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October 13, 1045 AD

T horn felt his own powers surging to fight as he saw the darkness within Cadegan. It was growing even before his eyes. His son had done the unthinkable.

He’d taken human lives. The one thing Thorn had forbidden him to do it.

The one thing Brigid had warned them all against.

Even though Thorn tried to stop it, his own eyes began to change. “What have you done?”

Ashamed, Cadegan looked away from him at the same time Thorn’s demon servant, Misery, appeared by his side. While he didn’t trust the sultry demoness at all, he knew she never lied to him. She didn’t dare.

She only withheld the truth.

“He killed humans,” she whispered in Thorn’s ear. “Midlings who were trying to protect their sister he coveted for his own.”

Thorn winced at the fear that his son had done the one thing he’d been forbidden to do. The betrayal and hurt cut deep. In all the world, Cadegan was all he had left.

All he loved.

Hoping, praying it was a lie, that Cadegan wasn’t turning into the monster addanc he feared, Thorn glared. “Is this true? Did you take a human life?”

“Aye, but?—”

Enraged as his own demonic blood ignited, he backhanded Cadegan.

His son knew their laws and why they had them. Theirs was a tenuous truce with the Nasāru soldiers and others. One misstep and all of his Hellchasers would be banished back to the hell realms they’d populated with enemies who would do anything to lay hands to them. Enemies who would tear them apart and grow even more powerful. So powerful, the others would never be able to stop them.

Thorn didn’t care what they did to him, personally. He’d more than earned his damnation, and he’d come to terms with that long ago, but the others who’d loyally served him … They deserved the salvations they’d earned.

“There are no buts, boy! You swore to me that you’d never draw midling blood. Is this how you uphold your sacred oaths?”

Cadegan’s eyes turned completely from human to demon. “They attacked me first.”

Thorn winced as he felt Cadegan turning even more toward the darkness that flowed through their blood. Justification for cruelty was the slipperiest of slopes. Once begun, there was no turning back. Evil fed upon such blameless behavior, and it thrived with it in the heart of its tool.

“You are the blood of a demon! No midling can truly harm you. You know this! A bloody nose or black eye, you will survive.”

Cadegan lowered his head. “Forgive me, brother. ’Twas a mistake.”

Thorn wanted to believe him. He really did. But he’d been deceived too many times by those he’d put his faith in.

As much as he loved his child, he couldn’t let this pass. He didn’t dare.

Too many stood to suffer.

Tears choked him as he looked into a set of eyes that set him on fire and realized that Cadegan was his downfall. He’d allowed this child to come too close to his heart. That was how evil worked. Never from enemies you saw coming.

Only those closest to you could destroy you. The ones you mistakenly trusted.

The ones you allowed to mislead you because the pain of living without them was greater than the pain of tolerating the lie.

By forsaking his blood oath, Cadegan had taken that first deadly step toward the darkest forces. If he took one more, he’d be so powerful that none of them could stand against him.

None of them.

Thorn’s gaze went to his desk, where the Malachai’s name was carved in the wood as a reminder of how powerful a beast he was.

Should his addanc son merge with the Malachai …

All would be forever lost. This world would be theirs and the only thing Thorn could do was stand back and watch it burn at their united command.

No matter how much Thorn loved Cadegan, he couldn’t allow that to happen. Not after all the horrors he’d witnessed. And especially not after the promise he’d made.

Thorn shook his head. “Nay, the mistake was mine for thinking for one minute that you were something more than the mindless beast you were born to be.”

Cadegan’s entire face changed as the demon in him was ignited even more. Gone was any hint of compassion in his eyes.

Thorn curled his lip. “I can’t believe I put my trust and faith in you.”

Cadegan’s face returned to its human appearance—as others before. A trick for compassion that almost always worked and weakened the fool who loved them. “Please, Leucious?—”

Thorn grabbed his throat to stop those words before they succeeded in changing his mind and allowing him to forget how dangerous Cadegan was.

Not the innocent child he loved.

The monster that innocent child had foolishly unleashed this night. A monster who hadn’t been able to withdraw from those too weak to fight him.

Cadegan had bathed in their blood. He’d unleashed the inner demon at full wrath on those who couldn’t fight back. Of all creatures, Thorn knew that euphoria much better than he wanted to. He couldn’t allow Cadegan to become what Thorn had been.

