Not that their father mattered. The one thing every god on Olympus knew was that these three girls were the most powerful of their entire pantheon. Even Zeus didn't try to circumvent them.
Since the moment of their arrival a decade ago when they'd moved in with their mother, everyone had given them a wide berth. When the three of them held hands and made a statement, it became the law of the universe and no one was immune to it.
No one.
Artemis couldn't imagine why they'd be here in her temple. They certainly weren't friends or even friendly. "If you don't mind, I'm a little busy right now."
Lachesis grabbed her arm. "Artemis, you must listen to us. We've done something terrible."
That was why the gods lived in fear of them. They were always doing something terrible to someone. "Whatever it is, it'll wait."
"No," Atropos said grimly, "it won't. Apollymi is coming here to kill us. We're the ones she's after."
Stunned by that proclamation, Artemis scowled at them. "What?"
Atropos stepped forward. "You must never breathe a word to anyone what we're about to tell you. Do you understand? Our mother made us swear to keep it a secret."
"Keep what secret?"
"Swear to us, Artemis," Clotho demanded.
"I swear. Now tell me what's going on." And most importantly, why it involved her.
Atropos swallowed before she spoke in a hushed whisper as if terrified someone outside of the temple might overhear her. "Our father is Archon-the king of the Atlantean gods. He had an affair with our mother, Themis, and we were born of it. As soon as we were born, our mother sent us to Atlantis to live and our father took us in. Apollymi is our stepmother and we unknowingly cursed our half brother when we learned of his coming birth."
"It was an accident," Clotho blurted out. "We didn't mean to curse him."
Lachesis nodded. "We were just children and didn't understand our powers yet. We never meant to hurt our brother. We didn't, we swear!"
Artemis went cold inside. "Acheron? Acheron is your brother?"
Clotho nodded. "Apollymi barely tolerated us while we lived with them. We were a reminder of our father's infidelity and she hated us for it."
That didn't make sense, any more than their fear did. Artemis tried to sort through what they were telling her. "But everyone knows that Archon has never been unfaithful to his wife."
Lachesis snorted. "That's a lie the Atlantean gods keep so that Apollymi won't harm them. You don't understand just how powerful she is. She can kill us without even blinking. All the gods fear her power. Even Archon, and he's as faithless as most men, and so here we are."
"She wants us dead," Clotho interjected.
Still, Artemis was trying to make sense of it all. However, she was missing some vital pieces. "How exactly did you curse Acheron?"
"We were so stupid," Atropos said. "When Apollymi began to show her pregnancy, we spoke out of turn and gave Apostolos the power of final fate. We said he'd be the death of us all, and it seems today we are about to see our demise met."
Artemis was even more confused. "But he's not the one threatening us. It's his mother."
Clotho nodded. "And she will kill all of us for our part in his curse. Including you."
Artemis gaped at them. "Why? I did nothing!"
Atropos scoffed as the young women encircled her. "We know what you've done, Artemis. We see everything. You hurt Acheron even more than we did. You turned your back on him while Apollo gutted him on the floor and Apollymi knows it. She saw it with her own eyes."
Fear tore through her. If what they said was correct, there would be no mercy from Apollymi. Truthfully, she didn't deserve any, but on the other hand, Artemis really didn't want to die, and definitely not by the means Apollymi would use on her. "What can we do? How do we defeat her?"
Atropos sighed heavily. "We can't. She's all-powerful. The only one who could check her powers is her son."
Who was dead.
Great. They were screwed. Couldn't someone have told her this before she'd left Acheron to Apollo? This information was just a little late in coming, and would have been much more beneficial earlier in the day.
"We're dead," Artemis breathed as images of herself being gutted by Acheron's mother went through her head. Apollymi was going to make what Apollo did to Acheron seem kind.
"No." Clotho shook her arm to get her full attention. "You can bring him back from the dead."
Artemis scowled at the woman. "Are you insane? I can't bring him back. I don't have those powers. Only Hades does, and since Acheron's not Greek, that won't help us at all."
Lachesis grabbed her other arm. "Yes, you can, Artemis. You're the only one who has the power."
"No, I don't."
Atropos growled at her. "You drank of Acheron's blood. You absorbed his powers when you did that."
Clotho nodded. "He can resurrect the dead, which means you can, too."
