“I can’t believe I let you morons talk me into this.”

“Zeus almighty, Archie … enough! No one invited you!” Paris paused to glare at him before he passed an irritated glare at Urian. “One more gripe and you have my permission to knife him where he stands.”

Theo put his hand over Archie’s mouth. “How ’bout I strangle him?”

“That’ll work.” Paris draped his arm around Davyn. “Now show some respect and shut it already.”

Archie continued to make sounds of discontent as they moved in relative silence through the forest toward the village where Davyn’s sister and brother-in-law lived.

Urian didn’t say anything as they trudged along. While it annoyed him that Archie was here, it was actually very typical of his brother’s behavior. Davyn had wanted to come out and be with his family in their village for a couple of days, and as a matter of course, Paris had insisted on being with him to make sure Davyn didn’t do this alone.

No one should be left alone to watch a family member die.

Needless to say, while they might attempt to kill each other most of the time they were together, they weren’t about to let anyone else have that honor. And it was too dangerous for Paris and Davyn to run solo in the human realm without them. While Davyn might claim his family could take care of themselves, they didn’t believe it.

In it for one. In it for all.

So here they were, en masse. Pissed off and sniping at each other.

As Xyn would say, the ushe.

“What is this Cult of Pollux stuff again?” Ophion asked. Unlike the rest of them who remained blond, he had chosen to dye his hair black, like their father.

“In a word? Idiotic!”

“Archie!” Paris renewed his stern glare. “Stop!”

“It’s fine, Paris. He’s not exactly wrong.” Davyn handed Ophion a small medallion that contained an interlocking circle pattern on it.

Ophion scowled at the piece. “What’s this?”

Urian tried to keep the disdain out of his own voice since he actually agreed with Archie, for once. “Everyone in their community wears that emblem as a sign of solidarity that they intend to honor their pledge. Or they wear it on the night when they come together to be with the family member who’s abiding by the vow they took that they won’t commit ritual suicide to avoid Apollo’s curse and go Daimon. That they’ll sit there on their twenty-seventh birthday and decay as the god intended them to.” Alkimos’s and Telamon’s eyes widened in horror. “Archie’s right! They’re idiots!”

“Thank you. Finally someone who agrees with me.”

Theo snorted at Urian’s words. “I often agree with you. I just don’t admit it out loud ’cause I don’t want anyone else to think I’m an idiot like you.”

Urian’s laughter died as he smelled fire all of a sudden. The scent hit each of his brothers at about the same time.

As did the crackling sound of it. The clashing of steel and screams …

In unison, they went into battle mode and formed a phalanx, pulling on their helms and locking their shields into place. Out of habit, Urian took the weak end. As the strongest fighter among them, he’d volunteered for it years ago. The eight of them present were a well-practiced unit when it came to war, especially against humans.

Unlike Davyn’s family and their village, the sons of Strykerius weren’t Anglekos—the term reserved for Apollites who’d taken a vow never to use their psychic powers or superior strength to harm humans.

They were Spathi. Ruthless. Cold. In it for blood and bone. Loyal only to Apollymi, and hell-bent against the human race and anyone who threatened an Apollite or Daimon. It was why their emblem was a dragon over a sun. The sun being the mark of Apollymi the Destroyer, and the dragon for their father, Stryker.

And as they came up to the village under the cover of darkness, Urian saw what caused the noises and odor.

Human soldiers had annihilated the Apollites who lived there and were still pillaging and burning everything and everyone they could find.

With an anguished cry, Davyn almost broke rank and started forward, but Paris caught him and held him back.

“Nay, love. In the name of vengeance. Remain calm or they’ll have us, too.”

Something proven as the humans saw them and rallied to attack.

Theo came around so that they formed a circle. Urian frowned at his brother, who cast him a smug sneer.

“What?” Theo asked in an offended tone. “I might think you’re an obnoxious little shit … which you are, Uri. But you are my brother. Be damned if I’ll see you die by a human hand.”

“Aye,” Archie growled. “And I’m not about to go home and tell Solren I let you die. He’d skin us all.”

Urian laughed as his brothers let out a war cry and countered the first strike against them and the impenetrable wall they presented to their enemies. He struck with his kopis and his powers, using both to drive the humans back and knock them from their feet as they attacked him and his brothers.

They had intended to remain in a circled phalanx, but in a matter of minutes, the humans had broken them apart with their assault, especially those who were coming at them in chariots with javelins. Urian twisted as one of the charioteers came by and slammed a whip down across his shield. It caught against the edge, yanked him forward, and wrested him away from their protection.

Even so, Urian used his powers to lock the chariot’s axle and sent the bastard who hurt him flying.

As he turned to engage his next attacker, a bright blue flash caught his eye.

It was a blond child, running.

His jaw went slack. Especially when he noticed the boy trying to run into a burning cottage.

Shit!

Urian flashed himself to the child’s position so that he could grab him to protect the boy.

The moment he did, the boy sank his fangs straight into Urian’s hand.

Definitely Apollite and not human.

“Hey!” Urian flashed his own fangs at the boy to let him know whose side he was on.

Tears flowed from the child’s eyes as he realized Urian was an Apollite and not a human out to harm him. “Please help! My mata and sister are trapped because my mata’s blind and my sister won’t leave her!”

Glancing around, Urian saw that the boy wasn’t safe either. Not in the cruel sea of madness that surrounded them. The humans were brutal and those fighting them weren’t a bit better. “All right.” He pushed him toward some brush. “Stay low. I’ll be right back.”

The boy ran like a rabbit while Urian rushed into the building. Even over the roar of the fire, he heard the girl weeping and pleading with her mother as she tried to save her. He headed for them.

Covering his mouth and nose with part of his chalmys, he picked through the burning building, dodging embers and falling planks as best he could. He’d always been afraid of fire. It was another thing that could easily kill them.

The smoke burned his eyes while he stayed low and felt his way along the floor until he found the girl next to her mother, who was barely conscious and wounded terribly. It was obvious the humans had taken their time abusing her.

And the moment Urian touched the woman, she screamed and began swinging wildly at him.

“Shh, you’re safe. I’ve got you.” He unpinned his fibula and removed his cloak, grateful to the gods that Sarraxyn had made his armor flameproof. Strangely enough, it managed to even keep his body cool in the oppressive heat of the place.

