“The Apollites didn’t hurt my son. Not the way the humans did. Nor did I trust Apostolos to the Apollites for them to take care of him when he was a boy.”
That made Simi’s heart pound funny in her chest. “What of the Simi? You trusted akri to Simi.”
“And you will always take care of him.”
Simi sputtered. “What if akri trips and skins his knee?”
She laughed. “That’s not what I mean. You would never cause him to be harmed, nor will you make his heart sad.”
“Oh no! The Simi would never do that.”
“Then he’s in perfect hands.” Akra-Apollymi rose. “Go to sleep, Simi. Dream of sweets.”
Simi did like her sweets. But now she wasn’t sleepy. Too many thoughts raced around her head as she watched the shadows play around her legs on the wall.
It was a scary world here. Far vastier than Kalosis was. Well, not here so much because they were in Katateros where the gods were gone and trapped.
The human world …
It was gigantus! Akri had taken her places she’d never seen before. Wide open places where no one lived. And lots of places where humans had yummy food to feed her.
In spite of all akri’s rules, she liked the human world. The Simi was just undecided about the humans themselves. Some were very kind and others … they needed manners and tenderer hearts.
In all the time with akri, she had yet to meet a human she wanted to be around for any length of time. And that was fine by Simi. She liked that it was just she and akri. Akri needed her and she needed akri. No one else was necessary.
“What are you doing here, Charonte?”
Simi blinked at the short … she wasn’t sure what he was. Well, part god. She knew that much. But he was something else, too, and she wasn’t sure what that other was. Not to mention, he smelled odd. Not bad. Just not right.
He was other.
Pursing her lips, she frowned at the handsome man with hazel gray-blue eyes and hair that was a peculiar shade of mixed browns. “The Simi fell into this place. It’s not anywhere, is it?”
“It’s in-between, and you shouldn’t be here.”
That caused her to frown. “In-between what?”
“Everything.”
Simi snorted. “What kind of answer is that?”
“An honest one.”
Maybe. And she was still curious about the odd god-not-god. Walking up to him in the dim, shadowy light, she sniffed at his leg.
He moved away from her. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out what you are and why you’re here.”
That seemed to offend him. “I live here.”
“Why?” Simi asked.
He stared at her as if in complete disbelief that she’d ask such a simple question. “Again, Charonte, you don’t belong here. Where’s the one who’s responsible for you?”
“Akri asleep. He told Simi to stay in Katateros, but it boring when he’s tired. So Simi went into the shadows ’cause they seemed interesting and the Simi was hungry.”
A strange light darkened his eyes. “Katateros? As in the Atlantean realm of their gods?”
