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As if he had a choice?
At least this ti froot up to tend the wound
"You&039;re the only male she&039;s ever had in her templebesidesnear his bed "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to "
He held his breath in sharp panic "She would destroy us both if she knew you were here"
Satara shrugged nonchalantly "She doesn&039;t pay attention to the human realm Trust me"
Acheron didn&039;t move as she crossed the short distance between the, she studied him as if he were some deforodhood for you too" She reached to touch his face
Acheron caught her hand "You need to leave"
"I would be a kinder lover to you than Artemis is"
As if he needed that
"Look," Satara said firod like me-the fact that your blood sustains her is proof of that And I sa Artemis treated you I promise you, I wouldn&039;t be so callous Not to mention that with the powers I have, you and I could take hers Iod We would be invincible"
"There&039;s no such thing as invincible There&039;s always so no nize me as Artemis&039;s Soht or wrong, I pledged myself to her and I will not back out on my word"
She sneered at him as if he were mentally defective "Then you&039;re a fool"
"I&039;ve been called worse"
She shook her head "And you&039;re content to be her lapdog?"
No he wasn&039;t But what choice did he have? "Again, I gave her my word and I will not be a liar"
She snorted in derision "Then I&039;ed you However, I find myself in a bit of a quandary If she ever finds out about this, she&039;ll kill me, niece or not But since you appear to be a man of your word, do I have your oath that you&039;ll never tell Arte another&039;s downfall, not even yours That being said, if you ever go after Arte as she&039;s safe, you&039;re safe I swear it"
She cocked her head as if baffled by his threat "You&039;re bartering with me to protect the same soould sooner beat you than treat you with the saed "I&039; I will stand by her"
Satara shook her head "You and I have an accord then I only hope you find her worth your loyalty"
So did he But like Satara, he solare, Satara left hih his hair as he tried to sort this out So Arte her demise as his father Damn What was it about power that made everyone covet it so? Why couldn&039;t people be content hat they had? Whyso insanely innocuous? So run didn&039;t matter at all
When love was shown to soreed and selfishness spoil it? He just didn&039;t understand that
Love was so pure and innocent when given, especially unconditionally Why couldn&039;t those who received it see it for the beautiful gift it was? Why ave it?
As Artemis did with him
As Styxx with his father
It hy he loved his nephew so Apollodorus asked for nothing ave a sloppy kiss to the cheek it was pure, joyful love There was no subterfuge No giving in order to get so back
Why couldn&039;t the world be like that?
Then again, as he to ask those questions? His owneven the most basic compassion toward him
Love, unfortunately, was a weakness squandered on those who didn&039;t deserve it
Acheron grabbed the wine bottle from his table and uncorked it There wasn&039;t much solace here, but soods knew he couldn&039;t find solace anywhere else Maybe he should have taken Satara up on her offer
But what price would she have exacted? There was always a price for everything in life For that wisdo in this world ever ca
"Acheron?"
He tensed at the sound of Artemis&039;s voice She was nowhere to be seen But, he could feel her like a whisper on his soul
She manifested behind him "I&039;m sorry, Acheron I shouldn&039;t have treated you that way"
"Then why did you?"
Still invisible, she nuzzled his shoulder "I&039;oddess"
"I&039;m one of many and not as powerful as others Do you knohat they do to a goddess when they strip her of her powers? They cast her to earth to exist a the humans who abuse and mock her Is that what you&039;d have for me?"
Why not? It hat she would have for him
Unfortunately, he wasn&039;t that cruel "No I only hat&039;s best for you, Artie But I&039; out on me I&039;m not a mindless doll you can beat when you&039;re frustrated"
She materialized so that he could see the sincerity in those beautiful green eyes "I know and I&039; I really am Just be impatient withword, isn&039;t it? I don&039;t knohy I mix them up sometimes"
These moments when she allowed herself to be vulnerable were the ones that endeared her to him They were the ones that had allowed hiave her a tender kiss
Arteh her She loved hi him meant She truly didn&039;t want to hurt him ever He was the only person she could be herself around With other gods she had to be fierce and defensive and with mortals she had to be divine and intolerant
Acheron was the one person who allowed her to laugh He was the only one who held her and made her feel warm inside But the problem henever she opened herself up she felt the coldness inside hih he was loyal to her, she didn&039;t make him happy That hurt the most The pain inside him that she couldn&039;t alleviateas open with her as she ith him
Why couldn&039;t he feel what she did?