“He’s an Apollite, Mata. He’s got fangs like us.”

The woman broke down into horrendous sobs as she clung to him unexpectedly.

“I’m going to wrap you in my cloak and teleport you both out. All right?”

She nodded weakly.

Urian quickly covered her naked body and then flashed them from the burning building to where the boy should be waiting for his return, hopefully well hidden, under cover so that no one had discovered him and hurt him while he was gone.

As soon as the three of them were outside, the boy ran over to them from his hiding place in the hedges. The girl grabbed on to her brother and held him tight. “Geras! I thought you dead!”

The boy answered with a scream.

His heart hammering at the alert, Urian turned to see what had him alarmed.

A human was running toward the children. He set the woman down with his powers and barely caught the armor-clad man before he could reach them. Urian manifested a sword and pulled his shield from where he’d left it. The shield flew through the fire and fighting to ricochet to his arm and fasten itself into place.

Knocking the human back, Urian sliced the human’s arm with his short sword, then turned and caught him with the edge of the shield. In one smooth move, he turned and came around again to slice through the human’s throat with his kopis.

The human let out a gurgled cry as he staggered back and fell to the ground to die.

After double-checking to ensure that the man was dead, Urian fastened his shield to his back and returned to the mother and children. Since the woman was blind and had been through enough trauma for one night, he made sure to explain to her what he was doing before he touched her. “I’m taking the three of you to a place where you’ll be safe and the humans can’t reach you. Do you trust me?”

“Aye,” their mother breathed, clutching his cloak tighter to her ravaged body.

“My name’s Urian.”

“Xanthia. My children are Geras and Nephele.”

Disgusted with what had been done to them and wanting blood for it, Urian knew he had to stay focused on the task at hand. “Bear with me, good Xanthia. Now brace yourself. I’m about to wrap my arms around you to pick you up. Nothing more.” He carefully embraced her naked and bruised body and tried not to think about what had been done to her. The ruthless violence the poor woman had needlessly suffered. Damn the humans for this, and the pathetic Apollites who’d thought they could live in peace with such animals. “If you’re ready?”

She nodded.

Urian tried to be as gentle as he could as he lifted her.

The moment his arms tightened around her, she choked on a sob and almost fought against his hold.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know,” she breathed.

But knowing something and not acting upon it were two entirely different things. He knew that better than anyone.

Summoning a portal, Urian realized he had to be quick or her panic would get the best of her, and if she began fighting him in the portal, it could kill them all.

The moment it opened, the children shrank back in fear.

“It’s all right,” he assured them. “The light won’t hurt you. It’s not sunlight. We’re going to a land where no one will harm you. I swear it on my life and honor.” He held his hand out to Nephele. “Take my hand and hold tight and hold on to your brother.”

She bit her lip in uncertainty.

“It’ll be fine,” Xanthia whispered. “I think we can trust this one.”

How sad that the girl’s tiny hand still trembled as she took his. That was what bothered him most—that a child so young would fear this much. She should only know trust and good things in life. As should all children.

No one should know such betrayal and pain. Least of all a child.

Choking on his rage, Urian made sure the children wouldn’t pull away and harm themselves, and then he walked them through the glowing light.

Their screams echoed in his ears as the portal swept them from the human realm to Kalosis. Not that he blamed them. It was startling the first time through, when you didn’t know what to expect. Though it wasn’t much better even when you did.

Not to mention, it was completely jarring when he landed in the center of the banquet hall, where his father sat on his throne with a stern glower that said he was only waiting there to devour whatever fool came through the shimmering mist to land at his feet.

One made doubly worse because his father had no idea that any of his sons had left their dark domain that night.

“Urian? What the hades is this?” His father’s glower went from him to the beaten, naked woman, then to her children.

Aye, that was the face of a monster from legends that parents used to frighten children. Not even Urian was sure his father wouldn’t kill him.

The children shrank back from that coarse bark with loud screams. Not that Urian blamed them. He’d seen grown men wet themselves before his father’s wrath.

Kneeling, he gathered them to his chest while he kept Xanthia balanced against him. “Shh, children. It’s fine. Stryker is my solren. He won’t harm you.”

Him, on the other hand, his father might beat for such blatant disobedience.

Nephele calmed down first. “Your baba?”

He nodded. “Don’t worry. He always looks fierce. But he only eats humans.” Smiling, he rubbed at Geras’s back. “He has a lot of sons and grandsons. I promise he’s not angry at you. I’m the one he wants to spank.”

That succeeded in making the boy laugh. “B-b-b-but you’re a man. A fierce warrior who saved us!”

“Not to my baba. Trust me. In his eyes, I’m no bigger than you are.”

Nephele leaned over to her mother to whisper loudly. “Mata, his baba’s a Daimon! And he’s humongous!”

“Shh, Neph. That might offend him.”

Urian rose with Xanthia in his arms. “Their village was attacked by humans. I need Tannis to help with them. The lady is severely hurt.”

His father’s simmering glower darkened to a murderous level. “Where are your brothers?”

“Fighting.”

“Trates!”

Urian cringed at the rage in his tone. “Solren—”

“Not one word from you until I get back. See to her and the children. Open the portal for us so that I know where you left your idiot brothers, and don’t you dare return to the fighting or so help me I’ll geld you where you stand to make sure you never stray from home again!”

“Aye, sir.” Urian obeyed without question.

As soon as his father and a group of Illuminati were gone, he glanced down at Geras. “Like I said, he still thinks I’m your age, bit. And brainless to boot.”

Eyes wide, Geras clutched at Nephele’s arm while Urian led them from the hall toward his home. He used his telepathy to call for his sister so that she could meet him in the palace and have the beds waiting.

Luckily, she was at the door with Archie’s wife when he arrived. He would have teleported them, but given how weak Xanthia was and the fear of the children who cringed at every shadow they passed, he didn’t want to risk doing more harm or trauma to any of them.

Tannis gasped as soon as she caught sight of their bedraggled states.

Tall and lithe, and the epitome of beauty, his sister-in-law winced at the shape they were in. He’d never understand how Archie had been so lucky as to land a wife so beautiful or kind. Or why, having done so, the idiot would ever cheat on her. Yet his brother strayed constantly for reasons only Archie knew.

“Welcome, little ones. I’m Hagne. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll see you cleaned up while they tend your mata? I have hot water and toys waiting for you.” She cast a sympathetic, pained grimace toward Urian. “Are you all right?”

