DEVIL MAY CRY.doc by Unknown Page B

eyes. "It was too late. You have no idea what it feels like to hold
    your child in your arms and watch her die. To know that if you still had your powers, you could have
    saved her." His look pierced her. "I could have forgiven Artemis what she did to me. It's the death of my
    daughter that I will never get over. If I ever have a chance to kill that bitch, believe me, I will take it. All
    consequences be damned."
    A chill ran over her at his heartfelt words. Not that she blamed him. She'd seen the pain of Ishtar's
    death through his eyes and she'd felt his horror and rage.
    No father deserved that memory.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she took a step forward. "Sin..."
    "Don't touch me. I don't need comfort, especially not from the daughter of the woman who took
    everything from me."
    Kat nodded. She understood that and it made her ache for him. "What happened to Ishtar's
    powers when she died?"
    He polished off the bottle with one last swig. "Before she died, she transferred enough of them to
    me to keep the universe from unraveling—it's also why I can now fight the gallu and defeat them. After
    her death, the rest were released, which resulted in one hell of a volcanic eruption. Then Aphrodite
    entered our pantheon as the goddess of love and beauty to replace Ishtar, and it wasn't long after that,
    that my pantheon was history. Literally."
    Kat swallowed as she remembered the Greek gods talking about that. Aphrodite had used
    jealousy as a weapon to turn the Sumerians against one another until they no longer trusted anyone near
    them. Kat's aunt had been insidious as a manipulator. It still amazed Kat how people who'd known one
    another for so long were so willing to listen to the lies of a newcomer.
    How willing they were to give in to such a negative emotion to the point they would do anything to
    go after one another just to see their innocent enemy fall.
    In the end, they had all paid a steep price.
    But that was the past and it wouldn't cure their current dilemma. What they needed was someone
    who could...
    She paused as she remembered something Sin had said.
    "I have a question. Why can't you do what Zakar did? If you're twins, can't you fight Asag in a
    dream and then get the same kind of demon powers?"
    He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "If I had my own powers and not half of Ishtar's,
    there's a lot of things I could do... like kill your mother for instance."
    She'd walked right into that one. Choosing to ignore his rancor, she tried another thought. "What
    about the Oneroi?" They were the dream gods for the Greek pantheon. "Could we get one of them to
    find Asag and fight him?"
    "Could try. Of course we have no idea how Asag's venom might affect them since they're born to
    another pantheon. Could be very interesting. Either it'll work or they'll become a new type of demon
    we'd have to learn to kill. Who should we pick as a guinea pig?"
    Kat screwed her face up at his sarcasm. He was right, though. There was no telling how such a
    thing could adversely affect one of her cousins. "Looks like Zakar is our best bet."
    "Unless you can talk your bitch mother into releasing my powers, yeah."
    She narrowed her gaze at him. "Well, that's just a little hard, since I can't even talk her into sparing
    your life, huh? You haven't exactly endeared yourself to her."
    "Oh, excuse my utter lack of manners there. Should we call Mommy dearest and invite her over
    for tea? I promise to be on my best manners when I choke the life out of her."
    "Whoa," Kish said with a laugh as he entered the room to their right, "what is this? Battle of the
    Sarcastic and Pissed? Should I make popcorn? Forget American Idol, man. This is much more
    entertaining."
    Sin cast a murderous glare toward his servant. "Is there a point to your latest irritation, Kish?"
    "Had a sudden death wish. Felt the deep need to come up here and have you freeze me again. I
    like being a statue... just so long as you don't stick me in a park somewhere