Glad that he’d shown the tattoo to him, Urian held his hand out. When Styxx took it, he pulled him into a brotherly embrace with their hands between their chests.
Without another word, Urian vanished.
Urian sighed ashe handed Styxx a longneck beer and they hung out in the back of the reception hall. “Damn, how many people are in Tory’s family?”
“I don’t know.” Styxx scratched at the collar of his tuxedo. “I swear I’ve been in countries with smaller populations.”
He nodded.
Alexion walked over to them. “Don’t you two look a little green around your gills. You okay? Or should I get a bucket to catch your vomit?”
Urian was definitely choking on bile. “There’s an awful lot of Hunters in this place.”
“Mostly former.”
“When you’re a Daimon, same difference.”
“Ex-Daimon,” Alexion reminded him.
Urian scoffed. “Same difference.”
Styxx screwed his face up as Tory went down a line of relatives, chatting with each one of them. “How does she keep them all straight?”
“It’s her superpower.” Kat came up behind him, laughing. “Impressive, right? I spent a summer on a boat with her and her cousin Geary when Tory was a kid. She’s a pistol.”
Urian was baffled by it all. “How are you handling it?”
“What? That Ash is my father? Or that Tory’s my stepmom?”
“Yeah,that.”
Katra laughed. “You two need more alcohol.”
“Kat? Mia’s hungry.”
Urian grew quiet as Sin, Kat’s husband, handed her their infant daughter so that she could take her off to breast-feed her. Sin was probably the only one here who hated Artemis more than Styxx, Acheron, or Urian.
And only because he was the god Kat had stolen the powers from all those centuries ago when she’d cried on Urian’s shoulder from the guilt over it.
Weird how life turned out. Had she not done that, she wouldn’t have gotten together with Sin centuries later and had that beautiful daughter …
Urian glanced to Ash and Tory, who had a similar eerie encounter in that Acheron had saved Tory’s grandfather as a boy and brought him on a ship to America after he’d been orphaned. Had Ash not brought Theo to New York, Tory’s father wouldn’t have been born and Theo wouldn’t have told him the stories of Atlantis that led to Tory’s birth and her quest that led her to Ash.
By your actions you will be saved.Savitar’s prophecy for Acheron.
Styxx frowned at him. “That’s a peculiar look on your face, Urian. What thought is in your head?”
He shook it off. “Irony.” Smiling, he smirked at Sin. “How you and Yaya getting along these days?”
Sin laughed. “Artemis hates it when I call her that, which is why I do it … often.”
The laugh from Styxx was so evil that it actually sent a chill over Urian, and it caused Sin to excuse himself.
“Are you okay?”
“Why are we still here?”
Urian shrugged as he looked around the oddball group. Simi was plowing her way through the desserts with her sister. The Peltier bears were dancing to the Howlers who were playing a polka for Tory’s aunts who were dancing with a group of wereleopards. Dev Peltier danced with his niece on his feet. Tabitha and Valerius Magnus were in a corner with Kyrian and Amanda Hunter and their children.
