Hissing, he teleported to stand in front of her. “I would beg to differ.”
She smirked. “Beg all you want. Your theatrics leave me cold.”
Before he could respond, Xedrix appeared beside them. His mottled blue skin seemed darker than normal as he glared down at them and tsked like an irate parent. “Do not try the patience of the Destroyer, children. She’s in no mood for your foolery.”
He snatched them both by the arm and dragged them down the hall to Apollymi’s garden, where the goddess waited in her spot by her mirror.
Urian locked his jaw so as not to protest the harsh grip, and noticed that the girl did the same.
Apollymi gasped as she saw how they were being treated. “Xedrix! Release them!”
He did so immediately. “Forgive me, akra. They were quarreling.”
Rising from her seat, she shook her head. “So you beat them?”
The demon shrugged with an unfathomable nonchalance given the anger in Apollymi’s eyes. “I wanted to eat them instead, but thought you might take more issue withthat.This seemed the better option.”
She sighed heavily, as if curbing a desire to skin her favorite demon. “Fine.” She waved the demon aside with her hand, then came forward to address Urian and the girl. “I suppose it’s time the two of you met, as you were bound to cross paths at some point. Urian, this is my Abadonna, Katra. Katra, meet Urian, the son of Stryker—leader of my Spathi army.”
Urian’s nostrils twitched at the introduction. “She reeks of Artemis.” This must have been the stench he’d smelled earlier.
Katra bristled. “I’m one of her servants, and you could use a bath yourself, buddy. How many days have you been sweating in that training armor, anyway? You should make a point of meeting the goddess of hygiene and making friends. Really.” She pressed her hand daintily to her nose to emphasize her insult.
He narrowed his gaze dangerously. “Why is she here, akra?”
With an uncharacteristic glint in her pale eyes, Apollymi watched them curiously. “She’s a spy for me.”
Urian gaped.
The wide-eyed look on Katra’s face said that those words were news to her as well, but Urian wasn’t dumb enough to contradict a highly volatile goddess.
Even so, Katra cocked her head to study him with the same curiosity someone might use with an insect. “I’ve never seen an Apollite before.” She lifted her hand. “May I?”
Offended that she’d treat him like an experiment, he lifted his chin to protest. “I’m not a freak.”
“I know. But you are different from anyone I’ve ever seen before, so I’m curious.”
He glanced toward Apollymi.
“Show Katra what the bastard did to your people. Let her see what an animal does to his own son and grandchildren. Help her understand why she should hate him and never trust Artemis, who has turned her back on you. You are the goddess’s nephew, after all. Yet she does nothing for her own blood. Let Katra see how much love the cold bitch has in her heart for her family.”
Katra passed a peeved stare at her but didn’t speak a word of contradiction.
Opening his mouth, Urian allowed the girl to examine his fangs. Though the term “girl” was probably uncharitable of him. Most likely, she was close to his true age and yet she looked to be a teen, whereas because he was an Apollite, he appeared a full-grown man in his mid-twenties.
She gently fingered the sharp tips of his fangs. “Do they hurt?”
“Nay. I’ve never had any other kind of teeth.”
“And you don’t eat food or drink anything other than blood?”
He shook his head.
She fretted. “How awful.”
“You don’t miss what you don’t know.”
“Not true. I miss my father every day of my life, yet I’ve never known him. And I’m forever curious about every detail of him and his life.”
