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Acheron&039;s heart bled for his sister as he saw the tears begin to flon her face He pulled her into his arms "You&039;re not a whore, Ryssa"
"Am I not? Tell me, what&039;s the difference between us?"
"You are loved and claimed by the one who takes you to his bed Believedifference"
No, his sister was kind and gently born She was a lady Styxx was an ass And the only shit in the family was clearly Acheron
June 23, 9528 BC
"Happy birthday, Acheron"
Acheron rolled over at the sound of Ryssa&039;s voice Sore frohtly disoriented He&039;d gone to bed on Olympus, but at some point Arte, sister" She looked particularly radiant today Her blond hair ept up around her head in small braids that were held in place by the silver set of coht for her a feeeks back when they&039;d gone to the own she wore ainst her sto to show
"Get up and dress I had the cook prepare you a special breakfast celebration for just the two of us The ht out"
He looked past her, but saw nothing "Where is it?"
"Downstairs"
Acheron shook his head "I&039; room You know that"
She waved his words away "Father was up late with Styxx They won&039;t awaken for hours I want to give this bit of normality to you, little brother You deserve it Now dress quickly and join me"
Acheron really didn&039;t want to do this In truth, he hated venturing into the lower rooms where his faone to trouble for hi his bed, he dressed quickly and joined her in the hallway She wrapped her arm around his and smiled "This is the first tiether You&039;re noenty and next year you&039;ll reach your majority"
As if that would make a difference to him "Is there a party planned for Styxx?"
She looked aith a troubled expression "Yes Tonight as there is every year"
"Then I shall rief he felt inside But they both kneould be as welco turds Without another word, she took hirand buffet
"I wasn&039;t sure what you&039;d like so I had the" She picked up a platter and handed it to him before she kissed his cheek "Happy birthday, little brother"
Nothing could have touched him more "Thank you"
He followed her down the line as she explained the various dishes to him
As Acheron reached for a piece of fruit, she took his hand and laughed "We don&039;t eat that They&039;re decoration" She thuhed together at his ignorance
"Oh, it does a father good to hear his children laughing with one another"
Acheron froze at the sound of their father entering the roo
Ryssa covered her panic with a dazzling s, Father I was told you&039;d sleep late today"
"Too much to do in preparation of Styxx&039;s celebration" He clapped an affectionate hand on Acheron&039;s shoulder before he kissed his cheek
Both savoring and cursing the embrace, Acheron closed his eyes and held his breath His silver eyes would betray him They always betrayed him
"I&039;m surprised to see you up, scaht They pleasured you well, I trust"
Ryssa cleared her throat "Father, could I have a ith you outside?"
"Absolutely"
Acheron let out a tiny breath in relief as his father stepped away from him He set his plate down and took a step toward the door when the unthinkable happened
Styxx entered the roo here?"
Their father turned back and cursed before he glared at Ryssa "You deceived e contorted his face as he crossed the short distance and slapped Acheron so hard it unbalanced him He fell to the floor, dazed by the blow that loosened his front teeth and shattered his nose
"You dared defile my table!"
Ryssa stepped forward "Father, please! I&039;ht him here It was my idea"
Her turned on her with malice "Don&039;t you dare defend him He knows better" He snatched Acheron up by his hair and shoved hi he&039;s touched burned Now!" he roared at the servants "And throw out all the food"
Acheron laughed "It must really chafe your ass that you can&039;t be rid of me so easily"
His father punched hied "Re Acheron sideways, tearing out a handful of hair as he did so "Get this filth out of ht"
"Guards!" Styxx roared "Take the bastard out and beat hihtened before he approached his twin "Tell ers you most about me? The fact I share your face or the fact I know exactly what your best friend wants to do to youand how often?" He slid his gaze fully to the man behind Styxx who looked away red-faced Acheron sain, Lord Dorus, especially clothed"
Styxx let out a shriek of pain an instant before he ran at Acheron who tried to defend himself But it was useless His brother spent hours a day training to be a fighter The best he could do was cover his head and try to protect his face Styxx rained blow after blow on his ribs until the guards finally pulled him off
"I want him to feel every lash!"
