Savage

Chapter 6

Xev knew he shouldn’t be anywhere near the Sephirii. They were…

Good. Just being near them made his skin crawl.

But his curiosity was more than he could handle. He wanted to see the one who’d dare to impregnate the goddess who terrified everyone.

Even his father.

Who would be that courageous?

That stupid?

While he knew Kissare’s name and reputation, he’d never seen him. At least not that he knew of. So he was desperate to get a look at what had to be the biggest moron ever born.

Sticking to the shadows so that no one would see him, he went room to room of their gilded hall, searching and listening to some of the most boring conversations he’d ever heard.

Ugh. They were so polite it was sickening.

If he heard one more compliment, he’d vomit. There was nothing interesting about them. They were just so…so…

Nice.

Ick! Being around them made him want to go find his sister and blast her just to balance out their sugary sweetness. Anything to get this out of his system. How could anyone live like this and tolerate it? Maybe he did have more of Azura’s blood in him than he wanted to admit, because he was really grateful he wasn’t one of these poor, pathetic creatures.

He was just about to leave when he heard the sounds of war. Furious and powerful. There was no mistaking the sound of sword striking steel. That sounded much more promising.

Who was fighting? Why?

While it could be a practice, it didn’t sound like one. This was the kind of entertainment he craved.

He headed through the shadows out of their temple and into a courtyard in the center of the buildings.

Xev slowed down and scowled as he saw the two combatants. Sadly, it wasn’t a battle. Before him stood two Sephirii. One was a large male with white-blond hair he had braided down his back. By the gilded armor he wore that was marked by Braith’s sun emblem, Xev knew he was Kissare, the Sephiroth he’d come to spy on. Kissare wasn’t just Braith’s personal guard—he was also the leader of the Sephirii.

The other…

Xev couldn’t breathe as he saw her. With hair so black it reflected the light, she had vibrant blue eyes and a pair of beautiful gold wings that matched her iridescent skin. And she met every sword strike that was leveled against her with a speed, agility, and power that reverberated through him.

Never had he seen her equal in beauty or grace.

Her macabre dance mesmerized him as she sparred with the much larger Sephiroth and held her own like a mighty warrior. She was incredible.

Watching her, he knew there were tricks he could teach her to help her defeat her opponent. While she fought just like all the Sephirii as she’d been taught by them, there were other ways to fight that would make her an even greater, more lethal soldier.

“Halt!”

She froze at Kissare’s command. Her sword hovered barely a finger’s breadth from the male in front of her.

Kissare smiled. “Impressive, Myone. Keep this up and one day, you might prove to be our commander.”

She shook her head respectfully. “I could never replace you, kyri. Nor would I want to.” She lowered the sword and bowed to him. “It’s simply my honor to be tutored by you. Your skill is an inspiration to all of us.”

“My honor to train you.”

Xev rolled his eyes as they began that shite again, and his stomach heaved. Did they really believe this tripe? He couldn’t imagine being so polite all the time. He’d break out in hives if he even tried it.

Kissare saluted her with his sword. “I’m being summoned away, fair Myone. But it was a good session. Until our next practice.” He sheathed his sword, then vanished.

Myone twirled her golden sword around her body with incredible expertise. He could watch her do that all day.

Suddenly, she sighed and held her sword up so that she could see the hilt. “I know, I’m not supposed to practice with you. It was just this once. Promise.” She paused to listen, then nodded. “You’re tired. I’ll take you home.” She smirked at her weapon in a way that made her pert nose even more adorable. “I hear you, Kasumi. I’ll let you rest, and soon we’ll find you food. Please, don’t yell at me. I’m doing my best to honor you and my position.”

Sheathing her sword, she reached up to the gold pin that held her hair coiled around her head and released it.

Xev’s breath caught in his throat as she shook her hair out and he saw the long, dark curls that begged him to sink his hands in them.

She was spectacular.

Don’t even go there, moron…

But he couldn’t help himself. He’d never known hunger like this. There was something about her that was just irresistible.

Suddenly, she turned to face him. With deep frown, she searched the shadows. “Is someone there? Hello?”

He froze as she looked right at him. Eye to eye. Terrified she might somehow see him, Xev stepped back further into the shadows. The last thing he wanted was for her to know he’d been spying on her.

Not the way to meet someone. People tended to react rather badly whenever they caught a perv watching them when they didn’t know it. And he couldn’t blame her for it if she did. Anyone would be justified in a screaming fit.

I hate you, Shadow!

This was creepy, and he seldom did it. No one wanted to be spied on. She would slap him if she knew, and he’d deserve it.

Even so, he wanted to think?—

“What you doing, punkin’?”