He nodded.

Her frown deepened. “Was Archie at least living when you left him?”

“Aye.”

“Thank the gods. ’Cause I want to be the one who kills him when he gets home.”

That was so messed up, but honestly, he couldn’t blame her for it.

Without a word, Urian carried Xanthia toward the bedrooms.

Tannis rushed ahead of him. “You can put her in my old room. I’ve already had the servants ready a bed. She’ll be more comfortable there.”

Since Urian knew his “guest” couldn’t see who was around them, he explained it for her. “Xanthia, this is my sister Tannis. I’m surrendering you to her care. She’s extremely gentle … at least to those who aren’t her brothers. And a good, kind lady to all.” Urian took her into Tannis’s room and laid her tenderly on the bed. “You’ll be in the best of hands.”

As he started to withdraw, Xanthia caught his arm. “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. Rest now. I’ll make sure your children are well cared for until you’re better.” Feeling horrible for what they’d done to her, he patted her hand reassuringly and released her, then headed back to the receiving hall.

Hagne was ordering servants to draw more hot water for the children to have a bath, and to bring clothing. As soon as she saw Urian, she pulled him aside. “Their father was killed in front of them. Did you know that?”

He winced at the thought of the nightmares they’d have for the rest of eternity. “Nay. I didn’t really get a chance to ask about their father. Things were happening too fast when I found them.” Anger and grief choked him. “Did they see what happened to their mother?”

“I don’t think so. From what I gathered out of watching them and listening, the boy’s father tossed him out the window and had him run into the stable when the humans came into their home. The boy looked back to see his father die. The girl, too, then she was hidden in their cellar by her mother in time to keep her out of their hands.”

“Thank the gods.” Otherwise Nephele would have been raped, too.

Suddenly and without warning, Hagne slapped him.

His cheek stinging, Urian gaped at her. “What was that for?”

“What were you doing there, anyway? With my husband!”

Glaring at her, he rubbed at his abused jaw. Damn, she could hit almost as hard as a man.

Then again, she hit harder than a couple of his brothers. “Escorting Davyn to see his brother-in-law on his twenty-seventh birthday, which starts at dawn. He wanted to be with his sister when her husband died. He didn’t want her and their children to be alone for it.”

She slapped his arm where it was bare between his armored sleeve and vambrace. “You thoughtless ass! I could kill you and Paris! Damn you both for your stupidity!”

Grimacing, he sputtered as he moved out of her striking range. Damn her for her long arms and their reach. She was like a toddler who could manage to stretch three times the expected distance. “Why? Archie hates us.”

“Hades’s loincloth, he does. He can’t get along with you and your twin because you’re just like him, but he loves the two of you more than his own life. He’d die if anything happened to either of you, hence his stupidity in going along tonight, instead of staying home where he should have been.”

Still unable to believe a word of it, Urian gaped at her. “Archimedes Strykeros? Big asshole? You know? The brute who spends his days trying to pummel me into the ground? Who holds me down and farts in my face?”

“Aye. The same disgusting creature.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste of his vulgarity. “Believe it or not, he’s trying to toughen you up so that no one can hurt you.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that for a heartbeat.”

“Well, you should.” Hagne punched him in the arm one last time before she headed toward the children.

Grimacing at the pain, Urian let out a fierce sigh. Damn, if it wasn’t his brothers beating his ass, it was one of his sisters. He couldn’t win for losing.

“Uri?”

Great … now it would be Tannis’s turn to have a go at him.

He couldn’t wait to see what he’d done to piss her off and how she’d retaliate as he headed back down the hallway.

His stomach tightened with every step until he reached the room where he’d left her. He put his shoulder against the door to push it open.

Tannis was inside, next to the bed.

Urian drew up short, confused by the scene. “You needed me?”

“Aye.” She jerked her chin toward Xanthia. “Do you know where her husband is?”

He lowered his voice to a whisper. “The humans killed him.”

Tannis winced in sympathetic pain and sighed heavily. “She’s weak and needs to feed. Have you any of your blood to spare for her, then?”

He had to force himself not to curl his lip, but Tannis was right. Xanthia was in no shape to feed the way an Apollite normally did. “I’ll see if any’s still fresh. It tends to go rancid fast.” That was the worst part about his father’s forced donations. They were only good for a few hours. Maybe a day, if he was lucky.

Urian left them and went into his room. He headed to the small stone chest where he stored his blood bladders and unsealed the most recent one.

Gingerly, he sniffed it.

Oh yeah, that was some foul shit there … not that it was ever particularly appealing. Blood chilled quickly once it left a body. Began to decay almost instantly. Within minutes, the metallic taste worsened.

After an hour, it was nauseating.

But beggars couldn’t be choosers. So he carried it to his sister and handed it over.

“It’s not much. She can have it all, though.” He was used to starving.

“Thank you.”

Inclining his head, Urian had barely reached the door when Xanthia began retching over the taste.

“You have to drink it,” Tannis insisted in that frustrated tone she normally reserved for him. “If you don’t, you’ll die.”

“I … I can’t!” She sobbed as she pushed it away and retched again.

He knew the feeling. It was definitely an acquired taste, and she was used to fresh blood.

Urian hesitated as he debated what to do. His sister was right. Without blood, Xanthia’s body wouldn’t heal, and she had children to feed. While they could take the blood of others, Apollite children usually preferred to feed from those they knew and were comfortable with rather than take blood from a stranger. Blood exchanges were up close and personal. Not something a young one wanted to do with someone they’d just met. That type of recklessness didn’t come along until puberty and accelerated hormones that craved getting laid by whatever was “handy.”

Children normally only wanted their parents to hold them while they fed, especially since they tended to drift to sleep right after.

Nephele and Geras had lost one parent tonight. They couldn’t afford to lose another.

Before he could stop himself, he returned to the bed and began unlacing the vambrace Xyn had made for him. “Here.”

Even though Xanthia couldn’t see him, she looked up, startled.

As did his sister.

Tannis scowled. “What are you doing?”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured them both. “I can feed her from my arm.” He saw the terror on Xanthia’s face even though her sightless eyes had no idea if he was sincere or not. “My sister can stay to ensure your safety and well-being. I won’t touch you. Just take what you need so that you can feed your children.”

