Urian said, his voice breaking on the words.
"I know. For that reason, I'm giving you a choice. I can't lock on to your father to monitor him. I need you to do that. Because sooner or later, he'll be back after Apollo's lineage."
"Why would I protect them? Phoebe died because of them!"
"Phoebe lived because of them, Urian. Remember? You and your father were responsible for killing her entire family. Did you ever tell Phoebe it was you? You? Who killed her grandmother? Or her cousins?"
Urian looked away shamefaced. "No. I would never have hurt her."
"Yet you did. Every time you, your father, or one of your Spathis killed one of her family, she felt the pain you feel now. Her mother's and sisters' deaths tore her apart. Isn't that why you saved Cassandra to begin with?"
"Yes."
Ash stepped away from him while Urian wiped his tears away.
"You said I had a choice?"
"The other is that I will erase your memories of everything. You'll be free of all of this. All your pain. The past, the present. You can live as if none of this had ever happened to you."
"Will you kill me if I ask it?"
"Do you really want me to?"
Urian stared at the floor. To most people, his thoughts would be unknown. But Ash knew them. He heard them as clearly as he heard his own.
"I'm no longer a Daimon, am I?" Urian asked after a brief pause.
"No. Nor are you an Apollite, exactly."
"Then what am I?"
Ash took a deep breath as he spoke the truth. "You are unique in this world." Urian didn't like that any more than Ash liked being unique. But some things could never be changed.
"How much longer will I live?" Urian asked.
"You're immortal, barring death."
"That doesn't make sense." "Most of life doesn't."
He felt Urian's frustration with him, but at least it was lessening some of the man's grief. "Can I walk in daylight?"
"If you want, I can make it so. If you choose amnesia, I will make you fully human."
"You can do that?"
Ash nodded. Urian laughed bitterly as he raked a cold look over Ash's body. "You know, Acheron, I'm not stupid, nor am I as blind as Stryker. Does he know of the demon you carry on your body?"
"No, and Simi isn't a demon, she's part of me."
Urian's gaze bored into his. "Poor Stryker, he's so screwed and he doesn't even know it." The intensity of Urian's gaze burned. "I know who and what you are, Acheron Parthenopaeus."
"Then you know if you ever pass your knowledge along I'll make sure you regret it. Eternally."
He nodded. "But I don't understand why you hide."
"I'm not hiding," Ash said simply. "The knowledge you carry can't help anyone. It can only destroy and harm."
Urian thought about that for a minute. "I'm through being a destroyer."
"Then what are you?"
Urian let his thoughts wander through the events of this night. He thought about the aching pain inside him that screamed over the loss of his wife. It was so tempting to let Acheron erase it all, but with that he would lose all the good memories he carried too.
Though he and Phoebe had only had a few years together, she had loved him in ways no one ever had. Touched a heart he had thought was long dead. No, it hurt to live without her, but he didn't want to lose all connection with her.
He fastened her locket around his neck and rose slowly to his feet. "I'm your man. But I warn you now. If I'm ever given a chance to kill Stryker, I will take it. Consequences be damned."
Chapter 17
Stryker snarled in outrage as he found himself in the Destroyer's throne room. "I was so close to killing them. Why did you stop me! "
Still the demon Sabina held him. For once Xedrix wasn't in the room with his mother, but Stryker didn't have time to ponder the demon's whereabouts. His thoughts were too consumed by hatred and vexation. His mother sat on her chaise completely poised, as if she were holding court and hadn't just destroyed all their years of careful planning.
"Do not raise your voice to me, Strykerius. I will not take insubordination."
He forced himself to level his voice even while his blood simmered in fury. "Why did you interfere?"
She pulled her black pillow into her lap and toyed with a corner of it. "You cannot win against the Elekti. I told you that."
"I could have beaten him," Stryker insisted. No one could stop him. He was sure of that.
"No you couldn't," she said firmly. She dropped her gaze again and ran her hand elegantly over the black satin. "There is no pain worse than a son who betrays your cause, is there, Strykerius? You give them everything, and do they listen? No. Do they respect? No. Instead they shred your heart and spit on the kindness you would show to them."