Unwanted. Unneeded.
Judged for things she couldn’t help.
And seen for only half of who and what she really was. But one day …
One day, she’d break free and the world would know her for her real heart and force.
That would be the day they’d all tremble in fear before her.
Even Urian.
June 12, 9511 BC
“Your matera is human!”
Urian froze the moment he entered Xanthia’s home and she spat those hate-filled words at him as if they were fiery grenades launched from a parapet and meant to incinerate his entire being. Forcing himself not to react, he took a deep breath. “She is.”
Xanthia hissed and bared her fangs at him. “Why did you lie to me?”
His anger pitched and churned at her unwarranted attack. It wouldn’t take much for it to explode at this point. Xanthia had no idea how tenuous a ground she tread upon. No one assaulted him for his mother. Hellen of Delphi was sacrosanct to him and he would die defending the woman who birthed him—even against Apollymi herself.
“I didn’t lie, Thia. You didn’t ask. My mother is Greek. I am not. Now if you’ll excuse me …” He left before she pushed him further and this became the ugly situation that experience had taught him invariably followed such heated exchanges.
You should have told her about your mother.
It would have been the prudent thing to do. No doubt some asshole had run to her with the news, just to spread the gossip of it for no other reason than to wreak havoc with his screwed-up life. He’d never understood that urge that others had. To tell half-truths and pretend to know something when they didn’t. To make up whatever bullshit they wanted for whatever sick game they’d contrived for the sake of drama. As if they had some kind of inside information on a given topic when the only ones who knew the truth were those who were the actual participating parties.
The rest were just dumbasses.
“Urian!”
At Xanthia’s call, he paused in the middle of the street and turned to wait for her to catch up to him. She’d swept her blond hair up in tiny braids that teased her ears and caressed her neck. A style she knew he found fascinating. Inviting. One that left him hard with longing for those sweet, succulent curves.
Even though she was just barely three years older than he was, and in spite of the fact that Apollites aged quicker, somehow she still managed to appear younger than he did.
His mouth watered for a taste of the blood he could hear rushing through her veins. But the sting of her condemnation was raw and bitter inside his heart. He’d had enough of it in his short lifetime that he wanted no more.
He was already done with this world and the judgment people gave him.
Breathless from having to run to catch up to him, she struggled for composure and licked her plump lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you or lash out. The news caught me unawares. Given what had happened in my village and how you protected us, I never expected to hear that you were partly human. I assumed you hated their race as much as I did.”
A tic started in his jaw. “No one can help where they come from, Thia. Only where they go.”
“I know. Can you forgive me?”
His heart softened the moment she batted her lashes and gave him that sweet, beguiling look of hers. Probably because no woman had ever done that before. Unlike his brothers, who were used to being flirted with, he had no defenses against it. He was hopeless where she was concerned.
And horny any time she came near. Damn his hormones. He couldn’t control himself. She knew it even more than he did.
“Of course.”
Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. That melted the last of his defenses.
Urian growled at the sweet taste of her tongue sweeping against his and the sensation of her warm curves pressed against his body. It reawakened his hunger instantly.
“Come home with me, Urian. I’ve sent my children over to my sister’s so that I can properly feed you.”
That was all she needed to say to finish wrapping him around her pinkie as he imagined peeling her peplos from her body and sliding himself deep inside her while he drank until he was drunk from her blood. The more she fed him, the hungrier he became for her. It was a madness really.
