Chapter Six

"What took you so long?" Anubis asked as I returned.

I grimaced.

Oh, nothing.

Just having my uncle feed on my blood like a mosquito.

The usual.

"Not feeling so hot," I answered at last, to which Anubis gave me a droll stare and I glared at him, "Must you know the details of every bathroom visit?" Anubis shrugged, then eyed me suspiciously.

"It wasn't that Tupac guy, was it?" He asked. I folded my arms over my chest.

"Even if it was, which it wasn't, I repeat that it's none of your business."

"It certainly is when it involves my baby brother."

"I am not a baby."

"You'll always be a baby to our parents and myself," Anubis snorted, to which I responded with my own sound of disbelief, shaking my head.

"To father, I am a pest. To mother, I am an infant. And clearly you, too, see me as an incompetent child unable to fend for myself for a mere stroll through the town," I said angrily, making Anubis frown and lower his arms, "Is it simply too much to ask to have everyone leave me alone to myself?"

"You lost that privilege when you started sneaking bottles to your room," Anubis said, making me stiffen, "And yes, I know about the alcohol, Sept. I've suspected since the day we met in Styx. And for the record, father doesn't see you as a pest--"

"First of all," I began heatedly, watching Anubis sigh, which only infuriated me further, "Contrary to what you and mother seem to believe, I am a full grown god and can make my own damn choices, whatever they may be. Second of all, don't you dare patronize me. I'm no idiot. I know exactly how father feels about me. He's been quite clear about it since, well, since the day I was born, really, so I don't need you to lie on his behalf--"

"I am not lying," Anubis started.

"And thirdly, I've had quite enough of this game you're playing where you behave like the older brother when we both know you've got the maturity of a fucking micro carrot--"

"Okay, hold up--"

"So do me a favor and perhaps shut your fucking mouth and step off before I get really pissed and do something that will upset mother, and father," I finished angrily. Anubis glared at me, clenching his fists for a moment before unclenching them.

"I want to hit you right now," he stated.

"Please do it," I snapped, "I am tired of being treated like an invalid by this entire family. Perhaps I don't have everything as together as the rest of you, but I certainly am not falling apart right now. I don't need you to baby me, I don't need you to get into my business, and I certainly don't fucking need you to lie to me." Anubis took a deep breath and spread his hands out in front of himself like he was trying to summon some level of calm, which I ignored and spun on my heel, heading for the marketplace. Sure enough, I heard Anubis's shoes scuff the dirt as he moved to follow me.

I snapped back around and he nearly collided with me, barely pulling up short in time for me to swing my fist around and slam it into his jaw. His head snapped back and he stumbled a moment as I took a step back to prepare for retaliation, which I received almost instantaneously.

One second I was on my feet, facing Anubis, and in the next, I was suckerpunched in the nose and knocked flat on my ass in the dirt. I cursed, spitting blood through my teeth and propping myself up on my elbows. Around us, people scattered and scrambled to get out of the way while Anubis stalked over to stand above me. He went to grab me by the leg to drag me through the dirt, but I swung my foot up and kicked him in the jaw, making him stumble back again.

I flipped up onto my feet and swung at his head, but he ducked and spun out of the way, grabbing my fist and yanking me forward so he could swing his knee up into my gut. I grunted as pain exploded in my abdomen, doubling over.

"I'm not trying to treat you like a baby," Anubis snapped at me as I recovered and went to punch him, but he blocked it and went to deliver a punch of his own that I dodged, "And just so you know, mature people don't brag about how mature they are."

"I never bragged about my maturity," I responded angrily, lunging for him, but he caught me and threw me at the side of a building, but I caught myself on the bricks and swung back around to face him, "I'm trying to tell you that I don't fucking need you or mother to breath down my neck constantly. Leave me alone!"

"We'd leave you alone if you stopped acting like the emo kid back in high school," Anubis threw back, and charged me. I caught him against me and slammed my fist into his gut, but he ignored it and continued to plow right into me, pinning me back against the wall and jamming his fist up into my solar plexus, making me see stars. I coughed and sank to my knees in the dirt, breathing hard and jerking my head up to glare at Anubis through my hair as it fell over my shoulder.

"I'd be much happier if I was left to my own devices," I hissed, spitting blood on the ground. Anubis snorted.

"What? Alcoholism?"

"Fuck you!"

