Kat, she understood the reason and complied even though the daughter in her didnât want to. Honestly, their separation was the thing she regretted most in life. âNot really. My father doesnât know about me.â
Sin was stunned by the news. If he knew anything about Acheron, it was that the man would be furious to learn he had a grown daughter no one had told him about. âHow the hell have you kept that from him? He knows everything.â
Kat shrugged. âMost everything. He canât see those who are closest to him, and since I share a genetic link, Iâm a ghost to his vision. My mother hid me from him first and then my grandmother joined in once she realized that giving him the knowledge of me would only hurt him more ⦠and it would give my mother another tool to use against him. Believe me, itâs much better for everyone if he never learns I exist.â
That made sense, but still it wasnât right. Personally, heâd kill anyone who would keep such a thing from him. âAnd none of you thought about how wrong you were?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âAsh will die if he ever learns he has a child that he has never seen, especially since youâre grown.â
âThatâs why he can never know and why you have to stop referring to Artemis as my mother. As far as anyone is concerned, I, like all the other handmaidens, was a foundling that Artemis raised.â
Sin shook his head. Damn, with the exception of losing a child, he couldnât imagine anything worse than to have a child he didnât know about. Acheron deserved so much better than this. âYou three have really done a number on him. Does anyone else know?â
âJust you, Simi, and us. And Iâm depending on you to not say anything.â
âDonât worry about me. I donât want to be the messenger he kills in anger.â He gave her a devilish smile as he relished an image of Ash blasting Artemis into oblivion. âYou know, there is a bright side to this. Sooner or later heâs going to find out about you, and when he does heâll kill Artemis for me. I just hope Iâm there to see it.â
She gave him a peeved look that somehow managed to make his groin jerk. âVery funny. He would never hurt her.â
âYeah, I know. Damn it to hell,â he said in a low tone. âBastard is still in love with her. Thereâs something seriously wrong with him.â
âNo,â she said softly. âI donât think heâs in love with her anymore. Iâm not sure if he was ever anything more than infatuated by her. But he understands her and itâs not in his nature to hurt anyone if he can help it.â
Sin snorted in disagreement. Heâd seen Ash break loose on a few people over the centuries, which was one of the reasons Sin didnât push the Atlantean god too far. And those were for minor encroachments. Sin couldnât imagine how much fury Ash would unleash over something this major. âYou donât know him as well as you think you do.â
âAnd what makes you the expert?â
âLetâs just say I understand betrayal. And having been where he is, I know the explosion to come. Trust me. âDuckâ wonât quite cover it.â
She tensed at his warning. âArtemis didnât betray you.â
âWho said I was talking about her?â
Kat paused as she tried to read him, but Sin was anything but an open book. Even his emotions were hidden from her. Normally she could tell what anyone near her was feeling, and though she got twinges from him, it was nothing like what she normally felt. It was baffling and strange to be so clueless. âWho betrayed you then?â
He folded his arms over his chest. âThatâs the thing about betrayal. You donât really want to talk about it, especially not with strangers who are related to your worst enemy.â He looked around
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