And deep down in a place he didn’t want to look, he knew exactly why this was so important to him. Because he was hoping that someway, somehow, he might be worthy of forgiveness one day, too. That maybe, just once, he’d be able to sleep without hearing the screams of the innocent lives he’d taken.
For Tesiah, he’d committed unspeakable acts that would have damned him had he been mortal.
My soul is too black to be redeemed. But maybe the others might find the salvation he knew he’d never be worthy of.
10
7382 BC
Bug-eyed, Simi stared at the strange human ghosty man akri had brought home with him. For her life, she couldn’t imagine why akri would let someone come into their home. It didn’t make sense. “Why he here, akri?”
Akri smiled at her as he ruffled her hair and tugged playfully at her red hornays. “Alexion … meet Simi.”
Almost as tall as akri, Alexion had blond hair and blue eyes, and he stared at Simi as if she were something annoying that was stuck on the bottom of his foot. “What is she?”
“My daughter,” akri said with a note in his voice that told the human ghosty he would kick his butt if he hurt her feelings.
Simi wrinkled her nose. “What is he?” Let him see how that felt.
“Our new …” akri scowled at Alexion as he walked toward his throne. “Steward.”
That only confuzzled her more. “What’s a steward, akri? Do they cooks?”
Taking a seat on his throne, akri arched a brow at Alexion. “Do you?”
“I have. Never said it was edible.”
Flying, Simi went rushing to the throne so that she could tug at akri’s black formesta robe. “Why’s he here?” she whispered, only it must not have been quiet because the ghosty looked a bit perturbed.
“Why am I here, Acheron?”
Akri let out a long, tired sigh. “I don’t know what else to do with him, Sim. I made a mistake, and he’s stuck like that. It’s all my fault.”
“Then send him home.”
Akri toyed with her hair. “This is his home now. He can stay with you while I’m …” He didn’t finish his sentence.
Which meant there was one thing he was thinking. “With the heifer goddess?”
That made akri’s eyes twinkle. He always liked whenever she called Artemis the heifer goddess, which she was. “I don’t like leaving you alone. Now you’ll have company when I’m not here.”
Simi looked back at Alexion, not sure about that. While he might be nice, he wasn’t akri and she didn’t really like the idea of sharing her space with someone she didn’t know. “But Simi don’t know about being lefts alone with him. What if he a murderer?”
“He won’t dare harm you, Simkey. I’d gut him.”
Alexion arched a brow at that. “I won’t hurt you, Simi. I love children, and I would never do harm to a little girl.”
Simi frowned at the way he said that. The words gave him a pain in his heart. “You have a little girl?”
A deep, awful sadness made Alexion’s eyes droop. She knew that look, too. It was one akri had whenever he thought of his sister and nephew who had died.
“I thought I had a daughter.”
She hated that she’d made him feel bad. Scooting off akri’s lap, she flew back to Alexion. “Simi sorry you lost your little girl. I’m not her and you’re not my akri, but if it makes your heart less achy, Simi coulds pretends to be your little girl, too.”
That made him smile even as a tear slid down his cheek. “Sure, Simi. I’d like that.”
Taking his hand, she looked back at akri and flicked her tail. “Okies, akri. Simi won’t eat the ghosty. But he needs his own room. Simi don’t want to share. Does Simi have to?”
