Thorn forced himself to show no emotion or mercy. To stand strong against the love that hated him for what he was doing. It must be done. There was no choice in this matter.
Unable to stand himself for his actions, Thorn turned away and covered the portal so that Cadegan’s face wouldn’t weaken his resolve.
I love you, child.
Unable to bear the pain of it, Thorn threw his head back and roared with agony …
Simi sat up as she heard a loud, anguished cry. It echoed through her room.
At first, she thought it might be akri in the middle of another nightmare.
But this was worse than any sound akri had ever made.
“Thorny,” she breathed.
Without a second thought, she teleported to where he was … in his giant hearth room where he was on his knees in front of a mirror he’d covered with a black cloth.
She had no idea what was going on. Only that he was in absolute pain. Closing the distance between them, she knelt by his side. “Akri-Thorn?”
He pulled her into his arm and wept against her shoulder.
Simi wrapped her arms around him, trying to understand what had happened. He cried like she and her siblings had done when their matera died.
“It okay, akri-Thorn.”
He shook his head. “It’s not, Sim. I had to banish my son tonight.”
“Banish him where?”
“His mother’s realm. He hates me now.”
She was confused. “Won’t his matera take care of him?”
“I hope so.”
“Then you should be happy. They don’t know each other. This way, they will.”
And still he wept against her shoulder. Simi felt so helpless. She wanted to make her friend happy.
Suddenly, akri-Thorn pulled away and changed into his demon form. And his demon armor. Though still extremely handsome, he looked scary now.
“Thorny?”
“I’m going to kill them. All of them. They did this. I will not choose humanity over my child. I won’t!” He looked at her with a determination that was frightening. “If the humans are dead, it won’t matter what Cadegan does.”
Her eyes widened at the thought. “No. No. No. No. No!” She took his arm. “You can’t do that akri-Thorn. The others, including akri will come for you. They’ll kill you.”
“What difference does it make?”
“The first difference is you’ll be dead. That’s not a good difference. It’s a bad one. Who will lead your Hellchasers then?”
“What do I care?”
Simi flew up so that she could cup his head in her hands. “Look at me, akri-Thorn. You care. You picked every one of them and gave them hope. Made them believe if they did goodst, they’d be saved. If you’re not here, they’ll all be damned again and there’s nothing worsted than snatching back hope after it’s been gived. It’s cruel and you are not cruel or mean.”
Thorn wanted to argue more. But in spite of the pain inside him, her words reached his bleeding heart.
“What kind of person chooses someone over their child?”