"No, thanks," Anubis deadpanned, putting his hands on his hips as he glared down at me, "Now are you done making a scene or can we go home and actually face our problems?" I didn't make any move to get up and Anubis just threw his hands in the air before dropping them back down onto his hips. He stood there for a while, at least until all the bystanders drifted away in boredom. Once they had departed, he came over and put his back to the wall beside me and slid down until he was sitting next to me.

I wiped the blood from my mouth and shot him a dirty look. He shrugged it off and drew his knees up, resting his arms over them. We sat there in silence as the streets resumed their usual chaos, bustling with shoppers and tourists.

"You're not a baby," Anubis said at last, making me glance at him, "I know that."

"Then why treat me like one?"

"It's not my intention," he murmured, looking at me now, "I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"I'm fine."

"You told me not to lie to you so do me the courtesy of not lying to me," Anubis replied. I sighed and looked away, pinching the bridge of my nose, then grimacing at the pain there. I let go, drew my legs toward me so I was sitting criss-cross, then looked at Anubis.

"I can handle myself," I said, making Anubis frown, "I don't constantly need you and mother checking in on me. I know what I'm doing."

"Drinking eight bottles of wine by yourself? Is that how you solve your problems?" He asked. I sighed, reaching up to rake a hand through my hair.

"I'm not drinking them all at once."

"That doesn't matter. You have eight bottles last I checked. You're not just collecting them for decoration, especially considering their hiding in a drawer in your room," Anubis said dryly, and I looked away, "I'm not shaming you either, sen. But you know as well as I do that you have a problem... You once told me that Theo had an addiction, nevermind what it was. Yet here you are, playing hypocrite. Don't you see it?" I said nothing to that, not right away. Because his words stung, and rightfully so.

He was right, at least about the wine, about the alcohol.

I'd spent years and years battling Theo over his addiction to harming himself, yet here I was, drinking myself away night after night, pretending everything was fine and normal. Alcohol was a problem and I knew that. I'd known it for years. I'd had a problem with it even before I met Theo. I started in my youth, because it was fun, originally. It was fun to meet up with friends and coworkers, to let loose and have fun maybe a couple weekends a month. However, I'd noticed the numbing sensation the more I drank. I savored that feeling, especially when I became alone after my banishment.

Alcohol had been there for me when no one else was.

Hell, that was how Theo had found me in the first place; drunk off my ass in Hades's temple in the mortal realm. And that had been my third day straight of drinking.

I'd relaxed after a while, after Theo took me in. I'd been too busy with my new position to care for drinks. And then I met the other second-in-commands and we met at bars to drink. That had only been every so often. Then Theo and I had found each other romantically and things... went downhill. I'd continue drinking even after I'd gotten back from drinking with the others. Sometimes I would drink so much I would pass out even when we were still at the bar. I remembered quite a few occasions where Noe and Kyros had had to drag my drunk ass back home.

Theo hadn't been particularly angry about it. He'd found it amusing.

At first.

Like everything, at first, things were fine.

But as time went on, the drinking got harder. The relationship got harder. Everything got so much harder. The alcohol was an escape, a treatment. It numbed my feelings of inadequacy. It numbed the pain, numbed everything until I felt nothing at all. I was a ghost, and I much preferred it over the suffering.

But that wasn't healthy, was it? None of it was healthy. The alcohol, the relationship.

It was so hard to quit, though. So hard to go back to the feelings of pain and misery and depression. It was so much easier to just drink it away. It felt so good to be numb to it all.

Yet, when I sobered, it was all a dream. The depression came back. It always came back.

So the drinking continued. Anything to keep it at bay.

Yeah, I realized grimly.

I had a problem.

Just one of many at this point.

"I'll work on it," I said at last, and Anubis made a clicking noise with his tongue, making me glance at him.

"That's what they all say," he said, making me give him an annoyed stare, "Oh, I'll stop, oh I'll work on it, oh I'll change. Let me guess, Theo said all the same things, but he kept up whatever he was into, didn't he? You tried to talk to him about it, you tried to help him, and he kept denying that help and just indulged in it even further." I swallowed thickly at that and looked down at the ground. Anubis sighed.

"I know it's hard, sen. Addiction is hard. I've seen so many of my closest friends indulge too deeply into their habits, so much so that they lost their support system and collapsed and," he paused, swallowed hard and closed his eyes before opening them to pin me with an intense stare, "I've lost friends to addiction before. Be it drugs or alcohol or whatever. They promised to get the help they needed, but their idea of help was just sinking further into despair. Alone. I'll be damned if I watch that same thing happen to you."

My heart ached. I looked down at the ground, dragging my finger through the dirt, not entirely sure what to say to Anubis. He'd never sat me down and talked to me so seriously before.

