She rolled her eyes at his misplaced and extremely irritating humor. “No. It’s about Phoebe.”
The color faded from his cheeks. When he spoke, his tone was brittle. “What about her?”
There was no easy way to do this. So she settled on just ripping the Band-Aid off as quickly and mercifully as possible. “Stryker didn’t kill her that night. She’s still alive.”
Gah, that sounded harsh even to her own ears. She could kick her own ass.
Delicate, thy name is not Medea.
He staggered back into his father’s arms and would have fallen had Styxx not been there. “What?”
“Breathe,” Styxx whispered in his ear. “I’ve got you.”
Urian shook his head. “It’s not possible.”
I feel that, brother.
But she had to be strong for him. And she had no choice now except to see this through. “Both Davyn and I saw her. She’s alive, Urian. Just not the same.”
Urian’s head spun from the emotions that took turns assaulting him. Disbelief. Anger. Pain. Betrayal. He couldn’t even settle on one. As soon as he thought he had one emotion, it melted into another.
He glared at Acheron. “Did you know?”
“I swear on my mother’s life, I had no idea. She’s not human, so I can’t see her fate. It’s beyond my powers. If I’d known, I’d have told you.”
Urian blinked and blinked again as he slowly digested her news. “Stryker knew?”
She nodded weakly.
Of course the bastard knew. Why would he think otherwise? “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He didn’t want you to feel guilty for what she’s become. For what she did.”
What? He scowled at her. “What she did?”
Medea looked away as if she couldn’t bear to tell him that part. “She went trelos, Uri. She attacked the commune where you had her housed.”
No. They’d have told him.
She was lying.
He glanced over at the one person who would know. “Ash … if this is true, is there any way to get her back?”
Acheron shook his head. “Not that I know. But I’m a god of fate. Not one of souls.” He looked to Styxx’s wife.
She shook her head. “Wrath, warfare, misery, and the hunt. You need someone hunted down and killed with extreme prejudice, I’m your girl. But I was never in charge of souls, either. Sorry.”
Falcyn sighed. “And I’m a war god, too. What a worthless lot, we are.”
“Although …”
They turned to stare at Acheron.
Ash bit his lip as he considered something. “This is a long shot. I mean Hail Mary pass of all time.”
“What?” Urian stepped away from his father.
“I might know somebody who can help with this.… Xander.” Urian considered that. Xander was a Dark-Hunter currently stationed in New Orleans. Part sorcerer, he was one of the darkest powers. So much so that Artemis had only gotten a part of his soul.