A tool for his father who was more than willing to shed innocent blood.

No one would be able to reach Cadegan then. One man, even this beloved child, could never be more important than the welfare of the entire world.

Thorn tightened his grip and prayed this was the right decision. That Brigid would finally do what she should have done centuries ago.

Welcome her son to her realm where she could watch him and keep him from Noir’s grasp.

“For crimes against Our Lord, for breach of my trust, I condemn you to the shadowed lands of your mother. No more are you to walk this earth as a living being. You will spend eternity remembering what you’ve done and regretting your actions. You are no longer one of us. For that, you are sentenced and banished from the world of man. Forevermore.”

Cadegan tried to pry off Thorn’s grip. For the merest instant, Thorn almost relented.

Until Cadegan’s hand became a claw. Terrified of unleashing the addanc onto the world, Thorn threw him against the small mirror where Paimon had promised just the night before to devour the world through Cadegan’s blood.

Cadegan went instantly into his mother’s realm. He pounded against the glass, begging for release.

Thorn forced himself to show no emotion or mercy. To stand strong against the love that hated him for what he was doing. It must be done. There was no choice in this matter.

Unable to stand himself for his actions, Thorn turned away and covered the portal so that Cadegan’s face wouldn’t weaken his resolve.

I love you, child.

Unable to bear the pain of it, Thorn threw his head back and roared with agony …

Simi sat up as she heard a loud, anguished cry. It echoed through her room.

At first, she thought it might be akri in the middle of another nightmare.

But this was worse than any sound akri had ever made.

“Thorny,” she breathed.

Without a second thought, she teleported to where he was … in his giant hearth room where he was on his knees in front of a mirror he’d covered with a black cloth.

She had no idea what was going on. Only that he was in absolute pain. Closing the distance between them, she knelt by his side. “Akri-Thorn?”

He pulled her into his arm and wept against her shoulder.

Simi wrapped her arms around him, trying to understand what had happened. He cried like she and her siblings had done when their matera died.

“It okay, akri-Thorn.”

He shook his head. “It’s not, Sim. I had to banish my son tonight.”

“Banish him where?”

“His mother’s realm. He hates me now.”

She was confused. “Won’t his matera take care of him?”

“I hope so.”

“Then you should be happy. They don’t know each other. This way, they will.”

And still he wept against her shoulder. Simi felt so helpless. She wanted to make her friend happy.

Suddenly, akri-Thorn pulled away and changed into his demon form. And his demon armor. Though still extremely handsome, he looked scary now.

“Thorny?”

“I’m going to kill them. All of them. They did this. I will not choose humanity over my child. I won’t!” He looked at her with a determination that was frightening. “If the humans are dead, it won’t matter what Cadegan does.”

Her eyes widened at the thought. “No. No. No. No. No!” She took his arm. “You can’t do that akri-Thorn. The others, including akri will come for you. They’ll kill you.”

“What difference does it make?”

“The first difference is you’ll be dead. That’s not a good difference. It’s a bad one. Who will lead your Hellchasers then?”

“What do I care?”

Simi flew up so that she could cup his head in her hands. “Look at me, akri-Thorn. You care. You picked every one of them and gave them hope. Made them believe if they did goodst, they’d be saved. If you’re not here, they’ll all be damned again and there’s nothing worsted than snatching back hope after it’s been gived. It’s cruel and you are not cruel or mean.”

Thorn wanted to argue more. But in spite of the pain inside him, her words reached his bleeding heart.

“What kind of person chooses someone over their child?”

“Normally, the Simi would agree, but as you always tell the Simi, this isn’t that simple. Akri-Thorn has many obligations than just Cadegan. Them Hellchasers are also your children. Like the Dark-Hunters are akri’s. You have to protects them. They needs you.”

“Cadegan needs me, too.”

“But he not dead. He’s with his matera. Right?”

Thorn nodded. Surely after all this time, Brigid would welcome him to her pantheon. “What if we’re wrong, Simi?”

“What if you’re right? Have faith, akri-Thorn. Trust yourself.”

Easier said than done. He’d never had any faith in himself. Not even a little.

But Simi was right. This wasn’t an easy thing. If Cadegan fell into the hands of the Malachai, the dark gods would reign again. No one deserved that.

Everyone, including Cadegan, would suffer.

Have faith.

He would try and pray that this was the right thing to do.