Chapter Six

"Xenon, please, we can't stay here."

Anexius's voice was a call on deaf ears. I ignored him, sitting in the wet set with my knees drawn to my chest and arms wrapped around them tightly as I stared out at the endless sea, hoping and praying that each time I was done blinking, the island would be back, but each time my eyes opened again, there was only miles of blue ocean water.

Grief held fast in my throat like a rock. I didn't want to move. I didn't care to do so.

All of my people were dead. All the worshippers I had come to love and adore. The men who made offerings to my alter in my sacred temple. The women who danced and wrote songs in my honor. The children who would laugh and chase each other around the temple. The birds who perched on the statue, the insects that would stop to rest.

And my family. All my brothers and sisters. My father, my uncles, aunts, all of them. They had all ceased to exist. There was an empty air. It was cold and dark. I reached out with my powers, hoping that at least one of them survived, but the only Atlantean life force aside from mine was Anexius's, and he stood right behind me, trying to urge me to leave.

And he was right. Staying here was suicide.

If the Greeks discovered us on their land, they would see it as an act of war. A challenge to the great gods, but I couldn't bring myself to leave. I couldn't bring myself to care if the Greeks destroyed me.

"Xenon, my brother." Anexius said gently, touching my shoulder. I flinched away from him and he grimaced, moving after me, but I scrambled through the sand and onto my feet, glaring hatefully at him. I went to hit him, but he dodged and caught my wrist, jerking me against his chest as I writhed to try and hit him.

"Get off me!" I snarled, voice hoarse from screaming earlier. My knuckles still hurt from hitting Anexius in the face, and even more annoying was how quickly his face had healed. He tried to pin my wrists to my chest.

"Xenon, please, stop this. No matter how much you hit me or hate me or cry, they won't come back. They're gone. And I didn't just sell my soul for you to die at the hands of those Greek pigs," Anexius spat, clenching his teeth, "We need to go somewhere safe."

"Where is safe," I shouted angrily, squirming in his grasp, "There is no safe! Were you not listening to me?! The Greeks hate us and the Egyptians couldn't care less! You've damned us!" Anexius said nothing, but he didn't let go of me as he started to drag me across the sand down along the beach. I went kicking and squirming half way until I gave up and just reluctantly followed. The entire time, I could only watch Anexius's back, contemplating all the ways I could kill him quickly, but each time the thought flashed across my mind, guilt and pain stamped it back down.

I loathed Anexius to the core of my soul. He'd taken everything from me. My family, my worshippers, my home. Everything. And yet, for all the evil he'd committed, he was still my brother and I couldn't bring myself to actually sink a dagger into his treacherous back.

And I think that's what hurt worse.

I woke up with a sharp gasp, a cold tingle racing up and down my spine. I clenched my teeth and fisted the blankets before rolling over, propping myself up on an elbow to check the clock. It was six in the morning. Who the hell summons me at six in the goddamn morning? I blinked a few times, looking around my room, which was still dark with only the faint glow of the sunlight outside. I sighed wearily and pushed myself out of bed, going through the events last night.

Dorean and I had spent nearly three hours watching television and debating politics. I never thought I'd see the day that Dorean, an imp, would know more about politics than me. I made a mental note to send Adrian a thank you card for making his imp more intelligent than a god... And to make sure Adrian doesn't respond with a poisoned dagger to my throat.

I had given Dorean the room that had once been my office. I had a feeling he'd use what was left of the powers I gave him to pimp that room out to his liking. I gave him permission after all.

I didn't have time to shower and just threw on anything black. Nothing intimidated someone more than a big guy dressed in black. It was hard to look scary in pastels and glitter. Once I was dressed, sunglasses in place, I went by Dorean's room to check on him and he was curled up into a fetal position, sleeping with a very light purring sound. It made a certain body part of mine jerk to attention, so I quickly ducked out of the room and left him a note in the kitchen to my whereabouts so he wouldn't panic when he saw I wasn't home.

I let the smoke coil around me like a thick suffocating tornado before I teleported from my home to my new destination. As the smoke cleared, I instantly recognized a sleek onyx desk and large window behind it that looked at the river Styx. I almost expected to see Theo when the smoke vanished, but instead, Sept was standing there, glowering at me.

"Wow," I said flatly, "Just what I like to see at six in the morning. An angry Egyptian." Sept didn't even look slightly amused as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I have a problem and I was told that you could fix it."

