“Hannah!” he shouted. “Hannah, stop! We’ll leave here together – don’t worry about your body!”

“Kris!” Kiki’s yell was pain-filled.

Kris stopped, torn.

Duty before all else.It had been Andre’s mantra, and Kris had always done what he thought Andre would’ve wanted. He’d lost Lilith when Rhyn killed her and their son. He’d given up Jade, the man who held his soul, to take Katie as a mate, only to have Rhyn interfere again. Paralyzed by indecision, Kris struggled to determine which Andre would’ve wanted him to do: save his brother or his mate. Of the two, Hannah was weaker, but Kiki was his brother.

“I can’t lose her,” he said, sweating with fear. Kris started forward again, pursuing Hannah. He ran as fast as he could through the unfriendly forest, cursing Death for stripping his power.

Hannah’s blond hair flashed through the trees. As fast as Kris ran, he couldn’t catch her. He grew more baffled when she seemed to pull ahead of him without any sign of the exhaustion she’d showed when they stopped. Desperation could motivate, and so could fear for her sister. He pushed himself harder to catch her.

Thunder boomed overhead. Forms he assumed were demons swooped above the canopy, casting shadows. He caught glimpses of fur and wings through leaves and ran until his chest was heaving. Hannah remained ahead of him, though he realized he was beginning to gain on her. He had to reach her before the demons did and swept her away, as they had Kiki.

Suddenly, Hannah stopped. Kris barreled towards her. He glimpsed movement before he burst into the small clearing. It wasn’t until he leapt over the final hurdle – a massive fallen tree – did he see what stopped her. One moment she stood with her back to him. The next, she was on the ground, Rhyn’s dagger dripping with blood.

A similar scene flashed before Kris. One from long ago, when another blond woman had fallen to the devil that was his brother.

“No!” His scream was inhuman even to his ears.

Rhyn looked up, and Kris charged him. He knocked Rhyn to the ground, wrestling the dagger free, and lashed out. Instinct and fury blinded him. He felt the dagger sink into flesh and struck again, only to find himself flying backwards through the air. Rhyn shouted something at him, but Kris couldn’t hear him, not with the memory of both Lilith and Hannah dying.




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