He saw a flash of white-blond hair in the far corner and headed for it.
It wasn’t until he was within sight that he realized it wasn’t Davyn. This was a woman and when she turned toward him, he felt like someone had sucker-punched him.
No, it couldn’t …
It wasn’t possible.
“Tannis?”
The woman frowned at him as if the name and his face meant nothing to her.
But to him that name had meant everything.
Time froze as he was taken back to the day his little sister had died. Little not because she was younger, but because compared to them, she was so tiny and fragile. One to be protected at all cost.
Unlike him and his brothers, she’d been too gentle and kind to take a human life in order to live.
And so she’d withered away into dust on her twenty-seventh birthday. The pain of her decay had caused her to scream until her throat had bled. And still she’d had no peace. No mercy. It had been the most agonizing death imaginable.
One given to her by her own grandfather’s curse. After they’d scooped up her remains and buried them years later, they never spoke her name out loud again.
But Urian remembered. How could he ever forget the tiny woman he’d protected and championed? The one he’d killed to protect?
But this wasn’t Tannis.
She’s dead. He’d seen her decay into dust with his own eyes. Yet this woman was a complete physical copy of her, except for the way she moved. While Tannis had been hesitant and dainty, this woman was sure and determined. Fluid. She moved like a warrior ready to kill. She had a self-assurance his own sister had lacked.
Before he could think better of it, he closed the distance between them.
Medea turned as a shadow fell over her. Expecting it to be her informant, she was stunned when she looked into the face of her father.
But this man was different. Instead of her father’s short dyed black hair, his was long and snow white, pulled back into a ponytail.
Still, there was no denying the similarity of their features. This was her father’s doppelganger.
“Who are you?” they asked simultaneously.
Medea hesitated when he didn’t answer right away. Why was he being reserved when it was obvious he was a relative she hadn’t met? Maybe a cousin even her father didn’t know about?
Curiosity got the better of her so she answered first.
“I’m Medea.”
“Medea…” He seemed perplexed by her name. “I’m Urian.”
Urian.
She gasped at the name of her mysterious half brother, whom she’d heard about but never expected to meet. He was now a servant of Acheron. Enemy to all of them after he’d betrayed her father.
“Filthy traitor!” she spat.
He didn’t take that well as he gripped her arm and yanked her toward him. “Who are you?”
She wanted to see the shock on his face when she delivered the truth. “Your sister.”
Urian blinked twice as that news sank in. He’d only had one sister. There was no way he could have another and not know it. “How?”
“Stryker married my mother, then divorced her to marry yours. She was pregnant with me at the time and he never knew.”
His jaw went slack. Why hadn’t Davyn told him about this? Davyn had told him about Stryker’s first wife returning, but a sister …
A living, real sister. Why would Davyn have kept that secret?
Ah, shit! Suddenly he remembered Acheron telling him.…
I wouldn’t have forgotten something like that. Ever! Yet he had. Yeah, I did.
After the fight when Ash had gone around tampering with memories … The bastard must have removed that one, too. Why would Ash have done that? Had it been intentional or a mistake? When it came to things like that with emotions and brains, Ash didn’t always have the best control with his powers, so until he talked to him, he’d give him the benefit of the doubt.
But if he’d done this on purpose …
He could kick his ass.
And with that thought came a really bad feeling.
“What are you doing here?”
“Sightseeing.”
He knew better, especially with someone sired by his father. “You’re spying for Stryker.”
She jerked her arm out of his hold. “Don’t take that tone with me, little boy. You served him too and for many more centuries.”
The thought made him ill. “And I paid the ultimate price for that blind stupidity. Trust me.”
She scanned his body. “I don’t know. You look pretty healthy and happy to me.”
Those looks were definitely deceiving! “Yeah, right. Let me tell you something, little girl—I was his favorite. His pride and joy above all others. For thousands of years I served at his side, doing everything he asked me to. Everything. Without question or hesitation. And in the blink of an eye, because I dared to marry without his permission, he cut my throat. Literally.”
“He cut your throat because you married his enemy.”
Yeah, right. It had nothing to do with whom he’d married and everything to do with his father’s ego. Stryker couldn’t stand the thought of anyone questioning his authority. Not even his own son.
“I married a kind, gentle woman who never hurt a soul a day in her life. She wasn’t a warrior. She was an innocent bystander whose only mistake was falling in love with a monster.” And making him human. Making him care for someone other than himself, and he would sell his soul if he could have one more moment with her. “Don’t delude yourself for one minute. Stryker will turn on you, just as he turned on me.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“For your sake, sister, I hope to the gods that I am.” But the bad thing was, he knew better. It was just a matter of time before their father went after her, too.
God help her, then.
And with the gallu on the loose … they were all about to get screwed.
January 16, 2011
“This … seriously sucks.”
Styxx laughed as he and his giant brown dog came out of their tent to greet Urian in the middle of a godforsaken desert. “Depends on your vantage point, little brother.”
Arms akimbo, Urian turned in a circle as he surveyed Styxx’s small black tent and the vast desert that surrounded them as far as the eye could see in all directions. “From mine … you found hell, buddy, except I doubt hell is this hot.”
Still laughing, Styxx closed the distance between them. “It’s not hot. This is winter. Come back in July or August.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” Urian hugged him, then stood back with a severe frown. “Damn, you’ve gone native. But for the blue eyes, I’d have no idea it was you.”
Styxx lowered the black veil from his face. “Better?”
“Not really. Weirds me out more.” He shook his head. “When you called last week and told me you’d been living in the desert for the last two years, I thought you meant Morocco or another city. But you really live out in the middle of Nowhere, Sahara.”
Styxx shrugged. “This place makes sense to me.”
“You might like it, but it’s bringing back bad childhood memories. Life before toilet paper was not worth living.”
“Again, a matter of perspective.”
Urian shivered in revulsion. Styxx was definitely having some kind of midlife crisis. “You look good, by the way. Healthy.”
“Thanks.” Styxx held the flap open so that Urian could go inside, where he had nothing but his bedroll and saddlebags of necessary supplies. “I feel better than I have in a very long time.”
The big brown dog came bounding in and curled up on Styxx’s bedroll to chew his rawhide bone. Urian arched a brow. “What’s his name?”
“Skylos.”
He scowled at Styxx for a name that just seemed cruel. “You named your dog … Dog? Seriously?”
Again, Styxx shrugged. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”
“Probably because he doesn’t speak Greek.”
Grinning, Styxx pulled out a bottle of wine and the only two cups he had and poured drinks for them.
Urian sat down beside the dog and took a sip. “So what do you call the horse and camel? Alogo and Kamila?”
Styxx rolled his eyes. “No, they had names when I bought them. Jabar and Wasima. The dog just started following after me one day.”