I finished reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's dark hunter series Time Untime weeks ago and the only thing i can remember is the epilogue and that Tory and Acheron's son Seb is staying with Apollymi while they ride out the Mayan Apocalypse. of course the world did not end. And then i saw that the next book is going to be about Styxx and i got excited again. I always know that his side of the story is going to be awesome and 2013 is so so far away to read about him. But thankfully a snippet was given by Sherrilyn Kenyon thru her FB account. so here it is...

A small excerpt from Styxx's book:

Styxx paused inside the courtyard doorway as he caught sight of Apollymi sitting on a stone bench that overlooked a dark fountain. So this was the bitch who had forever changed and ruined his life...

And all to save the life of her own son.

He should probably hate her for that alone, but given the fact that he’d have sold his soul to have a mother who would just acknowledge his existence, how could he? In spite of what Acheron thought, Apollymi’s love for Acheron was the only thing Styxx had ever coveted.

That and Ryssa’s.

Styxx swallowed hard as that old wound ripped open and flooded him with pain. He’d done everything he could to make his sister love him, but her unwarranted jealousy and love of Acheron had kept her from seeing him as anything other than worthless, spoiled and selfish. While he’d done his absolute best to protect and shield Acheron, Ryssa had ruthlessly blamed him for things he had no control over.

For things he hadn’t done.

But he wouldn’t think about that. The past was ancient history. Literally.

This was the present and once again, Acheron needed him. Taking a deep breath, Styxx studied the goddess who despised him even more than his own mother and sister had.

Her pale blond hair was a stark contrast to her black gown, both of which flowed around her perfect body. Ironically, the Atlantean goddess of ultimate pain and destruction had to be the most beautiful woman who had ever lived.

The splashing water made a soothing sound in spite of the fact that they were both currently in hell. Her isolation struck him hard as the memory of his own slammed into him and reawakened a horror he did his best every waking minute to forever bury. There was nothing worse than to exist in a tight hole where the only company you had was the sight of your own face in a cold reflection that showed you just how much you hated yourself.

But unlike him, Apollymi didn’t sit alone in her prison.

His gaze went to the two Charontes who stood on opposite sides of her. While they didn’t speak, they were at least another life form nearby. Not to mention, she had an entire Daimon army to serve her and keep her company.

He winced as he remembered all the centuries he’d screamed out for someone, anyone, to have mercy on him and just speak so that he could hear them. They didn’t even have to talk to him. Just speak.

Eleven thousand years was hard to live through.

Eleven thousand years of utter solitude...

“So you’re not a coward, after all.”

He narrowed his gaze on Apollymi as his hatred rose to swallow every last remnant of his pain. “I’ve been many things in my life, but never a coward.”

She rose with the same slow, graceful movements he was now trying to learn from Acheron. As she turned to face him, her eyes flashed from swirling silver to a deep, vibrant red- another thing she shared with her son. “You don’t fool me, dog. I see you for what you really are.”

Styxx caught his bitter laughter out of habit. As a human, that kind of response would have caused his father to knock him through a wall. But then Apollymi couldn’t kill him.

Only Acheron could.

“I find that hard to believe, my lady.” Not once in his entire existence had anyone ever seen the truth in him. And that was okay. He’d long ago grown used to being misjudged and despised.

Before he could blink, she vanished, then reappeared right beside him. She sank her hand deep into his short blond hair and wrenched it hard. “But for my son, I’d have your heart in my fist right now.”

He didn’t flinch or react to the pain at all. “But for my brother, I’d gut you where you stand.”

She laughed at his threat, then tightened the grip in his hair. “You are nothing but a second rate copy of my Apostolos. A mere shadow of the man he has become. No one will ever mistake you for him. How could they?”

Strange to hear his own doubtful litany coming out of someone else's mouth. She might as well be his father, telling him how he’d never be good enough to rule. How he should have been drowned the moment he was born.

When he didn’t respond, she hissed at him, baring her fangs. “I hate you.”

Styxx smirked. “The feeling is entirely mutual.”

She yanked his hair so hard, he was amazed she didn’t draw out a fist full of bloody strands. Her eyes flashing again, she jerked him against her and sank her fangs into his neck.

He gasped at the raw, unrelenting pain of her bite. A pain she took pleasure in giving him. For the love of the gods, please rip out my throat. Maybe then, for a few minutes at least, he might actually be at peace.

But as she drank from him, her hold started to gentle and the pain lessened. Within a few seconds, it almost felt like a mother’s embrace. Not that he remembered the sensation of being hugged. In fact, he could count on one hand how many times in his entire existence he’d been held by anyone.

And none of those had ever come from his own mother.

Apollymi pulled back to look up at him with a stern frown. His blood stained her lips. To his complete shock, she brushed a tender hand over the wound she’d left in his neck. “I had no idea,” she said in a tight voice.

Styxx shrugged her arms away. He didn’t want or need anyone’s kindness or pity, and especially not hers. “Yeah well, we all have shit to deal with, don’t we?” 

She reached out to him, but he stepped back. He wasn’t a boy anymore begging for a modicum of kindness from someone. He’d learned as a toddler that he was alone in this world. And honestly, he preferred it that way.

“Is it done?” he asked.

Apollymi gave a subtle nod.

Good. Now he could move into his next prison and be done with it. He wiped the blood off his neck and turned to leave.

“Styxx?”

He paused, but didn’t speak.

“Thank you for doing this for Apostolos,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “And for what’s worth, I am so sorry for what happened to you.”

Sorry... That one word caused his lip to curl.

This time he gave free reign to his disdainful snort. “Everyone’s sorry for something.” He pinned her with a heated glare. “And there are some things, my lady, that sorry doesn’t fix.”

**NOTE TO READERS**
The key to reading Styxx is to remember that you never saw anything in Acheron through Styxx's eyes. You only saw Ryssa and Acheron's viewpoint. No one ever saw how Styxx was treated when alone with his father. You "heard" things, but you didn't see them. What is shown in private and what is shown in public can be quite different. And people's emotions color everything. How many times have you said something innocently and someone accused you of saying it in a snotty or mean tone when you definitely didn't? There was much going on in the background that only Styxx knows about. As the tagline says, there are two sides to every war.