The Hybrid [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"So... he just left?" Akin asked, confused.

I only nodded silently as I sat in the hospital bed Hades insisted I use while he washed the strange stuff out of my system that both Atlan and Drulius had forced me to ingest. I didn't want to move. My whole body ached and throbbed with pain, even though it was technically healed on the outside.

Now, Akin sat beside me on the bed, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger while his other hand brushed the hair out of my face. He gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, then rested his head against mine. His touch made me relax and I sighed, slumping back on the bed, closing my eyes.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Akin asked softly. I blinked my eyes open to stare at him.

"I don't know, master... Atlan said he was going after the Khalian now... He's going to kill Xenon and Anexius and I can't let him do that." I murmured. Akin frowned, stroking the side of my face with his knuckles. I could tell he wanted to argue, not that he didn't care about Xenon and Anexius, but because he was tired of fighting, tired of risking my life. I was pretty tired of it too, but I wasn't going to duck out when Atlan was still wandering the universe.

Even worse, we'd lost track of him. We'd managed to fight back his armies. His Khalian had vanished and the soldiers tried to retreat, but we'd yanked them into custody. We sent our own armies in Atlantis, but there was no sign of any gods on the island. It was completely abandoned, and Hades and Lucifer had set up several base camps and made Lea in charge of the island while I recovered, and my stomach knotted at the thought of them sending me there, not to fight, not to occupy it until we got someone else to lead it, but because I was supposedly the heir to that huge realm.

And I wanted nothing to do with it.

Just being back there had made my skin crawl. While the realm itself was beautiful, there were too many dark memories lurking in the shadows. I wouldn't be able to enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

"How's Arikos?" I asked, changing the subject. Akin relaxed at that as he returned to threading his fingers through my hair.

"He's fine, baby. He woke up long enough to eat, then passed out again. Hades says he's too weak to do much right now." He explained. I chewed at my bottom lip, trying to relax, but it was still too hard. I was tired, weary, and damn, I could go for a nap right now, but there was still too much to do, so much at stake, that I felt guilty the longer I laid in bed.

"I need to see Arikos." I said at last. Akin frowned.

"Baby, I think you need to rest--"

"Please, master. It's really important." I said. Akin studied my expression, and I could tell he really wanted to hold me down and make me stay there, but we both knew that the moment he stepped out of the room that I would leave to find Arikos. He sighed and slid off the bed, allowing me to sit up. I stepped onto the floor, grimacing at the cold tiles beneath my feet. Akin watched me to make sure I didn't fall flat on my face while he moved the IV stand behind me.

I stepped out of the room and Akin directed me two doors down to where Arikos's was.

The hallways were clearer now. Every so often a soldier would come down the hallway to visit someone, or a nurse would rush past to get to one of the rooms. Hades had moved all the in-patients to the guest rooms of his palace, keeping them close in case there was a crash or worse. I wasn't sure what worse signified, but thought it best not to ask.

I came to Arikos's room and opened the door a crack to peek inside first. Arikos was laying on the hospital bed set up, appearing to be asleep. He finally wore clothing, and a box on the nearby nightstand was home to all of his slave jewelry. No doubt he could sell them for a good price now, probably enough to live on for at least a year or two. Not that I was sure he'd do it or not.