Even now there was a reservation in his touch A hesitation and she didn&039;t understand why
How could she make him love her the way he had when they firsther like she loved hi back, her gaze went to his neck and she cringed at what she&039;d done to hi Apollo would have done to her "I didn&039;t mean to hurt you"
Acheron held his breath at words that had been said to him so many times Just once couldn&039;t soed him?
"I&039;m fine" But the truth was, he wasn&039;t He&039;d never been all right with the pain He&039;d rown used to it
She brushed the hair back from his face "You look so tired I shouldn&039;t have taken so ed him toward the bed "You should rest"
True There was no telling what horrors would be there for hi, or just the e that Artemis excelled at
He couldn&039;t wait
"Will you coain, desperate to not be alone while the whole world lavished ishes on his twin brother
Artemis hesitated She wanted to come, but Apollo would be here for Styxx&039;s celebration She had to be careful Because they were twins and gods, he could sense whenever she was near If he felt her, he&039;d co her and that could very well cost Acheron his life "You know I have a festival How can I miss it?"
He looked away and the hurt she felt froh her own heart
"I&039;ll visit the next day"
Acheron held his emotions in check "I&039;ll look forward to it then"
"Are you being sullen with ood festival"
Arteh his hair Will you think of one?"
"I always do"
She leaned down to kiss his cheek "You always make me feel so special"
And she always made him feel like shit She tucked her arm under his so that she could take his hand He held it to his heart and let out a long sigh
As he did so, a bad feeling went through hi to happen tomorrow He could feel it with every part of hie him and Artemis forever
Akri di diya of his balcony completely drunk in the darkness as he watched the elaborately dressed guests arriving for the birthday party in the palace below His back was pressed against the building while his legs were stretched out before him in a precarious balance He wasn&039;t sure how much he&039;d ih to kill hiht yet tumble from his perch to the rocks a hundred feet below and die horribly there
That would definitely fuck up his brother&039;s birthday celebration For the first ti dead in front of the gathered nobles and dignitaries
It would serve the no one could hear him Even if they could, they wouldn&039;t care
Acheron turned his head and flinched as pain cut through hiive hiuish He&039;d been so careful to shield himself from the callousness of others But Artemis cut him on a level no one else could touch
And like everyone else, she didn&039;t care how rateful At least this year he wasn&039;t celebrating the anniversary of his birth in prison
Or a stew
Ever alone Even when he was in a crowd, surrounded by people, he was alone
Truthfully, he was tired of it No one wanted him The only reason his so-called family cared whether he lived or died was because if he died, their beloved Styxx died too
"I&039;ve had enough"
Even though he was only one and twenty, he was as tired as an old man He&039;d lived beyond his years and wanted no more pain No more loneliness
It was time to end it
The voices he heard in his head were louder now They were calling hi The winds fro his hair out as he stared down at the black sea that beckoned hioblet and watched as it tuht
One step
No pain
Everything would end
"It&039;s time," he breathed There was no one here to stop him now No Ryssa to pull him back No father to tie him down and prevent it No Estes to call for a physician
Freedoo and stepped off
Fear and relief whipped through hihtless air In a ht-after peace
Suddenly, soasped at the pain He opened his eyes out of reflex
Instead of falling, he was now rising, away froainst rocks was replaced by the heavy fluttering of giant wings He turned to see a fe hio!" he shouted, trying to free himself
She didn&039;t Not until she&039;d returned hiered back as she perched on the railing and watched hiht black hair that fell over skin lowed in the darkness, white irises, surrounded by vivid red Like her hair, her wings and horns were black
"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice filled with venom
"Akri should be more careful," she whispered kindly "Had Xiamara been a moment later, you would have died"
"I wanted to die"
She cocked her head in a gesture that reminded him of a bird "But why, akri?" She looked over her shoulder to where the people were still arriving "So many come to celebrate your human birth"
"They don&039;t come for me"
Xiahed bitterly "I&039;"
"Nay You are Apostolos, son of Apollymi Revered by all"
"I am Acheron, son of no one Revered only within the confines of a bedroos tucked themselves around her lithe body "You don&039;t remember your birth I understand I was sent here by yourto follow her words, but his mind was too numbed by drink The demon was insane She must have him confused with someone else "My mother is dead"
"The huoddess Apollymi, is alive and wishes you all of her love I am her most faithful servant, Xiamara, and I am here to protect you as I&039;ve protected her"
Acheron shook his head He was drunk Hallucinating Maybe he&039;d already died
"Get away from me"
The demon didn&039;t Before he could escape, she placed a small orb to his heart