Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter 11)

He ran to his brother's side. "Zakar?"

Zakar's face was contorted by pain as he met Sin's gaze. Sympathetic agony tore through Sin. He'd give anything to spare his brother this.

"You realized what they've done?" Zakar asked.

"Yes."

Zakar's golden eyes bored into him. "Then kill me and stop it."

Sin shook his head. There was no way he could do such a thing. "I can't kill you. You're my brother."

"Kill me, Sin," he said from between clenched teeth. "I'm not worth saving. End my suffering."

"No."

His breathing labored, Zakar looked at Kat. "Tell him, Katra. We don't have time to argue. The demons are already fighting the others and they'll be here shortly. I can hear them. Tell him to kill me and stop the release."

Kat hesitated. How could she tell Sin to kill his own twin? It would be the worst sort of cruelty-which was no doubt Kessar's plan.

It would kill Sin to hurt him. Out of all the powers she had, why couldn't she have had one to stop the...

Kat paused as an idea struck. "Wait. I have a plan." She went to Zakar to study how the lock was embedded in his chest. The sight of it made her cringe. Kessar had gone out of his way to make it as painful as possible.

Forcing the bile down, she met Sin's hopeful gaze. "Simi can pull the lock out and I can heal the wound instantly."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

Sin cupped Zakar's head between his hands. "I believe in you, Brother. You stay with me and we'll get through this."

Zakar's eyes were filled with hope as Simi moved toward him. She seized the chain from his back. "This is going to hurt you a lot. I'm sorry for that." Then she jerked it free.

Zakar let out an echoing scream before he fell forward, into Sin's arms. Blood poured from his mouth and back.

Aching for both of them, Kat took Zakar from Sin and let him slump against her. "I've got him. Go reset the lock."

As soon as Sin reached for it, she placed her hand over Zakar's back and closed her eyes to heal him. She wouldn't have long to revive him or it would be too late.

Before Sin could insert the Rod, the lock flew from his hands.

Kat cursed as she realized her powers weren't working either. Zakar wasn't healing.

A feeling of dread consumed her. This wasn't right.

And in that instant, she knew what had happened.

Kessar.

Turning, she saw him standing in the doorway with the lock in his hand. "You didn't really think you could win this easily, did you? That you'd send your conspirators to attack my demons and I wouldn't know where to find you? For shame."

Sin ran at him, but Kessar slammed him down without even touching him. He did the same as Xypher tried to attack. "I have the Tablet of Destiny and you have no powers."

"Bullshit," Xypher snarled. "I stole it from you." He pulled a medallion from his pocket.

Kessar laughed as he held his arm up to show a small, identical medallion hanging from his wrist. "Do you really think I'd be so stupid? Had you really taken it, I would have chased you straight to the halls of Olympus to reclaim it. As I said, you have no powers now."

Xirena scoffed. "I got mine."

"And the Simi has hers."

But before they could even move toward him, Kessar stepped back and sealed them into the room. The sound of scraping stone echoed around them and slammed shut with a resounding crash. Kat ran at the door, but it was a solid slab of stone in the way that would take an elephant to move.

And it wasn't budging. Damn it!

Kat let out a disgusted breath. "I can't believe this. We're trapped in here, with the Dimme, while the lock is on the other side." She turned toward Sin. "How long till our powers are back?"

Sin looked as ill as she felt. "A few hours according to last time."

"Sweet," she said sarcastically, "and we have how long till the bitches awake?"

"Less than two."

She mimicked Mr. Rogers's voice. "Can you say screwed, boys and girls? Yes, I thought you could."

Sin ignored her as he went to Zakar's side. A muscle worked in his jaw as he pulled his brother to him and held him quietly in the darkness.

Kat wanted to cry for him. Her heart heavy, she moved to stand by his side and gently rubbed his shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Sin. I didn't know it'd turn out this way."

"I know."

But it didn't change anything. Zakar was still dead and they were trapped. Kat sank to her knees to hold him while he held his brother.

"Akra-Kat?"

She turned at Simi's call. "Yes, sweetie?"