Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

"What made you look then?"

"I saw the word 'whore' in ancient Greek and the Atlantean 'tsoulus' along with your uncle's slave mark branded into his groin. I foolishly wanted to know how he'd gotten it. Let that be a lesson about looking into an abyss."

Ash closed his eyes as pain slammed into him so hard, he could barely think straight. "Please ... tell me you're lying."

"You know better. That was why Styxx assaulted Atlantis like he had a grudge match. He did. Your uncle had kept him and sold him, just like he did you. He even pierced Styxx's tongue ... as did Apollo."

Ash's breath left him in a bitter wave of sympathy. "Since you looked, how did my uncle capture him?"

"Do not ask questions you do not want the answers to."

But Ash didn't listen. "I want to know." He needed to know.

Savitar cut a harsh look toward him. "You should know already, Acheron. You were there when it happened."

"Bullshit!" Ash paused. "Show me."

Savitar shook his head. "There are some memories no one needs."

Still, Ash didn't listen. "Artemis punished Styxx with my memories. She forced him to live my life and instead of it making him forgive me, it's fueled his hatred of me and I want to know why. Please, Savitar. I need to see how he was taken."

"And I refuse to show you," he said harshly ... in a bitter tone he'd never used with Ash before. "Suffice it to say, he would have gotten away had you not dragged your feet, and called out to your uncle to tell him where you were. You could have voluntarily escaped with Styxx, but were too afraid to try. Worse, while Estes held him, you laughed and gloated over what they did to Styxx. Constantly. You threw it in his face the whole time he was in Atlantis with you and you helped to prep him to service the men your uncle sold him to. You even held him down while he was branded as a whore."

Ash panted as that reality slapped him. He choked on denial. "I didn't do that."

"Yes, you did."

Ash shook his head. "I'm not that kind of person, Savitar. I'm not."

"Every man, woman, and child is capable of extreme and utter prejudice and cruelty when they feel justified in their hatred. Right or wrong. We are all capable of lashing out when we're in pain. No one, not even you or I, is immune from that. As Plato said, be kind to everyone you meet for we are all fighting difficult battles. And yes, you thought it was funny to have the beloved prince and heir branded a whore and a slave and sold to the same men who'd paid to fuck you. In your defense, you were young, drugged, and lost in your own hell."

"That's no excuse." Ash blinked back his tears.

"No, it's not an excuse. It's just harsh, biting reality." Savitar let out a bitter laugh. "Ever wonder why the gods created man, Grom? I personally think that we're the original reality show. They were so effing bored that they created us just so that they could feel better about themselves."

"You're not funny."

Savitar sighed."No. Tragedy never is. Our lives are marked and shaped by our regrets. Things we all want to take back and can't. In a perfect world, we would never hurt the ones we love or cause hurt to befall them. But the world isn't perfect and neither are we."

Even so, Ash couldn't forgive himself for the way he'd treated Styxx all these centuries ago. "I'm almost afraid to ask about Styxx's second visit."

"You were there for that one, too."

"When they threw me out." And after he'd purposefully baited and mocked Styxx.

And his father.

Savitar nodded. "By the way, do you know how Estes died?"

"Stroke or heart attack in his sleep."

Slowly, Savitar shook his head again.

An awful sense of dread went through Ash as reality hit him hard. Something he had never thought to contemplate before ...

His brother had been a soldier trained to kill. "Styxx?"

"Yeah," Savitar breathed. "Estes had been planning to sell your sister to an Atlantean prince. To protect her and you, after he'd been viciously gang-raped, Styxx pried loose his restraints to smother Estes in his sleep. And then, riddled with guilt, panic, and fear, he went with the father he hated to Atlantis to free you."

And I insulted him for it. "I didn't know."

"Of course not. Had Styxx breathed a word of it to anyone, he'd have been executed. Brutally. But can you imagine being a boy and carrying that amount of fear and guilt with you?"

No, he couldn't. No wonder Styxx had been so sullen and quiet. Something they had all mocked him for.