Anubis was the fun-loving carefree idiot of the family that everyone loved. Sure, he did his job and he did his job well, but he had fun too. He had friends. He had family. He had people who loved him, and people he loved. And sometimes I forgot that I was one of those people. Sometimes, it was hard to reconcile the fact that someone did give a shit about me.

But gods, did my stomach sink when I wondered what he would think about the situation with Horus. Would he still love me? Would he still care about me? Would he regret the things he said and wished I'd drank myself to death? I wanted to ask. I wanted to say something. I parted my lips to do so, but Horus's threats rang like gongs in my head and I shut my mouth again.

"Thank you," I said at last. Anubis shrugged.

"Contrary to what you say, I'm your big brother. It's what I'm here for."

"Don't ruin it."

"Ach, leave it to me to ruin a tender moment," Anubis sighed wistfully, then he heaved himself to his feet and put his hand out to me, "Now rise so we can return to mother's and look at getting these festivities started." I smiled at that and took his hand, allowing him to help me to my feet. We dusted ourselves off and headed back home to the palace on foot, deciding the walk was much needed.

"So, about Tupac..." Anubis started, making me sigh.

"Must you?" I asked. Anubis shrugged.

"Some guy's fucking around with my brother. I gotta know. Is it serious?" He asked. I frowned.

"No," I answered.

"Why not?"

"Isn't that a good thing," I asked dryly, "Certainly as my big brother you wouldn't want anyone to be near me."

"That's not necessarily true," Anubis drawled, "I just don't want some asshole to get near my brother. I still want you to have healthy relationships."

"It's not a relationship," I assured, making Anubis quirk a brow, "It's not. We slept together once. It doesn't mean anything." Anubis hummed at that.

"Well, I sure hope Tupac knows that," he said, and after a moment of silence, he wrinkled his nose, "God, his mother must have hated him to name him fucking Tupac."

"Shut up."

"My babies!" My mother's shriek made us both screech to a halt in the entryway to the palace to see my mother come rushing from the main hall to greet us. Only we apparently both forgot to heal ourselves, what with my busted nose and Anubis's bruised eye. Behind her, Cha had come out to see if she was alright, only to pull up short when she saw our wounds, her hand flying over her mouth in dismay.

"What did you do to him?" Mother asked immediately as she came to me and glared at Anubis, who sputtered.

"What did I do to him? Ask what he did to me, mother," he exclaimed, "He's the one that started it."

"He did open his mouth first," I pointed out. Anubis looked at me.

"Shall we continue this outside?" He asked.

"Happily," I retorted. Mother glared at Anubis as she gathered me in her arms and held me close, kissing me on the cheek as she healed my wounds almost instantaneously. I sighed, but didn't try and shove her away, despite the obvious overprotection.

"Touch him and I'll spank you three ways from Sunday," mother threatened, making Anubis roll his eyes, and mother finally stepped back to look at me, reaching up to cup my face in her hands, "Are you alright, my sweet?"

"I'm perfectly alright, mother," I promised, reaching up to place my hands over hers, "It was just a silly squabble amongst brothers, nothing more." Mother eyed me closely, then sighed and leaned in to hug me again. I hugged her back.

"Why have the gods cursed me with sons," she moaned, "Always at each other's throats."

"Oh, please," Anubis deadpanned, folding his arms over his chest, "You'd never be able to handle either of us as females or anything else for that matter." Mother paused, like she was considering Anubis's words seriously. I shook my head at them, then caught movement out the corner of my eye. I looked up and noticed that Tupac had joined his mother, had leaned over to say something to her, only to catch my eye. He looked back at me, and a small smile crept onto his lips. I stiffened a little.

"You alright, dear? Does anything else hurt?" Mother asked.

"Ah, no, I'm fine, mother. Just tired. Perhaps I'll go rest for a while before I return to help you with the festivities," I murmured. Mother nodded and let me go to turn her reign of terror on Anubis, so I slipped away and quickly made my way upstairs toward my bedroom. I was just up the stairs and around the corner when I felt a grip on my wrist and I was spun around. I turned with the intention to complain, only to find a pair of lips on my own and Tupac standing over me, cradling me in his arms.

A small moan slipped past my defenses before I quickly recovered and pushed at his arms.

"What are you doing," I whispered harshly, glancing back down the stairs to see if anyone had followed us.

"Giving you a welcome back kiss," Tupac replied, giving me a slow half-smile, "What happened? You were bleeding when you arrived." I sighed, frustrated as I managed to disentangle myself from his arms, moving toward my bedroom, and damn him, he followed right behind me.

