Urian left immediately. And almost collided with Sabine, Apollymi’s favored Charonte since Xedrix had gone missing a few weeks back.
“The goddess summons you.”
Weird that she’d send her demon. Normally she just screamed in his head.
Scowling, he followed the orange-fleshed demon back to Apollymi’s garden, where the goddess was not at the pool but out in the orchard where the rowan trees and black roses grew.
Seriously concerned now, Urian approached with a great deal of caution. “You summoned me, akra?”
She handed the rose she’d just cut to the demon beside her so that he could add it to the basket in his hands. “You should be honest with your father, Urian.”
“Beg pardon?”
“You heard me. Lies are unbecoming for one such as you. And I’ve allowed yours to go on for way too long now. I kept thinking that you’d come clean with him. It bothers me to see Strykerius so upset. He’s gutted three innocent men tonight in his rage.”
Urian glanced to the demon behind her, not quite sure what to say to that.
Apollymi turned toward him with a biting stare. “Just like when you visited with Sarraxyn, and she violated my sacred pact to keep her cove private from all.”
“Akra—”
“Not a word, Urian. The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie. Your father deserves to hear it from you and not another. Sooner or later, the truth will come out. It always does. No matter how hard you strive to keep it hidden. It will crawl its way to the surface and those who have been lied to will turn on you with a vengeance unimaginable. Because with it comes a righteous fury fueled by betrayal. They trusted you, and trust is a sacred thing not to be abused. Of all people, you know this. And those so abused will demand an accounting, and they will rise up and demand blood for appeasement. Then you won’t be able to lie your way out. It will be too late for words to save you. Do you understand?”
He understood, but it wasn’t that simple. His father would demand Phoebe’s life and that of Cassandra.
How could he choose between them?
“Have you ever had to choose between two things you loved most, akra?”
A deep, dark, and bitter sadness burned in her eyes. It was so heart-wrenching that in that moment, he knew that she was well aware of what she was asking from him. “I have.”
“Do you regret the decision you made?”
“Every day of my life.”
March 12, 2004
Phoebe was in tears. She’d been trying to be strong and hide them, but this silence was shredding her.
Closing the door to her apartment, she felt someone standing right behind her.
“What’s wrong,agapi mou?Did the Muppet offend you? I’ll rip out his tongue if he did.”
Her breath left her with a rush as she recognized Urian’s thick accent and then realized that he’d already lit candles for them all around her room. Turning, she threw herself against him and rained kisses all over his face and neck. “I thought you were dead!”
He tsked at her. “You know me better than that. I just had to wait for it to calm a little.”
She was already peeling his clothes off his body.
Laughing, he helped her with his powers. “Take it you’re hungry?”
“Starving, and not just for blood and soul.Se hriazome!”
Urian’s eyes widened as she said “I need you” in Greek. In all this time, she’d only picked up a word here or there. Never had she ever said a whole phrase before. “You must have missed me.”
“More than you can imagine.” She sank her fangs into his neck and sent him reeling.
Urian barely made it to the couch with her. She was absolutely wild tonight. So much so that she immediately slid herself onto him and took control with wanton abandon.
