Swallowing the pain that never ceased, Styxx stepped back and fell into nothing.
Winds rushed over his falling body, whipping his hair and clothes. It seemed to take forever before he hit the water. He slammed into it so hard, he swore every bone in his body shattered. The waves rushed over him, dragging him down to the frigid depths of the vibrant blue sea. He swallowed and choked on the water as it violently invaded his body then sputtered and coughed.
Everything went black.
But after a brief period of nothing, he was still alive.
Even underwater …
How? It couldn’t be possible. It couldn’t. Yet, the surf carried him to shore and threw him roughly against it.
Battered and bruised, he lay on the sand, aching and freezing.
And dismally alive.
I can’t even die right. How pathetic am I?
As he lay there in more pain than he’d ever known, a raw, hateful truth slapped him in the face. The gods had no intention of sparing him even one heartbeat of the misery they’d damned him to. They wouldn’t even allow him death as a way to escape it.
You sick bastards!
He would cry at the despair he felt, but there were no more tears in his eyes. Why bother? All tears had ever done was cause him to be beaten more.
Disgusted, he dragged himself out of the water and staggered up the shoreline. One ankle felt badly sprained. Maybe his arm, too. Not that it mattered.
Nothing mattered now that he knew his real place in the world. Not to be king or prince.
Not even to be human …
I am damned and cursed. Forever.
With a ragged sigh, he crawled up to the road and paused as he saw how far he’d have to go to get home. Had he been whole, it would have been too damned far.
As he was right now …
“I’ll never make it.” Not like this.
Maybe some bandits will …
What?
Kill him?
He laughed at their imagined stunned dismay when they learned he was immortal then winced as pain tore through his entire body. There was no use in lying here. It wouldn’t do any good.
Pushing himself up, he stumbled along the road as best he could.
After a while, he saw a small break in the trees on his right that led to a peaceful, bubbling stream. Needing to rest for a few minutes, he headed for it.
He was so focused on getting a simple drink of water, that he didn’t notice the tiny girl with a fishing pole until she shot to her feet with a cry of alarm. She brandished a small knife in front of her with enough skill to say she was well proficient at its use.
For a full minute, he couldn’t breathe at the sight of her. She was beauty incarnate. Yet not the same as Ryssa’s perfect fragile beauty. With bright tawny skin and thick black hair, she had eyes the color of light, precious greenish-gold. Her red and white gown draped over her lean body and highlighted the fact that she was very nicely proportioned. Lusciously so … She was also a lot taller than his sister. But she was still tiny in comparison to him.
He’d never in his life seen anything more inviting … More beautiful or pure.
“Who are you?” she demanded, gripping her knife even tighter. “You touch me and I’ll stab you, I swear it.”
Styxx frowned as he realized by the way she moved her head and arm that she was completely blind, and he felt like a total shit for terrifying her.
“Please,” he said, struggling to breathe through his pain. “Calm yourself. I’m sorry I scared you, and I mean you no harm. Even if I did, I’m in no shape to do anything more than bleed on you in my current condition. I promise you, girl, I have much more to fear from you than you do from me.”
She straightened up and finally lowered the knife. “How old are you?”
“Ten-and-six. Now please, I just need to sit for a moment to catch my breath and then I’ll leave you to your … whatever it is you’re doing.” He sank to his knees and groaned out loud.
She returned her knife to the sheath on her wrist. “Are you all right?”
“Yes…” He hissed as more pain lacerated his middle. “No. Not really. I…”
What was he going to say? He jumped off a cliff, trying to die, only to find out he was immortal?
Not a wise confession by any means.
“My horse threw me.”
She tsked in sympathy for him. “You poor thing. Do I need to get you help?”
He caught himself before he laughed at her offer. Really, there was no help for him.
Still, it was one of the kindest things anyone had ever offered where he was concerned. “Thanks, but that’s all right. I just need a moment to sit and try to remember how to breathe.” Styxx leaned over the water to splash his face and wash some of the blood and sweat away. His hand shook as his stomach heaved from the agony of it all.
In one heartbeat, against his best efforts, he collapsed into the water. It took several seconds before he was able to push himself back to the bank. Great … now I’m covered with mud, too. Leave it to him to look like a complete, incompetent ass in front of the most beautiful girl he’d ever met.
One who wasn’t trying to molest him.
She crawled toward him, patting gently against the ground until she located his leg. Slowly, she made her way up his hip and back to his shoulder and then head. She pulled back the moment she touched his cheek. “You’re bleeding.”
“Sorry … here…” He ripped a part of his chiton off and used it to clean her hand for her.
She frowned at his actions. “Why are you cleaning my hand when you’re the one bleeding?”
“I didn’t want you to soil your gown.”
“But you’re bleeding.” She was incredulous.
“It’s all right. Really. I do that a lot.”
She took his makeshift cloth from his hand to the water and dampened it then returned to gently bathe his injured cheek.
Lying on his back, Styxx closed his eyes at the tenderness of her graceful hand on his skin. She smelled like lilies and eucalyptus. Of warmth and sunshine. And a part of him wondered if her glowing, flawless skin would taste as sweet as it appeared. “What’s your name?”
