As Sehun scan around the bar, his eyes landed on Jongdae. Jongdae had a seat at the back corner table taken over by a group of people headed up by just the man Sehun was looking for. Minseok seemed far more at ease now than when they’d left him hunched over in pain in his office yesterday. The seer sat beside a pretty Korean american woman wearing a little black dress and gesturing with one hand while the other held a pint glass steady on the table. The people surrounding them were pressed in close, drinks in hand and empties shoved to the middle. The conversation looked friendly, the vibe open and relaxed. That ended the moment Jongdae got eyes on Sehun. Sehun drank down his whiskey in one long swallow as Jongdae stood up and headed his way, a scowl on his face and anger in his eyes. No sense in wasting good whiskey. Jongdae slid through the crowd with deadly focus, and people instinctively pulled away. He came to a stop directly in front of Sehun, standing toe-to-toe with him, forcing Sehun to tilt his head in order to look him in the eye.“What the hell are you doing here?” Jongdae demanded. Sehun held up his empty glass and wiggled it from side to side, ignoring the curious looks directed their way. “I thought it was obvious. Minseok asked me to come.” “Get out. You're not needed here, not after causing him pain yesterday." “Oh, you know I can’t do that.” Sehun smiled, showing his teeth in a challenge any shifter would recognize. “A mutual acquaintance owes your boss– husband some money for an answer. I’m here to discuss payment and trade.” “There a problem, Sehun?” Chang Wook asked. Sehun watched out of the corner of his eye as Chang Wook slipped free of the crowd to stand beside him right in an obvious show of support. The Alpha had insisted on accompanying Sehun, despite Sehun's protest. Kris not wanting to let his brother go alone was delighted about it. He already had a good impression on Chang Wook since he chose to protect Sehun. “Nothing I can’t handle,” Sehun replied with a smile. "Are you sure?." Chang Wook said. Jongdae laughed. "Of course I can handle him as well." "I wasn't taking to you." Chang Wook said, his sharp eyes looking at Jongdae. “I guarantee you can’t handle me, Jongdae. But I’m not here to fight. I’m here to get my answers,” Sehun said. His gaze flickered around the bar, tracking the movements of the crowd and picking out people taking position to act as backup for Jongdae just the way Chang Wook had done for Sehun. They weren’t being subtle about it. The noise level had quieted some as their little group became the focus of everyone in the bar. “Your answers gave me a migraine that cost me couple of thousand dollars to get rid of,” Minseok said as he came up behind his husband. “You can afford it.” “What’s going on?” the Korean american woman asked with a weight of authority to her voice that had Sehun reassessing the power balance in the group. She was an alpha– the pack Alpha, and the only person in their small group who didn’t shift to give ground to her was Sehun and Chang Wook. “This is the guy who came by with Yoongi yesterday, Tiffany,” Jongdae said. Dark brown eyes glared at Sehun angrily, but he let everyone’s animosity slide off him like water. “You’re not welcome. Get the out,” Tiffany said to Sehun. Sehun ignored her and looked over her shoulder at where Minseok stood behind the two. “You mind calling off your guard dogs?” Jongdae's hand shot out and grabbed the front of Sehun's T-shirt, hauling him up on the balls of his feet in a sudden move that made Sehun's teeth clack together. Sehun didn’t fight to break Jongdae's hold, just smirked up at the shoter man.

“That’s ing it—” Chang Wook was already grabbing Jongdae by the neck, putting a distance between him and Sehun. But who would have thought Jongdae would growl and lunged to grab onto Sehun once more. Chang Wook was about to intervene again, but Sehun stopped him with a slight shake of his head, causing the Alpha to halt his movements. "Babe,” Minseok said sharply, grabbing at Jongdae's shoulder. "It's okay. I asked him to come" Sehun flipped the empty glass up in the air close to Jongdae's head, forcing him to grab it with his free hand to keep from getting hit in the face with it. Sehun thought he heard the glass crack when he caught it. “You heard him,” Sehun said. “Hands off.” For a second, Jongdae didn’t move. Then he abruptly let Sehun go with a hard shove. Sehun stumbled backward a step but Chang Wook caught him before he went too far. As he turned his head to look at Minseok, something caught his eye. Caught his magic. A man was walking toward them from the rear of the bar with a single-minded focus that screamed wrong. Sehun's trained instincts rarely failed him when it mattered, and he moved without thinking. He lunged around Jongdae for Minseok, getting a hand around the seer’s arm even as he unholstered his sidearm with the other. Sehun felt Jongdae hand come down with bruising strength on his shoulder right as the minor scanning spell wrapped around the bar shattered, the sound of its destruction like distant ringing bells in his ears. Sehun's magic screamed a warning, recognition searing right through him in a momentary burn that set his nerves on fire. Even as Jongdae hauled him backward, Sehun yanked Minseok forward, getting him out of the way of his weapon. Sehun got two shots off at his target before Jongdae grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm toward the ceiling. He hissed at the painful pull of muscles and lifted his finger off the trigger, eyes still on the man who was still coming at them. “What the ?” Jongdae exclaimed in disbelief, teeth suddenly sharper in his mouth, muscles shifting against his bones. He was a moment away from shifting, Sehun noted. The crowd panicked, scrambling away from the threat in their midst. Jongdae's grip loosened just a little in surprise; that was all Sehun needed to get free. He twisted out of Jongdae's hold, shifted his grip on Minseok, and shoved the seer in Chang Wook's direction.“Watch him,” Sehun snarled before bringing up his sidearm in a two-handed grip. "No let me help you, I can protect you." "I appreciate the thought Wook, but this is beyond you. Just watch over the seer." The bullets hadn’t stopped the man—because he wasn’t a man. Wasn’t even close to being human. Then Sehun quickly pulled out the gun with soul killers, but it didn't work as well. Not much effect. Instead gray light twisted away from the tears the bullets impacts on the body had caused, peeling back the glamour wrapped around what was hidden beneath. That was all the soul killers did, revealed the real thing hiding in human skin. Its clothes disintegrated into smoke, revealing mottled, leathery gray skin split open around the joints, black bone sticking outward and tethered in place by slick muscle and knotted tendons. Razor-sharp claws jutted out from the stumps of its palms, clicking together as it moved. The demon was humanoid in shape, a hunched-over bipedal that made Sehun's heart crawl up his throat as the glamour fell away completely. He couldn’t look away from the stumpy torso with skin split over a thick ribcage and a head that had no eyes, no nose, nothing but a wide, gaping maw filled with rows of jagged teeth. A long, pointed tongue whipped out of its mouth with sickening prehensile strength. This was Ronove, a marquis of hell–He understood their hierarchy, how the titles weren’t a matter of bloodline or age, but power. The stronger the demon, the greater the title. The counts were at the bottom, followed by the marquises, then earls. Next in line came the dukes, then it moved up to the princes to the last and most powerful, the great demon lord also known as emperor of hell. This very demon was  a soul scavenger, one of favored sons of Beelzebub and was hell’s version of a walking bottomless pit of hunger. They feed on magic, souls, and even the human body, eating anything alive, but they especially like to feed on mana to sustain their own presence on the mortal realm. Sehun had never fought one, but he knew they were a goddamn nightmare to kill. People screamed as they became aware of the demon’s presence. Everyone behind Sehun stampeded for the door, but there were plenty of people trapped behind where the demon stood.
