From the corner of his eye, he saw one of the many animals his brother Dusty's mate had rescued. The orange tabby was twice the size of every other cat he'd seen. It sidled up to him and wound between his legs until he picked it up.
"Wouldn't happen to know the secrets to the universe, would you?" Darian asked, gazing into its clear green eyes.
The cat purred. Darian had survived two lives and was on his third. He wondered if he had nine like a cat. Darian tucked the feline under his arm with one more look at the mirror.
He wanted his old face back, the scarred one. This new face reminded him of everything he'd never be, of lost opportunities and misguided hope.
Darian walked down the hall and stairwell to the study where his brother, the White God Damian, was probably plotting how to outsmart the pesky little immortals who'd declared war on them. Damian sat at the desk, bent over his iPad as he scanned messages and reports from immortals across the globe.
Darian watched his little brother, at once proud of the White God that Damian had grown into and crushed by the sense of his own failure. Damian had taken his place when betrayal rendered Darian near-dead then enslaved to a madman for thousands of years. Neither of their lives had been easy. Damian's nature was not like Darian's and their father's, but he'd shouldered the responsibility to protect humanity and battle the Black God without question.
"We don't need any more damn cats in this house," Damian said, glancing up.
"I kinda like them," Darian said. He crossed to the seat in front of Damian's desk and propped his feet up on the desk.
"You're as much a wild animal as they are," Damian agreed. "What's up, Darian? You need anything?"
"I made a decision."
Damian sat back, waiting curiously.
"Last week, in Ireland, something happened to me," Darian started. "I always wondered why you and Jonny had power and I didn't have anything. That's changed now. I've found it. I don't know how to use it yet, but I want to learn. And I think I …" He struggled with the words, hating how weak they sounded. He wasn't weak. He was the Grey God.
"Found yourself," Damian finished for him.
"Exactly."
Darkness crossed Damian's features, the same darkness Darian felt go through him as he alluded to the fact he was broken beyond repair.
"You want me to stop mothering you." Damian's eyes gleamed in sudden amusement. "That's it, isn't it?"