“What do you mean?” Styxx asked.
“You do know my brother was in love with her, right?”
Urian wasn’t sure who in the room was most shocked by that declaration.
“Bethany?” Urian asked.
“Bathymaas,” Artemis amended. “He and my mother are the ones who moused you out.”
“Ratted … you out,” Acheron corrected in a pain-filled tone.
She sighed. “Whatever. I just don’t understand modern idiots.”
Moused?Davyn mouthed the word to Urian, who shrugged and then made the hand gesture to remind him that Artemis was a bit crazy.
Acheron cleared his throat. “I think she means idioms.”
She turned a peeved glare at Acheron. “No, this time, I got it right. Modern idiots. Anyway, my mother hated her because she coveted Bathymaas’s powers and because Bathymaas didn’t stop Hera from being such a bitch to us and leaving us with the blood-sucking curse …”
Yeah, how nice of his grandfather, who hated the fact that he was damned to drink blood from his sister, to put that off on them.
Effing bastard.
For that alone, Urian wanted to cut off his head and deliver him up to Helios.
But Artemis continued her explanation. “So when Apollo fell in love with Bathymaas and she refused to have anything to do with him, he was furious. When he found out she was not only in love with the Atlantean Aricles but sleeping with him, he went crackers.”
“Nuts.”
“What. Ever.” She growled at Acheron and his continued corrections. “Apollo’s the one who tricked her into killing you,” she said to Styxx, “just like he did me with Orion. Bastard bitch that he is. It destroyed her. But you swore to her if it took you ten thousand lifetimes, you’d find your way back. And I’m glad you did, but Apollo won’t be so happy once he realizes you’re you.”
Urian was confused. “Wait. Bethany isn’t Bathymaas. Bathymaas was born of the primal source. Bethany wasn’t.”
“Yes, she is. She’s born of Set.”
“Set?” Urian still didn’t see the connection.
Artemis nodded. “She went”—she passed an evil grimace toward Acheron—“insane. Rather similar to what Apollymi did when Apollo killed Acheron. But her off knob—”
“Button or switch?” Acheron really didn’t seem capable of stopping himself from correcting her. Urian was beginning to think his boss did it just to get underneath her skin.
She wrinkled her nose at him and kept talking. “Off switch was a lot harder to find than Apollymi’s. The only way to stop Bathymaas was to have her reborn without the memory of her life and love with Aricles. It’s why her mother was Symfora—the goddess of sorrow—and why Bethany wouldn’t marry or really dabble much with men until Aricles was reborn. But weirdly, she’d always go fishing where the two of them used to meet all those centuries before. Like she was waiting for Aricles to come back, even though she didn’t remember you or him.”
Urian let out a heavy sigh.Fate will out.It was what his father had always told him. No matter what you do, some things couldn’t be changed. Urian got that.
“And that’s why I didn’t throw a fit the day I met you that first time.”
Urian turned toward Set as he joined them in the room.
“As soon as I laid eyes on you, I knew you were Aricles. That somehow, you’d managed to keep your word and find her again, and I’m pretty sure it’s what drew Apollo to you, too. Why he was so hell-bent on making you suffer.”
“No.” Artemis let out a bitter laugh. “That was my idiot other brother who pointed Styxx out to him. I always hated Dionysus. You give Apollo too much credit. He’s like a spoiled toddler … pretty … shiny … gimme. Kind of like Acheron’s demon.”
She met Styxx’s gaze. “Bathymaas was my brother’s first love and her rejection emotionally crushed him—at least that’s what he claims. Because of that, my mother cursed the two of you to never be together.”
“Is that why Bethany can’t wake up?”
“In part,” Set said with a heavy sigh. “But mostly it’s because she only has half her heart. To bring her back and allow her to be sane and not the soul of vengeance she became after the death of Aricles, I had to remove the part of her heart that had you in it and wipe all knowledge of you from her memory.”