"Tiffany! Jongdae” Minseok yelled, sounding frantic. “The pack!” Sehun never took his eyes off the mana-eater as he holstered his handgun. It wouldn’t do anything against a demon of this caliber. Instead, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his dagger– a gift from his grandfather– yanking it free of its magicked sheath. The double-edged blade was pitch-black in color, a familiar weight in his hand that settled Sehun's focus. It would be easier to shift and cast the demon back to hell. But Sehun didn't want to at the moment, he prefer to fight in human form, to test his training all of many years. Besides it was just one demon. Yet one that shouldn't be underestimated. He dropped his shields, every last one of them, dragging his magic out of his soul in a crackling, fearsome rush the mana-eater couldn’t resist. Sehun made a cutting motion with his left hand through the air. Half a dozen soul spheres exploded into existence, his magic burning bright like the lure it was. The mana-eater opened its mouth and screamed.The sound was like breaking metal, making Sehun's teeth vibrate in his jaw. The demon charged forward, but not at Sehun. It went for Minseok and Chang Wook. Sehun put himself in the demon’s path without a second thought. He led with a searing blast of raw metaphysical energy tailored for close quarters that knocked the mana-eater off its feet for a few seconds and charred a stool. He grunted as the demon snapped at the lingering traces of the blast, down Sehun's magic. He spun up the next spell, magic burning bright through a sphere as he sent it careening to the floor. It exploded in a wave of magic that Sehun built up into a shield ward. Lines of light crawled away from his spread fingers, cutting over the floor like a brilliant glowing spider web. It moved as fast as lightning, wrapping itself around the entirety of the bar , sinking into the threshold already laid down. When the ward came full circle, locking into place around the demon, Sehun let it go. Then he charged. The black blade cut through the dense bone of the demon’s rib cage like butter, searching for a heart it didn’t have. Thick, tarry fluid flowed out of the wound as the demon tried to pull itself off the dagger, screaming in what might have been agony if it were capable of feeling pain. Bright, shining light burst around the dagger in a flash more reminiscent of lightning than fire. The Demon's mouth stretched wide on a death scream that made Sehun want to plug his ears as white-hot, magic seared it from the inside out until the only thing that remained of it was ashes. Sehun looked at the dagger in awe, he was right, it was truly powerful. His grandpa had given him something valuable. Chang Wook on the side let out a breath he's been holding. He knew Sehun was a capable man, a capable fighter, but he had still felt uneasiness rising within him. After all this was his first time seeing a demon and the creature was something he never wished to encounter. He didn't know what such demon was actually capable of. Most importantly he didn't wish to fail in protecting Sehun like he said he would. He made a promise and Chang Wook intended to keep it for a life time. That was how much he owed Sehun. "Are you alright?" He asked. Sehun seemed to be in thought. It took a while before he snapped his head to look Chang Wook as he nodded. "What are you thinking?" It was Minseok that asked. Sehun turned around, his eyes met Jongdae's, that now held a certain amount of respect and fear In them. Sehun resisted the urge to smirk, as he averted his gaze to Minseok. “The demon wore glamour. Only a tenth level up mage could cast that spell strong enough to completely hide a demon’s presence from a bar full of shifters and other mages.” he said, putting away his blade. Minseok nodded. "Do you suspect it's a necromancer? Or a mage?" "I don't know, you tell me Minseok." "I think it's more than what we thought." "What do mean–" "Hey I am still waiting." A woman's voice cut him off. Sehun turned around to see whom it was. A blonde lady– clearly an Alpha with sharp golden grey eyes– in black was stood behind Minseok with her arms crossed. Waiting impatiently and Sehun had no idea when she appeared. Minseok let out a sigh, jerking his head at Jongdae. "Take her out of here." "Hey don't touch me" she said dodging to the side swiftly, from her movements Sehun could tell she wasn't an easy target, a skilled fighter probably. But now a few of Minseok's men had surrounded her and she began to yell. "Motherfuker tell me what you know about my brother– where can I find him." At Minseok. Minseok shook his h