Her breathing ragged, she couldn't avert her gaze. Later, she would be angry over the lies he'd told her, but right now, she wanted to cry as she saw exactly how much damage they'd done to him. It was one thing to feel those scars. Another to see them and to know how badly he'd been abused and hurt by others.
And when he took off his gold cuff and exposed her cheap-looking charm that was still wound about his wrist from the last time she'd seen him, tears welled in her eyes. Not just because it was right where she'd put it, but because he lifted it to his lips and placed a tender kiss to her emblem.
His eyes sad and aching, he caressed her necklace with loving fingers. "I miss you, Beth," he whispered. "Please come back to me soon."
She started to materialize in his room then caught herself. What are you doing?
He'd be furious to find out that she'd ...
Lied?
He'd lied to her, too. There was no way he could hold that against her.
She moved to confront him then paused as he turned around and she saw Apollo's mark on his back. Not just on it ... across its entirety.
Her stomach pitched over.
Gods didn't lightly or arbitrarily mark humans. For them to place their symbol on a human body was a sign of fierce ownership. For one god to touch a human who'd been marked by another was an act of war.
And Apollo had quite visibly claimed Styxx.
The Atlantean gods would kill her if she breached this temporary alliance or threatened their pact with Apollo. The Olympian would have every right to call down all of his fellow Greek gods to attack her and Styxx both.
And Styxx would be the one who suffered most for allowing another god to touch him after he'd been claimed by Apollo. The others wouldn't care that he hadn't known her true identity. It was a breach of faith....
What have I done?
But then she knew. She'd callously played with a human life without taking into account what it would mean for the pawn. All the while not knowing, or even considering for one moment, that the pawn she used was her heart.
She winced as memories burned through her. How many times had she taken aim for Styxx's head in battle? No wonder she hadn't been able to kill him. Her own amulet had deflected her blows. Those primal powers she'd felt had been her father's ... the very powers she'd called on to keep Styxx/Hector safe.
He froze and cocked his head. "Bethany?"
The familiar sound of her name on his lips tore through her.
Styxx raked his hand through his hair. "I swear I'm going insane. I feel her even when I know she's not with me."
I'm here, love.
She held her hand out to touch his shoulder, but the sight of Apollo's sun emblem slapped her hard.
War.
Over a meager human ...
How could she do that to her people for a human male who would be dead in a few short years? One life wasn't worth thousands of others.
Not even his.
She'd known when she started this game that it couldn't last. That eventually she'd have to walk away and leave him to his mortal life.
Now was the time to end it. Before either of them went further into a relationship that was doomed and damned.
Besides, their time for finding Apollymi's son was drawing critically short. She had to focus on that and help the others while Apollo prepared to replace the Greek pantheon.
Her eyes teared as she took her last look at him. This time, she would leave and not look back.
"Farewell, Hector," she breathed then she returned to Katateros where she belonged.