“Bethany.”
He repeated it silently, savoring the beautiful syllables of a name he’d never heard before.
“And you are?”
He caught himself before he automatically answered. Like hers, his name was unusual, especially for a man. If she heard it, she’d know immediately who he was, and he didn’t want her to hate him the way everyone else did. To her, he wasn’t the spoiled, idiot prince. He was just …
An incompetent, idiot commoner.
“Hector.”
She smiled at him. “Hector, do you know where your horse is?”
“I fear he went in search of a more competent rider who wouldn’t embarrass him in the future.”
She laughed out loud. A light, sweet sound that made his heart skip a beat. She pressed her lips together. “How can you joke when you’re in so much pain?”
“To hear you laugh, my lady, I’d gladly throw myself off a hundred cliffs.”
Cocking her head, she frowned. “Are you flirting with me, Hector?”
Was he?
“I … I don’t know.”
She widened her hazel-gold eyes. “You don’t know?”
“I’m not exactly experienced with women, my lady. I don’t normally converse with them. So I’m not sure if this would be considered flirting or not.”
She pulled back to rinse out the cloth. “What do you do that you’re not around women?”
Ah … damn. What did normal people do? Did men interact with women in a regular life? He had no way of knowing.
“I … um … I work with my father. The only girl I’m around is my sister and we don’t really talk. And I definitely don’t flirt with her.”
“I should hope not.” Smiling again, she moved her hand down his neck, feeling for more injuries. In spite of the exc
ruciating pain he was in, her touch set fire to his blood. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something familiar and comforting about her. As if he’d known her forever.
“Why are you here alone, Bethany? Is there no one watching over you?”
She pulled back.
He caught her hand in his and held it gently. “I-I didn’t mean it that way. I merely worry that you’re here with no protector.”
“I have my knife.”
“And I admire that about you, but…”
“I come here often to sit and fish. Usually no one disturbs me.”
No doubt the last thing she wanted was a cursed, bleeding whore to ruin the rest of her morning. “Forgive me, my lady.” Styxx rolled to his side to leave.
“Hector? What are you doing?”
“I’ll leave you to your peace. I know what it’s like to need time alone and not have it. Forgive my intrusion on yours.”
She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and nudged him back down. “You’re not intruding. Now lie still and let me make sure nothing’s broken. If it is, I shall go get help and be back.”
“I’m really quite fine, my lady. I’ve already limped and crawled a good distance. I just need a moment to rest before I continue on my way.” Sucking his breath in, he placed his hand to his eye.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, my lady. I have headaches that plague me often, and as my luck would ever have it, I have one trying to cleave my skull in half right now. ’Cause I’m just not in enough pain to suit the gods.”
She tsked. “Poor Hector. Here…” Ignoring the fact he was dripping wet, she lifted his head and placed it in her lap. “I’ve been told that I have a healing touch when it comes to such things.”
He started to deny it, but the moment she sank her hands into his damp hair and began to rub his scalp, it lessened the agony immediately. The voices that ever tormented him grew so faint, he could barely hear them. Even her thoughts were hidden from him. It was so wonderful to hear nothing …
Sighing in blissful peace, he closed his eyes and savored her sweet scent and her precious, soothing touch. For the first time in his life, even though he was wet, bleeding, and injured, he was warm and content.
He took a deep breath of her sweet smell and smiled.
Bethany paused as she realized Hector had fallen asleep in her lap while she played in his soft curls. Should I be offended? But then he was hurt badly. Even though he’d denied it, she had felt his numerous injuries and the blood that stained his clothes and skin. She could smell it.
As a goddess, she had the power to heal him, but refrained. It would make him suspicious, and even though he was nothing more than a mere human, she’d enjoyed their peculiar brief exchange. No one had ever been so preciously sweet with her. So considerate. Not unless they wanted something, and she despised such false people.
She preferred to be liked for herself, not for her powers or favors.
But that was the way it worked. People groveled, gods bartered, and she never had a moment’s peace from their machinations and schemes. It was why she came here whenever she could to be alone with her thoughts and pretend for a while that she was normal …
Whatever normal was.
Closing her eyes, she tried to picture what her mysterious Hector looked like. If she went into her goddess form, she’d be able to see him. But then she might be terribly disappointed. He was human after all, and she was used to the extraordinary beauty of the gods.
No. Better to use her imagination than risk finding out he was a hideous toad. Besides, if she appeared as a god in Greece, the Olympians would throw down a tantrum. Gods didn’t handle other gods invading their territories without an express invitation well. And they had enough trouble with Greece. They didn’t need a war to break out over some peasant boy and her curiosity.
She carefully brushed her hands over him. His face was finely boned and perfectly proportioned. He had a long aquiline nose and hair as soft as a bird’s wing. It curled around her fingers and the manly stubble along his jaw teased her flesh. His lips were full and soft, unlike his body that was rock hard and toned. By the length of his arms and size of his hands, she could tell he was as tall as a god, or an Atlantean. But his accent had been decidedly Greek. His voice deep, husky, and pleasant.
