"Stop it!" Sin shouted in his ear. "It's your brother."
"Fuck you, gallu, fuck you!"
Realizing there was nothing else to do, Kat held her hands out and blasted Zakar with a kind, but no less stunning, god-bolt. He instantly collapsed into Sin's arms.
Her and Sin's gazes met and she saw the gratitude in his eyes as he swung his brother up into his arms. "Let's get out of here before more of them come."
She nodded in agreement. "Simi? Fry all the other demons and let's get out of here."
Simi pouted. "But I'm still hungry."
"We'll order Diamonique as soon as we get back."
Simi's bloody face lit up immediately. "Ooo, that's so much better than gallu." She and Xirena quickly set fire to the demons before Kat and Sin flashed them back to his penthouse.
Kat used her powers to conjure a large bag of Diamonique, which she handed over to Simi and Xirena once they joined them. Squealing, the demons ran to their hotel room to gobble up the stones and left Kat alone with Sin and his brother.
Thank the gods for Diamonique. That should keep the demons occupied for a little while.
His face sad and bitter, Sin carried his brother toward the sofa, which unfolded itself to make a queen-sized bed. The covers pulled back an instant before he laid Zakar on top of the white sheets.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Sin couldn't speak as he looked at the vicious scars on his brother's body. What had they done to him? He looked as if they'd been feeding from him for centuries.
Sin wanted blood for this. Kessar's... the gallu's.
But most of all, Sin wanted Artemis. If not for her, he'd have been there to stop this. He'd have had the power to protect Zakar from their brutality.
No, he took that back. It wasn't Artemis's fault. It was his own and he knew it. If only he hadn't wanted acceptance. Wanted companionship. None of this would have happened. It was his own weakness that had wounded his brother. There was no one else to blame but him.
His stomach shrank from the weight of pain and guilt that gnawed at him.
He felt Kat gently pulling him back. He started to snap at her, but the intent look on her face kept him silent. Rubbing her hands together, she neared Zakar. She placed the palms of her hands against his eyes as she whispered in Atlantean.
A translucent yellow glow spread out from her hands to cover his body. As the glow moved over Zakar, it knitted his wounds closed and healed the deep scars that marred his skin... even his missing finger was repaired.
Relief and gratitude poured through Sin's body as he watched her heal Zakar.
That she would do this without Sin's asking... it meant the world to him.
When she pulled back, he saw that Zakar's eyes were no longer seared closed. His eyelids and lashes lay against his cheeks in perfect repose. With the exception of the long, gnarled hair, this was the brother Sin remembered.
"Thank you," he breathed, grateful for what she'd done.
She inclined her head before she moved away from the bed. "They'd punctured his eardrums. I think that's why he didn't respond when you told him who you were. He was deaf."
Sin cursed as more rage filled him. "I want them dead. All of them."
Her face said she agreed completely. "I hate to say this, but I give Stryker credit. At least he has a code of ethics, screwy though it is at times, that he follows. I can't imagine him doing something like this."
"It's why we can't let the gallu loose on humanity. They are completely without compassion, mercy, or decency."
"I agree. But I'm not sure Zakar will be able to help us now. He looks pretty battered, and there's no telling what's been done to him mentally that I can't fix with a simple healing spell."
Sin hated to admit it, but she might be right. The man on the bed wasn't in any kind of fighting shape. He looked gaunt and weak. They'd be lucky if Zakar could even stand without help. "I wonder how long they've had him."
"I don't know. But by the looks of it, it's been a while." Kat brushed at Sin's hair before she rubbed the small of his back. "Are you all right?"