Tannis shook her head. “Urian … it’ll weaken you.” Her gaze dropped to the gashes in his arm where his armor hadn’t covered him and he’d taken a few cuts from swords. “And you’re wounded.”

“I’ll be fine, Tanny.” Those wounds needed a few stitches. He’d had worse injuries training with his brothers.

Xanthia pulled the covers up to her chin. “Your wife won’t mind?”

“I don’t have one.”

“You’re a Daimon?”

“Nay, I’m still an Apollite. You won’t be harmed.” He placed his arm just in front of her so that she could feel the heat of it. “It’s here when you’re ready. I promise I won’t come any closer. You’re as safe as if your solren were feeding you.”

“My brother is a man of honor. He won’t break his word.”

After a few more seconds of hesitation, Xanthia lowered the blanket and reached out to gingerly finger the flesh of his forearm. His skin tingled from the delicate sensation of her exploring the length of his limb.

Her breath stirred him even more and made him harder than he’d ever been before as she licked her lips and gently fingered his flesh for a tender spot to bite.

Urian closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain. He had no idea what to expect. It’d been so long since he last fed naturally that he couldn’t remember what it’d felt like. He knew that it was supposedly an entirely different sensation after puberty. But he’d always assumed that the hormonal surge was only felt by the one who fed.

He was wrong.

The moment she sank her fangs into his skin, his entire body came alive as if he’d been struck by lightning. Every single nerve ending he had drew taut. Worse, her feeding caused him to harden even more. Made him crave her with an unimaginable lust.

Dear gods …

He trembled from the force of it all.

For the first time, he understood what a trelos must feel like before he or she went on a killing spree. Because this, this was madness.

His breathing turned ragged as he fought down the urge to take her right then and there. Fisting his other hand, he forced himself not to move. He didn’t dare.

And that was the most difficult thing he’d ever managed in his entire life. Every single molecule in his body wanted to feed and take her. It was an innate need so overwhelming that he had no idea how he was able to resist it.

Tannis’s cheeks turned bright pink as she visibly grew more uncomfortable with each passing heartbeat. “I’m going to check on the children.” She practically ran from the room.

Still, Urian didn’t move.

He didn’t dare.

Xanthia licked and sucked at his arm, growling as she drank in a more and more frenzied pace. She began to claw at his skin with her nails.

Those sounds, combined with the smell of her rose-scented hair … all he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her until he was covered with her warmth and scent, and lost in it.

Worse, he wanted to feel her lips on his neck. To taste her blood in turn …

Stop it! You’re not an animal!

No, but he felt like one at the moment. The demon in him slithered and salivated.

Until she sank her nails into his biceps and went completely still.

With a startled gasp, she looked up at him.

Her jaw dropped and quivered. The sight of his blood on her lips beckoned him even more. She licked at it, then reached up to touch his chin in startled alarm. “H-h-how can I see you? What are you?”

Equally stunned, he gaped. “Pardon?”

Squinting up at him, she drew a ragged breath and fingered his jaw. Her gaze was filled with incredulous wonder. “I was born blind …” She glanced around the room. “Until now, I only saw the vaguest of shadows. The irony of being banished from daylight was that I’d never seen it, anyway. Not that I was really old enough to remember those days.” Xanthia let out a nervous laugh as she returned her gaze to his. “You’re so beautiful. How can I see you … or anything else?”

It was Urian’s turn to laugh bitterly at her words. “As you said, mibreiara, you’ve been blind your entire life. You have no one to compare me to. Believe me, I’m nothing special.” He moved to step away, but she caught his arm and kept him by her side.

“Thank you, Urian.” Tears swam in her eyes. “There’s nothing I can do to repay you for what you’ve done for us … for me.”

“Urian!”

He grimaced at the thunderous snarl he knew intimately.

The color faded from her cheeks as she shrank back into the bed. “Your solren?”

Nodding, he grinned at her. “Wish I could say his bark is worse than his bite. Sadly, it’s much milder.”

And before he could move, the door crashed open to admit one insanely furious Daimon.

The expression on his father’s face mirrored one of Apollymi’s explosive tantrums that normally resulted in numerous dead bodies exploding around them in a brilliant show of Daimon powder or Apollite entrails. It was the type of fury that normally sent Trates scurrying into a corner for cover. And over his father’s shoulder, Urian could see Paris imploring him from the shadows to cover his brother’s ass.

What the hades had happened now?

“You’re the one who insisted your brothers go?”

Hardly. He hadn’t given a shit, one way or the other. Paris had been the one determined that Davyn not go alone, and Urian had been guilted into joining them by his twin, who had wanted company for the trip.

Once Urian was confirmed, Theo had been the first to insist, and then Ophie had piled on. After that, Theo had drafted Alkimos and it’d just escalated from there.

Still Paris begged and pleaded with him in silent gestures he made behind their father’s back. There was obviously something going on here that he’d missed. Something very important to his twin.

You know this is going to get your ass into all kinds of shit. Otherwise Paris wouldn’t be acting like that.

Yeah, he did.

That alone made him want to knock his brother’s teeth down his throat. Why did they put him in this position? Just once he wanted to be a traitorous ass and hand them over to his father for punishment.

Sad to say, he wasn’t. And he hated that he had no self-loyalty. That his loyalty to them always took precedence over his self-preservation.

Urian narrowed his gaze at his twin. Oh, you owe me, you flea-turd! He used his powers to project his thought to his brother.

Paris blew him a kiss.

Tempted to return it with an obscene gesture, or a knife throw, Urian forced himself not to react. “I’m not sure how to respond to your question, Solren.” Mostly because he didn’t want to lie to him.

His father backhanded him so hard that for a moment he feared he might actually lose consciousness.

Or a few teeth.

As it was, he rebounded into the wall and barely caught himself against the chest there. The oil lamp rattled and almost fell to the floor.

“Telamon lies near death. You’d best pray to the gods that he survives. You ever walk away from a battle again while your brothers are still fighting, and so help me I’ll gut you for the cowardice!” He grabbed Urian up by his hair and slung him toward the door. “You abandoned family for a stranger! How dare you!” He kicked him through the threshold.

Because he knew no words would save him, Urian locked his jaw, put his hands up to his face, and prepared himself for the beating to come. Damn Paris for this. And for not warning him. This was the one thing that drove their father to insanity and Paris knew it. Thanks to Apollo and the fact that the bastard god had always neglected their father and put everyone and everything above him, Stryker couldn’t stand for them to ever make that mistake. Or anything close to it.

