so I can watch you. Don't think for one minute that
I've forgotten you're the face and voice of the one woman I want to kill more than any other."
It really was too much to hope he could get past that. But then if someone had taken her godhood,
she'd be a little upset herself. "Understood. So what's the game plan other than to avoid Demon and my
mother?"
"We have to find the Hayar Bedr."
Kat frowned at the unfamiliar term. "That would be what?"
"The Forsaken Moon."
"And would it be animal, vegetable, or mineral?"
"Animal. Definitely animal."
Why did that surprise her? Oh wait, 'cause it was completely normal to refer to an animal as a
forsaken moon. Yeah... "Really? What kind of animal would be called the Forsaken Moon?"
"My twin brother."
Kat was stunned by the revelation. That was something she hadn't seen inside him. "There are two
of you?"
His features darkened. "In a manner of speaking. Originally, there were three of us born to a
human mother. She was a peasant my father had taken a fancy to and impregnated. We were no more
than children when the prophecy came down that said we would destroy the pantheon. In anger, my
father killed the eldest triplet; then he came for me and Zakar. Even though I was only ten, I was the
stronger, so I hid Zakar in the dream realm and fought my father for the right to live. I told him I'd already
taken care of my brother and absorbed his powers."
"But you hadn't."
"No, but the idea that I had possessed the power to kill my own brother scared my father enough
to give him pause. Even though he still wanted me dead, he decided that since the prophecy had foretold
the three of us would cause the destruction, one of us should be all right to live. So I took my place in
their pantheon and Zakar stayed hidden for the most part. The humans knew him, but any time they made
mention of him I told my father I was the one in their dreams using my brother's name."
"And he believed you?"
He gave her a wicked grin. "You don't screw with a fertility god if you want to stay vigorous."
True. Fertility gods had a way with a whammy that could ruin most men's nights.
And their egos forever.
"So where's your brother now?" Kat asked.
Sin let out a tired breath as he left her to go to his bar and pour himself a drink of whisky. "I have
no idea. The last time I saw him was after Artemis had drained my powers and left me for dead. Zakar
helped free me from her net, but he didn't stay around long after that. He told me there was something he
had to take care of and then he vanished."
"And you have no idea where he went?"
He knocked back the drink with one gulp and poured another glassful. "None. I've tried to
summon him. Call him, you name it. Nothing. Not a postcard or whisper for thousands of years. Part of
me wonders if he's not dead."
"If he is, where does that leave us?"
"Basically screwed over raw." He tossed back another drink. "It was his blood we used to bind
the gallu the last time. Which means we need his blood to bind them again."
"If you're twins, why can't we just use your blood to rebind them?"
He offered her a drink, but she declined with a shake of her head.
Sin put her glass away before he answered her question. "I'm not a Dreamwalker. Zakar is. In
dreams, he once battled the demon Asag, the genetic father that was used to create the gallu. During their
fight, Zakar absorbed some of the demon's powers. It's why he can stand against them alone and I can't.
He understands them and their weaknesses. It was through Zakar that I was able to control and fight the
demons."
"Then how is it that Ishtar died by their hands?"
This time he didn't bother with the glass. He drank straight from the bottle before he responded.
"Once I was negated and Zakar had vanished, she was alone in the fight against them. I heard her crying
out for help one night and I rushed to her even though I knew I didn't have the power to fight them."
He swallowed as pain filled his
I've forgotten you're the face and voice of the one woman I want to kill more than any other."
It really was too much to hope he could get past that. But then if someone had taken her godhood,
she'd be a little upset herself. "Understood. So what's the game plan other than to avoid Demon and my
mother?"
"We have to find the Hayar Bedr."
Kat frowned at the unfamiliar term. "That would be what?"
"The Forsaken Moon."
"And would it be animal, vegetable, or mineral?"
"Animal. Definitely animal."
Why did that surprise her? Oh wait, 'cause it was completely normal to refer to an animal as a
forsaken moon. Yeah... "Really? What kind of animal would be called the Forsaken Moon?"
"My twin brother."
Kat was stunned by the revelation. That was something she hadn't seen inside him. "There are two
of you?"
His features darkened. "In a manner of speaking. Originally, there were three of us born to a
human mother. She was a peasant my father had taken a fancy to and impregnated. We were no more
than children when the prophecy came down that said we would destroy the pantheon. In anger, my
father killed the eldest triplet; then he came for me and Zakar. Even though I was only ten, I was the
stronger, so I hid Zakar in the dream realm and fought my father for the right to live. I told him I'd already
taken care of my brother and absorbed his powers."
"But you hadn't."
"No, but the idea that I had possessed the power to kill my own brother scared my father enough
to give him pause. Even though he still wanted me dead, he decided that since the prophecy had foretold
the three of us would cause the destruction, one of us should be all right to live. So I took my place in
their pantheon and Zakar stayed hidden for the most part. The humans knew him, but any time they made
mention of him I told my father I was the one in their dreams using my brother's name."
"And he believed you?"
He gave her a wicked grin. "You don't screw with a fertility god if you want to stay vigorous."
True. Fertility gods had a way with a whammy that could ruin most men's nights.
And their egos forever.
"So where's your brother now?" Kat asked.
Sin let out a tired breath as he left her to go to his bar and pour himself a drink of whisky. "I have
no idea. The last time I saw him was after Artemis had drained my powers and left me for dead. Zakar
helped free me from her net, but he didn't stay around long after that. He told me there was something he
had to take care of and then he vanished."
"And you have no idea where he went?"
He knocked back the drink with one gulp and poured another glassful. "None. I've tried to
summon him. Call him, you name it. Nothing. Not a postcard or whisper for thousands of years. Part of
me wonders if he's not dead."
"If he is, where does that leave us?"
"Basically screwed over raw." He tossed back another drink. "It was his blood we used to bind
the gallu the last time. Which means we need his blood to bind them again."
"If you're twins, why can't we just use your blood to rebind them?"
He offered her a drink, but she declined with a shake of her head.
Sin put her glass away before he answered her question. "I'm not a Dreamwalker. Zakar is. In
dreams, he once battled the demon Asag, the genetic father that was used to create the gallu. During their
fight, Zakar absorbed some of the demon's powers. It's why he can stand against them alone and I can't.
He understands them and their weaknesses. It was through Zakar that I was able to control and fight the
demons."
"Then how is it that Ishtar died by their hands?"
This time he didn't bother with the glass. He drank straight from the bottle before he responded.
"Once I was negated and Zakar had vanished, she was alone in the fight against them. I heard her crying
out for help one night and I rushed to her even though I knew I didn't have the power to fight them."
He swallowed as pain filled his
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