With tears in his eyes, he watched as she vanished and left him alone again in Artemis's room. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
I have a daughter...
It seemed so unbelievable.
"Are you angry at me, Apostolos?"
He clenched his teeth at the sound of his mother's voice in his head. "No, Metera. I'm just hurt that you kept her from me."
"I would rather you be angry at me. Your hurt makes me ache."
"I'm sorry."
"Why do you apologize when I'm the one in the wrong?"
"Because I would never hurt you for anything."
His mother appeared to him then as a pale Shade. "Come home, Apostolos. Free me and I will make sure you never hurt again."
He shook his head. "I can't, Metera. You know that."
She let out a tired breath. "One day, my child, you will seize the destiny you were born to."
Ash hoped not. If he did, the world would end.
Kat manifested back in Sin's penthouse. He was right where she'd left him by his bar, looking just as gorgeous.
He stood up from the bar stool and crossed the short distance between them. She could see the worry in his eyes. "Did you find him?" he asked anxiously.
She shook her head at the irony. She'd gone to find his brother and instead had found her father.
"Not exactly. But my father gave me this." She lifted the tiny red ball on her chest up so that Sin could see it. "He said it would lead us to Zakar."
A deep scowl marred his brow. "You met your father?"
She nodded.
"Are you all right?" His concern warned her a lot more than it should have. It was so touching.
"Yeah. In a weird way, I think I am."
He approached her slowly and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I really am."
There was a tenderness on his face that she couldn't even begin to fathom. But it only lasted until his next question.
"So did he kill Artemis?"
Well, that was certainly an "ah" mood killer that wasn't helped by the eagerness of his tone. "Sin!"
"What?" he asked, his face a mask of innocence. "It's a legitimate question. I hope he cut her head off and stuck on a pike."
Men! Or more to the point, Sin! He was terrible. "Sorry to disappoint you, but she's still breathing."
"Damn," he said in a low tone. "Just once couldn't he give that-"
She arched a warning brow at him before he used the noun she despised.