"You want me to get rid of Theo's angelic mother." I responded casually. Sept looked irritated that I had guessed correctly, but he simply nodded. I was glad he had summoned me to do so, because I for one did not like the she-devil's presence either and knowing that Dorean didn't like it even more was all the more reason for me to put her out of commission.

"Unfortunately," I said, making Sept narrow his eyes, "You have to pay me a hefty price for that one because it's full of risks that could get me severely injured and I dunno about you, but I rather like my testicles attached." Sept raked me with a disgusted sneer, then looked away to run a hand through his long black hair before turning to face me again. The kohl around his eyes just made him look a bit more eerie like that.

"Fine. Whatever it takes to get that bitch out of this building." He responded. A smirk curved my lips as I leaned casually back against the wall behind me.

"How sweet of you to be so concerned over Theo." I commented. Sept glared at me.

"She's ruining his life. Again. She's only been here for a day and Theo's terrified to leave his room. All she has to do is think about him and he's terrified. I hate seeing him like this. Surely you can't be cold hearted enough to let that sort of thing happen to someone you love."

"If I was capable of love," I answered, making Sept's twist in confusion, but I ignored it as I pushed off the wall and approached the desk that stood between us, "You have to pay me big time for me getting rid of Aria. And you need to specify your terms."

"I want you to kill her."

"Ooh," I said slowly, nodding, "Kill your lover's mother, even though he told you to leave her alone."

"I won't be the one killing her."

"Yes, you will," I answered sternly, making him frown, "I'll be the knife in your hand as you do it. The knife is never the killer, Sept. It is the one with the intent." Sept said nothing, just glared at me cautiously. His insistence amused me. What would Theo think when he found out his precious lover had been the one to kill his own mother? Theo hated her, and he was terrified of her, but she was still his mother and he didn't want her dead. Gone maybe, but not dead. And unfortunately for him, Sept wanted her dead as dead could be.

"What are you going to offer me as payment?" I asked him. Sept clenched his teeth and I couldn't resist laughing at that as I stepped away from him.

"You don't really have anything, do you? The most valuable thing you own is Theo and I would much rather take the gum off the bottom of your shoe than him." I responded. Sept glared at me.

"I have something." He insisted. I lifted a brow at that. Sept looked uncomfortable for a moment before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then he held out both hands as if cupping something before separating his hands slowly and a long gold glittering scarf laid there. For a second, I wasn't sure what he was offering me until I saw the doll laying in the center. It was an exact replica of Sept, about four inches tall.

And I knew exactly what it was.

"You're basically giving me your soul." I pointed out, looking from the doll to Sept, who grimaced.

"Yes."

"What would Theo think?"

"I gave Theo my heart, not my soul."

"I suppose so." I admitted, reaching out to pick up the doll. Sept made an uncomfortable expression, indicating he could feel my hand around him. I smirked lightly at that and trailed a finger up the doll's torso and I saw goosebumps rise on Sept's skin.

"Don't molest it." Sept managed through clenched teeth. I laughed.

"I'm not that sick. I was just testing it out," I responded, then mulled this deal over, "Hmm... An ex-Egyptian deity. Son of Seth and Nephthys. You could be useful to me in case clients decide to retaliate when they fuck up their own lives and have to blame it on someone other than themselves."

"Happen a lot, huh?" Sept asked, irritated. I nodded.

"You have no idea," I said, then looked back down at the doll, "Will Theo be missing this?"

"He hasn't used it since the incident with Epimetheus a couple years ago. He says he doesn't want me to think I'm his toy."

"Aw, how sweet."

"Fuck you."

"Wow, that is the third offer a god has made me in the past week. I'm just so popular."

"You're sick."

"Tell me something I don't know," I agreed with a nod, then took the scarf from Sept to wrap the doll up safely before tucking it into my pocket, "The bargain's been struck. In exchange for the voodoo doll, I will find a way to have Aria killed. I can get it done in the next two days."

"Try twenty-four hours."

"Don't rush greatness, Sept." I warned. Sept clenched his teeth, but said nothing more. I gave him a nod before I let the smoke cloak me in darkness and teleport me to the only person I knew who could kill someone and make it look like an accident. Considering who I am, you'd think I'd know plenty of people like that, but most of the people I knew killed someone and made it look tame compared to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I needed something that wouldn't hurt the relationship between Sept and Theo. I had played as much a part in their current dilemma as Steele and Aria. It was the least I could do to help.

