CHAPTER FIVE
Sin cursed as he landed on his side in the center of what appeared to be a Charonte feast. There had to be at least a hundred Charontes present... and they were all staring at him in silence as he lay on the cobblestone floor in front of them. There was no sound whatsoever except for the occasional whisper of a Charonte wing.
The room reminded him of a medieval great hall with arched rafters and exposed beams. The stone walls gave the place an eerie hill that didn't seem to faze the half-naked Charonte who were eating everything from roasted pig, to cows, to things he couldn't even begin to identify.
"Is he for us to eat?" one of the young male Charonte asked an older one.
Before Sin could stand or respond, Apollymi appeared on the other side of the main banquet table beside the adult male Charonte the boy had spoken to.
Her silver eyes swirled violently as she stared at him. "Tear his worthless Sumerian hide to shreds."
"Sumerian?" the adult male snarled.
Sin cursed. Yeah-his being Sumerian to this group would go over like an Ozzy Osbourne/Marilyn Manson duet at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. He might as well be wearing a shirt that said "Kibbles and Bits", with a heavy emphasis on the "bits" part.
Sin pushed himself to his feet in expectation of the death that was about to run him over. "Look. Can't we all just get along?"
"Ekeira danyaha," a female spat, which was the obscene version of "screw you" in Charonte.
Suddenly a male Charonte came at his back. Sin caught the demon and flipped him to the ground. But before he could punch him, another demon bit Sin in the shoulder. Hissing in pain, he head-butted the demon, knocking him back. Sin's shoulder was ripped open as the demon fell away.
A woman ran at Sin then. He picked her up and tossed her at the next two men who were coming for him. "Where's a damn can of Raid when you need it," he growled as another demon caught him from behind.
He dropped all of his weight, which didn't do a damn thing, since the demon was so strong. Changing strategies, Sin kicked his legs back against the demon's knees. The demon shrieked in pain before he released Sin. He swung around and caught the demon a blow to the rib cage.
"Stop!"
Sin staggered back as the demons actually obeyed the order. He saw Kat standing to his right, staring in horror at what had happened.
"Do not interfere in this," Apollymi snarled.
Kat shook her head. "I won't let him die. Not like this and not without an explanation."
"Explanation?" Apollymi pushed past the male demon before her to approach her granddaughter. "I went to his pantheon and asked them to help me hide your father so that my pantheon wouldn't kill him. Do you know what they did?"
"They laughed," Sin said, remembering the tales of that event clearly in his mind.
Apollymi turned on him with her nostrils flared. He was amazed she didn't use her powers to splinter him against the far wall. Obviously a quick death wasn't what she had in mind-she wanted long-term pain. "My son suffered as no one should ever suffer and I want to return that to you... tenfold."
He could understand that. Hell, he could even respect her sentiment, but it didn't change the fact that he was innocent in this. "I didn't turn you away, Apollymi. I wasn't there that day. I swear, I would have helped you had I known. By the time I heard about it, it was too late."
"Liar!"
"It's not a lie," he said calmly as another demon inched closer to him. He swallowed as he remembered his own bitter childhood. He'd been one of triplets. Within an hour of his birth, it'd been foretold that he and his brothers would cause the end of their pantheon.
The sad thing was, the prophecy had been correct. But it hadn't been what his father had feared. It'd been the jealousy and hatred of his own family that had ultimately killed them. Their own actions had caused Sin to be the weak link that had allowed Artemis in so that the Greek gods could turn the Sumerians against one another and defeat them.
His pantheon had fallen only after he'd ceased to be a god, and his surviving brother had gone into hiding.
And when Sin spoke, his voice was thick with that grief. "My father killed my own brother over prophecy and he damn near killed me. I would never have allowed another child to suffer for such stupidity. That is not in me."
Kat frowned at his words as she saw the pain on her grandmother's face and heard the sincere emotion in Sin's voice. He really meant what he said.
"And how do I know you're not lying to me now?" Apollymi demanded.
"Because I've lost my children, too, and I know the ache that lives inside the heart that no amount of solace or alcohol will squelch. I know what it's like to have the powers of a god and to not be able to hold the one thing that means the most to me. And if you think for one minute that I would ever serve that to another being, even Artemis, who I'd like to torture for eternity, then go ahead and call down your army on me. I would deserve whatever death they give."
Kat swallowed as she saw the utter agony in his eyes as he spoke of his children and their loss. This was a man who felt that tragedy to the depth of his soul. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes, and it made her heart soften toward him. No one should hurt like that.
Apollymi stood as still as a statue. Her gaze was haunted and her skin was pale.
Sin backed the approaching demon up with nothing more than an angry glare before he spoke again. "I consider Acheron one of my very few friends, Apollymi. I would never have seen such a decent man hurt for any reason."
Still Apollymi didn't speak, but she did finally move. She came down from the dais with a regal grace. She moved to stand just before Sin. Without a word, she reached out and touched his bleeding arm and shoulder, which were instantly healed.
When she finally spoke again, her voice was only a whisper, but it held enough power to be heard plainly by all. "My son has few friends and even fewer who know him for what he is. So long as you protect him, you live. Sumerian or not. But if you prove false in anything you've said here today, I will bring a wrath down on you so severe that you will spend eternity trying to dig out your own brains to alleviate the pain of it."
He glanced past her to Kat. "Now I know where you get your gift for imagery."
Kat stifled a smile. Only Sin and her father would be able to find humor at a moment like this.
Apollymi ignored Sin's comment. "Katra." She spoke without looking at her. "He is your guest in my world. Take him from here and make sure he doesn't wander into those who would kill him."
"But I thought we could eat him," the little boy Charonte whined.
Apollymi turned a gentle look to the child. "Another day, Parriton."
Parriton pouted as Kat came forward to take Sin. "Can I just have a little bite of him, akra?"
Kat laughed at his eagerness. "Another day, Parriton, I promise."
The boy gave an exaggerated sigh before he went back to his steak.
Kat paused before Sin and held her hand out to him. She half-expected him to refuse, but instead he wrapped his large hand around hers so that she could flash him back to her house. A strange thrill went though her at the sensation of his touch. There was an indescribable power that was innate to him. An inner peace.
At least until they were back in her living room.
He released her hand and gave her a droll look. "Wow," he said, his tone flat. "That was fun. Anyplace else you want to take me while we're here? Maybe there's a darker corner of hell than that hall of flesh-hungry demons, huh?"