The fire litthe sky and burned bright as Urian used his powers to conjure the identities of the men who’d killed his mother and her servants. Pyromancy wasn’t his favorite choice, but the flames licking his mother’s body were craving vengeance as much as he was.
Together, they gave him everything he needed to vindicate them both.
The humans had come to her farm for Daimons because of whispered rumors they’d heard. And they’d taken it upon themselves to punish her for harboring Apollites.
Time the humans actually met some.
Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.
The saddest part of life was when you manifested your own fears by your actions or inactions. Perhaps that was what karma actually was, in the end. Not some great, mystical force that came out of the blue to strike someone down without warning.
Rather a by-product of someone’s own stupidity or cruelty where they sought to harm another that boomeranged around to take them down instead.
Because that was what this would be tonight. The humans had feared his kind. Had they not lashed out and attacked his innocent mother needlessly, then he and his brothers would have left them in peace. But because they had attacked in their own vicious stupidity, he and his brothers would slaughter them in a manner far worse than anything they had envisioned or feared.
There would be no quarter.
No mercy.
Only blood and screams.
Theo grabbed Urian’s arm to stop him. “Are you sure we should be doing this? It’s the last thing Mata would want. She’d be horrified if she knew what we were planning in her name. You know how she felt about violence.”
Urian glanced past his shoulder to meet Archie’s gaze. For the first time, they were united. “If you don’t have the stomach for this, Theo, go home. I’m not leaving this realm until I’ve tasted the blood of every human who participated in this, and if any of the others get in our way … fuck them.”
He looked back at Theo. “Decide.”
Theo swallowed and glanced to his own twin. “Alki?”
Alkimos shook his head. “I’m with them in this,adelphos.But you follow your conscience. I won’t judge you.”
Theo refused to give up as he sought to win more to his cause. “Atreus? Patroclus?”
They both patted his shoulder. “We’re going,” they said in unison.
Theo sighed heavily. “I can’t do this. Killing to survive is one thing. This is vengeance. It won’t bring her back. And I can’t shame her memory in this manner.”
Urian forced himself not to sneer at his brother’s newfound religion—Devout Cowardice. “Perhaps, but it will make me feel better, and it is justice. That is what she deserves for what they did to her.” And with that, he summoned a portal for his brother. “Go home.”
Nodding, Theo stepped through.
Urian glanced to his brothers. “Anyone else?”
United for this blood quest, they stood fast.
“All right.” Urian closed the portal home so that no one else would find them until it was over.
More to the point, no one could stop them.
Then he used his powers to locate the place the flames had shown him. A small, sleepy human village where the cowards had run back to, thinking themselves safe and protected. Far away from any Apollite’s or Daimon’s reach.
As if.
Instead of killing a Spathi, the humans should have learned a few things about them first.
One, they valued family above all. To attack one invited the group to come for you.
Two, you only had one shot. You’d best make it count. Because when they got up, and they would, there would be no stopping them.
