Katie's Hope

"They're fine. I evacuated the castle," Kris said. His white hair was streaked red with blood, his roving gaze tired. "Kiki, I owe you. Whatever you said to bring the others back, thank you."

"You can thank Rhyn for beating some sense into us," Kiki replied.

Rhyn met his eldest brother's gaze, not expecting any words of appreciation and not disappointed. Kris turned away and maneuvered through the piles of dead-dead Immortals and demons toward Tamer.

"Kiki, I need a count of living and dead-dead Immortals!" he ordered. Irritation flashed across Kiki's face, and Rhyn raised an eyebrow in warning.

"Fine," he grated.

"The Council needs to come with me," Kris added. "That includes you, Rhyn." "You can leave Rhyn out," Erik said.

"I'll sit outside the door to make sure no one leaves," Rhyn suggested. The dangerous note in his voice drew Kris's attention. Kris looked at each of the brothers then back at him, as if forced to acknowledge what-- or who-- had compelled them back. He said nothing of his thoughts but strode into the castle.

Rhyn didn't want to follow. He wanted to track any remaining demons in the forest and kill them, too. He trailed his brothers. Kris didn't go far, just far enough to be out of earshot of the Immortals.

"We need to find Sasha," he said grimly.

"And kill him," Erik added, earning a sharp look.

"He took the vial of blood he brought with him," Kris said. "The next time the demons attack, they may be immune to death by our hands. Kiki, Rhyn, check our father's crypt. You two come with me."

Tamer grumbled but obeyed, and Rhyn shook out his tense body.

"The last thing I want to do is go down there," Kiki said. "You're not pissed about the display, are you?"

Rhyn eyed him and started down the hall, not caring what his brother thought of anything at the moment. He trotted through the body-littered floor to the back stairwell. Kiki followed him through to the basements, and Rhyn stopped in front of the door to his father's crypt. The door hung by a single hinge. He saw before entering that the sarcophagus was gone.

He explored the crypt, gaze going to the display of his mother on one wall. He felt the sense of foreboding again, the unseen danger toward Katie. His eyes traveled to where his father had lain.

The son of a demon and an Immortal had turned out too fucked up for anyone to tolerate. He doubted Katie would be anything like a demon mother, and yet, he could see the both of them ending up as his father and mother did: dead-dead before their child was six. He wondered what a half-human son would be like, and his thoughts went to Gabriel, who started out human before turning Immortal. Bitterly, he realized he didn't know who had the best chance of killing them: the Dark One, the demons, or one of his brothers.