Zarek finished her words off with a real kiss.
A really l-o-n-g one.
Ash opened the door to the small, cramped cell where Thanatos was kept.
Part of him wanted the man's blood for Bjorn's life, which Thanatos had taken, and for the people he had hurt. Most of all, he wanted his blood for Simi and her newfound fear.
But part of him understood why Thanatos had gone mad.
He too possessed a degree of insanity. It was what had kept him alive these last eleven thousand years.
Thanatos looked up as he entered, his face pale and tormented. "Who are you?"
Ash stepped aside so that the light from outside could illuminate the poor man on the floor. "Just call me the final fate. I've come to you to grant you peace, little brother."
"You're going to kill me?"
Ash shook his head as he reached down and pulled his dagger from the sheath at Thanatos's waist. He held it up and looked at the ancient etchings that covered the blade. Like all Atlantean daggers, this one was wavy from the hilt to the point. The cross hilt was solid gold and held a large ruby at its center.
It was the dagger of a long dead people who were more myth than real. Such a treasure as this was beyond value.
In the hands of the wrong person this weapon could do more than just hurt Simi. It could destroy the very world.
A surge of rage tore through him. At times, it was next to impossible not to kill Artemis.
But that wasn't his place. Like it or not, he was here to protect her, even from her own stupidity.
Ash summoned his Atlantean powers and used them to dissolve the dagger into nothingness.
No one would ever hurt his Simi again.
And no one would destroy the world. Not while he was here to guard it.
He extended his hand to Thanatos. "Stand up, Callyx. I have a choice for you."
"How do you know my name?"
Ash waited until he had taken his hand before he pulled him to his feet and answered his question. "I know everything about you and I'm very sorry for what you lost. I'm even sorrier that I couldn't stop it."
"It was the Thanatos powers, wasn't it?" he said quietly. "The other Thanatos killed my wife, not Zarek."
Ash nodded. He had tried to erase Callyx's memory all those centuries before, but Artemis had returned the memory to the Apollite so that she could turn him into her servant.
"The humans have an old saying. Absolute power destroys absolutely."
"No," Callyx whispered. "Absolute vengeance does that."
Ash was glad to see some clarity had come to the Apollite while he'd been banished to this nether hell.
"You said you had a choice for me?" Callyx asked hesitantly.
"I have worked a bargain so that you can either be set loose in the Elysian Fields for your eternal rest or I can place you alive at your current age in Cincinnati, Ohio."
Callyx frowned. "What is Cincinnati, Ohio?"
"It's a nice city in a country called America."
"Why would I want to go there?"