A/N: When tying up loose ends creates like three extra chapters. Can anyone else relate?

Also, Leraj's armour - for reference - is in Ch35

Leave your thoughts below on the chapter :)

Meliodas, you owe me big time when this is all over.

The fact that Meliodas had asked me to find Leraj meant they definitely had history and I was going to prod that wound until he spilled. Until then, all I could was try and find the demon while also trying to keep an eye out for Diane and King and not get captured by Holy Knights.

My circumnavigation of the wall to the next gate revealed nothing. A lot of the citizens still milled about but they diverted away from the large groups of knights that tramped through town. Every so often, I spotted one with high ranking powers and went back the other way. I had no need to fight yet.

Hands on hips, I surveyed the surrounding zone but I had no clue how I was supposed to find Leraj. I rankled at the fact that I had to even waste my energy doing so but I saw the reason in Meliodas' words. It would be wise to have one more person on our side in a kingdom out to get us.

I tried my nose but all the scents in the town made it hard to pick one. I huffed and tapped my foot. Maybe I could just pretend I couldn't find him; or just wait for him to find me, since he always had a habit of doing that.

That's it!

Heido! He was Leraj's demon 'pet' which meant he could lead me back to Leraj. Which raised another issue: how to find Heido. He usually just appeared out of nowhere as a dog.

But...

I spied a ladder leading to a roof. Bird form might be roosting somewhere where he could keep track of everyone. It seemed like a strategic move Leraj might make. With ease, I climbed to the roof and crouched, wary that the knights might have sentries up here.

I strained my eyes in all directions but even with my enhanced sight, no birds. Heido wasn't here. I climbed back down, frustrated at having wasted more time. Back to square one, I headed back to the gate we'd come in. No sign of Diane and King on the horizon. I made note of the time on the clock in the square and began searching the town.

If I was a demon in hiding, where would I be? Unless he's in the castle. But that would be dangerous and downright stupid. He could have used magic to get back on Hendrickson's good side but I have a feeling that wouldn't end well.

I stopped walking suddenly.

What happens if he's dead?

I worried my bottom lip and cast the thought aside. There were too many emotions attached to that train of thought that it would be dangerous to go down. Think positive. He's here somewhere. If only I had something to find him with... My hands found their way to my neck.

Eyes widening, I gently unclasped the pendant and gave a sniff. His scent came through faintly, soft woodsmoke with a strange bitter tang. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I was able to narrow it down. Knowing my time was running out, I followed the closest woodsmoke smell.

~

After dodging yet another patrol, I stopped at the end of an alley and caught my breath. All this running around was testing my stamina. My nose burnt from all the concentrating on woodsmoke and I could feel time slipping away like the sweat down my back.

If I don't find him around the next corner, I'm stopping, I told myself, for what was probably the umpteenth time.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I slowly turned my head to the end of the alley. Someone stood there, their back to me. A man by the looks of it. When he poked his head out into the sunlight, I spotted that golden mop, sparkling tattoos and familiar armour.

Leraj.

I had just spent all my collective energy looking for him and here he was hiding in some random back alley. My hands shook with the fury that suddenly bubbled to the surface at seeing him. It was nigh on impossible keeping my gait slow and stealthy. It wasn't until I was a few paces from him did he turn with a smile.

I socked him in the jaw.

At least he caught himself against the wall. It wouldn't help my predicament if he fell into the light and got spotted.

"I have been looking everywhere for you, you useless fool."

"What the hell?" He rubbed his jaw and shot me a disbelieving look. "Is it really you, fox?" He was dressed in full armour and his sword dangled at his waist.

I melted on the inside at the sound of his voice saying the pet name and my rage funnelled outwards. Sparks gathered in the air around us and he held up his hands in a placating manner.

"Don't start with me," I growled, baring my teeth. "Forget everything that happened the last time we met. The fabricated me learnt some common sense."

He snapped his fingers and my sparks died. My eyes widened and I braced for an attack; he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me slightly. "What are you doing here already?"

"Let go of me. Princess Elizabeth and Hawk were kidnapped. We've come to save them."

He worried his bottom lip and let me go, but not before I saw the look that flashed across his face. "You shouldn't have come. Not yet anyway."

Tingles started in my feet. "What do you mean, I shouldn't have come yet? I've been training hard – thanks for the book, by the way. I'll be able to take down a high ranking Holy Knight easily now. Plus Meliodas and the others are with me, we're practically unstoppable." I hopped around when he tried to avoid my gaze. "So, Leraj, what do you mean?"

