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“We need to talk with them. We must find out who did this to them.”
“Of course. I will see if he is up to…” Sayuri lost her words as her brother entered the room.
Clean shaven and hair combed, Kenji wore a somber expression, evidence of his tortured bondage. Dressed in a dark blue hakama, he strode into the room, his head held high, charisma still intact.
“Kenji.” Sayuri bowed, her eyes lit with reverence for her older brother.
He crossed the room and approached Cassia and the Alpha. Kenji bowed briefly. As he rose to meet their gaze, his dark piercing eyes swirled with a fierce intensity. “I am in your service. Thank you for finding the vessel and releasing the shifters from the curse.”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Cassia’s heart broke for him and the other shifters who’d been bound to serve a demon. Guilt twisted through her, aware the hellhounds had been trying for years to find her, ask for her help. Though divine timing determined fate, it was nonetheless cruel. “I’m sorry it took me so long. I can’t imagine what it was like for you and the others.
“I appreciate your empathy. I will join your fight to bind the demon who did this to the wolves.”
Cassia found a seat on the sofa and Julian slid next to her. Both Kenji and Sayuri settled on chairs facing them.
“There is a secret sect of humans. A most high, evil one,” Kenji began. “They move in the shadows from all parts of the world. Have been on this earth since the late eighteen hundreds. They worship evil deities, drinking blood and eating the flesh of both humans and shifters alike. It’s rumored they originated in San Francisco, but soon migrated their congregation to Idaho where the vast wilderness cloaked their diabolical ways. Their sect lends their services to the wealthiest in the world. Though many demons have been conjured over the years, Asmodeus has taken governance of their sect.
“Asmodeus has been known to change itself…hence recent sacrifices have been shifters. It covets the magick of shifters. They prefer wolves, but have taken others out of desperation. My brother and I being some of them. Although we are not purebloods, they covet the power of the dragon. Netted in silver, we were captured.
“You and Cassia were their prized offering this year. They knew of your abilities, of the prophesy of your mating with the Alpha, the Prince of Wolves. Asmodeus has waited years to have prime specimens to add to his menagerie. To you they are hellhounds, to the demon, we are entertainment to suffer in whatever manner it prefers.”
Kenji focused on Cassia. “The sect opened a special portal for you. Your purpose was bait, to draw the Alpha. The night you escaped, they’d allowed you to do so. They knew about Julian, had been tracking him for months. The serendipity of having a prince and a chameleon mating had been celebrated.”
Kenji rose from his seat and paced across the room to glance out the window. “We’d been trying to reach you for years, as we were aware of the prophesy. In retrospect there is no way you would have been able to help us without the Alpha. The Alpha had been deep in hiding. We had to endure, waiting for divine timing. Your mating was never controlled by Hell but by the Goddess herself. So now …”
Kenji turned to face all of them, his arms crossed. “We must conjure the demon to the surface and forever banish it into its own cage of Hell from whence it can never escape. Though Lucifer could do it himself, he enjoys the suffering Asmodeus offers.”
“And what about this sect?” Greyson asked. “No offense but the humans sound as dangerous as the demon.”
“When we conjure the demon, the most powerful leaders of the sect will be bound to the circle. They’ve been drinking blood so long that most of them are no longer humans. Asmodeus’s evil has permeated their very souls. It’s like an irrevocable tattoo on their souls. There is no going back. No forgiveness. They are the evil. When Asmodeus is banished, their souls will be banished forever with it.”
“And the other humans?” Julian pressed.
“I will take care of the others on my own. They will be weak without the demon, their leaders. One by one, I will find them. They will die by my hand until the sect is completely destroyed. It is my purpose.”
“We can’t let you do that alone,” Julian told him.
“If I make it through the battle with the demon?—”
“If?” Greyson asked. “You mean when.”
“I will sacrifice myself to save others. This is my service. Should I live, I will rest for thirty days, rebuilding my peace and my family, with my sister. I will easily slay the remaining humans.” He turned to Julian. “You must tend to the wolves, create a pack in which they can heal and recover. They have sworn allegiance to you. It is your duty to lead them. Your destiny.”
“We’re goin’ to need a witch to conjure a demon of this magnitude. One who can keep it bound,” Julian insisted.
“Sayuri is capable.” Kenji looked to his sister who nodded.
“What?” Julian asked.
“I divulge information as necessary,” Sayuri confessed. “In my service to Thorn, I’ve had the opportunity to train. Many a witch has asked for favors. Perhaps a dragon scale. Or dragon breath. These things do not come for free. I have been schooled in witchcraft by some of the most powerful high priestesses in the world.”
“At midnight we shall call on the demon,” Kenji explained. “I shall fight with you.”
Cassia’s pulse raced as Sayuri’s younger brother walked into the room. Pale and shaken, he walked at a slow pace.
Sayuri gestured to an open seat her sofa. “Makoto. What are you doing out of bed?”
“Daijobudesu.” He waved her off but agreed to sit, his expression flat. The fire in his eyes had been extinguished. “Unlike my brother I don’t see it as service. I want revenge. Every wolf in this house wants revenge. Then you can take them to Logan’s. We will leave this world with justice, knowing we fought and survived. If we die, we die. This is how it must be.”
