There was no mercy or remorse in her gaze. "What I had to do."
One moment he was in the quiet darkness of Hades's domain and in the next, he was standing on the shores of Didymos, not far from the palace.
Or rather what was left of it.
Confused, he looked around, trying to understand what had happened to him and the land. But before he could figure it out a searing pain tore through him with such ferocity that it drove him to his knees in the surf.
Acheron cried out, wanting it to stop.
Suddenly, Artemis was there before him. Gathering him into her arms, she held him close as the waves crashed against them. "I had to bring you back."
He shoved her away from him as he looked around at the smoldering remains of Didymos. "What have you done?"
"I didn't do this. Your mother did. She's destroyed everything and everyone who ever went near you. And she was coming to kill us on Olympus. It's why I had to bring you back. She would have killed us all had I not."
He glared so hard at her, he was sure his eyes were red. "You think I give a damn about that?" He started away from her, only to be frozen in place by the pain tearing at his stomach. The agony caused him to double over as he struggled to breathe.
Artemis approached him slowly. She stood above him, looking down. "I'm the one in control here, Acheron. I've bound you to me with my blood. I own you."
Those three words set fire to his wrath. He felt the familiar heat ripple over him as his human appearance gave way to that of his god form. Rising against the pain, he held his hand out and brought Artemis into his grasp. "You seriously underestimate my powers, bitch."
She clutched at his hand, trying to loosen his feral grip. "Kill me and you'll become the worst sort of monster imaginable. You need my blood to maintain any sort of sanity. Without it, you will become a mindless killer, seeking only to destroy any and everyone you come into contact with . . . just like your mother."
Acheron roared with frustration. The bitch had thought of everything. Even as a god, he was still a slave. "I hate you."
"I know."
He shoved her away from him and turned his back on her.
"Acheron, did you not hear what I said? You will have to feed from me."
He ignored her as he made the long trek from the beach to the hill where the royal palace had once stood. Now there was nothing left but smoldering ashes and busted stones. There were bodies of servants and merchants everywhere.
Tears filled his eyes as he ran through the debris, seeking a sign of Ryssa or Apollodorus. Aching and broken, he used his powers to move stone and marble until he uncovered the room that had been hers.
There in the wreckage he found three of the diaries she'd so meticulously kept. They were a little scarred by fire, but miraculously, they'd somehow survived intact. He opened the first one and stared at her childish writing as she described the very day he'd been born and the joy she'd felt at having twin brothers. Wiping his tears, he closed it and held it close to his heart as he heard her voice in her words.
His precious sister was gone and it was all his fault.
Aching from the truth of that, he saw one of the silver hair combs he'd given her . . .
He crawled over to it and placed it against his lips. "I'm so sorry I failed you, Ryssa. I'm so sorry."
As he sat there, it hit him how pathetic it was that all he had to show for a life so vibrant, a soul so beautiful, were such minuscule things. Three diaries and a broken hair comb. That was all that was left of his precious sister. Leaning his head back, he sobbed from the pain of it all.
"Apostolos . . . please don't cry."
He felt his mother's presence. "What have you done, Matera?"
"I wanted them to pay for hurting you."
Did it even matter? What they'd done to him was nothing compared to what had been done this day. "And now Artemis owns me."
His mother's scream mirrored his own. "How?"
"She's bound me to her with her blood."
He could feel his own anger through his mother's voice. "Come to me, Apostolos. Free me and I will destroy that bitch and those bastards who cursed you."
Acheron shook his head. He should do it. He should. They all deserved nothing better and yet he couldn't bring himself to destroy the world. To kill innocent people . . .
His mother appeared before him as a translucent shade. Acheron sucked his breath in sharply as he saw her for the very first time. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Hair as white as new-fallen snow fell from a crown that shimmered with diamonds. Her pale, silver eyes swirled just as his did. Her black dress flowed over her body as she held one hand out to him.
He tried to touch her, but his hand passed through hers.
"You are my son, Apostolos. The only thing in my life that I've ever truly loved. I would give my life for yours. Come to me, child. I want to hold you."
He treasured every word she spoke. "I can't, Matera. Not if that means sacrificing the world. I refuse to be so selfish."
"Why would you protect a world that turned its back on you?"
"Because I know what it's like to be punished for things not my fault. I know what it's like to have things forced on me that were wrong and against my will. Why would I ever serve that to someone else?"
"Because it would be justice!"
He glanced around at the scattered bodies. "No. It would only be cruel. Justice to the humans has been more than served."
Her eyes flashed angrily. "What of Apollo and Artemis?"
He ground his teeth at the mere mention of their names. "They hold the power of the sun and the moon. I can't destroy them."
"I can."
Thus she'd destroy the entire earth and all who lived here. It was why he couldn't free her. "I'm not worth the end of the world, Matera."
Her eyes burned him with her sincerity. "To me you are."
In that moment, he would have sold his soul to be able to hold her. "I love you, Mama."
"Nowhere near as much as I love you, m'gios."