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Kingston was seethingwith rage by the time they teleported to the villa on the coast of Italy. He’d wanted to keep a cool head when he’d finally confronted his brother, but that simply wasn’t going to be possible.
Not with the way he was feeling.
Lucifer, Devlin, Keo, and Harrison had opted to stay behind in the Hell Realm instead of joining the manhunt. Kingston understood that watching him confront Jeremiah would be too painful for their grandfather to witness, despite knowing it had to happen. Since this was a personal matter of revenge, Keo and Devlin had graciously bowed out, while Lucifer bluntly stated he had no desire to travel to the Human Realm if he wasn’t going to be able to kill anyone.
Devlin, Keo, and Lucifer had declared taking down Jeremiah to be a test of sorts for Kingston and Autumn. Since neither of them had formally attended a magical academy, the other gods said they would need to check up on their magical progress every so often. Kingston was sure that was just an excuse for them to stick their noses into future investigations he and his mate would be handling, but he didn’t mind.
For a bunch of psychotic ancient gods, they could be quite helpful.
It had worried him a little when Devlin had mentioned picking up a few more of the Supernatural Council members to report what had been going on, but Autumn had assured him it would be fine. The reaper knew they needed the council members unharmed to clear Kingston’s name, and out of all the older gods, he seemed the most reliable.
Braxton and Devon hadn’t been willing to stay behind and had insisted on joining Kingston and Autumn during the takedown. Since Kingston trusted his old friend, he hadn’t argued. Four gods to take down one deranged demon seemed like overkill, but it would make things a whole lot easier.
Well aware of the collection of powerful spells his brother had amassed from all of those stolen grimoires and other spellbooks, Kingston teleported the four of them a short distance away from the villa. They needed to get a clear idea of what kind of protection Jeremiah had in place before they approached the property.
Kingston knew that had been the right call as a ripple of awareness skittered through him. Not from any powerful magic in the air, but from the complete lack of it.
“Fuck,” Kingston growled. “Do you feel that?”
“I don’t feel anything,” Braxton told him.
“Exactly. This is what we meant by a magical dead zone,” Autumn told them.
“I get it now,” Devon said. “It just feels…wrong.”
“He’s tainted this place with dark magic,” Kingston bit out.
It had been years since he’d been there, but it was still familiar to him. He’d purchased the villa back when he’d been a rich playboy with nothing better to do than party, travel, and enjoy spending money. But the truth was, this property had once been his haven in the Human Realm, the same way his parents’ house on the riverbank was in the Hell Realm.
Located on a quiet stretch of road high above sea level, the property was naturally shielded by an old stone wall and a small grove of lemon and olive trees. The scent of the rosemary growing near the front gate perfumed the air, and the scenic view of the sea and mountains beyond made it a picturesque paradise.
And Jeremiah had stolen it from him.
While they had never been that close, to have gone to such lengths to destroy Kingston’s life could only mean that his youngest brother truly hated him. It had to be pure loathing to make him do the things he’d done, but he just didn’t know why.
“I don’t think that’s it,” Autumn said, keeping her voice just above a whisper. “I’ve been thinking about this. My revenge powers seem to be triggered by strong emotions, but I think there’s a reason the visions that have to do with Jeremiah are different. Remember that last one? Everything but the grimoire was almost devoid of color. The vision I got from you initially was similar, and I think the reason is your brother. I don’t think he feels emotions. I don’t think he feels much of anything at all.”
“I think you’re right,” Devon agreed. “Based off of everything he’s done to Kingston, he is definitely lacking something.”
“I don’t think he’s here,” Kingston stated, ignoring the mental state of his brother. It didn’t really matter what label was used to classify him. Clearly, Jeremiah wasn’t right in the head.
“No, he’s not here,” Braxton confirmed. “No one is. And before you ask, yes, I’m sure. I can tell, being the God of Souls and all. No matter what spells have been used here, no one could hide a soul from me.”
“That’s pretty cool.” Autumn paused, then added, “And a little weird.”
Devon giggled. “That’s the perfect description of my mate.”
Braxton’s eyes narrowed playfully as he sent her a heated look filled with love and amusement. “High praise from my little geek.”
Kingston rolled his eyes at their flirting, but his heart felt a little lighter seeing just how happy his friend was now that Devon was in his life. He guessed he had that in common with Braxton. Finding their mates had been a blessing for both of them.
Autumn slipped her hand into his and squeezed it.“You are my blessing, mate.”
“Don’t get me started, or we’ll be as bad as they are.”
“Stop flirting with your mate and focus on the task at hand,” Braxton teased. He sobered again as he glanced around. “I remember this place now. I only came here with you once, but it looks the same. You going to buy it back once we clear out the stench of evil?”
Kingston snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “No, I’m done with this place. I’d never feel comfortable here again, even if we do clear out his evil. Let’s just collect the evidence and get the hell out of here.”
