No!Ash panted as that unbelievable reality slapped him. He choked on denial. “I didn’t do that.”
“Yes, you did.”
Ash shook his head. “I’m not that kind of person, Savitar. I’m not. I would never do that to another person. Especially not my brother.”
“Every man, woman, and child is capable of extreme and utter prejudice and cruelty when they feel justified in their hatred. Right or wrong. Even against their own brother. We are all capable of lashing out when we’re in pain. No one, not even you or I, is immune from that. As the old saying goes, be kind to everyone you meet for we are all fighting difficult battles. And yes, you thought it was funny to have the beloved prince heir branded a whore and a slave and sold just as you were. In your defense, you were young, drugged, and lost in your own hell.”
“That’s no excuse.” Ash blinked back his tears as he choked hard on guilt he wanted to continue to deny.
“No, it’s not an excuse. It’s just harsh, biting reality.” Savitar let out a bitter laugh. “Ever wonder why the gods created man, Grom? I personally think that we’re the original reality show. They were so effing bored that they created us just so that they could feel better about themselves.”
“You’re not funny.”
Savitar sighed. “No. Tragedy never is. Our lives are marked and shaped by our regrets. Things we all want to take back and can’t. In a perfect world, we would never hurt the ones we love or cause hurt to befall them. But the world isn’t perfect, and sadly neither are we.”
Still, Ash couldn’t forgive himself for the way he’d treated Styxx all these centuries. “I’m almost afraid to ask about Styxx’s second visit.”
“You were there for that one, too.”
“When they threw me out …” And after he’d purposefully baited and mocked Styxx.
No wonder his brother hated him. Urian was right. He’d earned it.
And he owed Urian an apology.
More than that, he owed one to his brother.
But how could he ever make it up to either of them? He was so disappointed in himself. This was not the person he thought he was. The person he wanted to be.
Savitar sat up and drew a ragged breath. “Acheron, look at me.”
Heartsick, he did.
“Never look back. You can’t change what you’ve done. You can only change what you’re going to do. Pain is always all around us. It’s easy to become blind to it. But imagine all the times in your life when you were hurting and going through shit, if just one person had looked over at you and instead of kicking you while you were down, had said, ‘It’s okay. You’re not a bad person. It’s just a bad turn of the cards. You’ll get through it.’ Can you imagine what an incredible world this would be?”
October 12, 2012
“Now there’s a sight I never thought I’d live to see.”
Urian opened his eyes to find Cassandra standing over him with an amused smile.
She tsked. “Two mighty Daimons cuddling babies, asleep while watchingToy Story.Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Rubbing his eyes, Urian scoffed. “What are you talking about? What kind of mom lets their kids watch this movie? Woody’s a psycho bastard, homicidal loon. And Sid? Holy shit. I so relate to him, which means no kid should be watching this for entertainment. I picked up pointers from both of them. Again, not a child-friendly show.”
Davyn laughed as he woke up on the floor. “Good thing they weren’t here for your earlier diatribe. Or they’d never let you watch their kids again.”
Wulf shook his head as he checked on Tyr and Phoebe, who were curled up on each side of Davyn while Jeff was asleep on Urian’s chest and Erik was tucked in at his feet on the couch.
Cassandra scowled. “When was Jeff’s last feeding?”
“I don’t know. ’Bout eight?”
She gaped. “He’s never slept this long. You need to stay over more often.” Taking the infant, she carried Jeff upstairs.
Wulf sat down in his chair. “Are you two staying the night?”
“Nah, we’ll head out.” Urian carefully extracted his feet from his nephew’s hold while Davyn got up without waking his two charges.
