Katie's Hope

"I'm sure we'll be able to beat each other to a pulp again sometime," Jared continued. "Every demon on this mortal planet is hunting Sasha."

"Sasha? What do the demons want with Sasha?"

"Not good enough," Rhyn said and started toward the injured demon. "I don't give a shit about Sasha."

"And … AND," Jared rushed on, holding up both hands, "he stole something from the Dark One, something that makes demons immune to Immortal powers. It has something to do with your blood monkey. I'm too lowly a demon to know what, but I overheard them talking about it when they came to free us from our cell block."

"The Dark One unleashed all of Sasha's pets?" Rhyn asked, the feeling of doom making him jittery.

"All of us."

"The demons and were-things and the Dark One's personal creations." "Oh, my," Jared said.

"Then I've got a long list of creatures to kill, starting with you."

"Now, wait, half-brother," Jared said. "I'll admit you have the advantage here. I'm not interested in revenge like the rest of my brethren. Those demons Sasha killed really deserved it.

I just wanted to eat your blood monkey because she smelled so good, I figured she'd taste even better. That's all I wanted. But I don't have to do that. I can just walk away. Or I can help you. You're going to need some allies to face what's coming your way."

Rhyn considered the words born of desperation. There was truth in everything Jared said. He knew Jared well enough after all their years in Hell together to understand the creature was too narcissistic to care about another's issues. If anything, Jared wanted just what he said: a good snack on his way to find more good snacks.

Brute force usually won any battle he fought. Recently, he'd begun thinking he'd need more if he were taking on demons, Immortals, and anything else the Dark One would throw at him. All he needed was to figure out how to win a game of strategy he didn't know how to play, before his time was up and he lost the only thing that mattered.

"Well?" Jared asked, the confidence in his voice replaced by unease.

"If you betray me, Sasha will seem like an angel," Rhyn said, straightening out of his fighting stance. "There are demons in the forest surrounding the Immortals' winter stronghold. Have you any aversion to killing your own kind?"