Jumping in startled alarm, he cursed at Shadow’s sudden question. Jerk! He knew better than to sneak up on him. “Why are you here?”

“Why are you?” Shadow wagged his eyebrows at him.

Disgusted with Shadow and himself for having spied on the poor woman, Xev shoved at his brother. “I was just curious.”

A lecherous grin curved Shadow’s lips. “I am, too. She’s quite a beauty, isn’t she?”

“Stop! You don’t just ogle someone when they don’t know you’re around. It’s creepy.”

“Xev got a cr-uh-sh. Watching the enemy…getting some ideas he sh-ooo-uldn’t.”

He could have really done without Shadow singing those words to him—and in particular, the kissing noises that followed. “Stop with your infernal questions and idiocy. Have I told you what a complete and utter ass you are?”

“Many times.” Shadow started braying like a donkey.

Rolling his eyes, Xev headed away from him.

Until Shadow caught his arm. “What’s going on with you? You know something, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I’m not stupid, Xev. You have no reason to be here with the Sephirii.” He glanced back toward Myone. “Not that she’d not reason to draw you over to the dark side that’s actually light. But I know you. You didn’t just happen to come here because you wanted to see how they live or scout out some woman. You’re not me and you’re not pervy. You had some other purpose to this. What was it?”

“I have no purpose to anything. Go back to your demons or whatever it is you do when you’re not annoying me.”

Shadow tsked at him. “The testier and nastier you get, the more I know I’m right.”

Growling deep in his throat, Xev knew Shadow wouldn’t give this up. He was more tenacious than a toddler after honey cake. What he wouldn’t give to have one stupid brother who never noticed anything.

Which left him with two options answer the question or teleport out. Of course, if he teleported out, Shadow would only follow and continue to badger him until he answered the question…

Or gutted his brother.

Xev let out a deep, annoyed growl. “You have to swear yourself to absolute secrecy.”

Shadow quirked an eyebrow at that. “Why? It’s juicy, isn’t it? Good and juicy.”

“Swear it on your life.”

Shadow took a moment to consider the matter.

“Seriously? You can’t just say you’ll keep your mouth shut?”

He scoffed. “Easy for you. You barely speak a word to anyone. Mal and I have to drag at least half the syllables out. Me, on the other hand?—”

“Talk so much that you’re lucky you still have a tongue?”

“See why it’s hard for me to make that promise? Want to make sure I don’t do anything to cause future harm to myself. Not that I particularly value life, but there are some deaths I’d really rather avoid. You know…dagger to the eye. Gut wound. Disembowelment…There really are a lot of very grisly ways to end a life. I’d rather not suffer any of those. So who’s going to kill me and why?”

Xev sighed. “Fine. I’ll keep my se?—”

Shadow cut him off again. “Just kidding. I swear. You know I won’t be able to sleep until you tell me. I can’t stand a secret I don’t know.”

“Isn’t that what makes it a secret?”

“From others, yeah. But why would you torture me, little brother? What did I do to you?”

Xev rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Grabbing Shadow’s tunic, he jerked him close so that no one would overhear them. “Braith’s pregnant.”

Shadow’s eyes bulged probably as much as Xev’s had when he’d been told.

“You’re serious?”

“Why would I make that up?”

Shadow shrugged. “Cruelty. You are your mother’s son.”

“So are you.”

Shadow grinned. “Makes us both dirtbags, doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t make me a liar.”

“True.” Shadow sobered. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here. Unless…” He trailed off as he looked back to the courtyard where Myone had been.

Those weird gray eyes widened again. “Unless you were scoping out the baby daddy.”

“What?”

Shadow gave him a knowing smirk. “Either you were scoping out the baby daddy or you were trolling. Since you don’t troll the way I do, I have to believe it’s the baby daddy that brought you here. Ooh, that’s grisly. Braith got busy with a Sephiroth. That’s a bet I wish I’d made. Dang, I’d be cleaning up, ’cause no one would ever believe it.”

Xev really hated how astute Shadow was. He never missed any detail, no matter how small.

Shadow turned back toward him. “So who is it?”

“Shadow…”

“Don’t Shadow me. I need his name so I can send a card or a gift. At least let me know who’s going to be gelded when your father and our uncles find out about this.”

Xev started heading back toward his room. “Want to know? Ask Malphas.”

“Wait! No…What? You’re kidding. Both of you knew this, and none of you told me? What did I do to make you both hate me so?”

“Stop your dramatics.”

Shadow waved his hands in the air and acted as if he were having an attack of some kind.

“Aren’t you a little old for this?” Xev asked.

