"Demon God?" Ethan repeated, his eyes narrowing.

Xylo nodded. "Yes."

Percival let out a low whistle. "Damn, demons be having gods too?"

Xylo turned toward Ishtar. "You’re a Dessendre. Do you not know the old tongue? Anything about the markings on your arm?"

Ishtar remained quiet, staring down at the floor.

Ethan noticed her silence and turned his attention to her. "Ishtar, you’re kind of the point of why we’re here. So now’s not the time to be quiet if you know something."

Ishtar lifted her gaze toward Ethan with an apologetic expression. "I’m sorry, Lord Ethan, but I never got around to learning the old tongue."

She readjusted her arm slightly, showing the green markings on her skin. "And when this suddenly appeared on my arm, the only thing I was told about it was that I carried some great legacy. Shortly after, war came upon my house."

A sad demeanor appeared over her face as she spoke. Ethan noticed it immediately and decided not to push further.

Instead, he turned toward Xylo and waved his hand dismissively, undoing the summon for now.

Ethan exhaled slowly in frustration. "I was certain the sorcerer demon would help us understand this enough for you to finally be able to put it to use. But without that, I’m not sure how else we could go about this safely."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, "Can you get it to do the same thing it did against the people that attacked you and Rayleigh?"

Ishtar shook her head. "I’ve tried. I can’t seem to turn the glowing off or use that same power."

Ethan exhaled again. "Now that’s another problem."

He paused, then an idea struck him and he laid it out. "Your power was most likely triggered by something in that moment. A feeling, an emotion, anything. Can you reach for it? Think yourself back into that situation and maybe summon that power back?"

Ishtar hesitated. "I... can try."

"Okay, go ahead. Show me," Ethan said, stepping back to give her space. The others instinctively did the same.

Ishtar closed her eyes and tried to think back to when she and Rayleigh were attacked. Instead, her thoughts drifted even further into the past.

To that night.

The night her family had been wiped out.

People called it a war. Maybe because the Dessendres fought back, it looked like one.

But the truth was, it had been an ambush. That night at the main family house, they had been outnumbered ten to one.

The Tisseus forces came with what looked like a small army, and even though the main residence had been the most guarded, there was nothing their small numbers could do against such overwhelming force.

It had been bloody.

She saw visions of her siblings, extended family members, and their soldiers getting cut down left and right. All for one girl.

Her.

When Ishtar opened her eyes again, she was quiet for a moment as the remnants of those thoughts played out to their finish.

There were no tears now. She had cried all of them in the cell that held her for more than seven years of her life.

Then she turned to Ethan’s expectant gaze and shook her head. "I got nothing."

Ethan sighed heavily. Ishtar’s expression turned solemn, hating how useless she felt and wondering why she couldn’t summon the damn thing again.

The others had been listening quietly. Percival looked surprised, especially hearing that the prince and the girl had been attacked.

He wanted to ask about it but noticed the discussion was important, so he held back.

Wilson, however, didn’t feel the same. "Sorry, what’s going on?"

Percival snapped at him. "Man, just shut up and watch like the rest of us."

"I wasn’t asking you," Wilson replied flatly.

Ethan sighed, about to respond, when his eyes suddenly widened with a realization. He turned to Wilson fully. "Can I ask, your Compulsion trait, how does it work exactly? I can’t seem to tell if it’s only suggestive or outright mind control."

Wilson found the question odd, evident by his puzzled expression. "Uhm... I guess it’s a fine line between suggestion and mind control. I don’t know. I’ve never really given it too much thought."

"Of course you haven’t," Percival said amusingly, shaking his head.

Wilson took a breath in, exhaling slowly as he chose to ignore him this time.

Ethan turned to his best friend with a disappointed expression. "Hey, come on, man."

Percival scoffed and shook his head without saying anything more.

Ethan turned back to Wilson. "Okay, hear me out. Would you be able to compel someone into... accessing a specific emotion or desire perhaps? Something buried that they can’t reach on their own?"

Wilson gave it a thought for a second. "Maybe, I can try. But I’m going to need more context to everything that happened."

Ethan nodded, then turned to Ishtar. "I strongly believe that whatever triggered that use of your power is tied to somewhere in that moment when the bounty hunters attacked. Maybe you just need help reaching down to that point."

She understood and nodded.

Ethan turned back to Wilson and narrated the events of the attack as precisely as he remembered them from Rayleigh’s account.

He detailed the ambush, the fight, Rayleigh’s injury, Ishtar being dragged toward the car, and the moment her power erupted in a shockwave that sent both demons flying.

When Wilson had a good understanding, he walked over to Ishtar and stared into her eyes.

His red eyes began to glow and Ishtar’s eyes turned blank, almost lifeless, as the compulsion took hold.

A scowl formed on Percival’s face as he watched. If there was anything he truly hated about this vampire, it was this trait of his.

Wilson’s voice was calm as he spoke. "Return to that moment. Not just memory of it, but the feeling and the desperation you felt then to fight back. Reach out to that desire once more and take control of your power through it."

Then he stopped and took a step back. Ishtar’s eyes remained blank for a moment before recognition slowly returned. She blinked a few times, then closed them again.

This time, she wasn’t thinking of the visions from that night. She was thinking of the strongest desire she felt when she was being dragged away by Xylo and Zurin.

How she never wanted to go back to that place again.

She thought of seeing Rayleigh on the ground, bleeding, and barely breathing. How she genuinely wished no harm ever came to him. How she wanted to fight back for once. To protect herself and to protect him.