Page 51 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
Lydia sighed as part of her wished she was still as ignorant about Seth's past as he was. "When he was a small child, his mother," she choked on using that title for the bitch, "took him into the desert, broke his legs, and left him there to die. From what I've heard, I'm pretty sure he called on all of you to help him and not one of you could be bothered."
Horror played across his face as he thought through what she told him. "Why did she do something like that?"
"Set thought he was pathetic and worthless. He insulted the mother for bearing him, and most of all for giving Seth his name."
Maahes cursed. "So she took him into the heart of Set's domain to die in front of him. No wonder we didn't know."
"What do you mean?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he ran after Seth and pulled him to a stop. "Before you continue to hate us, let me explain something. Set was the god of the desert. That was his domain, not ours. We were never allowed to venture there unless he invited us. He would violently attack any god who dared to encroach on his territory and need I remind you what he did to Osiris and Horus? Your mother took you into the desert not just to hurt you in front of your father, but to keep us from finding out about it. Because I can promise you that had any of us learned of her cruelty, we'd have killed the bitch for it."
Seth fell silent as he digested those words. Honestly, he'd never expected an apology from any member of his family. As a rule, the gods never admitted to any kind of fault.
Now both Ma'at and Maahes had offered him one.
But in the end ...
"It changes nothing."
Maahes nodded. "You're right. It doesn't change whatever happened to you, and that is a tragedy. However, it should comfort you to know that we would have helped you had we known."
Oh yeah, that was great comfort to him. Especially given how many times he'd called them, for what was it again...?
Forty-five hundred years? Oh wait, he hadn't called for them quite that long. He'd probably given up after a thousand or so years of them ignoring him.
He sneered at Maahes. "You offer me empty words that mean nothing. It's easy to say what you would have done, if only. But neither of us really knows what action you'd have taken. Believe me, the one thing I've learned about the gods is how fickle all of you are. Praising a person one moment, and then damning them in the next. So don't try to alleviate your guilt by offering me what you think will make me feel better. I want nothing from any of you except to be left alone." Seth turned and continued down the street.
Lydia patted Maahes on the shoulder. "I know how you feel. He's kicked me like that, too."
"Yeah, but you probably didn't deserve it."
"And neither did he deserve what was done to him. Unlike you, I've seen the horror of his existence. He's entitled to his hatred."
"Then I will stay behind you two and try not to offend him with my presence."
Lydia started to respond, until she realized that Seth had stopped on the sidewalk about a block from them.
That wasn't what concerned her.
Rather it was the tall, skinny puta pawing at him that made her blood boil. Her vision turned dark as she quickly closed the distance between them. Why wasn't Seth sending her away? Look at her, Lydia. She's gorgeous. Which only made her ache all the more.
The blonde ran her tongue around her index finger while she looked up at Seth from beneath her long, over-mascaraed eyelashes, then bit and sucked it in a suggestive manner. She continued to run it around her lips as she spoke. "So you're visiting, huh? How long will you be here and where are you staying?"
Lydia wrapped her arms around his and glared at the woman. "He's staying with me. Right, pookie?"
Seth wasn't sure what to say. Lydia's voice was sweet and at the same time brittle ... like her eyes as she stared up at him. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he had a bad feeling he was in trouble for it.
Lydia turned her gaze back to the woman who'd stopped to ask him directions. "Now if you don't mind, we're late for a meeting with his 'special' doctor. We have to make sure he doesn't run out of cream for his genital rash. After all, it's highly contagious, and burns like crazy when left untreated."
The blonde rushed off.
Seth kept opening and closing his mouth as he mentally ran through what she'd just done. He was stunned, appalled, and at the same time, oddly amused. And he had no idea which emotion was strongest.
Had she really just said that about him? To a perfect stranger?
Why?
Lydia snarled as she moved away from him. "You are such a man!"
He wouldn't have thought that was a particularly bad thing, except for the tone of her voice, which said it was. "What did I do?"
She raked him with a glare. "Chasing after the first piece of skank you see? Really?"
Thanks to Maahes, he understood the words. But her fury left him completely lost. "Why are you angry at me?"
"Why do you think?"
"I honestly don't know."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You all but drooled on her."
"At no time did I drool." His mouth was completely dry and had been the whole time he conversed with the woman.
"Your eyes drooled. I saw them."
He was totally perplexed by this argument. Was he not allowed to speak to anyone? "I'm wearing dark sunglasses. How can you see my eyes?"
"She's jealous, Seth."
He looked at Maahes for an explanation. "Why?"
Lydia broke off into her hand gestures.
"Are you yelling at me, now?"
Maahes laughed. "Oh yeah, kid. She's calling you a lot of names."
That surprised him. "You understand her?"
