Page 68 of Elex

“Huh. I wasn’t aware we had lost anyone recently.”

“How would you know? You’re stuck on this island, right? Besides, I don’t think it was recent. He-They seem to have been there for some time,” I said, shrugging.

“There? In Alexandria?” he asked.

“Yeah, they were serving in a House,” I responded.

“A House? You mean a brothel, right? Trust Alexandria to sanitize their brothels under cover of religion,” he snorted in derision.

I shrugged again.

“What were you two doing in a brothel? I thought Mageia weren’t allowed to roam around in Alexandria,” he asked.

Both of us paled, and I clenched my fingers into a fist. Is that what he thought? That we just idly roamed around Alexandria? What a prick.

He must have realized he had hit a nerve because he ducked his head and turned to check the IV he had already checked twice.

“Sorry,” he growled. “None of my fuckin’ business.”

“You’re right. Itisnone of your business,” I responded automatically. V shot me a glare and I could almost hear him in my head asking me to stop being a dick.

“So, this eunuch helped you? Do you know their name? I should at least let someone back home know, in case they have any family.”

A glance passed between V and I. V shrugged. There didn’t seem to be any harm in answering.

“Their name was Kyris,” I said.

He froze, and it was my turn to see our rescuer turn pale. He turned to look at me, dropping the pretense of examining the IV. His features so still I knew it had to be deliberate. He focused those brilliant silver eyes on me with burning intensity.

“What did you say?”

“Kyris,” V echoed.

“What did he look like?” Hel demanded.

I shrugged.

“Why should I tell you?” I asked. “For all I know, you are working with the Elusians and are just going to use this to punish them.”

“Gods! You are so fucking suspicious!” he growled, slamming a tray down on the counter.

“No shit. How else do you think we’re still alive?” I asked, stepping in front of the bed where V still lay. No way was I letting him between my brother and I, especially when V wasn’t recovered from the snakebite yet.

I saw his shoulders tense and then slowly release as he tried to gain a grip on his temper, his knuckles still white where they clenched the bedside table.

“I am asking,” he said very carefully, enunciating each word. “Because my father was a human medic. He disappeared over ten years ago when the caravan my family was traveling in was ambushed by Alexandrians. We assumed he was dead.”

He turned those silver eyes to me and blinked slowly before continuing.

“His name was Kyris.”

“Kyris is your—father?” Vlakas asked.

Helios shrugged.

“I don’t know. We always assumed he and the rest of my family had died during the ambush,” he said.

“I’m—sorry,” Vlakas said. “They were kind to Kat and me. I’m so sorry about what happened to them, especially if they are your father.”