"He doesn't bear the mark of Artemis!" one of them had cried out.
"Of course he does." Thanatos had come forward to see.
Zarek had taken the opportunity to get loose. He had gone for Thanatos's head with his sword.
Thanatos had stepped back and shoved the woman in front of him to protect himself.
With no time to react, Zarek stood there helplessly as she was impaled on his sword.
When she didn't explode, he realized she wasn't a Daimon after all. She was an Apollite.
Horrified, he had met her gaze and saw the tears in her eyes. He'd wanted to help her. To soothe her.
The last thing he had ever wanted was to see her hurt.
Never had he harmed a woman before... not even the woman who had accused him of raping her.
He'd hated himself then even more than he hated Artemis, hated the fact he hadn't been quicker. That he hadn't killed Thanatos instead.
One of the Apollites cried out.
A man. He rushed forward to take the woman and cradle her as she died.
The man looked up at him with hatred and rage.
It was the face of the new Thanatos.
Zarek tried to break away from Simi as he saw that. But she held him fast.
Forced him to watch his past play out.
Thanatos had grabbed him by his throat and shoved him against the wall. "Mark or no mark, you can still die if I dismember you."
Guilt-ridden over the woman, Zarek hadn't even bothered to fight. He'd just wanted it to end.
But as Thanatos went for him, Acheron had appeared out of nowhere.
"Let him go."
The remaining Daimons and Apollites had scattered in fear. Only the one man holding his now dead wife had remained.
Thanatos had turned slowly to face Ash. "And if I don't?"
Ash shot a blast from his hand into Thanatos, who instantly let go of Zarek. Zarek fell to the floor gasping for air through his swollen esophagus.
"It wasn't a choice," Ash said.
Thanatos had rushed to attack.
Ash's eyes had turned a deep, dark red. Darker than blood, they were filled with a swirling fire.
At the point where Thanatos would have attacked him, the invincible assassin disintegrated into dust.
No one had touched him.
Ash had stood there without moving, without flinching.
The lone Apollite had charged him then. Ash had whirled him around and trapped the man in his arms with his back to Ash's front. The Apollite had struggled for release, but Ash had held him effortlessly.