Artemis scowled at them. "Are you sure?"
They nodded in unison.
Even so, Artemis was uncertain. Granted, she'd tasted Acheron's powers when she drank from him, but that particular one was reserved for only a very select group of gods, and if they failed to bring him back ...
It would only get worse from her having tried.
Atropos pushed her sisters aside. "The Atlantean gods used their powers to bind Apollymi with one condition. So long as Apostolos is alive in the human realm, she's locked in Kalosis."
"That's our loophole," Lachesis said. "We bring him back to the mortal realm, and she's interred again. Forever."
"We'll be safe," Clotho added. "All of us."
"You will be the savior of the pantheon," they said in unison, holding hands.
Did she really have a choice? Drawing in a deep breath for courage, Artemis nodded. "What do I have to do?"
"You will have to get him to drink your blood," Atropos said, as if it would be the easiest thing in the world to accomplish.
"And just how do I do that? In case you didn't notice, I let him die. I don't really think he's going to be happy to see me."
"With our help, you can do it."
* * *
Alone, Acheron lay on a cold stone floor in calm serenity, finally numb to everything from his past and present. He was at peace in a way he'd never been before. The walls of his cave shielded him from the voices of others. Not even the gods were in his head now.
For the first time in his life, he had total silence. And it was wonderful. There was no aching in his body, no grief. Nothing. And he loved this feeling of blissful tranquility.
"Acheron?"
He tensed at Artemis's voice. Of course the bitch was going to disturb his haven. She could never leave him in peace.
Damn her.
He tried to tell her to go away, but nothing other than a hoarse croak left his lips. Coughing, he tried to clear his throat to speak.
Still no words would come. What was going on? What had taken his voice?
Artemis gave him a tender, concerned look. "We need to talk."
He shoved her back, but she refused to go.
"Please," she begged with a look that would have weakened his resolve only a few days ago. But that concern for her was now long gone. He would never forgive her for turning her back on him and letting her brother gut him on the floor. "Just a few words and I'll leave you. Forever if you wish."
How could they talk when he couldn't speak?
She held a cup out to him. "Drink this and I'll be able to talk to you."
Furious with her, he grabbed the cup and downed the contents without tasting them. "Go to Tartarus and rot," he snarled at her, grateful that this time she could hear the venom in his voice.
And then something happened. Pain and fire ripped through his body as if something was setting his internal organs aflame. Panting, he looked up at Artemis. "What have you done to me now?"
There was no mercy or remorse in her gaze. "What I had to."
One moment he was in the quiet darkness of Hades's domain and in the next, he was standing on the banks of Didymos, not far from the palace.
Or rather what was left of it.
Confused, he looked around, trying to make sense of what had happened to him, and to the land. Before he could figure it out a searing pain tore through him with such ferocity that it drove him to his knees in the surf.
Acheron cried out, wanting it to stop.
Suddenly, Artemis was there before him. Gathering him into her arms, she held him close as the waves crashed against them. "I had to bring you back."
He shoved her away from him as he looked around at the smoldering remains of Didymos. "What have you done?"
"I didn't do this. Your mother did. She's destroyed everything and everyone who ever went near you. And she was coming to kill us on Olympus. It's why I had to bring you back. She would have killed us all had I not."
He glared so hard at her, he was sure his eyes were red. "You think I give a fuck about that?" He started away from her, only to be frozen in place by the pain tearing at his stomach. The agony of it caused him to double over as he struggled to breathe.
Artemis approached him slowly. She stood above him, looking down. "I'm the one in control here, Acheron. I've bound you to me with my blood. I own you."
Those three words set fire to his wrath. He felt the familiar heat ripple over him as his human appearance gave way to that of his god form. Rising against the pain, he held his hand out and brought Artemis into his grasp. "You seriously underestimate my powers, bitch."
She clutched at his hand, trying to loosen his feral grip. "Kill me and you'll become the worst sort of monster imaginable. You need my blood to maintain any sort of sanity. Without it, you will become a mindless killer, seeking only to destroy any and everyone you come into contact with ... just like your mother."
Acheron roared with frustration. The bitch had thought of everything. Even as a god, he was still a slave. "I hate you."
"I know."
He shoved her away from him and turned his back on her.
"Acheron, did you not hear what I said? You will have to feed from me."