Now they were on a tantalizing quest. To discover this unknown secret that humans possessed.
Urian had to know what it was.
Even if his father beat him black and blue for defying their laws, it would be worth every blow.
“What’s it look like?”
“Golden.” Like Paris’s hair.
Even though they were twins, they weren’t identical. Urian’s hair was colorless white, while his brother held the enviable shade that others preferred and often remarked upon as perfection.
The only thing Urian was perfect at was finding trouble.
And he found that a lot.
“Strange.”
“What is, Uri?”
“The sun,” he mumbled.
“How so?”
For one thing, it was much smaller than he’d thought. Screwing his face up, he tilted his head to study it with a stern frown. “It seems to be moving. Coming closer.”
Too close, he realized with an alarmed gasp.
“How so?”
Ah, crap!That’s not the sun!Panicking, Urian squeaked and turned toward Paris only to discover they had nowhere to run for safety.
“Uri?”
He clamped his hand over Paris’s mouth and dragged him tight against the wall to hold him there.
“Paris! Urian!”
He winced at his father’s deep, guttural growl. Aye, he knewthattone well. As did Paris. It was so fierce and angry that it caused his brother to instantly wet himself.
And Urian’s leg in the process.
Disgusted, he shoved Paris away out of habit. Only to remember too late why he’d been holding him to begin with.
Urian silently cursed both their stupidities.
“There you are!” His father’s steps headed straight for them. “Where’s your brother?”
Paris instantly pointed in his direction and outed him. Faithless turd! Unlike his best friend Davyn, Paris had never held any loyalty whatsoever. He’d turn in anyone to save his own skin.
Growling low in the back of his throat, their father handed Paris off to Trates, his second-in-command, before he snatched Urian out of his spot so that he could glare down at him with a glower that had set even their fiercest warriors fleeing in terror. And who could blame them? Almost seven feet tall, Strykerius was a massive, muscular beast of a male. The son of the god Apollo, he held even more powers than the rest of their cursed race. And while all Apollites and Daimons were born fair-haired, his father had chosen to dye his long locks jet black. Something that made him appear even more sinister and lethal than all the others combined.
But Urian was braver than most. Lifting his chin, he faced his father in spite of his fear and blinked slowly. He kept his hands at his sides, clutched into fists, even though he knew his spanking was imminent.
“You know I’m going to beat you for this transgression.”
Urian nodded. “I expected no less.”
“Three lashes for every year you’ve lived.”