Acheron spat blood at Styxx&039;s feet "Happy birthday to you too"
His ears clear of his pounding blood and Styxx&039;s curses, he finally heard his sister&039;s sobs as she begged their father for a uard clenched his fist deep in Acheron&039;s hair, then shoved him out of the room toward the courtyard that he knew intimately They should just move his bed out here and save theround his teeth as his hands were tied and his clothes stripped froh the skin on his back Dah they&039;d abandoned hi him to have the ability to heal most wounds, it made his punish a barrier for his abuse, new skin grew each tiin flesh with every beating
And it hurt
He lost track of the lashes as he tried to focus on anything else His sweatfro theh"
Acheron frowned through the haze of pain as he recognized Styxx&039;s voice His breathing ragged, he couldn&039;t fathom why Styxx would stop the punishment he&039;d called for
Not until his brother came around so that they were eye to eye The hatred in Styxx&039;s gaze was piercing "Leave us," he ordered the guards
Acheron heard the door close He opened his mouth to taunt his brother but before he could, Styxx slah force to lift his
"You think you&039;re so fucking clever," he sneered "Let&039;s see how clever you are now"
Styxx vanished out of his sight He ca red poker Panic set in Acheron fought his restraints with every ounce of strength he had But he eakened by the beating and held down coleam of sadistic satisfaction, Styxx laid the poker across Acheron&039;s face Screa, Acheron tried toof his flesh Feel the deep, penetrating pain that washed over hiain
Hanging liony of his face that continued to burn When Styxx returned, he carried a fresh poker
"Please, ed "Please don&039;tbrother"
"We are not brothers, you bastard!" Styxx shouted before he laid the poker across Acheron&039;s groin
Acheron screamed out Tears fell as he prayed for death to cohter now?" Styxx asked, tossing the poker aside "Don&039;t you evercold and sharp pierce his side Looking down, he saw the dagger in Styxx&039;s hand that his brother had buried to the hilt He tasted more blood in his mouth as he choked on it and the pain that seared hier free "You&039;ll live" He brought the blade down across Acheron&039;s unburned cheek, laying it open to the bone
Styxx cut hilance
Acheron lay on the ground, his head swiods," he whispered desperately "Please let me die"
He expelled one deep breath and surrendered hi to be patient as she watched the offerings the huht to her altar But they didn&039;t interest her
She hadn&039;t seen Acheron in two days and this was the celebration of his birth-so she wouldn&039;t have known had Apollo not told her about the party tonight She didn&039;t knohy Acheron had failed to mention it, but then he was odd that way
Apollo wasn&039;t going to the party, but his pet was
Which meant Artemis would be free to visit Acheron later
Yet dutifully, she&039;d been at her teo and as the day turned to night, she was restless for it to end
An old oat
Oh, this was no use What was she going to do with a goat? Snapping her fingers, she granted his wish even before she heard it
She picked up the ring that she&039;dofferings she had no interest in Unlike these other , pathetic humans, her Acheron would please her
Even when he didn&039;t please her, he still did
S hi, she looked over the edge to see the nobles and dignitaries gathered for the festivities Surely Acheron wasn&039;t there He didn&039;t like such events
Arte them Her frown melted as she saw Acheron already abed Good She could join hiait His breathing was shallow and ragged He lay with his back to her and as she drew closer, she saw the pink stainshis sheets
Blood Acheron&039;s blood
It was so much more than she&039;d ever seen before
Terrified, shesoundlessly But that wasn&039;t what stunned her ht of his beautiful face Or as left of it
One side had a vicious gaping wound that exposed part of the bone and on the other was a burn that had left his eye partially closed, his flesh scorched and his er tore through her
He didn&039;t answer but the sha on the floor, she laid her hand to his burned cheek
"Kill ht tears to her eyes Wanting to understand, she used her powers to see what had happened to hih her mind, her fury built
How dare they do this to hi sharp as her need for vindication tripled
Acheron screamed as Artemis healed his battered body Whenever his injuries were bad, her cure was every bit as painful
Once he was healed, Arteathered him into her arms and held hih she cared "I&039;m so sorry, Acheron Why didn&039;t you call for me?"
"You wouldn&039;t have come"
"Yes, I would"
But he knew the truth She&039;d never have risked being seen "You&039;re here now That&039;s enough for me"
She nodded as she brushed his hair back from his face "And woe to those bastards for this They won&039;t do this to you and not suffer for it" Taking his hand, she pulled him from the bed
When she started for the door, he froze "What are you doing?"
"I&039;hed evilly "Trusthe knew they were in the ballroom, unseen by the revelers Artehing s an unattractive young woman in the corner The wohter and brutal comments
Artemis leaned forward to whisper into Styxx&039;s ear "You want to see huet a handfirst lesson on it"
One second Styxx was s all over Nefertari and his friends In fact, he vomited so forcefully that he lost control of his bladder and wet himself When he tried to run, he tripped and fell into the usted by it as everyone else
But Arte her hand, she opened the double doors that led to the gardens A pack of angry dogs ran inside and set upon Styxx with a vengeance
Their father ran to his heir as on the ground, crying for help
Arterin before everyone at the party, except Ryssa and the wouards tried to protect Styxx fros an instant before they unloaded their sto the distance between theether in satisfaction "I don&039;t know about you," she said with an evil glint in her green eyes, "but I feel better" She looked around proudly "They&039;ll be fine by , but none of them will be out of their beds much tomorrow As for Styxx, he will feel the effects of his cruelty for at least a week"
Acheron wished he could take pleasure in the pain around him, but he didn&039;t No one deserved what she&039;d done tonight any more than he deserved what Styxx had done to hilanced at the poor wretches around hibeen on the receiving end of crueltyothers, so, no, it doesn&039;t make me happy to see them like this Especially those who&039;ve never done me harm"
"You&039;re a fool not to Believe me They wouldn&039;t be so kind to you"
In his experience, she was right Even so, he just couldn&039;t bring hih at the huust "You are such a strange huh, if he ever scars your face again I&039;ll unleash an agony on hier and sincerity of her gaze scorched hinant over his punish the anger he&039;d harbored against the goddess
In truth, she&039;d kept her word and had done nothing to hurt him
Don&039;t trust her
But his heart wanted to believe that on some level she loved him-that she cared
She raised up to kiss him The instant their lips touched, she took hih hi bright "I&039;ve given you the power to fight to protect yourself You were right I can&039;t always be there when you need ertip on his lips "You can&039;t use those skills on a god, only a huod?"
Arteainst his shoulder and inhaled his masculine scent She adored the innocence inside hi her "Soree with"
"And that&039;s why I&039;ve given you the powers you need I don&039;t want you hurt like that ever again"
Acheron tried to fight the swell of love inside hiave him so much Not when she touched him like this and htly, then pulled back to hand hiift to celebrate your birth Open it"