With her black spiral curls pulled away from her face in a ponytail, Bethany rubbed her son’s back. Her caramel skin was flawless over sharply chiseled features. “Would you like to hold him?”
“I might keep him if I do.”
Ari smiled as he looked up at her. “Mimi?”
Completely sunk, Medea took him and was lost the moment he wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her with a giddy squeal and bounce. It’d been so long since she last held a baby that she’d forgotten just how wonderful it felt to have such unbounded affection.
That was the hardest part about being around Daimons—they couldn’t have children. Only Apollites could.
Falcyn brushed his hand through her hair. “You okay?”
She nodded. “You’re screwed, though. Word of warning. I want a bunch of these again.”
He wrinkled his nose as Aricles squeezed Falcyn’s finger and bit it. “I don’t know. He’s kind of smelly and leaking out both ends.”
Bethany laughed. “It doesn’t bother you when it’s yours who smells that way.”
“If you say so.” He met Styxx’s gaze doubtfully.
Styxx cleared his throat. “I’m agreeing with Beth. All the way.”
“That’s because my brother is not a fool.” Acheron came in and clapped his hands on Styxx’s shoulders.
Medea froze at the sight of them together. While she knew they were identical, except for their eye color and hair color—and that only because Acheron artificially colored his black and red—it was still shocking to see them side by side like this.
If the two of them put their minds to it, there would really be no way to tell them apart.
Spooky.
“Dear gods, who’s dead?”
They all froze as Urian came into the room to catch them gathered together.
“Please tell me it’s Stryker.” There was no missing the hopeful note in Urian’s voice.
“Not funny.” She handed Aricles back to Bethany as she braced herself for the last thing she wanted to do.
How in the world was she going to tell Urian about Phoebe.…
Now she wished she’d taken Davyn up on his offer to be here for this confrontation. But then she wasn’t a coward, and Urian was her brother.
I can do this.
Falcyn put his hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was with her. She took comfort in his presence.
And with a deep breath, she braced herself for what was going to be a bad reaction.
Real bad.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Urian. Something you’re not going to believe.”
“I’ve won the mega-million lottery?”
She rolled her eyes at his misplaced and extremely irritating humor. “No. It’s about Phoebe.”
That sobered him completely. The color faded from his cheeks. When he spoke, his tone was brittle. “What about her?”
There was no easy way to do this. So she settled on just ripping the Band-Aid off as quickly and mercifully as possible. “Stryker didn’t kill her that night. She’s still alive.”
Gah, that sounded harsh even to her own ears. She could kick her own ass.
Delicate, thy name is not Medea.
He staggered back into his father’s arms and would have fallen had Styxx not been there. “What?”
“Breathe,” Styxx whispered in his ear. “I’ve got you.”
Urian shook his head. “It’s not possible.”
I feel that, brother.
But she had to be strong for him. And she had no choice now except to see this through. “Both Davyn and I saw her. She’s alive, Urian. Just not the same.”
Tears filled his eyes as he met Acheron’s gaze. “Did you know?”
“I swear on my mother’s life, I had no idea. She’s not human so I can’t see her fate. It’s beyond my powers. If I’d known, I’d have told you.”
Urian blinked and blinked again as he slowly digested her news and came to terms with it. “Stryker knew?”
Medea nodded weakly.
His breathing ragged, Urian glared at her. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He didn’t want you to feel guilty for what she’s become. For what she did.”
He scowled at her. “What she did?”
“She attacked the commune where you had her housed. He said that she became corrupted by the souls she was consuming to live.”
A tear ran down his cheek as he stared into space. Raw, tormented anguish radiated from him. It was obvious that he was blaming himself, just like her father had predicted. “Ash … is there any way to get her back?”
“Not that I know. But I’m a god of fate. Not one of souls.” He looked at Bethany.
She shook her head. “Wrath, warfare, misery, and the hunt. You need someone hunted down and killed with extreme prejudice, I’m your girl. But I was never in charge of souls, either. Sorry.”
Falcyn sighed. “And I’m a war god, too. What a worthless lot we are.”
“Although…”
They turned to stare at Acheron.
Ash bit his lip as he considered something. “This is a long shot. I mean it’s a Hail Mary pass of all time.”
“What?” Urian stepped away from his father.
“I might know somebody who can help with this.… Xander.”
Medea scowled. “Who’s Xander?”
“A Dark-Hunter currently stationed in New Orleans. He was a sorcerer. One of the darkest powers. So much so, Artie only got a part of his soul. He deals with transmutations and is the only non-demon I know who can bargain with Jaden and Thorn. If anyone can help you, he’ll be your best bet.”
“You think he’ll do it?”
Ash let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t know. He’s a tricky son of a bitch. But he does have a weakness.”
“And that is?”
“Brynna Addams and Kit Baughy. They can talk him into most things. Maybe, just maybe, they can talk him into this.”
*
Apollo froze as he saw Morgen approaching his throne. Her hair was singed, her dress torn and filthy. “You look a little worse for the wear, love.”
She actually shot a blast at him. “You bastard!”
He arched a brow at her. “Temper, temper. Be careful with that, lest I take offense.”
“Take all you want! What happened to the dragonstone you promised me?”
“Patience. The game isn’t over. Just a slight reset on the board.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
He let out a long, weary sigh. “I forget that you’re not a god. Playing with people’s lives isn’t something you’ve much experience with. Sometimes you have to let things run their course.”
“Meaning?” she repeated.
“Meaning the good guys had all the dragons … now they don’t. And Urian holds the blood of Apollymi, Bet, Set, and Acheron.…”
Morgen sucked her breath in as she finally understood. “He’s the key to bringing them all down.”
“Isn’t he, though. And you know what we’ve just discovered?”
A slow smile curved her lips. “The source of his undoing.”
Apollo nodded slowly. With Phoebe under his control, he didn’t need to find out Acheron’s father, after all. He had something even better at his disposal.
Acheron’s comeuppance.
Because that was the beauty of being a god of prophecy. He knew the future.
The final fate of the world—of all humanity—wasn’t really in the hands of Acheron, or even Apollymi.
It was actually in the bloodline of Styxx’s family.