Soldiers were dragging his brother down the stairs, toward the front door. Terrified, Styxx ran after them. He didn't catch up until they were in the drive outside. He tried to reach his brother, but his father held him back while Estes carried Acheron away in his arms.
Styxx glared at his father. "What's going on?"
"Estes is taking him to live in Atlantis."
That was an even harder blow than the one that still stung his face. "What? No! No!"
Styxx tried to break out of his father's hold to get to his brother, who was fighting Estes every bit as hard.
"It's for the best. He's a danger to all of us, especially you."
How could they be so stupid? His brother was the only one who would never intentionally hurt him. "Acheron! Please, Father! Don't take my brother from me! Please!"
"Styxx!" Acheron held his hands out toward him while Styxx did everything he could to get to him.
No one listened to them. Nor did they take pity or mercy on the boys.
Heartbroken, Styxx fought his father's hold and watched as his uncle and brother rode out of sight. And as they went, he knew that Estes hadn't just taken his brother from him.
He'd taken everything....
Completely devastated by the loss of Acheron's company, Styxx pushed the door open to Ryssa's room. Her sobs had been relentless. For hours now, he'd listened to her give free vocal rein to the same emotions that flogged him. But if he cried as she did for Acheron, his father would have him beaten for it.
The desolate loneliness was terrible. It was as if someone had cut off his arm and thrashed him with it. He felt bereft and betrayed. Without Acheron, he had no one to turn to. No one to talk to. No one who would hug him or make sure he was all right when he hurt.
He was all alone and completely desperate for something to hold on to, even if it meant embracing the big sister who hated him.
"Ryssa?"
She pulled away from her nurse who'd been holding her, trying to comfort her pain. Drawing a ragged breath, she glared at him as if it was his fault Acheron was gone. "What do you want, you selfish little beast?"
Styxx bit his lip in indecision. Her mood was extremely volatile. But what did he have to lose now? "I could be your little brother, too ... like Acheron."
She curled her lip as more tears fell down her face. "You? You're the reason they took my brother from me. Just because you look like him, it doesn't make you what he is. You could never be my Acheron. You're just a poor copy of him. Get out of my sight. You sicken me." Wailing, she buried her head against her nurse's shoulder. The old woman patted her lovingly while they ignored him entirely.
"But I could love you, too, sister. If you'd let me."
Shrieking, she shot from her nurse and grabbed his arm. "I don't want your love, you brat. You know nothing of loving others. Only yourself." She shoved him out the door and slammed it shut in his face.
Styxx's lips quivered as he stared at the closed door with tears in his eyes. "I could learn to love if only one of you would teach me how," he whispered.
But none of them wanted to love him and he knew it. The only person who'd loved him was gone now. Stolen away from him.
I have no one. And he hated being alone. Twins weren't born to be apart. He was only one half of a whole.
Brothers, forever and always.
That had been their pact. Styxx wiped at the tears in his eyes as he went to Acheron's room. But there was nothing here. Like his heart and soul, it was empty. The only possession left behind was Acheron's flat, worn pillow.
With tears streaming down his face, he went to the bed and pulled the pillow into his arms then went to his own room. He held his fist to his mouth to stifle his sobs as he placed Acheron's pillow on the floor next to the wall. Lying down on it, he pressed his spine to the wall and then his feet, trying to pretend it was his brother at his back. But the wall was so cold, and while the pillow smelled of Acheron, it just wasn't the same.
It couldn't hold his hand or speak to him with comforting words. It was just a pillow.
His brother was gone from his world. The grief and agony were so fierce he couldn't bear it. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and yanked his heart out.
"What am I to do?"
Styxx glanced at his wooden horses and saw the one Acheron had brought to him earlier that day. Rage clouded his sight. How dare Estes give him that and then take Acheron. Did he think a stupid horse could replace his brother's love?