Styxx (DH #33) (16 page)

He couldn’t stand being around strangers. At all. Nor did he care for hunting.

How do I get out of this?

Maybe Galen could break my arm again.…

But the worst part? He had a bad feeling in his stomach that something awful was going to happen. He just didn’t know what.

August 19, 9533 BC

Styxx couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad his father and uncle had done this for him. It was wonderful to be off without his father nagging him and Ryssa’s constant bitching. No tutors telling him how stupid he was. No glancing down hallways to make sure his mother wasn’t there before he walked them. No wanton maids or women grabbing for his cock.

Even with his head throbbing, it was great.

I could definitely live like this for a while.

“Here.” Estes gave him a handful of dried meat as they hid near a brook, waiting for deer to sniff out the bait they’d left for them.

Styxx quickly ate it. “That’s delicious. What’s in it?”

“A special herb that’s only grown in Atlantis. We have nothing like it here in Greece.”

“You should import it. You could make a fortune.”

Estes smiled. “So they tell me.” He handed Styxx a wineskin.

Styxx took a quick drink then lowered it as he heard leaves rustling where they’d dropped bait. Pulling his bow up, he nocked his arrow then leaned to sight it.

Estes moved to stand behind him, so close that he could feel his uncle’s breath falling on the back of his neck. “Steady. Hold the shot.”

His head cocked, Styxx waited.

“Lift your elbow,” Estes whispered in his ear. He gently pushed it up to show Styxx how to stand properly. “Hips straight.” His uncle dropped his hands to Styxx’s hips and twisted them slightly. As he did so, Estes’s groin pressed up against his buttocks, letting him know his uncle was
fully
erect.

Styxx’s eyes widened in shock.

“Release!”

Completely unaware of the arrow’s trajectory, Styxx let it fly and quickly stepped out of his uncle’s embrace so that there was some distance between them.

But Estes acted as if nothing had happened.

Had he imagined it?

Estes smiled. “You got him, little squirrel! Congratulations.”

His thoughts still on the disturbing intimate contact, and whether or not it was intentional, Styxx blinked, not understanding what Estes had said.

Xan clapped him on the shoulder as he joined them. “Great shot, Styxx.”

Only then did Styxx realize he’d made the kill. The other men were already at the deer, inspecting it. Noe had a small cup he was using to capture some of the deer’s blood.

“What are you doing?” Styxx asked him.

“It’s your first kill. You always drink the blood of your first.” Noe held the cup up for him to take.

Grimacing in distaste, Styxx hesitated.

“It’s all right,” Estes said from behind him. He pulled out the wineskin and more of the dried meat. “I have this ready to banish the taste. But it is a rite of passage we all take.”

Xan took Styxx’s bow and smiled at Estes.

Not sure about this, Styxx lifted the cup of blood. Closing his eyes, he drank it then shivered in revulsion as the salty, metallic taste assaulted his taste buds.

Gah … how could a god stomach drinking human blood?

“Here.” Estes swapped the meat for the cup.

Styxx quickly shoved it in his mouth and chewed it then drank the wine. His uncle was right again. It thankfully killed the taste immediately.

“We’ll all dine well tonight.” Leon grinned at his friends.

Kastor winked at Leon. “Good thing, too, for I am long famished for the hindquarters of an unsullied buck. Even if it means sharing him with the lot of you.”

They all laughed.

Frowning, Styxx didn’t understand what was so funny about his comment.

“So who gets to clean our meal?” Nestor asked.

Estes tossed his dagger to land at Nestor’s feet. “It’s your turn to skin and cook the venison. And the five of you can draw straws for dessert.” His uncle put his hands on Styxx’s shoulders to guide him away from the others. “Come, Styxx. Let’s get that blood off you.”

“What blood?”

“On your chiton.”

Looking down, Styxx cringed as he realized he’d spilled some of the deer’s blood on his clothes.
I am completely incompetent
.

What else was new?

Estes grabbed his saddlebag and led him to where the brook widened to a stream. He handed soap and towel to Styxx. “You might as well bathe the day’s sweat off, too.”

