Nausea clawed its way up Hunt’s throat. The thought of owing anything at all to the Prince of the Pit …
“Just as he gave over some of his essence for the kristallos,” Thanatos said, “so he gave something to me for you. His Helfire.”
“Helfire?” Bryce demanded.
“The lightning,” Thanatos said, waving an irritated hand. “Capable of killing almost anything. Even an Asteri.”
“That’s how you killed Sirius?” Bryce asked. “With your … Helfire?”
“Yes,” Apollion said, then added to Hunt, “Your name was a nod to that, whispered in your mother’s ear as you were born. Orion … master of Sirius.”
“Clever,” Hunt snapped, then demanded, “Wait—my lightning can kill the Asteri?” Hope bloomed, bright and beautiful in his chest.
“No,” Apollion said. “It is … diluted from my own. It could harm them, but not kill them. I believe your mother’s angelic blood tempered my power.”
That hope withered. And something darker took its place as he asked, “How did my mother play into this?” He could handle some genetic meddling, but—
“There was a scientist at the Asteri Archives,” Aidas said. “An angel who was delving into the origins of the thunderbirds, how strange their power was. He named the project after a near-forgotten god of storms.”
“Project Thurr,” Bryce said. “Was Danika investigating it, too? I found mentions of it, after she died.”
“I don’t know,” Aidas said, “but the angel was researching thunderbirds at the behest of the Asteri, who worried they might return. It led him to us instead. When we told him the truth, he offered to help in whatever way he could. Thanatos was finishing up his work then. And with a male volunteer, only a female to breed with was needed.”
Hunt couldn’t breathe. Bryce laid a hand on his knee.
“Your father knew your mother briefly,” Aidas said. “And he knew having a partner would help lift her from her poverty. He had every intention of staying. Of leaving behind his life and raising you in secret.”
Hunt could barely ask, “What happened?”
“The mystics told Rigelus of your father’s connection to us. They didn’t discover everything—nothing about you or your mother. Only that he had been speaking to us. Rigelus had him brought in, tortured, and executed.”
Hunt’s heart stalled.
“He didn’t break,” Apollion said with something like kindness. “He never mentioned your mother, or her pregnancy. The Asteri never knew you were tied to him in any way.”
“What … what was his name?”
“Hyrieus,” Aidas answered. “He was a good male, Hunt Athalar. As you are.”
Bryce squeezed his knee, her hand so warm—or was he unnaturally cold? “Okay, so Hunt was made to be a backup battery for me—”
“Can I do the same for Ruhn, then?” Hunt interrupted.
“No,” Thanatos said. “The prince’s light, his affinity for these thin places, isn’t strong enough. Not like hers.”
Hunt gripped Bryce’s hand atop his knee. “Is it in my DNA that Bryce and I are mates? Was that engineered, too?”
“No,” Aidas said quickly, “that was never intended. I think that was left to higher powers. Whatever they may be.”
Hunt turned to Bryce and found nothing but love in her eyes. He couldn’t stand it.
Horror cracked through him, as chilled as hoarfrost. He’d been created by these males to give and to suffer, and where the fuck did that leave him? Who the fuck did that make him?
“Okay,” Bryce said, “Helfire and starfire: a potent combination. But Helena left all this shit to help end this conflict. It sounds like you guys just want me to open a gods-damned door for you to come in and save the day instead.”
“Is it so bad,” Thanatos purred, “to have us do your dirty work?”
Bryce glowered at him. “This is my world. I want to fight for it.”
“Then fight alongside us,” Thanatos challenged.
Tense silence stretched between them. Hunt had no idea how to even begin processing this insanity. But that cold in his veins … that felt good. Numbing.
“I could have used a bit more time to prepare,” Bryce muttered.
Aidas only shook his head. “You weren’t ready before. And what if you had told the wrong person? You know what the Asteri do to those who challenge their divinity. I could not risk it. Risk you. I had to wait for you to find the answers for yourself. But haven’t I told you from the start to find me? That I will help you? That is what Apollion was attempting to do, too, in his misguided way: to ready you both for all this—to battle the Asteri.”