I appeared in a two bedroom apartment in the shopping district, near a tall gothic style window that stared out at the street bustling with a variety of creatures from all over the world. The apartment was cozy and decorated severely in Goth decor. It looked like Hot Topic before neon became the new Goth. And sitting at a black marble bar was just the man I was looking for.

Or rather, vampire.

Kristoff Thornbrooke was generally viewed by the public as your friendly neighborhood vampire with a weird obsession with BDSM and the Gothic culture. He owned the shop that was just down below where his girlfriend and fellow vampire, Bella, worked. Kristoff was incredibly tall with chestnut brown hair dyed neon red at the tips that fell just over his shoulders. He currently wore only a laidback black tank top and matching sweatpants.

As soon as he sensed my presence, however, he was on his feet with a gun pointed between my eyes. I smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. When he realized it was me, he lowered his gun with a scowl, tucking it back under the counter so it was hidden.

"What are you doing here?" He said tightly. Kristoff had been one of many of my clients, and unfortunately, one I had a faint attachment with. Kristoff had summoned me a century back to help rescue his precious Bella from the clutches of death, when she'd been gunned down during a drive-by shooting in the mortal world. In exchange, I told him he'd owe me a favor and I would call on him when I needed it.

That favor would be used today.

"I need your help to get rid of a certain cockroach for a client of mine." I stated. Kristoff scanned me from head to toe, the cautious in his eyes scorching before he turned away to close one of his BDSM magazines.

"I told you I was done doing that kind of stuff. You can ask for anything else, but that." He responded heatedly, not that it would scare me away. Kristoff, before meeting his Bella, had worked as an assassin in the mortal realm. He made many deaths look like accidents. It was his specialty, a specialty I would need. Unfortunately, he'd gone out of business after he met Bella and decided to settle down so they could make vampire babies after they grew out of their BDSM lifestyle.

"I told you to give me any favor I ask. This is my favor. You will accept it." I stated. Kristoff twitched, his teeth clenching to the point where a tic throbbed in his jaw. He stood stone still, fists curling before he took a deep breath and sat down on a leather sofa.

"Who's the target?" He asked at last. I relaxed, thankful that I wouldn't need to threaten him. Kristoff was a good vampire. He didn't like senseless killing. 'Course, this wasn't exactly senseless.

"Aria," I said, making him stare at me in disbelief, "Theo's mother."

"You want me to kill Lord Theo's mother? Are you insane?"

"The client needs her to be taken out in a way that it looks like an accident. He doesn't want to start any trouble. In fact, by doing this, you'd be saving Theo. His mother's a psychotic bitch."

"Hell yes she is," Kristoff said, getting to his feet to glare at me in irritation, "She's also not an easy target if she's chilling out at the palace. And to make matters worse, she's not that bad a fighter herself. I got a call a couple weeks ago that she killed two of the men who used to work in the organization with me. Two very good men." I shrugged.

"And I'm sorry for your loss, but you're the only person I know who can do this."

"She'll kill me."

"Are you doubting your skills?"

"I haven't been in the game for more than a century. I could be rusty."

"That kind of skill never gets rusty." I told him flatly. Kristoff clenched his teeth again. I could see the debate in his mind. I really shouldn't be asking him this, but he owed me one and he knew it. After a long suffering silence, Kristoff glared at me.

"Time limit?" He asked. I shrugged.

"By tomorrow night would be nice." I offered. Kristoff ran a hand through his hair, frustrated before nodding solemnly.

"Thank you, Kristoff. After this, you won't see me ever again." I informed.

"Good." Kristoff scoffed. I actually couldn't agree more. I hated this kind of business, and these kinds of bargains. The dangerous ones that intertwine with twelve others. It was just one big mess and I prayed this one didn't end horribly. I vanished from Kristoff's home in Styx and teleported to my home in the Atlantean realm.

As soon as I made ground there, a fissure of power crept through the air and set off every alarm in my body. Dorean didn't have this kind of presence. I sent my powers out to seek out the source, and much to my annoyance, it came from within my house. I strode across the red path to the front door and came inside to the smell of Thai food and laughter coming from the living room. I instantly recognized the second presence and made my way into the living room to glower in the archway when I saw Adrian sitting beside Dorean on the sofa.

Dorean sensed my presence immediately and leapt to his feet, beaming at me happily. It was almost enough to melt my heart into a puddle of goo again, if it wasn't for Adrian standing up right beside him, eyeballing me like he'd just seen a cobra enter the room. And unfortunately for him, this cobra hated rats.

"What is he doing here?" I demanded instantly. Dorean picked up my irritation and his smile faltered a little.

