#sebastos

Chapter 15 is up. I apparently haven't posted a link to an update since chapter 11, so if you go by Tumblr updates and not an AO3 notif, there's been several new chapters.

“By the way, your brother has an extremely twisted sense of humor.” Ash arched a brow at Tory’s comment. “What are you talking about?” “I asked him for his address and this is what he sent.” She held her phone out to him. Styxx Anaxkolasi 13 Phlegethon Way Tartarus, Hades 88888 Lightly smiling in spite of that fact it aggravated him, Acheron rolled his eyes. “I particularly appreciate his surname.” “Yeah, king of hell. I thought you would. And I love that his zip code is unhappiness repeated. Oh and the 13 for Hades and his river of fire. Even his Lord Darkness would find that hysterical. Think I should shoot an email with it over to Persephone?” “Sure. Why not?” Tory paused at the look on Ash’s face. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be amused.” “I’m just wondering why you asked for it.” She was aghast at his words. “Tell me you’re not jealous.” He wouldn’t even look her in the eye. “Acheron…” she chided. “Really?” This time when he met her gaze, the anger and hatred in those swirling silver eyes took her aback. “We have a bad history, Sota. And you’ve no idea how bad. Suffice it to say, I’d rather you keep your distance from him…. Eleven thousand years later, his paybacks still burn and make me want to draw his blood.” Her heart lurched at the agony he tried so hard to conceal. No one else would hear it in his voice, but she did. She was well aware of every nuance of his moods. Since he’d always refused to talk about his brother or to him, she’d known their past had to be brutal. But this was such an innocent contact that she hadn’t considered how much it would bother him. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I only wanted to send him a thank you note.” He curled his lip. “Thank you for what? Making my life miserable?” She swallowed as she reconsidered showing him what Styxx had sent for Sebastos’s birthday. Would it upset him even more? But there was no missing the suspicion Ash had over her emailing his brother. Better to allay it before it grew. The imagination was far deadlier than the simple truth. Taking her phone back, she went to Bas’s room, then returned with the ancient box and handed it to Ash. “He sent that to my office at work for Bas’s birthday. There was no return address on it. Just the small note wishing him a happy birthday. It wasn’t even signed.” “Then how do you know it was from Styxx?” “Open it.” Ash wasn’t sure what to expect. Severed head… statue of an obscene gesture… poison. He had no idea, but when he pushed the tissue paper aside and found an old hand carved horse, his heart stopped. No. It couldn’t be… He picked it up and turned it over. Etched on the bottom, in ancient Greek were the words- To Acheron From Ryssa. Love always. Tears filled his eyes as he remembered his sister giving it to him for his birthday when he’d barely been more than a toddler. “I figured it had to come from Styxx. Who else would have had it?” Ash had to force himself not to splinter it as he remembered giving it to Styxx when they’d been kids so that his brother could hold on to it for him. “The bastard mocks me.” Tory scowled at him. “How?” “Why else would he send this if not to hurt me?” “Maybe he sent it because he thought you’d like to have it for your son. He has to know how much you love Ryssa and he probably thought that you’d like to have the gift she gave you.” Ash returned the horse to the box. “You give him too much credit.” “Maybe. And maybe you don’t give him enough.” The look on his face cut right through her. “Do not ever defend him to me,” he growled. “He was born a selfish bastard and he remains one to this day.” She held her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll lose his email and block the account. Not that I think he’ll ever use it. As you can see, his response was quite terse, and… obviously he doesn’t mean for me to contact him again.” “Thank you.” She inclined her head, then started to leave. Yet she couldn’t help adding one last thing. “I swear I’m going to drop the subject and never mention this again, but I have to ask one thing… Why would he hang on to that for almost twelve thousand years and keep it so pristine if he truly hated you and is as selfish as you claim? It looks brand new, and I of all people know how hard it is to maintain something that old in that condition for this amount of time. That just doesn’t strike me as a labor of hatred, but rather one of love.”