“Thanks, Urian.” Styxx went to hang his towels up to dry.
“Hey,” Urian called. “Would you like me to bring you some dinner?”
“Gods, yes, I’d kill for some.” Embarrassed by the emotion he’d betrayed, he cleared his throat. “Yes, please. I’d appreciate it.”
Urian suppressed a smile at Styxx’s enthusiasm. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Though to be honest, Urian hated leaving him there. Alone. If there was one thing he understood, it was loneliness. Isolation. And Styxx had had more than his fair share of it.
Before, when he’d assumed him to be Acheron’s villain brother with no conscience, Urian hadn’t cared what happened to him.
Now he had a face and a history.
It made a lot of difference. Perspective. Life was all about perspective. If anyone should appreciate that, a former Daimon should. After all, his people had been misjudged by everyone.
And they still were. It was why Spawn was one of his few friends among the Dark-Hunters. He was a former Daimon, and one who’d served under his command; they understood each other. And both were ostracized by the rest of Acheron’s army.
They were the brotherhood of misfits.
Styxx was their newest recruit.
Welcome to my madness.
And that was what it was. That raw, biting loneliness that never left him. The bitter gut punch that ached through and through. He’d lost both the women he’d loved most.
Xyn and Phoebe.
Life was so bitterly unfair.
Why couldn’t it have taken him instead?
Trying not to think about it, Urian snuck into Acheron’s temple where he lived and did his best to act nonchalant. He shared the temple with Acheron, Simi, and Acheron’s steward Alexion, who was one of the first Dark-Hunters ever created, and sadly the first to have been killed. And Alexion’s wife, another Dark-Hunter who’d died in the line of duty, Danger. And of course, Alexion’s own Charonte, Simi’s sister, Xirena.
They, and a few peculiar pets, made up Acheron’s happy home. Aside from the collection of statues in the basement no one ever talked about.
And Urian meantno one.As that topic quickly sent his boss into a fit of anger.
“You okay, Uri?” Danger asked as soon as she saw him skulking about.
Urian dropped the banana he’d been trying to smuggle out. “Um. Yeah. You?”
“Always.”
“Good.” Crap … why did she have to be so nosy?
Hours went by before Urian was able to head back to where he’d left Styxx. Though what the man was doing, Urian didn’t want to know, as it appeared he was pulling out some kind of nasty seafood grossness to eat. Pushing that aside, Urian set his backpack on the table beside Styxx.
He frowned at Styxx’s dinner. “What isthat?”
Styxx shrugged, then returned the unidentifiable ick to the urn on the table.
Urian’s scowl deepened as he tipped the chipped clay cup to see the coconut milk in it. “Ew! Really? You were really going to drink this shit?”
“Anánkai d’oudè theoì mákhontai,”Styxx said simply.
Urian laughed. “ ‘Not even the gods fight necessity’ … nice. You said that to your men right before the battle for Ena.”
“Did I?”