"I'm sorry," He told me guiltily, his wings wilting and tail coiling around his feet, "I was really lonely and I missed Adrian and so I managed to contact him and tell him where I was. He came here."

"He came here on his own?" I asked, voice strained. Dorean nodded. Adrian cleared his throat and touched Dorean's shoulder before looking at me.

"Don't get mad at him. I'm the one who insisted on coming. I actually wanted to talk to you." He said to me. I narrowed my eyes, not looking forward to a hissy fit. But I said nothing. Adrian managed to soothe Dorean enough so that he was sitting back down, enjoying his food, and watching reruns of Ghost Hunters from my instant queue. Adrian crooked his finger at me, indicating I follow. I would've told him to shove that finger somewhere unpleasant, but I didn't want to upset Dorean, so I grudgingly followed after him until we were safely out on the patio.

"Hades told me about the deal." Adrian stated, turning to face me. I said nothing, just glared at him and debated throwing him in the sea with a cinder block chained to his ankle. He stood there looking pretty peeved about the whole thing, his blonde hair ruffled by the wind and blue eyes sharp, matching the blue silk shirt and jeans he wore. When I said nothing, Adrian decided to continue.

"Dorean doesn't belong here. He needs constant attention that you obviously aren't ready to give him."

"He knows I work."

"Exactly. Why is he even here then if you aren't paying attention to him?"

"In case you haven't noticed," I said, sweeping an arm out at the wasteland surrounding my home, "I don't exactly have the best social skills." Adrian looked disgusted, folding his arms over his chest.

"And I spent several years of my life locked in a closet. How do you think I feel? Besides, that's not the point. This is about Dorean. Not you. Not me. Dorean. And we both want what's best for him and none of what you have here is best for him. He can only occupy himself on his own for so long before he gets bored and depressed and you're not helping."

"He's mine."

"He's not property."

"Then why are you so desperate to have him back?" I returned. His insistence was irritating, especially coupled with his hypocrisy. He treated Dorean as much a possession as the rest of us. He wasn't any better. Adrian's eyes flashed dangerously, but he was hardly a threat to me, so I let his anger pass me by.

"Because he's my friend," Adrian insisted in irritation, "Dorean's happy and safe with me. Here, you're just going to neglect him like a dog. And that's not what he is." I held my tongue to avoid snapping at him. Worst of all was that I knew he was right. Dorean wasn't going to be happy here forever, and my job constantly had me running around to the point where I'd probably only get to see Dorean for a handful of hours per day, maybe even weeks. It irritated me to the core, though, to know that Adrian was right. I wanted to kill him for it, but I couldn't risk starting a war over one puny brat like Adrian.

But I couldn't let him take Dorean.

For some reason, I felt an attachment to him and I hated it, but it was there. There was something precious about him. His innocence and his beauty and his purity was like a magnet. It sucked me in and I didn't want to let go now that I had a hold of him.

I didn't want to come home to a dark empty house anymore.

And as a god, I was selfish.

"No," I stated firmly and Adrian's eyes snapped fire at me, but I met his glare with one of my own, "I own him now. He stays here."

"I don't know why you're doing this," Adrian seethed, clenching his fists, "Dorean's a good person! He has never done anything to hurt you or anyone else. He's too sweet and kind to stay in a house with someone like you."

"You don't know anything about me," I told him coldly, "Dorean's staying here. You can stand there and huff and puff all you want, halfbreed, but you can't take him away. If you do, you will be declaring war on me and the last thing you want is to start a war with me." Adrian's eyes glowed threateningly and he took a step toward me, but I didn't back down, especially when I had to tilt my head down to even meet those fiery blue eyes that glittered like sharpened diamonds.

"You're just like the rest of them," He sneered in contempt, raking me with a disgusted glare as he retreated, "You rant and rave about how you hate the gods, but you're just like them. You're a selfish bastard."

"And you're different," I replied heatedly, "You want him back as much as I want him here."

"Because he's my friend."

"Because you want to have a friend who listens to you. Dorean holds you in high esteem because you're the first master who's been sweet and kind to him and taught him things he'd never even dreamed of. At the end of the day, call him what you will, but he'll always be an imp, a slave, and you will always remain one of his masters. And right now, I'm his master."

"Hades stole him! He doesn't belong to you!"

