Anger rose up from deep inside and temporarily blinded him. “Erol?”
When she didn’t answer, he knew the truth. Damn her husband. She’d only been married a week.
A week!
He felt the heat stinging his cheeks as he stood.
“Urian, no!” Tannis grabbed his arm. “What are you about?”
“Honor. Decency. And fair play. Same things your father taught you. We don’t pick on those weaker than us. Ever.” He felt his fangs cutting into his lips as he spoke—that was the degree of his rage and how much he wanted to taste the blood of his brother-in-law.
Tannis shot to her feet. “They already think you’re a freak, adelphos! If you attack Erol over his husbandly rights—”
“I can’t control what others think. And I don’t give a shit what they think of me. But I can stop him from hurting you.” Urian grimaced at the rawness of her throat as his fury continued to mount. There was no way he would let this go unpunished. It wasn’t in him. It just wasn’t. “I will not see you like this. Not because he can’t control himself.”
He gently extricated his arm from her grasp, then headed for the hall where her husband normally passed the time with his friends. They oft gathered there, hoping for a stray Apollite or human to fall through one of Apollymi’s portals so that they could prey on them.
Which said it all about their mind-sets.
And with every step he took, his mood darkened so that by the time he entered the dismal hall, he was ready to taste blood and break some bones.
Just as he expected, Erol sat near the front, at a table where he was surrounded by a group of young men. All laughing and having a grand time while Tannis had been left to weep alone.
If he hadn’t been furious before, that alone would have pushed him to homicide.
Worse? Two of those writhing beside him in drunken revelry were his own brothers. Telamon and Theo both drank from the veins of women they were passing between them. Xōrōn or blood-whores. Men and women who sold themselves to be used as food by other Apollites and Daimons.
Drunk from the blood and lust that came from overfeeding, Telamon looked up to see Urian’s approach. He pulled back from the half-naked woman in his lap, causing her to whimper in protest. “Little brother, Uri … what are you doing here? No one wants you.”
That caused Theo to withdraw from the woman he was screwing while feeding. Pity it wasn’t his pregnant wife who no doubt was at home, wondering where her husband was so that she could have her dinner.
And none of them seemed to care about the fact that their brother-in-law had no better morals than they did when it came to their sister.
Other than the fact that the lecherous bastards didn’t beat their wives. If he was ever lucky enough to find a woman who’d have him, he’d be loyal to her and treat her with respect and care. Not gallivant around like some insatiable satyr.
Damn them all!
With a furious snarl, Urian seized Erol and snatched him from the whore he was treating more kindly than he had Tannis and backhanded him.
The much larger Apollite cursed before he attempted an undercut to Urian’s jaw. Urian blocked the punch and countered with a fist to Erol’s gut that caught him hard in the breadbasket. He staggered back, wheezing. Doubling his hands, Urian brought them down hard against Erol’s jaw, then again into his throat. Enraged beyond control, he was intent on the man’s utter destruction.
Honestly, he wanted to gut him with his sword and it was a hard temptation to resist.
After that, Urian lost count of the punches as he unloaded his rage against the much larger beast. All he saw was his sister’s neck and her tears. Her sobs rang in his ears.
Damn them straight to Tartarus!
Until he felt his father pulling him away.
“Stop!”
His breathing ragged, Urian blinked hard as he realized how many people had gathered to witness his fury.
Tannis was there, screaming at him while everyone else stood in stunned silence.
Erol lay on the floor, covered in blood and sobbing.
“What is wrong with you?” Theo glared at him.
He was cursed. Sun deprived. Everyone hated him. Most days he hated himself. He needed better hobbies.
In puberty. With assholes for brothers. And a dragon for a best friend.
And he had a hangnail.
Really, the list was endless.
But most of all, Urian refused to back down or apologize. It just wasn’t in him. Instead, he kicked at Erol’s feet. “If he ever lays another angry hand to Tannis or puts another bruise on her body, even by accident, so help me, Apollymi, I’ll rip out his heart and feed it to him!”
That succeeded in getting his father’s attention. “Excuse me?”
Urian jerked his chin toward Tannis. “Look at what he did to her neck. Then criticize me and tell me I’m wrong.”
Tannis stopped screaming immediately. Cringing at their father’s approach, she clutched Urian’s chalmys higher against her throat.
But their father was having none of that. “Show me.”
“It’s nothing, Baba.”
Not even her use of “Daddy” could placate his mood or weaken his resolve. Their father’s eyes turned blood red. “Lower it and show me your throat. Now!”
The moment she did, the hall cleared as everyone realized this was about to turn deadly. Everyone rushed to safety lest they take any of the fallout. Theo and Telamon scrambled to dress.
“We didn’t know, Solren.” Telamon gulped audibly.
Without a word, he turned to face Urian. “Take your sister home.”
“Baba,” Tannis sobbed. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t you worry. Just leave with Urian. And take the others with you. Now!”
Urian inclined his head respectfully. He knew better than to speak a single word when his father was like this, lest he find himself the scapegoat. Yet he knew his siblings were all pissed off at him. Not that there was anything new about that. It seemed a perpetual state for their ongoing relationships.
A fact proven the moment they were clear of the hall.
Theo was the first to strike him on the arm. “Can’t you ever mind your own business?”
“Yeah!” Telamon shoved him from behind. “Why are you always meddling in our affairs? You’re such an asshole!”
Tannis slapped at them. “Leave him alone!”
Urian wasn’t sure who was the most stunned by her actions: his brothers or him.
Especially when she reached out and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Uri. I know you were protecting me and I, for one, appreciate it.”
Damn … how bad had Erol hurt her? “I love you, Tanny.”
“I know. Love you, too.” She turned to glare at Telamon and Theo in turn. “And shame on both of you for the way you act. Neither of you has even asked if I’m all right. You’re such bastards!”
When she started to leave, Urian reached out and took her hand. “You want to stay with us tonight?”
Her lips trembled. Then she cast another shameful look toward his brothers. “You hate Urian for the way Solren dotes on him and you blame Urian for it. Instead, look to yourselves. This”—she gestured between them—“is why Urian holds the place he does with our parents. He thinks of others and is aware of everything around him while the two of you never see anything more than your own uselessness. You’re selfish and petty!”
Taking Urian’s hand, she pulled him toward home. “Aye, Urian. I’d rather stay with you and Solren, tonight. I’ve no use for the others.”
Stunned beyond rational thought, Urian didn’t speak as they headed home to the temple palace that was second in size only to Apollymi’s.