“I don’t know.”
Urian handed him a bottle of water. “You need to sip this. While I know you can’t die from hunger or thirst, you still feel both. I’ll go recon the fridge while you take a shower.” He rose to his feet, then left the room so that Styxx could have some privacy.
Though he was a little worried that he might do something drastic. Hoping for the best, he went into the kitchen to make them both sandwiches. It was one of the few things he knew Styxx really liked.
That and spaghetti, but sadly Urian couldn’t cook. He needed Danger for those skills.
Without a word, Styxx came over to get his sandwich from the counter.
Urian swallowed his bite and wiped his chin as he watched Styxx dig in with gusto. “You know, food still tastes weird to me. It’s hard to get used to eating when I lived on blood for eleven thousand years.”
Styxx frowned at him. “I’m surprised you haven’t filed down your fangs.”
“Hadn’t really thought about it. But I’ve never seen myself without them. Too old to change now. Might throw off my bite and I have enough trouble chewing as it is. You probably don’t realize chewing is a skill. And the first time I bit my tongue … be glad you weren’t there for it.”
Well, so much for his humor. That, too, had fallen flat.
Without so much as cracking a smile, Styxx sat down to eat his ham sandwich. “What made you decide to go Daimon?”
Urian paused at a most personal question that he hated answering. Because the truth … not for public consumption. Last thing he wanted was to relive the day that had set them on the course of hunting down Phoebe’s family.
Not to mention, he’d been a fool to get caught like that.
So as much as he loved Styxx as a friend, he didn’t want to share a story of that much rampant stupidity. At least not tonight. Instead, he defaulted to a partial truth that was kind of right … ish. “Rage, mostly.” That was true … “My best friend was a couple of years older than me and he refused to fight the curse. So I watched him age to an old man in less than twenty-four hours, screaming in utter agony the entire day until he decayed into nothing but dust.”
While he hadn’t seen Darius actually die, he’d witnessed plenty of others do it, so it wasn’t entirely bullshit. “All I could think about was that he’d never harmed anyone. Never even been in a fistfight, and all because of my own grandfather over something that happened before I could walk. It pissed me off. But after losing Phoebe, I can understand why Apollo was so upset and cursed us. I’d have done as much, if not more, if they’d murdered my son and beloved mistress, too.”
Styxx released a painful sigh. “He didn’t love Ryssa.”
Urian arched a brow. “What?”
“She was a possession. Nothing more. Most of the time, he bitched about her whining and complaining … which she did all the time, about everything.”
“That’s not what Ash says.”
“He and I had two entirely different sisters. She coddled him and hated me.”
“Why?”
Styxx swallowed his bite of food. “What can I say? I’m an asshole. As for Acheron, she felt sorry for him. In her mind, she was convinced that I stole our father’s throne and his love from my brother.”
“Is that why he calls you a thief?”
Styxx shrugged. “I don’t know. Ironically, I didn’t even want the throne. I just wanted a family that didn’t hate me.”
He could understand that, given the fact his father had killed his wife and cut his throat.
Urian finished off his sandwich. “I’d have gladly given you some brothers. Man, there was so much testosterone in that house, I don’t know how my mother and sister stood us. But we were mostly happy. Although my older brothers said that my father was a very different man after Apollo cursed us.”
“How so?”
Urian shrugged. “He was happier and much more easygoing.” He picked up the pickle from his plate. “The only thing I really hated was not seeing sunlight.” He laughed bitterly. “My father used to get so mad at me when I was a kid. I’d sneak out, trying to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. And he’d start screaming that if I wanted to burst into flames, then he was willing to begin the process by setting my ass on fire if I didn’t get to safety.”
Styxx laughed. “He loved you.”
“Yeah, to the day he cut my throat. I’ve never understood it. After Darius died, I adopted his son and daughter.” They had come along after Nephele and Geras had both died. “When Ida and Mylinus died, it about killed me. I can’t imagine ever getting so mad at them that I’d do something like that, and they weren’t technically mine.” Just as he’d been with Neph and Geras. So long as he lived, he’d never understand his father’s motivation. “How do you cut your own son’s throat?”
“I don’t know, Uri. I’ve never understood it, either. When I was just a boy, my own mother tried to kill me for giving her a birthday present. She stabbed me I don’t know how many times.”