“Oh, very. But it doesn’t stop me. Now be a good boy and answer my question. No need in hunting down a demon when I have a perfectly good…Wait. Wait. Wait. I don’t need you to tell me who. Oh my God, I’m an idiot. We’re here in the Sephirii hall. There’s only one person it could be…her Sephiroth. Kissare. None of the others ever go near her. Ever. She hates them.” Gasping dramatically, Shadow doubled over. “Oh my God, the ice queen got frisky with her own guard!”

As he’d said, Shadow was far too intelligent for anyone’s good.

Or sanity.

“Tell no one, Shadow. I mean it!”

“No fear there. I wouldn’t betray Braith for anything. I like having my body parts attached to me. Like them so much, I’ve named all the important ones.”

Grimacing at an image he didn’t want in his head, Xev groaned. “So much more information than I needed.”

Shadow grinned, then vanished. He was good at that.

And once he was gone, Xev realized that Myone had vanished, too. Crap…He’d wanted to spend a few more minutes with her.

Not that he was with her.

It’d just been a welcome change. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something about her that called out to him.

I’m an idiot.

No one would argue that. Certainly not his brothers or father. Nor his mother.

Still…

“Daraxerxes!”

He ground his teeth at the shrill scream that splintered his skull. How he hated that summons.

Ignore it.

But Azura would just send demons out to find him. And the last thing he wanted was for one of them to find him this close to the Sephirii stronghold. His luck, they’d concoct some lie, and his mother would think he was in league with them.

Yeah, that would be a disaster.

There was no need to delay the inevitable.

Irritated even more, he teleported to her throne room. As black as her soul, the walls reflected the torchlight around them. She had a blood-red rug underneath the two thrones on the dais where she and Noir held court.

Sterile and cold, just like both of them. Xev hated this room. It was bad enough when it was filled with demons and others wanting an audience with her. When they were alone…

It was chilling.

Like Malphas the night before, she paced the empty area before her black, heavily carved throne while Noir sat on his, watching her.

As soon as she saw Xev, she turned and used her powers to pin him to the nearest black marble wall.

Closing his eyes, Xev wished he could figure out how he’d blasted her so badly all those years ago. But he’d only had that particular power surge on the night Chani and her mother died.

Never since.

And that really pissed him off.

Noir stood up slowly and approached him as he hung uselessly eight feet above the floor. “Have you really been shooting bolts at my daughter?”

This time, Xev didn’t even bother to debate. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid.” Noir used his powers to slam him on the ground as if he were nothing more than a bug.

His mother sighed heavily. “You done?” she asked Noir.

“For now. But if he goes near Anat one more time, I will chain him to her chariot and let her rip off whatever body part she chooses.”

Depending on his mood, that might be worth it. Xev wiped the blood from his lip. “Is that all you wanted me for?”

“Just don’t.” Azura walked over to him. “Get up. I have a mission for you.”

This he couldn’t wait for. He pushed himself up with a sullen sneer. “A mission?”

“Your aunt is pregnant. We want to know who the father is.”

Xev arched a brow at that. Who knew Mal’s information would prove this valuable?

“My aunt?” he asked while he continued to play stupid with her. That was, at times, his most valuable play. “Which one?”

Azura glared at him. “Braith. Why would I care about the other two?”

He shrugged. “How should I know? I don’t even know why you care about Braith.” Xev scratched at his ear, only to learn he was bleeding from it, too. Awesome. “May I ask how I’m supposed to learn this from the aunt who doesn’t speak to me?”

“You’re always crawling around with my other worthless male offspring. Make yourselves useful. For once in your putrid life, go do something to please me.”

Because that was what he wanted to do, please the beast who’d never shown him any affection. Yeah, he’d get right on that…after the Source froze over. “Will do, my bloodthirsty maternal unit.”

With a sarcastic salute, he flashed himself out of her palace before she could blast him again, and back to the shadows he preferred.

At least here, he felt at home.

That was his thought until he felt something sharp and hot pierce his side.

What the…?

He looked down to see an arrow protruding from his flesh. It was followed by three more in quick succession.

Stunned, Xev staggered back. He tried to find his attacker, but all he saw was darkness everywhere. Using his powers, he sent out bolts blindly, hoping to hit whoever had attacked him.

Either way, he had to get out of here.

With no real destination other than someplace a demon wouldn’t dare follow him, he stumbled through the shadows until he found the one opening he needed.

The only place he knew none of them would dare follow.

There was light ahead. He prayed those on the other side wouldn’t attack him, too, but at least it was away from the ones currently using his body as a pincushion. He just had to get to it.

Unfurling his wings, he flew as he felt more arrows striking him. They caused him to dip and spin. Unable to stabilize his flight, he hit the shadow veil that separated the shadows from the world and flew through it sideways.