Blood above all.

Urian hissed as the blows rained down over his body. His father had no idea what he was doing. This wasn’t about punishing him as much as it was about lashing out at his own father. It was pure unadulterated hatred.

And it stung him to the core of his soul, even through his armor.

Mostly because he couldn’t protect himself. He refused to strike his father. For any reason.

“Strykerius!” A wave went through the room, knocking his father away from him.

Panting and weak from the blinding pain, Urian lay on the floor, shaking. He ached from head to toe while Apollymi materialized in the room between them so that she could glare at his father.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Do you plan to kill one son because another was injured? In what rational world does this make sense?”

His father pushed himself to his feet as sanity returned to his eyes. Finally in control, he knelt beside Urian and brushed his hair back from Urian’s stinging cheek, eye, and jaw so that he could cup his face and survey the damage he’d wrought. “I’m sorry.”

Like I give a shit.

Pushing his father away, Urian rolled over and stood on legs that didn’t really want to support him at all. In that moment, he hated his father with every part of his being.

Hated his twin even more. Damn them both for this. He’d done nothing to deserve it and he was tired of taking the brunt of their aggression. Tired of being beaten when all he’d done was try to help someone.

“Urian …”

Not wanting to hear it, he ignored his father, and he continued on to his room. He forced himself to close the door gently with his powers, even though he’d rather slam it. But the last thing he needed was one more ass-kicking tonight for violating another house rule.

He was too weak to lose even as much as one more drop of blood. His breathing ragged from the agony, he wiped at his nose and spat the blood out of his mouth into the basin he used for washing, then rinsed his mouth. Damn, it hurt. That blood had loosened his fangs. Not that he needed them.

Still …

The air stirred behind him. He tensed, expecting it to be his father or brother.

“Are you all right?”

His breath rushed out at the unexpected sound of Xanthia’s gentle voice.

Lovely, this was all his battered ego needed …

The heat of embarrassment stung his cheeks and made his injuries burn even more. Grabbing a cloth, he wiped at his swollen lips. “Fine.” He glanced at her. “You should be resting.”

“I wanted to check on you.” She swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry you were punished for saving us.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I assumed my brothers could fend for themselves. They’re gigantic, belligerent assholes. And were armed, to boot. You and your children weren’t. Don’t know why my solren’s so pissed off when he’s the one who’s always said that if we can’t defend ourselves against a bunch of pathetic humans, then we deserve to die. He’s drilled us every day of our lives to protect ourselves and fight against them.”

“We were taught to live peacefully by their sides. That if we didn’t learn to fight, or carry weapons, they’d leave us alone and not cause us harm. We were farmers and shepherds. Not a warrior among us.”

“Aye, I know. Davyn’s father was furious when his sister went to live with her husband’s family. He told her it was a mistake. That the humans would never suffer them to live in their world … if you lie down with a wolf, expect to get eaten.”

“He was right.” She took the cloth from his hand and used it to wipe at his brow. “You need to feed in order to heal. Who nurses you?”

“I’m between donors.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. He just omitted the fact that there weren’t any living donors he fed from, but rather bladders in which his father collected the blood he forced his men to give up.

“Then I offer my blood to you.”

Stunned by that offer, Urian salivated at the mere thought, but he couldn’t do that to her. Not after everything she’d been through. “Xanthia—”

She placed her fingers over his lips to stop his protest. “It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for us. My God, Urian … for the first time in my life, I can see! Please, let me do this for you.”

Any thought of further protest vanished as she bared her neck to him. Maybe if he hadn’t been starving and emotionally raw he might have been able to find a shred of noble hero inside himself.

But right then and there, he was in too much pain to turn away from the comfort she offered.

He needed this. It was selfish, yet he didn’t care. Hurt and aching, he let the demon inside take control and sank his fangs into her flesh before he could find any shred of decency to stop it.

And the moment he did, he growled as an inexplicable pleasure ripped through him unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Everything became sharper and clearer. He saw color more vibrantly. The scent of her hair awakened a deep-seated hunger that went straight to his groin. Holy gods …

No wonder Apollites and Daimons lost their minds. He understood that now.

Sucking his breath in sharply, he barely caught himself before he lifted the hem of her peplos and sought to satiate the beast inside him. But given what the humans had done to her, he refused to use her like that. It was enough that she fed his need for blood. He wouldn’t take more from her.

Not tonight.

Even he wasn’t that much of an animal.

Taking her blood was enough trespass. Still, he wanted more from her. She raked her hands through his hair, splaying them against his scalp as she cradled his head in her palms. Moaning deep in her throat, she wrapped her body around his, which really wasn’t helping him maintain his restraint.

Urian licked and teased her skin as he tasted the warm blood he needed. It was so much sweeter than the cold, lifeless shit his father had provided for him. And he was all too aware of her soft, sweet body pressed against his. Of the way she rubbed those curves against every inch of him until he was ready to die.

With a deep, starving growl, he pinned her against the wall and ground his hips against hers.

Xanthia gasped, then reached down between their bodies so that she could cup him in her hand.

The moment she touched his cock and began stroking him, he cried out as his body reacted against his will and he released himself into her palm. Mortified, he pulled back to meet her knowing gaze.

But it was too late.

She smiled up at him with a knowing gaze. “You’re a virgin?”

If his cheeks heated any more, his head would ignite. He glanced away, too embarrassed to admit the obvious truth.

Smiling, she kissed his lips, then nipped them so that his blood mingled with hers. “Anytime you’re hungry, Urian, I’ll be more than happy to feed you. Come and find me.”

Shocked and amazed, he watched as Xanthia washed her hands in his basin, before she left him alone in his room to try to sort through everything that had happened tonight.

Damn.

Shaken. Dazed, and more confused than he’d ever been about anything in his life, he had no real handle on any of it. But he wanted more of what she’d offered.

No, he needed more of this. The taste of her blood was still in his mouth. On his lips. Her scent still lingered in his nostrils and on his skin, making him even hungrier. His body began to stir back to hardness.

Until another thought intruded and took precedence.

He needed to check on one idiot brother and kick the ass of another.

So he washed and redressed quickly, then went to find Telamon, who wasn’t quite as near to death as his father had led him to believe. In fact, it looked more like a flesh wound from where Urian now waited at the end of the bastard’s bed.