Given that he was Greek, she shouldn’t even be talking to him. While they were no longer at war with the Greeks, their truce was a very fragile thing and she didn’t trust the Greeks not to break it.
Any day now, they could be back at war.
But her Hector wasn’t a politician and he wasn’t a god. No god would ever be stranded in the poor shape he was in.
He would need his horse to get home.
Using as little of her powers as she could, she searched the ether until she found it and then she called it to her. It took a few minutes, but finally the horse came and nudged her shoulder.
“You were wicked to throw your master,” she said gently to the horse. “Try not to hurt him in the future.”
The horse whinnied then went off to graze. Bethany hummed and sang while Hector slumbered peacefully in her lap. She didn’t know why, but his presence soothed her even though he was unconscious. There had been something so sweetly sincere about him. So innocent and honest. Humble.
Things she was not used to.
While she’d taken a handful of lovers through the centuries, none had ever made her feel like this …
Protective of them.
How very strange.
He’s like a pet. That was what her mother would call him. Yet that didn’t describe it either. She brushed her hand along his cheek where his whiskers teased her fingers. She wanted to run her tongue along it, yet she didn’t want to scare or offend him.
I don’t know what it is about you, Hector …
But she wanted to kiss his firm, parted lips. Instead, she brushed a kiss to his forehead and let the warm, masculine scent of his skin wash over her.
“Sleep well, my sweet.” She’d much rather play in his soft hair than fish anyway.
* * *
Styxx came awake to the most amazing sound in the world. It was a low, gentle contralto. And someone was stroking his cheek.…
Afraid it was his uncle molesting him, he shot up with a curse to find the alarmed face of beauty incarnate.
“Hector?” That sweet gasp made him feel like a complete ass that he’d startled her again.
“Bethany, I’m sorry. I forgot where I was. Did I fall asleep?”
She nodded. “For several hours now.”
He looked up at the sky that confirmed what she told him. The sun was well past noon. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to keep you. I hope you’re not in trouble.”
Reaching out to touch his face, she smiled. “I am not in trouble at all. I was beginning to worry about you, though. I’m glad you’re finally awake.”
Reluctantly, Styxx pulled back from her tender touch, amazed that his head no longer hurt at all. And still the voices were silent. It was so strange to be with someone and have no idea whatsoever what they thought of him.
“And look…” She held her hand out toward the water. “Your horse has returned.”
He smiled at the fact that Troian was on the opposite side of where she gestured. “So he has. Apparently, he likes to be embarrassed, after all.”
“I’m sure you didn’t embarrass him.”
Styxx got up slowly. While his body wasn’t completely healed, it was much better now than it’d been when he passed out in her lap. “I’ve taken up enough of your day, my lady. I won’t bother you anymore.”
“You were hardly a bother.”
She was far too gentle and sweet.
“I don’t know about that. I bled on your beautiful dress and used you for a pillow. I can’t see how I’m anything but a nuisance.”
“My dress will wash and it wasn’t a hardship to sit with you while you slept.”
“Thank you, my lady. You’re very
kind. Would you like for me to help you to your feet?”
“That’s very gallant of you.” She held her hand out in a dainty, feminine gesture.
Styxx clasped her hand in both of his and helped her rise. She was as tiny as he’d suspected. She barely reached his shoulders. Her soft hair fell against the flesh of his arm in a light caress that quickened his heartbeat. He felt a sudden desire to bury his face in those dark tresses and inhale the scent of her skin until he was drunk with it. A scent that now clung to him and his clothes, making him so hard that it was impossible to think straight with her near him.
“Would you like me to take you home?” he asked.
“It’s unnecessary.” She wiggled her fingers inside his hand. “And I’m on my feet now. You can let go.”
Heat exploded over his cheeks as he released her hand even though he didn’t want to. “Is there any way I can thank you for your kindness today?”
She frowned. “You don’t have to pay me for being kind, Hector.”
“You’re very different from the people I’ve known. They all expect some form of recompense for any charitable act.”
She rose up on her tiptoes to whisper to his shoulder as opposed to his ear. “I am not one of those people. But there is one thing I think I should like.”
He smiled at the sweetness of her actions. “Anything.”
“So long as the sun shines, I am here at the beginning and end of every week. Should your horse ever throw you again on one of those days, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing you here as you rest on your way home.”
His heart pounded at those words. “Really?”
She nodded. “I’ll be here tomorrow, too.”
“Then I shall be here, and I promise I won’t soil your gown.” He took her hand one last time and placed a chaste kiss over her knuckles. “Safe journey home, my lady.”
She curtsied to him. “And to you, my lord.”
His heart lighter than he could ever remember it being, Styxx swung himself up on his horse and took a moment to watch her gracefully gather together her items.
She paused. “Are you watching me, Hector?”
Her abilities amazed him. “I couldn’t help myself, gentle Bethany. You are too beautiful for words and I don’t just mean your face. You move with such grace and assuredness that it takes my breath.”
Styxx (DH #33) Page 21