But he couldn’t stay airborne. With a heavy thud, he hit the ground. He saw the four arrows in his chest. One in his thigh. More in his back that hurt so much…

Focus. Find the anger. He pushed himself up and tried to walk.

All he found was pain and agony as he staggered forward in case his assassin was still in pursuit.

His knees buckled and he rolled. He tried to tuck his wings in to protect them, but it was useless. They were as injured as the rest of him, and no part of his body wanted to cooperate.

When he came to a stop, he heard a sharp gasp. Before he could see who had made the noise, everything went black.

* * *

Myone staredin disbelief of the demon at her feet. At least, she thought him a demon. With those sharp, beautiful features and black hair…

He had to be one of their ilk. Especially given the powerful aura he gave off. Even wounded and unconscious, there was something lethal and dangerous about him. Like a feral beast that had been taken down by hunters.

The fact he was wounded just made him deadlier, as such creatures usually struck out blindly in their pain.

Given the amount of injuries, he had to be a fierce, hunted demon who’d done something unspeakable. Why else would they have done this to him?

She should probably finish him off. It was obvious he’d infuriated someone to the brink of murder. Most likely, it was one of the gods she served.

“Myone!”

She jumped at the sharp call as she heard Kuru nearing her. “I’m here.”

He pulled up short the moment he saw the huge demon at her feet. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was resting when I heard an unexpected noise. I looked up, and he came rushing out of nothing. I think he’s a demon.”

Kuru shook his head. “Not a demon. He’s a son of Jaden.”

She stepped back from her intruder, startled by that knowledge. “What?”

“His mother’s Azura. His father’s Jaden. He’s not a demon. He’s a god.”

He’s a god…Those words echoed in her mind. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

He gave her a droll stare. “I serve Jaden. To my eternal regret, I know both of his sons.”

She didn’t understand what he was saying. “Regret?” Why would he be sorry that he knew Jaden’s sons?

“One’s demonkyn, and this one”—he toed at the unconscious god—“as I said, is born of Azura. He serves her instead of his father. He was so awful even at birth that Jaden spurned him.”

Pure evil, then. Why else would Jaden have refused him?

Even so, she couldn’t very well leave him here. Not in this condition. He was bleeding everywhere. If someone didn’t do something…Well, she wasn’t sure if he could die or not, but it didn’t look good for him. It would be indecent to leave him here like this. Alone and bleeding. “Help me, Kuru. We need to have him tended.”

“Have you lost your mind? Jaden has no use for him. You won’t win any points if you help his vile offspring. He doesn’t even acknowledge this one.”

It made no sense that he’d claim a demonkyn demigod and not a son who was a full god.

But that, too, didn’t matter.

“This isn’t about Jaden. It’s about doing what’s right. He’s been wounded and needs help.” She knelt down to examine all the arrows protruding from his body. By their red color and tainted appearance, she knew they were demonic in origin and not from anyone on their side.

Someone had definitely wanted this god dead, and most likely, it’d come from his mother. Myone wanted to know why.

Brushing the blood-soaked black hair from his face, she saw just how much he resembled his father. No one would ever mistake his paternity.

But she saw nothing of his mother in him. Other than the demonic arrows. Had Azura ordered him killed? Myone wouldn’t put anything past her. Killing her own child made much more sense than nurturing him.

There was something insidious about this, and she wanted to know what.

* * *

Kuru left Myone’s room,grinding his teeth. He still thought this was a bad idea. Women! He’d never understand them. No mercy should be given to an enemy, and Daraxerxes was definitely on the other side.

That was his thought until a shadow caught his attention. With his hand on his sword, he went after it.

At first, he thought he was imagining things.

Then he saw it move.

Faster than the being could react, he caught the demon and pinned it to the wall. Fire rippled over its skin as its wings spanned out. Red eyes glared at Kuru, who was unimpressed. He’d faced all manner of demons in service to his lord. This was just another bottom feeder he needed to dispatch.

“Wait!” it growled when he went to cut its throat. “I’m here for Daraxerxes.”

Of course it was. “Are you the one who wounded him?”

The demon tilted its head. “You hate him, too.” A statement, not a question.

“I don’t know him well enough to hate him.”

“You don’t have to know someone to hate them. I find that particular kind of hatred to be even more powerful. Jealousy…It’s far greater when the person is a stranger. There’s nothing to buffer the hatred then. It’s far more raw and potent.”

“Shut up!” Kuru was a Sephiroth—they were supposed to be above such petty emotions. And he hated that he wasn’t.

The demon clasped his hands around Kuru’s wrist. “You covet leadership…Perhaps we can help each other.”

“There’s nothing you can do for me.”

The demon laughed. “My name is Paimon, and there’s much I can do for you.”