Damn his dragon for making him see truth even now.
Weaker than he’d ever been in his life, he met Acheron’s gaze. And damn this son of Apollymi for making him into what he’d become, because he knew that by saving his life, Acheron had turned him into something else entirely. But he had no idea what he was now. “I’m no longer a Daimon, am I?”
“No. Nor are you an Apollite, exactly.”
“Then what am I?”
Acheron took a deep breath before he spoke again. “You are unique in this world.”
Unique. Wonderful. Just what he’d never wanted to be. All he’d ever wanted was to fit in, and now he stood out even more.
“How much longer will I live?”
Acheron shrugged. “You’re immortal, barring death.”
Urian curled his lips at what had to be the dumbest answer ever. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Most of life doesn’t.”
He wouldn’t argue that. The gods knew that he’d never been able to figure it out. Urian sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “Can I walk in daylight?”
“If you want, I can make it so. If you choose amnesia, I will make you fully human.”
Urian arched a brow at the most shocking thought of all. “You can do that?”
Ash nodded.
Yeah, only one born of a primal power could do that. Born of the lightanddark. Not even Apollymi had the powers Acheron had.
Damn.
Urian laughed bitterly as he raked a cold look over Ash’s body and in particular where the tattoo dragon had gone. He knew exactly what that was. And what it meant. “You know, Acheron, I’m not stupid, nor am I as blind as Stryker. Does he know of the demon you carry on your body?”
“No, and Simi isn’t a demon, she’s part of me.”
With Simi being a Charonte demon, that was an understatement, since they bonded to their master and became a symbiotic life form. Acheron was full of surprises. No wonder Urian hadn’t been able to get a reading on him when they’d crossed paths in the past.
Urian’s gaze bored into his. “That I find most interesting of all. Poor Stryker, he’s so screwed and he doesn’t even know it.”
He moved to stand closer to Acheron. “I know who and what you are, Acheron Parthenopaeus.”
“Then you know if you ever pass your knowledge along I’ll make sure you regret it. Eternally.”
Yeah, he just bet Acheron would at that. Urian nodded. “But I don’t understand why you hide.”
Acheron shrugged. “I’m not hiding. The knowledge you carry can’t help anyone. It can only destroy and harm.”
Perhaps there was truth to that. Just like his powers of healing. Whenever people knew about them, they went crazy for them and there were limitations to what he could do. And when they failed, it got ugly fast. So like Acheron, he kept his powers hidden. For his own well-being as much as for others.
Urian winced as he thought back to all the lives of the people he’d loved who were lost to him. His children. His mother. His wives. Brothers and sisters. The humans and Daimons he’d killed for the right to continue living. “I’m through being a destroyer.”
“Then what are you?”
Urian let his thoughts wander through the events of this night. He thought about the aching pain inside him that screamed over the loss of his wife. It was so tempting to let Acheron erase it all, but with that he would lose all the good memories he carried, too.
Though he and Phoebe had only had a few years together, she had loved him in ways no one ever had. Touched a heart he had thought was long dead.
No, it hurt to live without her, but he didn’t want to lose all connection with her.
