He brushed the hair back from her face and cupped her cheeks in his hands. He wanted to give her the gift he wished someone had given to her mother. Katra needed to understand the crossroad where she was standing right now.
"But I do know this, Katra, the first betrayal, even as severe as it was, could have been forgiven had your mother just apologized and meant it. Had she come to me and promised that she'd never hurt me again, I would have laid my life down for her. Instead she let her pride get in the way. She was more focused on punishing me for her imagined embarrassment than she was on the future we could have had together."
Kat frowned at him. "What are you saying?"
"I saw Sin, Katra, when he came to me, begging for your life. People don't do that when they don't care. It's not too late yet. He can forgive you this."
"But his past-"
"Is one that hurts and that's why this cut him so deeply. But because of that hurt, he needs you even more."
Kat held her breath as her father told her what she needed to hear. But she wasn't sure she could believe it. "Are you sure?"
"Trust me, baby. Everyone wants someone they can hold and love. Someone who will be there to help pick up the pieces when everything falls apart. Sin is no different from anyone else."
Tears stung her eyes as she realized he spoke from the depth of his own pain. He was trying to help her, to spare her the centuries of agony that he'd known. "I love you, Dad."
He took her hand in his and laid a tender kiss to her cheek. "If you have any care for Sin at all, don't leave him in darkness. It's not fair to show someone the sun and then to banish him from it. Even the devil may cry when he looks around hell and realizes that he's there alone."
She nodded and squeezed his hand. "I hear you, Dad. I just hope Sin will listen."
One corner of his mouth lifted. "If he doesn't, you know where Artemis keeps her nets."
Kat sucked her breath in sharply. "I don't think that would endear me to him."
"No, but it would keep him in place."
Laughing, she let go and stepped back. "I'm going to try this."
"No, baby. Trying is for fools." His gaze bore into hers. "You're going to succeed."
She smiled at his confidence and his wisdom. "Wish me luck."
"Better than that. I wish you happiness."
Love for him warmed her as she nodded and flashed herself from Olympus back to Sin's penthouse.
The minute she popped in, something slammed into her. Kat gasped as she hit the floor. She shifted, trying to move the weight off her.
It was then she realized what the weight was.
Sin, and he was bleeding profusely.
Kat tried to crawl out from under Sin, but he wouldn't let her. "Stay down," he growled in her ear before he rolled away and stood up to confront whatever had knocked him into her.
I should probably listen...
But that just wasn't who she was. So she pushed herself up, then wished she'd listened to him after all.
Kessar was in the room with six other demons. That alone made her blood run cold. Yet it wasn't the only bad news. They had Zakar in chains again, and the worst was Kytara, who lay dead a few feet from her.
Her eyes misting, Kat stared in horror at her friend's lifeless body. It looked as if they'd tried to literally tear Kytara apart. The sight and grief made Kat sick to her stomach. How could they have done such a thing?
Sin was on his feet, trying to fight the demons-"trying" being the operative word. It was obvious something was wrong with his powers.
Infuriated over what they'd done, Kat tried to blast Kessar and then realized exactly what had happened to Sin. She had no powers, either. Something was negating them.
"He has the Tablet," Sin said from between clenched teeth as he slung one demon into another.