While Styxx went to clean himself, Estes started a small fire. By the time he returned for his clothes, his uncle was sitting on a blanket, mixing herbs into a small clay pot.

“What are you doing?”

Estes motioned him closer. “Have you ever heard of Eycharistisi?”

Styxx shook his head. “What is it?”

“Another special plant they grow in Atlantis. Truly, it is a place of wonder and marvel. They have the most advanced medicine you’ve ever seen.” Estes set fire to the herbs then blew the flames down to low embers. “Would you like to try some?”

Styxx hesitated. They didn’t look particularly appetizing, but then neither did the meat, and it was exceptionably tasty. Kneeling beside his uncle, he reached out to take the herbs with his fingers.

Pulling the pot back, Estes laughed. “You don’t eat them, dear boy. You inhale their fragrance.” He held up a small cup that was attached to the pot. “Put this over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply.”

“Is it safe?”

“Very. You know I’d never hurt you. I love you too much for that.”

You are definitely going to enjoy this, little squirrel.…

Styxx scowled at his uncle’s thought. “What does it do?”

“It’ll ease your headache and the soreness you had from the ride out here.”

He’d do anything short of cutting his head off to get the throbbing pain to lessen. Between his uncle, Estes’s five friends, and the four guards who rode with them, his head had been nothing but a cacophonous mess of their thoughts. They were so overwhelming, he couldn’t even understand more than a random word or two at a time.

If this worked to silence the noise, he’d buy bushels of it.

Pulling the cup to his face, Styxx did as Estes had instructed. It smelled like some exotic fruit and it made his head reel. But the best part was that it completely shut out the voices of the gods and people in his head.

For that silence alone, he was grateful beyond measure.

“Here. Have more wine.”

Styxx took the skin and drank deeply of it. But this was different from what he’d had earlier. Spicier. It hit his stomach then fanned out through his veins with a warm thickness he could feel. The calmest peace he’d ever known settled over him, like he was sleeping while awake.

Then out of nowhere, his body felt as if it was engulfed in flames. He blew cold air across his skin.

Estes took the wine from his hand and set it aside. “It’s all right, Styxx. Don’t fight it.”

Don’t fight what? It burned and ached. He rubbed at his neck, trying to cool down his flesh. “I’m so hot.…”

“It’ll pass in a minute.”

Styxx licked his suddenly dry lips as the fire in his body went lower … straight to his groin. The instant it did, it gave him an erection unlike any he’d ever had before. Every part of his body ached with a ferocious need to be touched. Eyes wide, he stared at Estes, who smiled.

Estes moved to sit behind him. Rising onto his knees, he brushed the hair back from Styxx’s face and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Are you virgin still?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly afraid, Styxx tried to get up, but Estes held him fast. Before he could escape, his uncle pinned him facedown on the ground with his arm twisted behind his back. Panic filled him as he realized what his uncle had planned for him.

Praying he was wrong, he cringed as Estes buried his hand in Styxx’s hair and used his knees to wedge Styxx’s thighs apart. “What are you doing, Uncle?”

Estes tossed his chiton down beside them and pressed his naked body to Styxx’s. “You’ve no idea how hard it’s been for me to wait until you were old enough for this. I was forced to sell Acheron’s virginity to recoup the loan I had to make for his training. But yours, little squirrel, I intend to savor taking for hours to come.”

August 28, 9533 BC

“We have to sober him up.”

“Do we really have to?”

“One more day, Estes. We can take him back on the morrow.”

“If we keep him any longer, my brother will send out a search party. He is the royal heir, after all, and we are deep in his father’s kingdom.”

“Yes, but I want to be buried deep in Styxx’s kingdom one last time.”

They laughed.

“Come on, Estes. I just want one more ride on the royal stallion.”

His head spinning, Styxx tried his best to focus as they talked over him, but he couldn’t. Someone poured something warm down his throat. Bitter, it caused him to sputter and choke.

Then it made him heave violently.

Estes rolled him over as his stomach unloaded itself. Repeatedly. It went on for so long that Styxx didn’t think he’d ever stop regurgitating.

