"Do not defile my language, human scum," she snarled angrily.
At least that's what he thought she said. Her words and pronunciation were different from the Charonte that Simi spoke. It was like another dialect.
Danger started for her.
"No!" he snapped. He had to understand this. How could this demon look so much like Acheron's?
"Who are you?" he asked her.
She cocked her head and glared at him with absolute hatred. Her white fangs flashed against her much darker skin tone. "I am death and destruction and I am here to claim your life, worm."
Danger actually growled at him. "Alexion…"
"Please, Danger, trust me."
The words were barely out of his mouth before the demon grabbed him by the throat and slung him to the ground.
"Protula akri gonatizum, vlaza!"
The demon curled her lip at him. "You are no god to command me, servant. Xirena bows before no one."
He would have made a comment to that, but the grip on his throat made it impossible to speak. She tore open his shirt as if she were about to rip his heart out.
"I think I need to interfere, Alexion," Danger said, inching closer to them. "From where I'm standing, you're losing big time."
"No!" he choked out, afraid the demon would tear her apart if she tried anything.
The demon pulled a dagger from her waist. Alexion struggled with all his might. It was what he feared most—a dagger from the Destroyer.
That would kill him.
But in spite of his struggling, he couldn't get her to budge off him or her grip to loosen even a tiny bit.
Until her eyes fell to his shoulder where he bore Acheron's mark.
Her eyes flashed red. She let go of his throat to pull the fabric back so that she could study the mark more closely.
Still he couldn't get her off him.
She cocked her head as she studied the tattoo intently. "You serve the one who is cursed?"
"Yes."
She looked even more puzzled by that. "You called me Simi in a child's language. Do you know my Simi?"
Alexion drew deep, ragged breaths in through his bruised esophagus. It burned and ached. He wasn't sure if the pain would ever cease.
"Simi's mother is dead. We were told all the Charontes were gone. Who the hell are you?"
Her gaze narrowed threateningly at him, as if she were offended that he didn't know of her. "I am Xirena, the eldest hatchling of Xiamara and Pistriphe—the supreme guardians of the hall of the gods. I was the protector of my mother's simi… her baby. My simi was taken from me by the bitch-goddess Apollymi, after my mother's death, to be a gift for the cursed god. Do you know where my simi is?"
Alexion couldn't think as he stared up at the demon on his chest.
Simi meant "baby" in Charonte?
Sonovabitch. He wondered if Acheron knew that. "You are Simi's sister?"
Xirena hissed at him in anger. "She is named Xiamara after our mother."
"She doesn't know that. Believe me."
She pulled back from him ever so slightly. Her face showed her confusion. "You know her?"
"I take care of her."
To his complete shock, bloodred tears filled her eyes. "You care for my sister?"
He nodded. "Always. She's like my daughter."
A single red tear streaked down her cheek. "My simi lives? She thrives?"
"Like a queen on a throne."
She threw her head back and let out an inhuman cry that sounded like a bizarre mixture of anguish and joy. She got off him and squatted by his side. Her wings curled around her body, forming a cloak. "Summon her for me, please."
He met Danger's gaze. She looked as confused as he felt.
Simi wasn't alone in the world? There were two of them? He wasn't sure if that was good news or bad. "I would summon her for you, but that's not exactly something that's done."
"Yes it is," she said in a very Simi-like tone. "You tell her to come and she must obey you."
"Yeah," he said in a tone that was a mixture of nervous humor and doubt. "Simi doesn't obey anyone but Simi."
Xirena shook her head. "She obeys her akri. She must."
"Well," Alexion said slowly, still afraid the Charonte might go back into attack mode. "In her case, her akri obeys her. And neither one of them is listening to me at present."
She scowled at him. "That is not natural. Once a Charonte is bound, it must obey. I refused the bond and am free, but my simi was bound as a small one to the cursed god. She must obey him. She has no choice."
Yeah, right. Never once had Alexion seen it work that way.
"In the case of Simi, I think it's more Acheron is bound to her, not the other way around."
She didn't seem to understand that. "But you can take me to my simi?"
"Yes."
She threw her arms around him and held him close. It lasted for about two heartbeats, before she pulled back and glared at him again. She grabbed him by the throat. "If you are lying to me, worm, I will rip out your brains and eat them all."
Alexion screwed up his face at the thought. Yeah, she was Simi's sister all right. Some things must run in their family. "That is really disgusting and no, I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this."
She turned to look at Danger. "Is she your female?"