Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter 11)

Ash smiled wickedly. "I'm going to hope the Tablet can't take all of my powers. I should still have enough juice to do some damage."

Kat didn't like the sound of any of that. "Hope? This isn't the time to be hoping."

Ash winked at her. "This is a perfect time for hope. The more dire the situation, the more you need it."

Sin snorted. "You know something's going to go wrong."

"Probably." Ash's silver eyes were twinkling as if he relished the thought. "It always does."

Artemis folded her arms over her chest. "I don't like this plan. I want one where my powers stay inside me."

"There's no other plan and not really enough time to think of one." Ash indicated the tomb with a jerk of his chin. "You'll have a better time negotiating with Apollymi than you will with them. The only one who can contain them is Sin and he has to have his powers back to do it."

Kat gave her mother her best pout. "Please... we need you. I need you."

Artemis reluctantly held her hand out to Kat.

Kat smiled at her mother, grateful that she was being reasonable for once. "Thank you."

"You better be thankful." Artemis cast a hostile glare to each one of them. "All of you."

Sin wasn't quite so accommodating when Kat tried to touch him. "Are you sure you're not reversing this and taking what little powers I have left to give to Artemis?"

She more than understood his fear. Even so, she couldn't resist teasing him for it. "Guess you'll have to trust me, huh?"

Sin hesitated. Deep inside, he was terrified of touching her now. Kat could kill him. Not just physically, but if she betrayed him...

There would be no way back and he knew he'd never recover. He was more vulnerable now than he'd ever been before. All the centuries of betrayal were there and they wanted him to run for the door.

But as he looked at her, his heart truly believed she would never hurt him again. Not intentionally.

It's now or never...

His heart thundered in his chest as he took her hand in his and waited for her to betray him.

Kat closed her eyes and summoned her failing powers. She felt the small electrical charge that went through her as she sorted through her mother's powers to find the ones she'd taken from Sin all those centuries before. Once she found them, she let these from her back to Sin.

Artemis jerked back. "You're weakening me too much."

Sin was frozen as he realized that Kat hadn't betrayed him... more to the point, he had powers he hadn't felt in thousands of years. And it felt damn good.

Kat had returned to him everything she'd taken. Everything. He had his full god's strength back. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles.

"Hey!" Acheron snapped. "If you want to keep that mouth attached to your head, I suggest you put some distance between it and her skin."

Sin laughed as he pulled back. "Sorry." He turned to Ash. "I'm ready to battle."

"Good. Let's do it."

He could feel the blood pumping through his body as he and Zakar, who was disguised as Sin, headed toward the fighting. The smell of blood was thick in the air and it permeated his head. He licked his lips in anticipation of what was to come.

The blood lust inside him was ferocious as it begged for a taste of what he smelled. It was a beast that lived inside him that was forever hard to leash, especially in battle. It craved nourishment, reminding him how long it had been since he last fed. He should have taken a small bite from Artemis before he set out on this quest.

But it was too late now.

He entered the main cavern chamber. The Dolophoni were still standing... at least all but two who lay on the floor. M'Adoc was in one corner, eliminating two demons with one sword stroke.

Ash met D'Alerian's gaze before a demon lunged at him and D'Alerian killed it.

Two demons moved to attack. Ash's incisors grew as his body was thrown into battle mode. He grabbed the first demon to reach him by the throat in one hand and slammed him to the ground, then spun to catch the other. The beast inside wanted to rip the demon's throat out. But he chose a more humane death. He shot a bolt between its eyes.

"Kessar!" he shouted, leading Zakar through the fray as he spotted their leader in the back.

The humor on the demon's face melted into disbelief as he saw Acheron there. He reached for the medallion on his wrist and held it up, then chanted in Sumerian.

Ash laughed as he felt his skin turning blue. "What makes you think that ancient mojo's going to work on me?"

Ash reached for the medallion, then cursed as it burned him. He'd forgotten that the emblems of other pantheons didn't play well with him. Not that it mattered. Pain was one thing he could deal with. Closing his hand over the Tablet, he ground his teeth against the searing agony of it burning against his palm and fingers.

It was sucking his powers out of him. But he still had enough left to do damage.

Snatching the Tablet, he tossed it to Zakar, then head-butted Kessar who staggered back.

Kessar let out an evil laugh as he caught himself and straightened.

A bad feeling went through Ash. "What are you laughing at?"

The demon straightened before he leaned against Ash to whisper in his ear. "By bringing Zakar back and handing him the Tablet with your blood on it, you just opened the tomb to the Dimme. Congratulations, Apostolos. You are the harbinger of Telikos... the end of the world."