But finally his stomach settled and his vision began to clear. Completely weak, naked, and sore, with bruises all over his body, he lay on top of a stained blanket.

“Come on, boy,” Estes said, his voice distorted and slow to Styxx’s drug-numbed mind. “We need to get you washed and cleaned.”

It wasn’t until Styxx was waist-deep in the stream that he began to recall the last week he’d been with his uncle.…

You know, Estes, you should bring him to Atlantis. I’d pay you a fortune for a go at him and his brother at the same time.

No, better yet, to watch the two of them have a go at each other.

Styxx covered his ears, trying to blot out things he didn’t want to remember hearing. Things he didn’t want to remember doing …

Absolute horror consumed him. He started to bolt, but Estes caught him and held him tight against his naked body.

“Shh. Calm yourself.”

“You … you…” Styxx couldn’t bring himself to say that his uncle and friends had gang-raped him.

Repeatedly.

Their laughter while they swapped turns with him echoed in his ears. Tears gathered in his eyes as shame filled every inch of his bloodied heart. How could the uncle he’d loved so much have done this to him?

Gods, his father trusted this man. He’d brought him into their home.…

Estes tightened his hold on him. “You wanted to be a man, like Acheron. Now you are.”

No, his uncle had used him like he was a chamber pot set there to service his needs, with no regards to his feelings or humanity. Worse than that, the bastard had whored him for his friends.

Styxx’s legs buckled as he remembered Estes laughing after he’d finished with him the first time.
I’ve cracked his tight little ass for you. Now who wants to break it in good?

Oh gods … Now he understood some of the phantom pains he’d felt on the most private places of his body. And he knew exactly what Estes had done with his brother.

“Acheron’s your whore.”

Estes smiled proudly. “You’re not as well trained as he is yet, but one day you’ll be as good a fuck, I promise.”

Styxx shoved at him and tried to run, but he slipped on the rocks and fell into the water.

Estes grabbed him again. “Don’t be like that, little stallion. Acheron enjoys it. He even begs for my cock. As his twin, you will, too.”

Shame, horror, and agony shredded his soul. “You’re disgusting! Pervert! I’m going to tell my father what you’ve done!”

The humor fled his uncle’s face at that threat. Seizing Styxx’s arms in a brutal grip, he glared at him with fury. “And who do you think Xerxes will believe? His beloved younger brother who has stood at his back and protected
his
secrets, or the son of a drunken, demented whore who’s already been treated for mental instability? You breathe one word of this to him and I’ll not only ensure you never inherit the throne, I’ll make you a permanent Dionysion resident. And once your father abandons you there, I’ll bribe the priests and take you to Atlantis where you can join your brother as a high-priced piece of ass I rent out to anyone with enough coin.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” Estes ran his tongue down Styxx’s throat then laughed. “Fucking you, little squirrel, almost makes being away from Acheron tolerable. Now be a good boy and wash yourself or I shall do it for you.” He dropped his hand to illustrate his offer.

Styxx vomited again.

Estes shoved him away. “Clean yourself and be quick about it or I’ll give Nestor his additional day with you.”

Abashed and shaken, Styxx sank down in the water, wishing himself dead. He felt so unclean. So filthy and fouled. And as he washed himself, he remembered their hands on him as they violated every part of his body.

In that moment a deep-seated rage seized him and he wanted to lash out and kill them all. Why had his powers failed to warn him when he needed them most? Why?

Because there had been too many of them with Estes. Their thoughts had trampled over each other’s and the gods’ and his own to the point he hadn’t been able to discern any of them singularly. It was part of what gave him such bad headaches.

“Damn you!” he screamed. But the words were directed more at himself than anyone else.

Why did I ever trust Estes?

He knew better. No one could ever be trusted. How could he have forgotten that one vital lesson?

Because Estes had shown him kindness when no one else had. He was family and family wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to love each other. Protect each other.

Says who?

Styxx laughed bitterly at his thought.
That
was the truth. Ryssa would be thrilled beyond measure to see him used like this and reduced to the level of a common whore.

I hope you get what you deserve.
How many times had she said that to him?
Someone needs to take you down a notch
.