"It was nothing. Just an argument between brothers. Surely you understand."

"Indeed. Hopefully the argument wasn't about me," Tupac said, making me frown as I opened my bedroom door and he came in right behind me as if he owned the place.

"Ah, not particularly," I said slowly, then paused to turn around and face him and he looked at me, "Why are you following me?" Tupac considered his answer.

"Mm... Well, firstly, my mother is a nightmare about this festival as much as yours is, so I'd like to avoid any of the festivities or their planning if at all possible. And, secondly, most importantly, I value your company above all else," he explained. I looked at him.

"We slept together once."

"We can make it twice right now," Tupac offered, stepping forward, but I took a step back to avoid his arms, to avoid melting into them the way my body so ached to do.

"Perhaps not," I said, putting my hands out to stop him and he looked at me curiously, "Listen... I don't mean to offend, but I'd prefer if we just... didn't do it again." Tupac raised an eyebrow.

"Hm. Well, you seemed to enjoy last night quite a bit, so I can't imagine I did something to upset you," he mused. I shook my head.

"No, it's not... It's not that I didn't enjoy it," I said slowly, and Tupac raised an eyebrow, stepping close to me and I stepped back, glancing behind me and cursing the fact that the bedpost was right behind me, "Ah, I just..." My back hit the post and Tupac was up against me a second later. I sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of his hard muscular body against mine, of his hands sliding down my arms, to gather my hands in his, drawing them up between us so he could stroke my knuckles, and even worse; he leaned down to kiss them.

"Then what, Sept, bothers you about me so?" He asked softly. I swallowed thickly.

"I just..."

"Was I too rough?"

"No," I said, trying to choose my words carefully and not get distracted by his dark and intense stare, "I just... I think perhaps once is enough. I'm on thin ice around here. I can't get involved in any scandals or..."

"Scandals? Would us having a relationship be such a scandal?" Tupac asked, reaching up to cup my face in his hand. I closed my eyes, unable to resist a pleasant sigh from escaping my lips at his skin against mine.

"I... My father," I started, then paused and my eyes widened in realization, "Shit." Tupac arched a brow as I managed to break free of him, scrambling to get my phone out when I realized I'd recently received several dozen messages, all from a very angry redheaded god... and my father. I cursed.

"Shit. I'm supposed to be at my father's," I said, looking up at Tupac, "I'm so sorry. I need to leave."

"Of course," Tupac responded, "I won't stop you, but I would like for us to continue our conversation. Like, maybe tonight."

"Fine, tonight works. My apologies again."

"Never apologize. You're quite alright."

"Thank you," I murmured, and closed my eyes with the intention to teleport, only to feel Tupac step forward and place a chaste kiss on my lips, making my eyes flicker open in surprise.

"See you tonight then," he said against my lips. I stared at him, my lips parting, but no words escaping. He simply smiled and stepped back to give me space. I blinked a couple times, then quickly recovered and closed my eyes, concentrating as I teleported from my room at my mother's palace to my father's palace across the desert.

I appeared in the throne room, just a ways from the quartz pool with crocodiles that milled about in its crystal clear waters. They paused to eye me curiously. There was a ripple of power before my father appeared in front of me, just before the throne.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He demanded angrily. His liquid silver eyes flamed with fury, his cheeks pinkened, his fists balled up like he was about ready to clock me. I stepped back instinctively.

"I apologize--"

"I have no need for your useless apologies! I told you if the fucking mutant child of Hades were to arrive for this festival that you would be here to entertain him, not me."

"I understand, and I do apologize--"

"Are you deaf? Your apologies mean nothing," Set snarled, then stopped and took a deep breath, reaching up to rake his hands through his hair before he lowered his hands out in front of him, like he was trying to find some level of calm, and I said nothing now as I allowed to seek that calm. I wasn't prepared to receive a beating from Set of all people. Anubis's punches were held back by brotherly love. Nothing held Set back from completely destroying me.

"I told you," Set started angrily, though his tone had quieted some, "That it would be your responsibility to entertain the god while he's in our realm. You missed his first six hours here and I'm about ready to rip my goddamn hair out. I'm not allowed to touch the brat or I'd risk a war between our realms, and that is the last thing we need to bring in the new year. So. Do me a fucking favor. Make yourself useful, entertain him properly, so I don't have to. Now that you've arrived, I'm going back to Mictlan's for the rest of the fucking day. The only reason you will contact me is if the brat dies. Otherwise, stay the hell out of my way." I bowed my head.

