The haunted look on his face told her that he wished he'd never learned it. "It was in the early days when I was first learning to use my powers." He paused shelving the boxes to face her. "I didn't know how to control looking into the past and I stumbled upon his. When he came home, he found the sfora—the scrying orb—in my room. He looked at me and I knew he knew I had seen it."
She'd never known Acheron to be angry, but given the steadfast way he guarded his past, he must have been furious. "What did he do?"
Alexion's gaze dropped to the floor as if he could see that day clearly in his mind. "He came forward and picked the sfora up, then said, 'I guess I should show you how to use this correctly.'"
She blinked in disbelief. "That's it?"
He nodded before returning to put her DVDs up. "I've never spoken of it and neither has he."
"Then what did you's—"
"Ask me nothing about his past," he said, interrupting her before she could ask him that very thing. "Believe me, it's not something you want to know. There are some things that are best left alone."
"But—"
"No buts, Danger. He has good reason for not speaking of his human life. There's no information there that could benefit anyone. But it would hurt him a great deal personally. It's why he doesn't speak of it. He's not hiding some great secret of the DarkHunter world. Except for the fact that Artemis doesn't care about any of you. But what good would that do any of you? You're better off with the lie than the truth."
Perhaps that was true. Personally, she could have lived quite happily not knowing Artemis could care less what happened to them. "Then why were we created?"
"Honestly?"
"Please."
He sighed as he put away the last movie. "I already told you. Artemis wanted a hold over Acheron. The only way to get it was to play on his guilt. So she used his own powers against him to create the first DarkHunters. She knew Acheron would never turn his back on the innocents who wouldn't have been offered Artemis's bargain had it not been for him."
Alexion pinned her with a menacing glare. "His guilt is what made Acheron went out of his way to make sure that all of you had servants and pay for your work. The DarkHunters owe that man everything, and I do mean everything. He pays in blood every time one of you wants to go free, and he suffers every day so that you can all live your cushy little lives of wealth and privilege."
His eyes literally snapped green fire at her. "And I have to say that every time one of you turns on him, it seriously pisses me off. Acheron asks nothing from any of you and that's exactly what he receives. When was the last time one of you even said thank you for his help?"
A twinge of guilt went through her.
He was right. She'd never thanked Acheron for her training or anything else. She didn't think to. If anyone was given thanks for their lives, it was Artemis.
"Why doesn't Acheron tell us the truth?" she asked.
"It's not his way. His ego doesn't require worship or even acknowledgment. All he asks is that you do your jobs and that you don't die."
A tic started in his jaw. "And now to know that Kyros, one of the first who was created, has turned on him… It angers me on a level you can't even begin to comprehend. Of all the DarkHunters, he and Callabrax should know that Acheron would never use any of you in his own personal war."
Danger nodded. If Alexion was telling the truth, and to be honest, she was starting to believe him, then it must hurt Acheron to know that Kyros had turned oh him. "Kyros and Brax are legendary."
"Yes, and that is why I have to stop Kyros. More DarkHunters will listen to him than anyone else because he's been around for so long."
He made a compelling argument, but she still wanted him to leave her out of it. As she opened her mouth to speak, he got that odd, faraway look again.
"They're back," he said between clenched teeth.
Danger let out a weary breath. "Okay, Carol Anne, enough with the Poltergeist interpretation. If we can't contact them and they're not bothering us, I don't want to know they're watching us, okay?"
He ignored her. "Simi," he growled. "I have serious matters here. I don't need you annoying me. I owe Kyros too much to watch him die, but I can't save him if you distract me."
Danger frowned as two thoughts hit her simultaneously. "You sound like you've been talking to Simi all day."
"I have been. It must be her. She watches for a bit, then goes away only to come back again."
That sounded positively freaky to her, but whatever. "Did you not sleep?"
Again he didn't answer, which played right into her second thought. "You said you owe Kyros. What do you owe him?"
He hesitated before he answered. "I owe him a chance to live."
Yeah, she believed that one… not. It didn't even make sense. The sudden absence of emotion in his face told her he was hiding something.
And in that moment, she knew what it was. "You knew him."
Still the emotionless, blank stare. "I know all the DarkHunters."
Maybe, but she sensed more than that in him. "No. It's personal between you two. I can feel it."
He moved away from her.
She followed after him. "Talk to me, Alexion. If you really want my help, give me an honest answer."
"I've been honest with you from the very beginning." He headed for the door.