Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

Chapter Thirty-Four

"You always have to outdo me, don't you? You can't let anyone have one thing better than you."

He scowled at her unreasoning anger. "What are you talking about?"

"I had Apollo. So what do you do? You run off to another pantheon to get an older, more powerful god's daughter. And then you marry her. It's ridiculous, Styxx. Really."

Yes, it was. But not for the reasons she thought. "Why are you so jealous of me?"

"I'm not jealous of you. I pity you. You're pathetic." Her eyes blazed with abject hatred. "And don't think I don't know how you went after Apollo. You even branded his mark on your back to get his attention."

He started to set her straight then stopped. What was the use? For whatever reason, she would always vilify him and whatever actions he took. Her heart had never been big enough to love both her brothers. And he knew why she was angry. His father was pulling out the stops for his birthday and in her mind, she was comparing it with hers.

That was what had her enraged.

"Prince Styxx?"

He looked past her to their servant. "Yes, Dorcas?"

"The Princess Bethany is here for you."

Grateful beyond measure for her appearance, he left his sister to glare in his general direction as he went to where Beth waited in the foyer. Dressed in her plain gray peplos, she was breathtaking. More so due to the slight bulge at her waist that was just really starting to show.

He walked up behind her and placed his hand on her stomach before he kissed her cheek.

She tsked at him. "You should be warned that my betrothed has a fierce temper and sword arm, and he'd be terribly upset to find a strange man molesting me."

Styxx laughed at her teasing. "Then we'd best meet..." He trailed off as he felt the subtlest of stirrings against his palm. "Is that-"

"Your equally fierce son?" She covered his scarred hand with hers. "It is indeed, my lord, which is why I came. I knew you'd want to feel him, too."

He splayed his hand wider, trying to feel it again. Then he cupped her stomach with both hands. "Where did he go?"

She moved his left hand lower so that he could feel the baby.

"That's ... wow ... We did that?"

She smiled at him. "We did."

Expelling a happy breath, Styxx looked up as he felt someone watching them. It was Ryssa and Acheron. Both of them glared at him as if the thought of his happiness repulsed them.Thankfully, with Bethany's presence, he couldn't hear their hatred in his head. He could only speculate at what ill wishes they had for him.

"What's wrong, love?" Beth asked as she laid her hand on his face to feel his expression.

"Nothing." He dropped his gaze from them to the only thing that was important to him.

Out of nowhere, his nose started bleeding. Releasing her immediately, he stepped away before any blood fell on her.

"Styxx?"

"It's all right, Beth. Just another nosebleed."

"I thought they'd stopped."

"They're not as frequent, but no ... they haven't stopped." Taking her hand, he led her up the stairs.

As he reached the top, Acheron and Ryssa continued to glare at him and refused to make room for them. "Excuse us."

Bethany slowed as she heard him talking to someone. "Who's here?"

"My sister and brother."

"Acheron?" She paused. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

He mumbled something that might have been a greeting, but she wasn't sure as he quickly walked away from them.

"You'll have to forgive my brother. He has a bad history with Styxx's fiancees." Then Ryssa retreated, too.

Those words stunned her. "Plural?"

Sighing, Styxx led her to his room. "No, not plural. Just one. The year you were gone, my father betrothed me to Nefertari."

Her eyes widened in anger. "You agreed?"

His nosebleed worsened. "You'd left me, Beth. With no way to contact you, and I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I never touched her, and we only kissed once, briefly, on the day we met."

"Oh, fine," she snapped. "Just throw logic and guilt at me, why don't you?" Calming down, she sighed. "So what happened to her?"

"I sent her packing." At least that was what everyone had told him he'd done.

"And your brother and her?"

He used his cloth to pinch his nostrils together. "She said he tried to rape her."

Bethany arched her brow. "Did he?"

"I highly doubt it. While Acheron is an ass, raping women isn't his style. Besides, he's even less social than I am."

She let out a low whistle. "That's an impressive feat. I could have sworn you were the record holder."

Styxx sniffed back the blood as he checked the cloth then reapplied it. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about my siblings." He sat down and leaned forward.

Bethany walked over to him. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to stress you more."

He kissed her hand. "Honestly? You're the only one in my life who doesn't stress me at all."

But as he sat there, he had a bad feeling in his gut that Ryssa and Acheron were going to do something to try and ruin this for him. Both of them were still convinced he'd tried to kill their father and both lived in fear of his taking the throne. Which made no sense given the fact that he'd gladly cede them the entire palace if they'd just stop glaring their mutual hatred at him all the time.

May 15, 9527 BC

Styxx knew he was dreaming, but he couldn't wake up for anything. He saw himself in his battle armor, mounted on Troian, with his army stretching out for miles in three directions. Gaius was mounted on a white horse to his left and Galen was on his right with a brown stallion. His phoenix emblem was painted on every shield and the phoenix banners blew in a hot, desert wind.

They were on a hill, looking down on a field below where a blond woman, dressed in black, walked like a ghostly shade.

Across from them was the enemy. An army of demons who had swirling skin tones and wings, they were dressed in black armor and fought under a banner that held a sun symbol with three silver lightning bolts piercing its center.

From somewhere off in the distance, a cry sounded that spurred the enemy to ride down the hill to attack.

Styxx gave the order for his own troops to move forward.

He could hear and feel the thunder of the horses' hooves as the cavalry and charioteers rushed to engage the enemy. As his hoplites ran and locked their shields together. The air was completely and eerily still as the two armies collided. Screams, grunts, moans, and shouts filled the air and were punctuated by the sound of metal clashing and arrows and stones whizzing.

Troian went down under the onslaught. Styxx kept his hoplon high as he cut through the demons, trying to protect Gaius and Galen.

All of a sudden, a shadow fell over him. He raised his hoplon in time to deflect a killing blow.

It was the enemy leader.

He was dressed in black armor that matched Styxx's, and his blue skin tone was covered with black and red blood. The two of them fought with equal skill. Every move he made, his opponent seemed to know.

Finally, Styxx swung a blow that knocked the helm from the demon's head. He froze at the sight of his brother with black hair and blue skin. It was the same form Acheron had held the time he'd gone to him on the balcony and fought. Acheron's swirling silver eyes turned red an instant before he drove his sword through Styxx's entire body. He buried the hilt just beside Styxx's navel and used the sword to pull Styxx into his arms.