"Of course," I murmured. There was a moment of silence and I frowned, lifting my head to see Set staring at me silently. I looked at him in confusion before he seemed to snap out of whatever stupor he was in. He vanished a second later. I watched him go, unsure what that weird moment was about.

Probably wishing my mother had gotten an abortion when she'd had the chance.

Shaking my head, I took my phone out and shot a text over to Theo to meet me in the throne room.

"About fucking time!" I couldn't resist smiling, gave my head a shake, and turned to the entrance of the throne room to see Theo sauntering in like he owned the palace.

He was as beautiful and stunning as ever. His vibrant red hair fell in loose waves about his face, his equally red eyes bright and cheerful, his smirk wide and proud. He wore a pair of black jeans and a matching tank top with some band name on it, his boots thumping across the floor as he entered.

Following not too far behind was his lover, Adonis. My body instantly reacted to Adonis's presence, and I hated it, but no doubt he hated it more when everyone who encountered him felt that way. He was a stunningly beautiful male, all rippling muscles and raw masculine power. He dressed like a biker in leather pants, a tight v-neck top, and a leather jacket tossed over his shoulder.

"You made it," I said. Theo snorted.

"Yeah, like several hours ago. I texted you, dumbass, where the hell were you? Dealing with your dad is like dealing with Jaques, and let me tell you about that whole fucking nightmare over dinner," he said, shaking his head. I smiled warmly. His voice was such a pleasure to hear, rough and deep. I felt a faint tingle in my gut. Until I noticed Adonis looking at me and I quickly wiped the look off my face.

"Ah, my apologies. I was preoccupied with the festivities, so I'm afraid I didn't have the opportunity to greet you properly," I said, inclining my head to them. Theo rolled his eyes.

"Cut the formalities. I'm not your daddy."

"Fuck off."

"That's more like it," Theo declared with a grin, then came over to put his arms around me in a hug. I held my breath, hugging him back, feeling my heart ache. His slender arms around my neck, his face buried against me, the smell of his hair like sunshine. I closed my eyes for a moment, then blinked them open to see Adonis was still watching us. I immediately let go of him and stepped back.

"Ah, I'm glad you're here, though, both you, truly," I said, looking at Adonis, not wanting to meet Theo's eyes.

"Glad to be here," Adonis answered, "Though, I can't say I feel glad about the heat. You guys have Atlantis beat."

"It's a steady thirty six, thirty seven," I replied, making Adonis grimace. Theo smirked at that, then turned to look at me.

"How's your mom?" He asked. He probably didn't really care about her in particular, but he knew how close I was to my mother and how much it meant to me that he asked, so I found myself smiling again.

"Well. Her friend from Mictlan is here, so she's preoccupied now. Thankfully. It gives me more time to give you both the grand tour," I said. Theo gave a fist pump.
"Excellent! I have shopping to do. Do you have any idea how many fucking nieces and nephews I have right now? I'm running out of shit to buy the little shits, so hopefully you guys have something new for me to bring them," he explained. My heart warmed at that. Theo had always loved children.

He'd made it a point to guard them, even if they weren't his own. He owned all of the orphanages in Styx, held the highest protections for them, fed them, clothed them, did in-depth background checks on all of the adopters. He visited them often himself as well to ensure everything was up to code.

I could imagine Theo having children of his own, I realized in that moment, and my heart sank further as I glanced at Adonis, who was smiling at Theo, like Theo was his entire world.

Yes, I thought sadly. I knew that look. So very familiar.

"Sept? Sept!" I jumped, startled when I realized Theo was talking to me and he'd punched me in the arm, making me grimace and rub the spot.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, are you gonna show us around town or are you gonna stand there looking like a kicked puppy," Theo drawled, then paused to wrinkle his nose, "Your dad didn't tear into you about not meeting us here, did he?" I hesitated, and unfortunately that was all the time Theo needed to launch into a rant.

"What the fuck is his problem? So you weren't here right away. That's not big fucking deal, he doesn't need to climb up your ass about it. Gods, what a douche wagon. It's not like I pissed on his floor while you were gone or some shit."

"No, no," I said immediately, "It's fine. He just scolded me a little, that's all. It's no big deal, like you said." Theo eyed me suspiciously.

"He better not say shit to you while I'm here or I'm gonna turn this celebration into a nightmare."

"Please don't," Adonis and I said in unison, then glanced at each other. Theo shrugged, then looked at me with that absolutely precious smile of his.

"So how about that tour?" He asked.