Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

Right before the Atlanteans had attacked on Katateros, Simi had carried Bethany's body out and brought her here for safekeeping until they found some way to wake her.

He wasn't sure what he expected, but every step that took him closer to her made his heart pound harder.

And as soon as he saw Bethany's peaceful face, he froze as his entire body locked up with so many emotions, he couldn't even begin to define them. She looked just as she had the last time he'd seen her....

Flawless.

Except her stomach was flat. His hand trembling, he pulled the covers back and saw the blood that was still on her gown from where Apollymi had assaulted her. Throwing his head back, he roared in anger and pain at the sight of what the bitch had done to his heart. Unable to stand the guilt of not being there to protect her, he gathered her body into his arms so that he could finally hold her again.

She was ice-cold.

"Beth?" he breathed against her cheek as he cradled her head to his shoulder like he'd done all those centuries ago when it'd only been the two of them. "Please come back to me. Please. I need you so...."

But she didn't move or breathe. She merely lay in his arms in silence.

Tears fell down his cheeks as his heart shattered all over again. It was just like losing her the first time. He felt so lost and alone. Useless.

Broken.

Why were those other assholes up and around and not her? Why? It didn't make sense.

And it wasn't right.

He felt a large hand on his shoulder. Expecting Urian, he was stunned to find Acheron with him as the others quietly gave them the room. And the sight of his brother there hit him like a hot poker on his skin. He wanted the bastard's blood for this.

Gently, he laid Bethany back on the bed.

With a furious bellow, he turned on Acheron with a wide punch. Acheron blocked it and yanked him into his arms. Styxx tried to fight, but Acheron held him close against him in an iron grip.

"It's all right, Styxx. I know it hurts."

But Acheron didn't know. His children were all alive and well. Tory was healthy....

No one was going to kill her baby and leave her frozen and alone like this for centuries.

Yet something inside him splintered as he felt Acheron finally embracing him. Styxx didn't see them as men. He saw them as desperate, hated children who only had each other.

And it burned him to the core of his soul that Acheron would dare to embrace him now after all this time.

"I fucking hate you," he growled in Acheron's ear.

"I know, brother ... I know." And still Acheron held him the way he used to when it was just the two of them against the world that begrudged them their very lives. When the only affection they could count on was a brother's love and respect. "I wish more than anything that I could take it all back. Everything," Acheron breathed. "That I'd listened to and followed the advice I gave to others. I hurt you and I abandoned you and it was wrong. I was wrong and I am so incredibly sorry."

Styxx wanted to rip him apart. He did. Deep inside, he needed to feel Acheron's blood on his hands.

And yet ...

That piece of his heart that had only wanted his brother back savored this moment. Long before Bethany, this was what he'd craved. This was what he'd sought when he'd gone to Atlantis, sick, scared, and alone to free Acheron.

In spite of everything and everyone, even them and their own stupidity, he still loved his brother.

"Why can't I just hate you?"

Acheron's arms tightened around him. "Because you're a better man than I am. You always were."

But that wasn't true and Styxx knew it. He would never have been able to do for the Dark-Hunters what Acheron had done. While his brother had been a complete douche to him, Acheron had been the saving grace and sole champion for countless others. And he'd done it with a dignity and kindness that Styxx knew were hard-won given their brutal pasts.

They were both branded whores who'd been used, betrayed, and thrown away like garbage....

His brother had risen above it and built a life in spite of all the people who'd tried to destroy him. And Acheron still stood strong.

Acheron pulled back and placed his forehead to Styxx's just as he used to do when they were children. He gently fisted his hand in the hair at the nape of Styxx's neck and stared into his eyes. "I will never turn my back on you again, brother. I-"

Styxx covered his mouth with his hand, cutting off his words. "Don't make a promise you might not keep." It would kill him if he did. He wiped at the tears on Acheron's face. "Gah, we look like two old women." Styxx balled his fists in Acheron's hair, that no longer fell down his back. Rather, it hung now to just past his jaw. "But at least you finally got a decent haircut."

Acheron laughed.

Both he and Tory had cut their long hair and donated it to charity in honor of Sebastos's first birthday. While Tory's was now past her shoulders, Acheron had kept his to the same length Styxx had worn his before he'd first gone to war.

With a ragged breath, Acheron released him. "You've no idea how much I missed you when Estes took me away, Styxx. I couldn't stand it. Literally, I cried myself sick. It's why I had to bury it. The pain of being told you hated me and not having you was more than I could bear. And all Estes did was say over and over that you didn't want me with you. That you wanted our father's love for yourself and that you were the sole reason I'd been taken from home and given to him. That you never thought of me or asked about me at any time. I should have known better. But I burned with a furious shame and blind hatred you can't imagine. In my mind, you were given all the love, comfort and respect that was denied me."

Styxx snorted. "I do know your pain. I have not only my memories, but yours, too."

Acheron gave him a fierce, stern look. "And now I have yours." Tears welled in his eyes again. "And boy, don't I feel stupid. In my wildest nightmare, I never imagined Estes would dare whore you. Never mind what Apollo and the Atlanteans did ... what I did." Styxx had been brutally used and sold three years longer than he had. "Honestly, I don't know how you could ever talk to me again."

But then Acheron did know. Styxx's guilt. He felt responsible for what had happened to him. For not being able to do something to spare him from his uncle and father.

For putting Bethany's safety and well-being before his.