With his legs spread wide, Urian stood, arms akimbo, glaring at Telamon, who lay there staring back at him. “I was expecting you to look more like a corpse, brother.”

Telamon grimaced at the sight of Urian’s abused face. “Please tell me that I’m not the reason you look like that.”

“Nay, Paris is. And when I leave here, he’s going to look a lot worse than I do.”

Telamon laughed, then groaned in agony. “Don’t ever turn your back on a human, Uri. They’re treacherous little bastards! Thanatotic bitch was so petrified that someone actually fought back, he dropped his sword and fell over. I thought him dead, so the minute my back was turned, he rose up and I was stabbed with a pitchfork. Couldn’t even scramble to get his own sword back. Ah! The indignity. Rather have been pissed on and set fire to.”

Urian laughed with his brother, grateful that Telamon wasn’t as close to death as his father had led him to believe. “Glad he missed your vitals.”

“As am I. Though to be honest, I’m more embarrassed that I owe my life to Archie. Gah! I’ll never hear the end of that.”

Shaking his head, Urian walked over and hugged him. “I’ll let you feed and rest. Really, I’m glad you’re all right. Hate you, but I’d miss you if you were gone. Wouldn’t have anyone to blame for my mistakes, then.”

“Aye. Hate you back, you motherless, goat-humping dog.”

Urian squeezed him hard, then yanked at his blond hair before he let him go. “Die in your sleep.”

“You, too.”

Natassa, Telamon’s wife, scowled at Urian as he pulled away from his brother. “I will never understand the bizarre relationship you boys have. You’re so mean to each other.”

Urian grinned. “It’s brotherly affection, little sister. End of the night, we know we’d die for one another.”

“Provided we don’t kill each other first.”

Urian nodded at Telly’s words. “Exactly.”

She shook her head. “My point. I’m so glad I have only sisters.”

Telamon snorted. “Shudder that.” Then he glanced back to Urian. “Good luck with Paris.”

“Don’t need it.” Urian closed the door and headed down the hallway to leave. In the front room he paused to watch his niece and nephew playing near the fire. Elias was a dead ringer for Telamon. Same golden-blond hair. Same dark brown eyes and chiseled cheeks. Meanwhile, Thesally was a much smaller version of Natassa. She was even dressed in a matching pale green peplos. And her blond hair was coiled around her small head in a similar fashion. Telamon was going to have fun guarding his daughter’s virtue in the near future.

So glad I don’t have one of those.

Walking over to them, Urian gave them a kiss and a hug before he left. His nieces and nephews were the best parts of his brothers. They reminded him why he loved his siblings, without the repugnant mouths that made him want to knock them through walls. He’d never understand what it was about his siblings that made them so repellent at times. Why couldn’t they keep their opinions and fists to themselves?

Their children were precious. Perhaps that would change one day. But so far, he adored them.

He prayed it was always so.

Urian drew his cloak tighter as he headed down the street.

Now to wreak mayhem on his twin.

It didn’t take him long to reach the small cottage Paris shared with Davyn. Because Davyn hadn’t come from the privileged background Paris had, he didn’t feel comfortable in their father’s larger, more opulent dwelling. And servants made him downright nervous. To Urian’s eternal shock and surprise, Paris had actually managed to care enough about another person that he’d given up being pampered and catered to so that he could move in with Davyn and live an extremely modest lifestyle. It still screwed with his head. Altruism was a foreign concept for any of his hedonistic brothers.

Yet Paris was the one brother he had who never cheated on his partner. It said a lot about both of them that they were so committed.

Urian opened the door without knocking. “Paris! Davyn!” He shouted only because he didn’t want to walk in on an awkward scene. One thing about his brothers—none of them were particularly circumspect.

Not that he needed to have bothered.

The cottage was empty.

Fine. Little shit must be in the main hall still, bragging over his exploits and battle skills. That was good, then. He could use an audience to witness the beating he planned to give his brother.

With his temper mounting, Urian headed for it.

Sure enough, he found the two of them in the circle of Daimons and Apollites, with Paris bragging as he’d expected. And demonstrating some of his “techniques.”

Urian’s gaze narrowed. Growling deep in his throat, he ran forward. The crowd parted as he went straight for Paris. His brother turned. He caught Paris about the waist and raised him up so that he could body-slam him to the ground.

“What the Tartarus, Urian!” Paris punched at his throat.

Urian was too furious to care as he returned the blows with his own counterstrikes.

Paris tried to flip him over his head. Urian wasn’t having any of it. All he wanted was his brother’s blood.

“You lying sack of scytel!” His need for vengeance mixed with his bloodlust. And it drove him to a new level of anger that his own twin had fed him to their father.

One moment they were slugging it out on the floor.

The next they were hanging in the air.

“What is this madness that has possessed you?” their father demanded, hands on hips where he watched from below.

Urian squirmed in an effort to break his hold. “Ananke and Lyssa!”

His father gave him a droll grimace that said he didn’t appreciate Urian’s blaming his outburst on the goddesses of compulsion and rage.

“You’re not funny, pido! And I’m not amused. This is twice tonight that you’ve sorely tried my patience. Were I you, I wouldn’t press me for a third.”

Urian had to force himself not to reply to something that would only get him beaten again. But it was hard when sarcasm was his native tongue. And salty barbs were his most favored nutrient.

Worse, with his elevated acute Apollite senses, he could actually hear his father grinding his fangs.

Their father cast his sneer around every Daimon in the room and saved the worst of his censuring for Paris and Urian. “Now will one of you please, in the name of Apollymi, explain this outburst to me?”

“Urian started it, Solren.”

His father let out a long, exasperated breath. “Am I insane or is that not the most uttered phrase by my sons?”

Urian scoffed. “What can I say, Solren? I am the grandson of Apollo. I spread sunshine in my wake everywhere I go.”

With a deeply vexed growl, his father pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as if trying to suppress a massive headache. “By the gods, boy … Forget Lyssa and Ananke. It’s Koros you make sacrifices to, and serve with your every breath. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were the god of insolence incarnate. Are we sure Hybris didn’t swap you out at birth with my real and true son?”

“Perhaps she did. It would explain so much.” Damn it, Uri. Keep your mouth shut! He didn’t know why he had such a hard time riding herd on his tongue.