"Oh yes, he does. You haven't stuck around long enough to know that Hades holds more power than you do. He can take whatever the hell he wants from you. I think I recall him saying "I'm Hades, bitch". He does what he wants. And he gave Dorean to me, which makes him my slave now. And he's staying here with me. You can go back home to your hundreds of other slaves and that prick son of Hades." I tacked on, riling him up. Adrian fumed.

"Don't call him that! Malachi saved my life!"

"And to repay him, you sleep with him." I deadpanned. Adrian's cheeks mottled red and I was a little surprised to see tears well up in his eyes.

"Contrary to what you and the rest of the damned think, Malachi and I haven't slept together yet. We can't." He snapped. Without another word, Adrian vanished and I watched him go, confused. They hadn't slept together? How was that possible? Everyone assumed that after two years, and being so close, they had already slept together. And what did he mean by can't? What was so difficult about it? I couldn't be sure.

Nor did I care.

Adrian was no longer the timid sweet human I'd met on the streets of Inferi trying to defend an imp that he called friend. He was a spoiled halfbreed that wanted his favorite slave back. And while all instincts told me to send Dorean back where he'd be happy, I didn't want to.

How come everyone else was allowed to be happy and I wasn't?

I had never done anything wrong. My family was viciously taken away from me, my pantheon, my birthright, my worshippers, and my home. All by the brother I stupidly put my trust in. Then I found myself cursed to take bargains I'd much rather shove in the client's nether regions.

I wanted my home back. I wanted my life back. I wanted to come home to a temple flooded with worshippers, to brothers and sisters, to a father. I wanted to hear the sound of trees rustling in the wind created by my uncle. I wanted to bathe in the golden sunlight from my sister.

A sudden heavy wave of homesickness struck me so hard that it almost drove me to my knees. It'd been way too long since I'd thought this deeply about the home I'd lost. Even after all these years, it still felt like a stake being driven into my heart.

Unable to stand it any longer, I drifted back into the house and went straight to the fridge, snatching out a bottle of alcohol when I felt a presence behind me. Thinking it was Adrian again, I whipped around to blast him back when I realized it was Dorean watching me. There was a cautious way about the way he stepped toward me, pausing with the island counter between us.

"Where Adrian go?" He asked, tilting his head. I clenched my teeth, then held my hand out and let a claw extend from my index finger before I used it to pop the cap off the bottle. I took a deep, heavy swig and savored the burn as it sailed down my throat and into my stomach.

"He left." I told him flatly. Dorean frowned a little. I could see his curiosity and the slight hurt Adrian's lack of presence caused, but I was feeling a little too shitty to care. And maybe too selfish. I was selfish and I knew that, but was it really so much to ask for to have someone here for me?

Yes. Dorean wasn't mine. Dorean would never be mine. He was too fragile and tiny and adorable and sweet. He was the exact opposite of me. He was pure goodness.

And I was pure evil. It hadn't always been like that, I would admit, but I was now and now was all that mattered. The past was gone. Stolen. Sunken to the bottom of the ocean like just another piece of human litter. Buried under centuries of ocean and sand, maybe even sucked into the earth, into oblivion. No more traces of the prestine while temples or towering mountains, not even the bones of the children or their parents resided there any longer.

"No, no," Dorean said suddenly, making me look at him in confusion as he hurried around the island counter to approach me, "Don't be sad, please."

"I'm not sad." I lied, but Dorean shook his head and his tail twirled behind him, wings fluttering lightly as he reached up to take my face in his hands. I sucked in a sharp breath at how soft and dainty his hands were on my skin. It was like a butterfly's wings and it made me dizzy. It was more intoxicating than the most powerful of alcohol. Even better was the sweet sugary smell of honey and bread that wafted from him as well as a natural scent, like a breath of fresh air. Dorean rubbed my cheeks a little, his palms turning pink from the stubble I was too lazy to shave off this morning.

His wide silver eyes studied me as if he were attempting to figure out what was causing me such grief. My heart ached at that. It'd been far too long since someone had touched me like this. No one else dared to get near me. Even the orphans of Styx tended to be a little wary of me because of my towering height and muscular physique. They could sense the dark powers that encased my soul.

But Dorean didn't care. He just wanted to make sure I was all right.

"Don't be sad," Dorean repeated, tilting his head as he held my gaze for what felt like eternity, his eyes shining like the stars, "Things will get better. I promise."

"How can you promise that?" I murmured. Dorean beamed.

"I spent my entire life as a slave that could not read or sing or dance or speak or do anything. Then one day I suddenly learn it all and things got so much better. If it can get better for me, it can get better for you." He answered.

And when he said it, I almost believed it.