And take their power. Then, and only then, could he be certain to remain sole ruler forever.
Without paying much attention, he tossed one soul after another into the demon realm. None of the white wisps shone too brightly, and none looked human enough to be useful.
And then, one soul flashed into the room, blinding in its power.
Climbing to his feet, he pushed the other souls away and drew it to him. When the creature met his eyes, he realized it had been a demon.
For one second, he almost tossed it into the demon-realm, but he froze when he realized. This wasn’t just any demon, it was one of Surcy’s, the very druid he had been seeking.
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
Mark neither flinched nor looked worried. “Hello, Caine.”
Interesting.
“After everything, why are you here? How did you die?"
Mark said nothing.
Caine smiled. “No matter. With you gone, your necklace is no longer protected. Finding it should be easy without your power hiding it. Once I have the necklace, the Immortals will finally be mine.”
The demon looked sad. “Is power really worth all of this?”
His teeth gritted together. “Only someone who has never tasted power would say something so foolish. Now, say goodbye, Mark. You won't be coming back. Your soul will never be reborn again.” He pointed to the Soul Destroyer. “Enjoy your fate.”
The demon didn’t scream or try to escape. He simply lowered his head as if he had accepted his fate.
Which Caine found utterly annoying.
Flicking the druid into the Soul Destroyer, he waited for his screams. But Mark’s soul simply hovered above the black pit.
Caine frowned and tried again and again and again, but the demon remained.
“What is this?”
Mark lifted his head from where he was suspended in air. "How the hell should I know?"
Turning, Caine shouted for his guard. “Bring my witch!”
The angel leapt into action, racing from the room. Within minutes, he’d returned with the young woman slung over his shoulder. He tossed her to the ground and the prisoner groaned and lay on her side, filthy and stinking of the prisons.
Caine gritted his teeth together. “Why won’t this soul be destroyed?”
The witch lifted a hand, her weak, trembling arm at odds with her great power.
“There’s a spell that prevents him from leaving this world.”
Caine felt his rage swell. Who in all the realms would dare to defy him in such a way?
“Who?” he asked, the question hanging in the air.
“The Demon of Sacrifice,” she whispered.
His jaw clenched. That was yet another soul he should have destroyed. She’d become too powerful, and apparently, foolish.
Looking at his guard, he glared. “Bring her to me.”
Then, glancing back at Mark, he nearly lost all control. The idea of someone having the audacity to defy his plans and stop his punishment… but then he froze as an idea hit him.
Destroying Mark’s soul was a delicious punishment, but perhaps there was a better one, a punishment that might even lead him to the Immortals even faster.
Settling back into his throne, he waved Mark’s soul toward him and smiled.
For the first time, the druid looked nervous.
He should be.
4
Surcy and her demons stood at the edge of a large farm surrounded by woods. It reminded her of somewhere, but she couldn’t quite place where. The sunlight bathed the entire place in a glow that warmed it like a painting, but something lingered underneath the beauty and peace of the place, a bad scent she couldn’t quite place.
Mark’s note had said that the farmer of these lands was an Immortal, but he believed himself to be nothing but a human. She didn't know whether this man had somehow managed to avoid Caine and his angels, but she was planning for trouble.
And she was sure she was right.
“So, what’s the plan?” Daniel asked.
“We get him, fast.” She tried to take a step forward, but Tristan grabbed her shoulder.
Staring back at him in confusion, she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“This can’t be like the other times. We have to move faster—“
“I just said that!”
He held up a hand, and she closed her mouth. “We can’t explain why we’re here. We just need to grab him and go for the next Immortal.”
“We have to bring him to the sanctuary first though—“
“There isn’t time.”
Her stomach twisted. “But if we get caught, we lose all of them.”
“And if we aren’t fast enough, we lose all of them anyway.”
After a second, Daniel sighed. “I’m with Tristan. If we could teleport into the sanctuary, that’d be one thing, but we’re going to have to spend hours walking back and forth beyond the barrier. That's time we don’t have.”
Surcy didn’t like it, but their logic was sound. Every second they wasted was dangerous. Caine could decide with the flick of his wrist to destroy the souls of any Immortals in his control, and then all would be lost forever.
“Fine, let’s go.”
They started across the field, her hands itching to call for her soul-blade, to not enter an unknown territory weaponless, but she forced herself to just keep walking. To hope for the best.
Suddenly, two children darted out of the corn field, laughing. A boy and girl that had the same dark hair and dark eyes. They had to be twins.
The girl’s gaze slowly moved to them, and the laughter died on her face. She grabbed her brother’s arm, the boy looked at them, and then they were tearing through the field away from them.
“What do we do?” Daniel asked. “Chase them?”
Tristan’s deep voice came, soft and certain. “Never chase children. There is nothing more fierce than a parent who thinks his child is in danger."
They continued forward, and seconds later, a farmer emerged from the cornfield. He gripped