It was a reckless beast, and traitorous to boot. Worse even than his brothers when it came to getting him into trouble. And even less help when it came to getting him out of it.

If he was smart, he’d cut the thing out before it did any worse damage.

And the look on his father’s face said he was about one syllable away from losing a tooth or vital organ.

“Paris … I think you should take Davyn and retire for the coming day. You’ve both had a long night. No doubt you can use the rest.” He lowered him to the ground.

“Aye, Solren.” He saluted their father, gathered Davyn, and left.

Irritated, Urian let out a deep breath and boldly folded his arms over his chest, as if bored by it all.

His father shook his head slowly. He dropped Urian without warning.

Instead of sprawling, Urian caught himself with his powers and landed in a predator’s crouch. That caused an audible gasp to go through the crowd around him and his father’s jaw fell open.

Head up and alert, in a perfect pose, Urian rose to his feet and swept a challenging stare around the room.

Bring it on, bitches.

All of them underestimated him. They always had. Because of his age, they tended to forget that he was the son of a demigod and a priestess. So while his mother was human, she’d been gifted with her own set of powers by Apollo. For whatever reason, Urian seemed to have inherited more of those abilities than any of his brothers.

So be it.

As his father had noted, he was an insolent bastard who’d suckled venom from the teats of Hybris and the Neikea and had been raised here in this Stygian pit on the knee of Apollymi with demons for friends.

Really? What had he expected? A well-adjusted, happy child? That ship hadn’t just sailed, it’d sunk in the harbor, never to be seen again.

“What am I to do with you?”

Urian shrugged. “Take me out and leave me for the dawn?”

“Don’t tempt me.” A tic started in his jaw.

Of all my sons, you are my greatest pride and the one who scares me most. I pray whatever it is that drives you to such courage and madness doesn’t one day drive you to suicidal stupidity.

Urian scowled as he heard his father’s voice in his head. “Pardon?”

“What?”

He glanced about the room, unsure if he’d heard what he thought he had. “I … I thought you said something.”

“I’m only debating a punishment that might actually work on you, as I have yet to find anything that curbs your stubborn will.” His father grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked him into his arms. He crushed him against his chest in an excruciating embrace. “Don’t make me have to mourn you, you worthless son of a bitch.” He growled those harsh words in a whisper in Urian’s ear so that no one else could hear them. But it wasn’t the words Urian heard. It was the emotion beneath them that he felt.

His father loved him. Just as he loved all his sons.

But Stryker was a warrior first and foremost. One raised beneath the iron fist of a cold, uncaring progenitor who’d given him nothing save cruelty and the back of his hand. Unlike them, Stryker had never known the loving embrace of a mother’s arms. Never had her sing to him whenever he’d been ill or had her rock him to sleep at night. She’d never laughed with him or tickled him to bed.

While the others here might curse them for their human mother, Urian knew the truth. They were blessed to have been wrapped in her loving ways. There was nothing about his childhood he would have changed except for the curse their grandfather had placed on them.

Or the hatred that Apollo had put in his father’s heart long before any of them had been born. He would give anything to spare his father that misery that tainted his smile.

“S’agapo para poli, Baba.” Urian whispered the words he knew his father seldom heard from any of his boys … I love you very much, Daddy.

His father kissed his cheek. “Love you, too. Now off with you.” Roughly, he shoved him away in a gesture that would seem rude to any onlooker who hadn’t overheard their exchange or been privy to the way his father’s hands had trembled with fear while he held him.

Yet for all his father’s gruffness, Urian knew the truth. He was cherished and loved.

It wasn’t just their blood that bound them as family. It was their loyalty and devotion.

Urian …

He glanced over his shoulder as he felt his summons.

Careful as always, he teleported to the doors of Apollymi’s garden. No one was allowed to flash themselves inside her garden. For that act of blasphemy, the goddess would react violently and blast him into pieces.

So he gently opened the double doors and walked into her garden with a humble gait. Neither of her Charonte moved or acknowledged his presence in any way as they flanked her where she sat on the edge of her marbled pool. The magical black waters were especially bright tonight.

Urian bowed low before her.

Only then did she move. “You fed.”

Not a question. A statement that said she knew somehow what he’d done with Xanthia. Though why he was surprised, he didn’t know. She was a goddess, after all.

“I did, akra.”

Apollymi swirled her hand through the black water. “Have you any idea how much it pains me that I cannot see the future, Urian? It was such a bone of contention with me, that my love made sure that my harbinger … my son, would have that gift and be my sight for me.”

“Apostolos?” he asked.

She didn’t speak often of her second-born son, who’d been cursed by the Atlantean gods and murdered by Apollo.

Much like her firstborn, Monakribos, who’d been betrayed by her siblings and murdered years after they’d killed her lover, the pain of Apostolos’s death was too raw. So she seldom picked at that wound lest it begin to bleed anew.

“Aye. And it pains me that I don’t know how this woman you’ve been with will impact your life. Does it scare you?”

“Nothing frightens me, akra.”

A smile toyed at the edges of her lips. “You know, Urian, in my pantheon bravery—Akeon—and stupidity—Koalemos—were twin gods who walked hand-in-hand everywhere they went. For it was oft said that in order to be brave one must first hold a degree of reckless stupidity.” Her gaze and tone darkened. “Be careful where it leads you.”

“I will be vigilant, akra.”

“Good boy, Urian Kleopas.”

He frowned. “Pardon, akra?”

“Haven’t you heard? It’s what many have begun calling you. At least behind your back. Does it bother you?”

“To be called my father’s glory?” Urian paused to consider it. On the one hand, it was a bit irritating. Bad enough his brothers mocked him for being his father’s pet.

He didn’t exactly relish the thought of others joining in. Yet on the other hand …

“Nay, akra. I strive to honor my father, in all things. My only hope is to one day be half the warrior he is, and to live my life as nobly as he has. In service of his people and his family. His goddess.”

In the whisper of a breath and without any warning, she materialized directly in front of him so that she could cup his cheek in her icy cold palm. It spread chills over his body. “That is the trick of all life, Urian. Perspective. In all things. For you cannot change what people say about you. Only how you feel and react to their endless gossip. Whether to be offended and hurt or to embrace it and rise. Sage is the one who chooses the latter.”

