Page 34 of The Dark War

“And why is she divulging us this information? This seems like an isolated incident?”

“Is it, though?” August raised a brow. His body hung over his now spread legs, his elbows resting on the upper part of his body. “Think about it. Hades lost control of one of his demons. Do you think there are more?” I shook my head. Surely not. He was a damn god. He would have more sense than that.

“Why couldn’t he control Trixten? Why her?” August’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Something about not putting a drop of blood in her system when she was created, so he is able to track his creation. This makes me ask myself, did he forget? Are there more demons like this? Could this be filtering over to Bergarian?” August’s voice raced, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Well, if a luna could beat the demon, that means there is hope then. We can easily destroy the rest.” I waved my hand absentmindedly. My eyes trailed out to the window, pups ran across the yard, and the playground Clara had installed was filled with little warriors swinging from the bars. I smirked, thinking how I couldn’t wait for Evelyn to begin her training.

“Trixten may have been easily beaten,” August mentioned, following my gaze. “Trixten possessed a weakened witch’s body. She used it for her own desires and stayed hidden from Hades for years. Trixten was ultimately defeated because the body she inhabited was mortal.” Growling, I slammed my fist to the coffee table, causing the glasses to click together.

“Spit it out, August. I don’t have all damn day!” My fucking mate was upstairs, sleeping, and Giana was chanting in my head for Torin to listen to her and let her heal him. Torin being a dick was blocking her because he didn’t think he needed to be fixed.

The dumb fuck.

August flinched. “Trixten possessed this witch’s body and was able to use her powers to walk about the soil of both realms. Rogue witches and sorcerers have now realized they can pull down their barriers and let demons possess their bodies, combining their powers.” August licked his lips, shaking his head. “If a demon moved their spirit into a magical entity such as a witch and used their body, you could kill the supernatural’s body, but not the demon’s. That demon could jump from body to body that harbors ill-will until the deed they want to be accomplished is done.” August’s face went pale, his body cowering at my heated gaze.

“And this is what Cyrene has told you?” August nodded, gulping down another shot of scotch.

“And what of this Trixen? Has she inhabited another body yet?” I rubbed my brow. My stomach was going to end up with an ulcer by the time this was done.

August shook his head. “No, Trixten has been destroyed by Hades himself. She purposefully pissed him off before she left the Underworld. These demons that are possessing magical entities are going under the radar since their bodies aren’t leaving the Underworld, just their spirits.”

Well, shit.

“Cyrene’s had a premonition.” I heaved a heavy breath. August was on my shit list now, even if he was the messenger. The room fell more silent if ever possible, a passing cloud hiding the blue moon outside the window.

“Cyrene has seen three demons with dark intentions. She doesn’t know their names, but these demons are trying to break free from the bonds they are being held from deep within the Underworld. Cyrene has limited contact with Hades as it is, and her power is weak when she tries to summon him. Cyrene is no longer trying to use her power to summon him for questioning to save her power. She says it is time to prepare for the worst.”

I returned upstairs, treading lightly. Three demon spirits we now had to worry about. Was it all connected, or was it a strange coincidence that we were having problems during the same time the Black Claws pack had their trouble?

At least Trixen was dead, but now having to worry about killing the spirits would be another problem. Peeking my head in the doorway, Raine and Dean sat on the nearby sofa, holding onto each other. They watched Clara’s steady breaths as they whispered to themselves.

Quietly, I came across the room, their eyes holding nothing but worry. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. Dean’s eyes widened, his body coming up from the couch, pushing down his black dress pants. “Clara has been having trouble adjusting to her new role as luna. I’m trying to give her less to worry about her because we all know when my mate is upset, I can lose my head.” My sister smiled, pulling me into a hug.

“Thank the gods you found her,” she whispered. “She’s too good for you,” she chided.

“Believe me, I know,” I kissed her cheek as they left the room.

Crawling into bed after a scalding shower, the mind-link was still left wide open for me to listen to Clara’s thoughts. She was rambling in her head, unaware anyone was listening.

“The white powder?” she thought in her dream. Giana was curled up around Clara’s mind, comforting her with whines and licks. My grip on my family grew tighter with Evelyn smashed between us. Kissing her forehead, purring in my chest, Clara’s ramblings fell silent as we all fell asleep.

The next morning, to my surprise, Clara was already dressed. Evelyn was sitting on the bed, pounding on my chest, looking at my piercings. “Morning, Alpha.” Clara’s words were quiet as she buttoned up the front part of her dress. The tea-length dresses she liked to wear were sweet and flowed with the wind. It gave her the young look she loved so much. A bright pink ribbon tied around her French braid held her hair away from her face.

“Love, come here,” my voice came out more harshly than it should, but my mate only smiled at me, crawling into the bed. Her head landed right on my chest as I stroked her cheek with my thumb. Evelyn cooed, now trying to pull my damn piercing out of my nipple.

“No, no,” I whined. Evelyn, finding it funny, continued to try and pull it more.

“You need to tell me when you are going to fight, Kane.” Clara’s eyes narrowed. “I know you are trying to help me, but keeping things from me won’t work. I thought you learned this when you tried to hide the whole rogue king fiasco.” My head hit the back of the pillow. Closing my eyes, I let out a slow breath.

“I know, and for that, I’m sorry.” Clara’s head perked up, her body leaning over to meet me square in the eye. “The big alpha is sorry? What world have we been transported to?” She giggled, kissing my cheek.

“I’ve been apologizing a lot lately. It seems you are rubbing off on me.” Her face visibly softened, kissing my lips. “Good, I’ve been worried about how you have treated some of those warriors.”

“Hey, I didn’t kill that one warrior that had his paws all over you yesterday,” I defended.

“Really? Good. Otherwise, I’d have to punish you.” She winked. “He was trying to save me from myself. The static was deafening.” She rubbed her ears again.

“That was because of a spell Sorceress Prinna had cast. It kept us from healing, blocked the mind-link too.” Torin rumbled in my chest, causing Clara to grip hold of my leg with hers. I smiled, biting my lip so hard not to say anything.

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