Acheron (Dark-Hunter #15)(44)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

And still he heard the voices from the people around him and even off in far lands. Sometimes so loud the pain of it drove him to his knees. Every single thought. The entire world was laid bare at his feet.

The only peace he had was around Apollodorus whose desires were simple. Eat, sleep and be held and loved. There was so much solace in simply holding his nephew that it eased all the other voices screaming at him and allowed Acheron to focus and ground himself.

"Acheron?"

He turned around as Ryssa exploded into his room in a flurry with Apollodorus in her arms. Apollo is such an ass. I’m so tired of being his plaything or food. He thinks I have no purpose but to come to him the moment he snaps his fingers. "I have to go for a little bit. Could you please watch Apollodorus? His nurse can’t get him to stop fussing and I can’t tend him right now." His father is a selfish pig who thinks I’m his trained bitch. "I hope you don’t mind."

Acheron shook his head in an effort to determine what he heard with his ears versus his mind. It was extremely disconcerting. "I don’t mind." He took Apollodorus from her arms.

Mama? Hold me . . .

Acheron tightened his grip on his nephew. "I have him. Don’t worry."

"Thank you." I don’t know what I’d do without you, akribos. You’re the only one I can depend on. The rest of them are worthless. "I’ll be back as soon as I can." She placed a quick kiss on Apollodorus’s head, then ran out of the room, cursing Apollo with every step.

He looked at his nephew who was watching him curiously. "I had no idea your mother knew such language."

Apollodorus laughed as if he understood. Theo play with me?

"Absolutely." Acheron knelt on the floor and put him on his feet so that Apollodorus could hold onto him and walk.

Appie love theo.

Acheron smiled at the boy’s nickname for himself. Appie loves his uncle. He treasured those words. Closing his eyes, he tried to see the man his nephew would grow into, but as with Ryssa, he saw nothing. It was so odd. Everyone who came near him, he saw their future with utmost clarity.

Why not those closest to him?

Apollodorus fell back on his rump to suck his thumb.

"So what shall the two of us do while your mama is away?"

Tickle belly.

Acheron laughed. "All right." He obliged and Apollodorus squealed in delight. He rolled onto his back and kicked his legs while he held Acheron’s hand to his stomach.

The pure simplicity of his nephew’s joy and love touched him so deep inside that he wanted to hold the child for the rest of eternity and keep him safe. There was nothing he loved more than this one tiny being. He prayed it would always be like this between them. That no hurtful words or actions would drive them apart.

What would the child think when he grew older and Styxx and his father told him what Acheron had been? Would it matter to the child that all of it had been against Acheron’s will? That he would never have done it had there been any choice?

Or worse, would he be like Maia . . .

His gut tightened with the thought. Picking up the boy, Acheron held him against his chest as tightly as he could without hurting him. "Please don’t ever hate me, Appie. I couldn’t take that from you."

Appie loves theo.

Acheron cherished every syllable.

"How touching."

He opened his eyes to find Artemis standing in front of them. "Have you ever seen Apollodorus?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Apollo has bastards aplenty. But he is cute enough I suppose for a smelly small human."

Acheron tried to hear her thoughts. But unlike the humans, it wasn’t easy. He had to strain for it and then he could only get pieces of them.

Put the child down. I wanted to be with you. "Where’s its mother?"

"With Apollo."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Doesn’t that thing have a keeper?"

"Yes and at the moment, the keeper would be me."

She put her hands on her hips.

"Sit down, Artie and meet your nephew. His bites don’t hurt." Unlike hers.

Her entire demeanor showed her agitation as she sat down beside them. "Is it wet?"

"He’s not wet."

Apollodorus held one hand in his mouth as he stared curiously at Artemis. She’s not right, theo . . .

Acheron laughed at the thought.

Artemis glared at them. "What’s so funny?"

"Nothing," he said, wondering why she couldn’t hear the boy’s thoughts too. It made him curious how much the powers of the gods differed from each other-maybe there were a lot of things he could do that she couldn’t . . . "As a god, do you ever hear what other people are thinking?"

She rolled her eyes. "I do my best not to. They’re always boring. Either they’re scheming to hurt someone or begging for something. People are insects."

Her rabid hostility caught him off guard. Although some of the people he’d known in his life were so low, he wouldn’t insult an insect by linking them to the cretins who’d abused him. "Including me?"

She brushed her hand through his hair. "No. You’re quiet to me. I never hear your thoughts. It’s why I like being with you."

He found it disconcerting that he couldn’t hear what she was thinking.

Still, as a god, shouldn’t she know when she was sitting next to another one? How could she not know what had happened to him last night? "Do you sense anything different about me?"

"Other than the fact you’re cuddling a smelly boy, no." She dropped her hand. "I know you humans put a lot of stock in the anniversaries of your birth, but really all it marks is one year closer to death. Who’d want to celebrate that?"

Acheron snorted at her answer. So she couldn’t sense his unlocked godhood. Fascinating. "I wasn’t talking about my age."

"Then what? You haven’t cut your hair and I can tell by the way the small thing is climbing on you and you’re not wincing that you haven’t been beaten. What else has happened?"

The fact that she could be so cavalier about his beatings set his anger off. The bitch should have to suffer through the pain and humiliation of one to understand it wasn’t something to be taken so lightly. "Nothing."

She waved his hostile answer away dismissively. "You’re such an odd man."

Apollodorus crawled over to Artemis. They stared at each other for a full minute before he smiled and put his wet hand on her arm.

"Ow! Disgusting." She wiped it away.

Acheron held his arms out and Apollodorus returned to him.