The coldness of her touch began to burn his flesh as those swirling silver eyes darkened to a vibrant red. “Never lose sight of who you really are, m’gios. Be true to your own heart. For there is a power inside you far greater than that of your father. One day, you will learn to embrace that side of yourself. That is when childhood really ends. The day we cease to walk in the shadow of our parents’ protection and we stand alone to face the full light of our lives, on our own two feet. Most fall and stumble. Some to never rise again. Others will eventually find their standing and relearn to walk. And a small handful …”

Narrowing her gaze, she smiled at him. “That tiny few will rise up with a blinding fury in their gut to the very heavens. They do not just stand on their own two feet, Urian. They soar on mighty wings. I see your father in you, pido, and it scares me.”

“Scares you, akra? Why?”

She blinked and released his face. “He was a stubborn bastard.”

Her word choice confused him. “Was?”

“Is,” she said quickly, clearing her throat. “It’s been a long night, ormourpido. You need your sleep. For with every dawn that comes, the day will find new ways to try and break you.”

Not sure if he should trust that answer, Urian bowed and left, but he didn’t return to his father. There was only one place he wanted to be right then. Apollymi was right. It’d been a long, long night.

And he wanted comfort.

There was only one place he ever found that peace.

Making sure no one was paying attention, he carefully made his way to Xyn’s bower.

“Sarraxyn?”

She tsked in the darkness. What am I to … Her voice drifted off. You’re hurt?

That worried tone never failed to bring a smile to his lips. He didn’t know why. Only that it warmed him.

“I was in battle.”

Xyn materialized behind him so fast that it was shocking. He’d never understand how a creature so large could maneuver so quickly and silently.

Something brushed against him that felt like hands. My armor didn’t protect you?

“In ways you can’t imagine.” He reached up to cup her face and nuzzle her spiny jaw. “Thank you. Sadly, it doesn’t cover all of me. And most of this isn’t from battle, but rather afterward … when my solren found out we were in the human realm without his knowledge.”

She pulled back and cocked her dragon’s head to frown at him. Pardon? Your father beat you for fighting?

He felt the same bitterness her tone betrayed. “Aye. The man makes no sense. He’s ridiculous.”

Wrapping him in the warmth of her scales, she gave him a deep, rippling caress. Bathe yourself in the falls so that you can heal.

“You sure?” If they were caught, she could be executed. No one was allowed near Apollymi’s healing waters. Normally, Xyn wouldn’t let him so much as look at them unless she knew for a fact where the goddess was.

Xyn nuzzled against his back and nodded. Aye. Go quickly before I change my mind.

Urian didn’t need more than that. He flashed himself out of his clothes and quickly dove into the water, which was unbelievably soothing. It was so warm and inviting. Like a mother’s caress.

Normally their only exposure to the waters came in small sips that a Charonte might dispense to him or another whenever they were injured and Apollymi approved the water being brought to them.

To actually bathe in it …

This was Katateros. The Atlantean version of paradise.

Xyn crept toward the edge of the falls so that she could watch Urian as he frolicked naked in the rainbow pool. If only he had any idea how much she wanted to join him there …

Damn, he was gorgeous. Perfect in every way and completely delectable.…

She took one long, lingering look at his lush, muscular body and the way the water made those ripped muscles glow …

Yeah, it was worth it. And it always made it difficult for her to remain in her dragon’s body whenever she watched him bathe. It was why she allowed him to do so, even though it would mean her life if they were caught.

Biting her lip, she felt the heat inside her rise and it wasn’t from her dragon’s fire.

For years now, she’d been venturing into the main Apollite town in the guise of one of them to spy on him from a distance. Sometimes when he trained. Or whenever they gathered for celebrations. Always in crowds so that he wouldn’t notice her or, goddess forbid, approach her to talk.

Although there had been a few close calls when she’d been too caught up with his beauty that she hadn’t pulled away fast enough.

Now …

You’re different tonight, Urian. What else happened that you haven’t told me about?

Urian had a confidence to him that hadn’t been there before. A peculiar air she couldn’t quite place. In spite of his injuries, she sensed a peace she didn’t understand.

Most of all, she wanted to wrap him in her arms and hold him close so that no one could harm him or threaten his safety in any way.

He paused in the black water to stare up at her where she waited on the bank. Floating on his back, he gave her an uninhibited view of his entire perfect body. Every inch of it.

Her throat went dry as she felt even more heat rushing through her. All she wanted was the courage to change forms and climb on top of him so that she could take him inside her and claim him as her own.

That would be heaven. And it was the one dream she had that she knew could never be.

Especially when he finally broke the silence with words that shattered her heart.

“I fed tonight.”

An unbelievable wave of anger and jealousy tore through her as her happiness splintered at the thought of him having sex with another woman. A wave so fierce and furious that she almost belched fire at him. It made her long to do him harm. More than that, it demanded she find whatever female he’d found and pluck every strand from her head until she was bald and bleeding.

Begging for mercy!

How could he do this?

Then again, how could he not?

The truth stung like a hive of hornets, and it brought tears to her eyes as she forced herself to calm down and face a bitter, harsh truth. He had to have an Apollite to feed him. She could never do that and she knew it. With all her powers and abilities …

She could never be what he needed.

Never.

“Xyn?” He swam closer to her. “Are you all right?”

No. How could she be? The man she loved had broken her heart. He’d taken another lover and there was nothing she could do about it.

He was faithless and here she had to stand in silence while he cavorted with someone else and rubbed her very nose in it. While he laughed and went off with another, right in front of her very eyes. How could any woman be all right with that?

It was madness for him to even postulate such a question to her.

Yet in spite of the pain. In spite of the travesty, she swallowed hard before she answered in a calm, steady voice that belied her tattered heart. Of course.

With a worried frown, he came out of the water, dripping and naked, and headed for her.

Unable to bear the sight of his beauty when she knew she couldn’t have any part of him, Sarraxyn got up and flew away, wishing more than ever that she could leave this horrible place and find her own family. Be among her own kind again. At least there she wouldn’t be so horribly alone.

Forever. An outcast in a world where there was no one like her. Where no one could love her or see her for what she really was. She was a freak here.

Unwanted. Unneeded.

Judged for things she couldn’t help.

And seen for only half of who and what she really was. But one day …

One day, she’d break free and the world would know her for her real heart and force.

That would be the day they’d all tremble in fear before her.

Even Urian.