Page 67 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
The man who'd raised her like a daughter because she was his daughter. A daughter he was terrified of claiming lest one of his enemies hurt her because of him.
She still remembered that night of discovery as if it were yesterday.
"I tried everything to make your mother love me. At first she thought I was a human and then when she found out I was a Dream-Hunter, she hated me.
"Even then, I didn't give up hope. But in the end, I had to leave. She wouldn't allow me to stay no matter what I said or did.
"I didn't find out about you until your third birthday, and I promised her that I wouldn't try to see you. She was afraid that if anyone learned I was your father, that they'd hurt you for it. And I knew she was right to be afraid, so I agreed to stay away from you."
All her mother had ever said to her and her grandfather was that Lydia's father had been a god who'd seduced her. She'd never named Solin.
"I am the key," she breathed to Seth, facing the truth that scared her. As Seth had said, it all made sense now. "What are we going to do?"
Seth had no answer for that as a thousand thoughts went through his head all at once. And all of them had the same outcome.
Watching Lydia die.
Now that Verlyn had been called out, he wouldn't stop until he had them both locked in Azmodea, and while they could run for a while, they would be pursued constantly until they made a mistake.
And then they'd both be in Azmodea. Sooner or later. No matter how hard they tried. There was no way to run forever.
Honestly, he didn't care about himself. His own life had no meaning or value to him. It never had. But hers ...
She was everything. For her, he would fight.
For her, he would die.
And now that they knew who and what she was, the Greeks would never stop hunting her. Not until she was dead and posed no threat to them.
Neither would Noir. If Seth knew nothing else about the gods, he knew that much.
And the more he chased his thoughts, the more he kept coming back to the only solution that made sense. But that solution made him ill.
You can't. Noir will kill you.
If only. But Noir wouldn't kill him. He'd only make him wish he was dead.
Bracing himself for what he had to do to free her of this, he offered her a grim smile. "I have an idea."
* * *
The moment Seth entered the throne room with Lydia in his arms, all the fighting stopped. One by one, the others turned to gape at him.
He held his head high while inside he was so cold and aching that he wasn't sure how he could move.
I had to do this. There was no other way.
But knowing that didn't make it easier to bear. Like his father, he was a god of tragedy and sorrow. Ever condemned to destroy whatever it was he might love.
Condemned to never know love at all.
Seth kept his gaze on the Greek gods as he took Lydia toward the Phonoi and Solin, who'd been fighting each other. It was so quiet now, he could hear the blood rushing through his veins.
With his jaw slack, Maahes lowered his sizzling lightning bolts. Fury blazed in the god's eyes, but Seth was too numb right now to care what the ancient god thought about him. "What have you done, boy?"
Seth didn't answer as he walked past Maahes and placed Lydia on the ground at Solin's feet. "I told you I'd kill her if you didn't return. I just kept my word."
With a cry born of ultimate grief, Solin drove a short sword straight through Seth's side.
Grimacing in pain, Seth shoved him back, then wrenched the sword out. He faced the Phonoi and Dream-Hunters around him, then dropped the weapon on the ground. "All of you can stop fighting now. She's dead."
The Phonoi moved to check.
Seth struggled to keep his composure. But in his mind, all he could see was the look on Lydia's face when he'd stabbed her and apologized for it. The fear and accusation in her topaz eyes had torn him apart.
"Why?" she'd breathed, her eyes filled with the pain he'd given her as she placed her hand to his cheek. He still had her bloody handprint there.
Unable to answer for the agony that shredded whatever remained of his battered soul, he'd merely held her against him, choking on his grief as he watched the fire fade from her eyes. And when she'd gone limp in his arms and her hand had fallen away from his skin for the last time, he swore he'd died with her.
He'd never hated himself more.
Not that it mattered. Lydia was gone.
Now they would leave her in peace.
The Phonoi glared at him in unison as they verified her death to the others.
When Solin went to attack him again, Verlyn grabbed him to keep him from hurting Seth. Solin struggled against him, calling Seth every name he could think of and inventing a number of insults Seth had never heard before.
But Seth ignored him.
Besides, there was no insult Solin threw at him that he hadn't already thrown at himself, and worse.
The Phonoi approached him as a single unit. "Thank you for your service."
Seth's breath caught as he heard the gratitude in their voices. He'd finally had someone thank him, and what had it been for?
Killing the only thing he'd ever loved.
But still he said nothing as they faded out of the room.
