Iscariot

Wherever it's going, I'm gonna chase it.

"Uzaeris," James snarled, stepping through the front door.

"Rae- James," Erik corrected, startled by his brother. "We need to-"

The blow was swift, sending Erik flying backward across the room. He hit the foyer's table and slid over it, sending everything crashing to the floor. It toppled back, dropping him onto the marble tiles, dazed. James strode in, the door slamming behind him.

"Did I or did I not tell you to stay away from her?" James' eyes flared gold and Erik had just enough presence of mind to roll away as his brother reached for him.

"I..." The incubus rolled up onto his feet and backed away a few paces. "Think what you will, I didn't touch her."

"We both know that's a lie," James pointed out coldly. He could smell Mika on Erik as much as he could have smelled Erik on her. His arm extended, he summoned his sword into his hand.

"What are you doing?!" Erik recoiled, calling up a ward of protection about himself.

"I have been patient. I have left you to your own devices, something I should never have done." James was ready for the tendrils Erik called up between them. He cut them away as they appeared. "I gave you a chance, Uzaeris. You are dangerous, uncontrollable, and corrupt to your core."

"Raestrao, we shouldn't be fighting. Mika-" Uzaeris wasn't ready for his brother's charge.

"I will not allow you to hurt her!" James' sword struck Erik's ward, sundering it as their powers clashed. Erik hastily called another. He flung his hand out, spraying the air with ethereal shards, rather than the blast he'd struck James with before. Summoning more tendrils, he tried to move back again but he wasn't a melee fighter. He hadn't trained in decades. He realized his mistake as his heel struck the wall. James had backed him into a corner.

He won't stop. His brother's eyes flared again and Erik threw everything he could into a blast to knock him back. It hit James' shield and washed around him as his blade came around again. Once more Erik's ward shattered.

The sword vanished in a heartbeat to be replaced with Raestrao's handgun. The pistol slammed across Uzaeris' face, pain exploding in his head as he felt his nose break. Raestrao snatched his collar and slammed him back. Erik's eye was already swelling shut, watering from the pain. He coughed, blood spraying James' face and glasses.

"I have made mistakes in my life. No one knows it better than I." James growled. He twisted the fabric, wrenching it tight around his brother's throat, cutting off his air, efficiently silencing voice and magic. "But you will not do this, Uzaeris. You will not steal Mika from me like you did Ezaeur."

Erik kicked out as James lifted him, catching him in the gut, making his brother drop him back on the floor. Gasping, he forced his power out, tendrils erupting from the floor to tangle about his brother's legs.

"I haven't stolen anyone." The incubus exposed the lie. He tried another ethereal blast, his brother's shield taking the brunt of the force. "You don't understand! Mika is -"

"Enough! Not again. You had your chance." James grabbed him and threw him again, Erik striking the far wall before dropping, the tendrils disappearing in black mist as he landed. His head was ringing, half-blinded by his swollen eye. The bridge of his nose was broken, blood running down the back of his throat as he choked. He quickly tried to summon some healing when James pulled him up. "I will not let you use her. I will not let you turn her from me."

"Will I join Aomaris?" Uzaeris asked weakly. The Demon Lord didn't even flinch this time. "Will Matthew? And Damien?"

"I never wanted our brother dead. You were the one to kill Aomaris, Uzaeris. You could have helped him, saved him, but instead, you ran. You ran back to your corrupted, slave-ridden kingdom. You took my wife and you destroyed her." Erik could feel James shaking with fury, barely maintaining the effort to hold back. He could feel the animosity pouring off of him.