“Having seen the shit you had on your plate when I brought in the spaghetti, I’m going to respectfully disagree.” Urian headed back to the other room and, as a trained warrior himself, didn’t miss the fact that Styxx kept a lot of empty space between them. He also walked at an angle so that he could see if Urian was reaching for a weapon.
The way Styxx did it, it was hardwired into him. That, too, made a mockery of the pampered-prince bullshit.
At least until he saw what Urian had brought in a large plastic box, and then Styxx relaxed his protocol and rushed forward.
“Bread?” he whispered.
“Yeah, that’s the white stuff in the plastic bag.”
His expression said he hadn’t had bread in a long time. Urian imagined he must have looked like that the first time he saw daylight.
He stepped back so that Styxx would look through the box and see what else it contained. The minute he was clear, Styxx rooted through the contents like Erik breaking into his presents on Christmas morning.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Urian picked up another box that he’d set on the floor. “I have your water and more wine in this one. And I put candles and a lighter in here, too.”
Styxx placed the lid on top of the box. “Thank you, but I won’t need those.”
Urian glanced around the cave dubiously, and that was from a former Daimon who’d once called Kalosis home. “You sure? It’s really dark in here.”
Styxx shrugged. “I’m used to it. Besides, if Acheron sees a light, there’s no telling how he’ll react, and I don’t want to fight with him. Most of all, I don’t want him to take away what little freedom I have.”
Damn. For that, Urian wanted to beat Acheron’s ass. What kind of bad history did they have?
But then, having fought off-and-on with his own brothers, and even his sister, he understood. It didn’t make his brothers or sister bad people, it just made them family. “Okay. I’ll … um … I’ll bring more food after tomorrow.”
Styxx smiled at Urian. “Careful, you keep this up and I won’t have anything to occupy myself with.”
Urian’s phone rang with Cassandra’s ring tone, though it could be Erik calling since he’d started using it to update him on his daily routines.
Excusing himself, he pulled it out and turned it on to answer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the cuter of the two on the other end. “Hey, Cass, is everything all right?”
“It’s fine. Wulf and I had our babysitter crap out on us and Chris’s wife is sick. You know what that means. Big guy doesn’t want the kids near her for fear they might come down with something fatal. And I really would like to have one last night out before the little ones outnumber us.”
Urian laughed. Neither their son Erik nor their daughter Phoebe had ever had a cold in their lives. And baby three, soon to be named Tyr, was due any second now, which was why he’d panicked when he answered. His first thought was that she’d gone into labor early. “Sure. I don’t mind babysitting. You know that. I love your rugrats.”
“They love their Uncle Uri.” She’d no more said that than he heard Erik in the background begin chanting, “Uncle Uri’s coming!” Then his nephew started a happy war cry that warmed Urian’s heart and simultaneously saddened it to a level Cassandra would never understand, as it reminded him of all the other nieces and nephews he’d never see again.
“I’ve got to go run that one down, Uri. He’s off the chain. Love you! See you soon.”
“Yeah, see you soon. Love you, too.” He hung up and slid the phone back in his pocket.
“Your wife?” Styxx asked.
“My wife’s sister.”
“Ah. So does your wife live in the main temple with you?”
Well, that question sucked every last bit of joy and humor out of his year. His stomach tight, Urian reached to touch Phoebe’s necklace. “No. She died.”
“I am extremely sorry. I know how hard that is.”
While Urian had no doubt Styxx had seen his share of pain and then some, the guilt he felt over that night was its own special form of eternal hell that he could never reconcile. No matter how hard he tried. No matter what he did. It all came down to one harsh, bitter truth … “I appreciate it, but I had a very special bond with my Phoebe, and she was killed when I should have been there to protect her.”
Styxx drew a ragged breath. “I do know your pain, Urian. My wife was murdered by Acheron’s mother while she was pregnant with our first child. And I have absolutely nothing left of them, except my memories.”
Wincing at the nightmare Styxx carried, Urian dropped his gaze to his arm, where Styxx had carved two names into his own flesh. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were or why Styxx had done it. And how much pain that man held in his heart to have inflicted that much harm on himself because of it. “Bethany and Galen?”
He nodded. “I had no other way to honor them. I never even got to see their bodies.” He cleared his throat. “You need to go to your family. Don’t keep them waiting.”
Yeah, if anyone ever understood his pain where Phoebe was concerned, Urian had found him. In that, they were joined in a very sad and pathetic brotherhood of misery. “What about you?”
Styxx laughed. “I assure you, I’ll be here when you get back.”
Yeah, he guessed he would at that.
Urian gave him an ancient salute that Styxx quickly returned, and then Urian left to head up the hill. But with every step he took, he had a strange feeling. Like he knew Styxx from somewhere. The man was so familiar to him.
He’s Acheron’s twin, dumbass.…
There was that.
And it wasn’t like you didn’t obsess over him as a kid or anything. He laughed as he remembered his father banning him from even saying Styxx’s name in his presence.
“If I hear you speak of that Didymosian bastard one more time, Urian, I will beat you until you can’t sit down. And stop dressing like him! He was an enemy to Atlantis and Apollymi.”
For that matter, Urian had Styxx’s phoenix emblem tattooed on his biceps. Best not to ever let Styxx see that, though. It might freak him out. But then Urian was used to keeping it covered. It’d been another thing that had enraged his father.
Much like his shield.
I just excel at pissing off everybody.
Urian paused to look back at the dark temple. Had he not been out for a walk earlier and heard the faint splashing, he’d have never known Styxx was in there. And he’d almost ignored it and kept going. Only his centuries of honed senses and incessant need to check and lock down his perimeter had caused him to investigate the foreign noise.
Wow. As he resumed the path to the main temple, he couldn’t understand Acheron’s reasoning where Styxx was concerned. Having lost all his brothers, he’d give anything to see one of them again. Even Archimedes, who’d bullied and shoved him to the point where Urian had wanted to rip his heart out, more times than not. The two of them could barely be in a room and not walk out bruised from the unfortunate event.
Still he’d welcome that asshole back if he could.
Dang, Ash. Who in their right mind throws out a perfectly good brother?
October 24, 2008
With his arms crossed over his chest, Urian frowned at Ash while Ash sat on his throne in Katateros and played his shiny black Warlock guitar.
A few feet away from them, Simi lay on her stomach, watching QVC as she devoured a tub of barbecue-flavored popcorn. Dressed in black tights and a short plaid skirt with a pink-and-black peasant top and corset, she had her feathered wings draped around her and her tail kept drifting over to poke at her sister during the commercial breaks.
Because apparently annoying your sibling wasn’t just something humans did.
Ignoring the demons, Urian moved to where Alexion stood off to the side, with the same exact expression on his face that Urian had. The one that said Ash was the supervillain who’d been dropped in a vat of acid and they were waiting for his anti-hero powers to manifest and destroy the world.