CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kat tried to crawl out from under Sin, but he wouldn't let her. "Stay down," he growled in her ear before he rolled away and stood up to confront whatever had knocked him into her.
I should probably listen...
But that just wasn't who she was. So she pushed herself up, then wished she'd listened to him after all.
Kessar was in the room with six other demons. That alone made her blood run cold. Yet it wasn't the only bad news. They had Zakar in chains again, and the worst was Kytara, who lay dead a few feet from her.
Her eyes misting, Kat stared in horror at her friend's lifeless body. It looked as if they'd tried to literally tear Kytara apart. The sight and grief made Kat sick to her stomach. How could they have done such a thing?
Sin was on his feet, trying to fight the demons-"trying" being the operative word. It was obvious something was wrong with his powers.
Infuriated over what they'd done, Kat tried to blast Kessar and then realized exactly what had happened to Sin. She had no powers, either. Something was negating them.
"He has the Tablet," Sin said from between clenched teeth as he slung one demon into another.
Well, that explained it, but it didn't help. The Tablet was sucking their powers out of them. Oh, fabulous. No wonder they demons had been able to take Zakar and kill Kytara.
Kessar laughed before he headed toward Kat with a deadly intent.
To her shock, Sin put himself between them. Kessar swung at Sin, who jumped back and struck him a fierce blow in the chest. It didn't faze Kessar as he kicked Sin so hard, it lifted him off his feet.
"Simi!" Kat shouted at the top of her lungs. It was time to put a stop to this.
Simi and Xirena instantly appeared. "What?" Simi asked until she saw the demons.
Both she and Xirena exploded into demon form. Kat stumbled back... it was the first time she'd ever seen the whole of Simi's true form. Her skin was a deep bloody red with black lips, hair, wings, and claws. She wrapped herself around the nearest demon and ripped his throat out.
Kat turned away from the awful sight.
Kessar pointed the Tablet at Simi before he spoke in Sumerian.
Xirena laughed. "We're not gods, you moron. We're demons, and that has no effect on us." She flew at him.
He dodged, grabbed the chains holding Zakar, and vanished with him.
"No!" Sin shouted, trying to catch them before they vanished, but he was too late.
And he had no powers to follow.
Kat felt the grief she saw on his face as he turned to look at her while Simi and Xirena finished off the demons they were "eating." She'd never seen any man look more stricken.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
There was no forgiveness in his expression at all as he stalked toward her. His eyes were filled with utter agony. "You keep saying that."
"But I'm sincere."
He raked her with a sneer. "Sincerity doesn't fix any of this, now does it?"
No, it didn't, and it didn't bring back Kytara's life. How the hell had they managed to kill her? It didn't make sense. "What happened?"
He let out a tired breath as he wiped the blood from a cut over his left eye. "When I came back, Kessar had Zakar in chains and was holding the Tablet in his hand." He gestured toward Kytara. "He must have used the Tablet to drain her. She was already dead when I arrived."
"How did he get his hands on the Tablet?"
"Damned if I know. I had it locked in the safe in my bedroom."
This was awful. Kat covered her eyes as guilt and pain settled deep in her soul. This was all her fault. All of it.
If not for her, Sin would still have his god powers and there would be no danger to the world.
Kytara would still be alive...
How could she even begin to make this right? Everything was falling apart because she'd made a really bad decision centuries ago. Her heart sank to her stomach as she tried to imagine the coming attack from the Dimme. "We're doomed, aren't we?"
"Yeah," he said, his voice thick. "We are. If you have any last wishes to accomplish before total annihilation hits, I suggest you get started."
Still in demon form, Simi approached them with an ecstatic gleam in her eyes. "Can I eat the bitch-goddess?"
Kat sighed in resignation. "I'm afraid the only bitch-goddess around right now would be me."
Simi shook her head. "Akra-Kat isn't a bitch. You're always nice to the Simi."
"But I wasn't nice to Sin." She walked slowly toward him, wanting him to understand the depth of her sorrow and guilt. "I know you don't believe me, but I am sorry about all this. More than you'll ever know."
His expression was cold. "I appreciate the thought, but it doesn't really change anything, does it?" He walked over to Kytara and closed her eyes, then he covered her with a blanket. "You should probably take her body home to Olympus. It's the least we can do."
Kat was confused. "We don't have to burn her?"
He shook his head. "No. They just killed her. There's no bite marks on her that I could see. Guess they didn't want to convert her over."
Kat couldn't imagine that, since Kessar and crew seemed intent on converting as many people as they could. Surely a dream god would have been a big boon for them. But then nothing the demon did made sense.
How had all this gotten so out of hand?
Sighing, she frowned as she saw Simi and Xirena changing back into their more human forms. "Why didn't you call for Simi and Xirena when you saw them?"
He gave her a cold glare. "Well gee, since I popped in here in the middle of a fight and I was trying to save my brother and had hoped Kytara was only wounded and not dead, I really didn't think about them. Sorry I was so self-absorbed in staying alive that I forgot about the demons down the hall."
Kat had to bite back an equally caustic retort. He was hurting and she knew it. This wasn't easy on either one of them, and more sarcasm wouldn't accomplish anything more than to further alienate him from her. "Are our powers gone for good?"