Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

It was midmorning before one of Estes's entourage found him in his bed. Listening to the commotion outside, Styxx clung to his pillow as fear wrapped him tight and threatened to suffocate him the way he'd killed his uncle.

"Styxx!" his mother shouted as she threw his door wide. "Come! Your uncle's dead."

For a full minute, he couldn't move as he tried to think of how to react. What would be acceptable.

And what wouldn't get him convicted.

Before he could decide, his mother snatched the covers and pillow off him. "Did you hear me?"

Feigning sleep even though he had yet to close his eyes, he frowned at her. "What?"

"Estes is dead. He appears to have died in his sleep. Get up and dress, you worthless dog! We need you."

He drew a ragged breath and got up to bathe and dress.

By the time he joined his family, his mother was kneeling on the floor next to Estes's side, wailing with a grief he knew she didn't feel. His gaze went to Ryssa, who knelt beside their mother. She had tears in her eyes, but he knew they weren't for Estes. It was Acheron on her mind.

Xan narrowed a suspicious glare at him that told him the Atlantean prince knew what he'd done, but didn't dare make the allegation without proof.

"Where have you been?" Phanes, his father's oldest advisor, demanded.

Before Styxx could answer, he felt the air leave the room as all eyes went to the door behind him.

Turning, Styxx saw his father there with a stern glower as he took in the sight of everyone standing over his brother's cold, naked body. Without a word, his father rushed to the bed and touched Estes's shoulder. He winced in pain.

"Leave us!" his father roared.

Ryssa helped their mother to her feet and they made a hasty retreat.

As Styxx moved to follow them, his father stopped him.

"Not you, boy. I want you to stay."

Fear pierced his heart as he closed the door behind the others then returned to his father's side.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, Father. I just found out about it myself."

Tears flowed down the king's face as he reached for Styxx and jerked him into his arms to hold him. Violent sobs shook his father's entire body. Stunned, Styxx couldn't move while his father wept against his chest. Never in his life had his father shown so much emotion over anything.

But what cut deepest were his father's thoughts of the childhood he'd shared with his beloved brother. How much he'd loved the man the son he held had killed.

Styxx stiffened. Anger welled up inside him, demanding he shove his father away and tell him what his brother was really like. What Estes had done to him and to Acheron, and what he'd planned to do to Ryssa. But he knew his father would never believe him. Just as Ryssa would never believe Styxx was capable of any good deed, his father would never believe Estes was capable of a bad one.

And he would never forgive Styxx for killing him.

After a few minutes, his father pulled himself together and straightened. He wiped his tears and cleared his throat. "We shall give him a state funeral. Then we'll have to see to his affairs in Atlantis."

Styxx inclined his head to him. "What of the pending war?"

His father glanced back at his uncle and hung his head. "You're right, boy. We'll need to hurry this. We'll have Estes buried tonight in our crypt and leave for Atlantis first thing. Have your sister and mother oversee the body preparations."

Styxx hesitated before he complied. "I'm sorry, Father."

The king pulled Styxx's head down and kissed his brow. "Pack lightly."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want to travel alone to Atlantis. I need you to go with me to do this. You will be my strength."

His fear and remorse turned to cold rage. For his father's benefit, Didymos could be left without a king on her throne.

But when he'd needed to go with his father ...

There had been no way in Hades it could happen.

Had you once considered my needs, you bastard, your brother would still be alive. Styxx glanced to the bed where he'd been tied and wanted to tell his father the truth. He wanted to see his father's face when he learned his own brother had turned both of his sons into whores.

Don't. The truth would not go well for him. His father had never loved him the way he loved Estes, and he never would.

Styxx glanced down at the scar on his forearm and accepted a reality he couldn't change. Bowing, he left his father and went to tell the others about the burial, and then to pack.

When he reached his rooms, Xan was inside, waiting for him.

The giant Atlantean stood with his legs wide and arms folded across his chest. Anger bled from every cell of his body. "You killed him, didn't you?"

With all the training he'd received since birth, Styxx arched a regal brow. "What are you talking about?"

A good seven inches taller, Xan moved to tower over Styxx and did his best to intimidate him with his massive size. "I fucked your tight little ass with Estes last night. When I left, you were out of it and tied to the bed." Xan snatched Styxx's hand and held his bruised, scabbed wrist for Styxx to see. "Estes wouldn't have freed you until he got up this morning and yet you weren't there when I went in to fuck you again."

"I awoke in the middle of the night and found him dead by my side. I panicked."

"I don't believe you."

"Should we take the matter to my father and let him decide the truth? But you'll have to confess to him how it is you know for a fact that I couldn't get free."

Xan curled his lip. "You think you've gotten away with this. But the gods know what you've done. You killed him in cold blood. I've heard the Furies in your pantheon have a special wrath they visit on the heads of those who murder their own family."

"Then I welcome them with open arms." Styxx glared at him. "And I'm not the one who killed my uncle. You did the moment you decided to hunger for my sister."