"How do you stand that?" Artemis shivered as he picked the boy up and Apollodorus gave him a wet kiss on his cheek.

"I love him, Artie. There’s nothing disgusting about him."

She shivered even harder as if it were the most repulsive thing she could imagine. "You want your own child, don’t you?" Her accusatory tone amazed him. It was as if she thought him an imbecile for wanting something like that.

Acheron held his nephew close as he considered a question that had never crossed his mind. "Since I can’t have any, I’ve never thought about it really."

"But if you could?"

He looked at his nephew and smiled. He’d give anything to be able to create something so precious. "I can think of no greater gift than to have my own child look at me the way Appie does."

"Then we should find a baby for you."

He scoffed at the thought before he changed the subject to one that really mattered and was a lot more feasible. "Tell me something, Artie. If I were a god, would you acknowledge our friendship to other people?"

She made a sound of utter disgust in the back of her throat. "You’re not a god, Acheron."

"But if I were . . ."

"Why do you ponder such ridiculous thoughts?"

"Why do you avoid answering me?"

"Because it doesn’t matter. You’re not a god. I told you, your eyes are a deformity. Nothing more."

How could a god be so blind as not to see another of its kind? Or was his mother really so powerful that she’d managed to shield him so completely from all gods? "And you’ve never known a god to have eyes like mine?"

"No."

Maybe it wasn’t his godhood . . . maybe it was because they were from different pantheons. "Have you ever met an Atlantean god?"

Exasperated, she flicked her hands at him so hard that her nails actually made a popping sound. "Why are you so inquisitive today?"

"Why are you getting angry over such simple questions?"

"Because I want to spend time with you without that thing attached to you. Could we put him in a cage?"

Acheron was aghast. "Artemis!"

"What? He’d be safe there."

"He’d cry and be scared."

"Fine." She pushed herself to her feet and glared at them. "I’ll come back when you’re free of him." She vanished instantly.

Apollodorus stared up at him curiously. Acheron patted the boy on the back as he shook his head.

"Well Appie, that was your Aunt Artemis in all her glory."

Art-ee-miss.

He smiled at the boy’s attempt to pronounce it in his head. "Close enough. Not that it really matters. I don’t think she’s going to be around much for you."

Ackee be with Appie.

His smile widened at the way Apollodorus pronounced his name. "Ackee will always be with you."

Giggling, Apollodorus curled up in his lap and laid his head down. Acheron stroked his small back and before he knew it, the baby was asleep.

He picked him up and held him against his shoulder where the sound of the baby’s soft snore kept the rest of the world away from his head. He was at peace with the universe right now and wondered if his mother would have held him like this.

For the first time in his life, he thought that she might. At least his real mother.

Apollymi.

Apollymi continued to pace as Xiamara stood, watching her. "That Greek goddess keeps seeing my son. Do you think we could use her to protect him?"

Xiamara hesitated. Perhaps she shouldn’t have kept everything from her friend, but if Apollymi knew the full extent of Apostolos’s human life there was no telling what she might do. "I don’t know, akra. The Greeks aren’t like us and Artemis isn’t all that powerful within their pantheon. She would be afraid I think to protect him."

Apollymi growled in frustration. "We have to do something."

"I can bring him here, but the moment I do, Archon and the others will descend on us and attack."

"I have no fear. Once I’m free, I can defeat them, plus we have your army. But with Apostolos . . . they would attack him and one of them might kill him while we’re occupied with others."

That had been the only reason Apollymi had run from them while pregnant. Fear for the baby had kept her from battling. One stray strike and it could have ended her son’s life. It was a risk she’d never take.

"Should I summon a Chthonian?"

Apollymi paused at the question and her heart wrenched. Though the Chthonians were usually human in birth, they possessed the powers of the gods and functioned as a sort of police unit for the various pantheons. They kept order and prevented all-out war between the gods. Even so, they had their own agendas which weren’t always in the best interest of the universe and definitely not in her best interest. "I don’t trust them. They’re as likely to kill Apostolos to keep peace as save him. I won’t take that chance." Frustration welled inside her. So long as Apostolos was in human form, he was vulnerable. He could be killed so easily right now . . . How could she get her son to her without jeopardizing his life?

Jaden . . .

She turned to look at Xiamara.

"Akra," she said in a chiding tone. "You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?"

"Jaden could be bartered with to bring Apostolos here. But I would need a demon to summon him." She gave Xiamara a knowing look.

Jaden was a broker who made deals between demons and the primary source of the universe. His power equaled if not excelled that of a god. If ever there was a being who could protect and return her son to her, he was it.

"You know there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Apollymi. But Jaden is unpredictable. Even if he takes the bargain, we’d have to offer him something supreme for this."

Honestly, she didn’t care. She’d give anything for her son. "What would he take in exchange for his services?"

"There’s no telling."

Apollymi stalked toward her pond where she could spy on the universe through its waters. She could have even used it to check in on Apostolos as he grew to manhood, but her fear for his safety had kept her from it. If Archon knew when she was watching her son, he’d have been able to use the pond to find Apostolos himself. Even now she didn’t dare use it to see her son. It was a risk she refused to take.

She raised the water from the pond to form an iridescent ball in the air. There in the center, she focused her powers to find Jaden and see what it was he wanted most.

Dark shadows swirled and twisted. Then they began to take form . . .

Just as it would have been recognizable, it dissolved. Apollymi cursed. The power that owned him wouldn’t allow her to see how to control him.

Damn it!

Anger and sorrow mixed inside her. Fine then. "Summon him and offer him my powers and life if he will give me five minutes alone with my son before I die. And if he promises to protect Apostolos for the rest of his life."