He held up a hand, to placate me or to keep me back I wasn't sure, and the pain in his eyes made my whole world fade away. "Estra, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "More than you realise. Hendrickson's been experimenting with the Holy Knights. He's amassed a small army for his bidding and he's going to be putting them into action soon."

My laughter bubbled out with relief. "Oh, is this about Dale? The original generation?"

His eyes widened. "What? How do you know about Dale?"

"Meliodas and the others already encountered him, and King blurted out what he sensed from the man, the fact that he was a Holy Knight and had demon blood in him. But that's fine because you got all the demon blood out of me." I tried to quell the shaking in my voice, attempting to convince myself. "Plus, I saw your memory that it'll be fine because Hendrickson perfected it."

His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, pity, shame and guilt written across his features.

"I couldn't get all the demon blood out of you. I could only dispel enough to relinquish the control over your mind. I can't stop what he has planned. That method he perfected, it's so the new generation don't mutate until he commands. He's controlling when it will occur. You and all the other new generation are going to turn into those demons."

"You lied to me?! Again?!" The fear I'd been shoving to the darkest places of my mind came scuttling back, wrapping a pair of hands around my throat and squeezing. The crackle of Mana filled the alley.

He took both hands, sandwiching them between his palms. "Estra, I need you to calm down." He looked over his shoulder and tramping feet resounded.

"Calm down?!" The air came rushing in with a quick bark of laughter. I wrenched my hands free. "Calm down?! I can't calm down! I'm going to become a freakish demon-human hybrid and I'm going to want to murder everything in sight. Hendrickson still has control over me!" I jabbed a finger into his breastplate, a single spark flashing to life on the metal. "And it's all your fault!" My shout echoed.

He grabbed me by the upper arm and dragged me down the alley and across the street. My breath came in short, sharp gasps, pinpricks of pain in my chest, my feet tangling beneath me until I practically fell into the store we slipped into.

The little bell above the door tinkled but no one came out from behind the counter. The store was empty and still save for my ragged gasps coming from my mouth. It looked to be a bookstore with a few paper weights and garden ornaments decorating the window shelves at the front. We dove for cover behind the counter in the nick of time, feet running to a halt outside. I covered my mouth, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

This can't be happening. No. I can't become that!

"Anything to report?" asked a male voice. I peeked around the corner and saw three Holy Knights in full armour standing at the store's door. The door hadn't clicked completely shut behind us and I prayed that they didn't notice it.

"Nothing," replied another.

"I thought you noted a magic signature?" the first man asked, turning the remaining knight. 

"My apologise, sir. It was my fault," apologised a female. "It won't happen again."

"No matter," said the first man. "Fan back out and be wary. The Sins are dangerous and cunning. We can't let them reach the castle."

They moved away. I slunk back, turning to Leraj. Our faces were inches apart.

I shoved him away and leapt to my feet, pacing back and forth in a patch of murky shadows. "You are the epitomisation of a bastard." I buried my fingers in my hair and tugged at it. "I can't believe – I can't believe I ever felt anything for you!" I screamed at him. "Every single fucking time you are anywhere near me, something bad happens. You could have at least warned me. I deserved to know! I deserved to know that I was a ticking time bomb patiently waiting for Hendrickson to press the button."

"I didn't expect you to come so early to Liones!" he argued. "I was supposed to have a solid plan to help you by the time you got here."

"You should have had a plan when we split ways! You had heaps of time, why not try and save me back then? Too conflicted with betraying Hendrickson any more than you already did, you little lap dog?" I knew the words weren't true the minute they left my mouth but I cared little for his feelings. Those amber eyes turned murderous; I didn't back down. "You better have a half cooked up scheme to fix this or I will rip out your throat with my teeth."

A beat. He took a deep breath. "I do have a plan. But I one hundred percent know you won't like it." Barely restrained anger fought against the calm timbre of his voice.

Nostrils flaring, I said, "Nothing can be worse than what's going to happen."

"You have to eat one of my hearts."

"Are you daft? I'm in this mess because I drank demon blood and now you want me to eat a demon heart? Your heart?"

"Estra, I swear, this is the only way I can think of. You have to trust me."

"Trust you? I'm not making the same mistake again. I'm not eating your damn heart."

"Listen, I don't have any other way. I have researched everything but this has never happened before. There is no other way save from killing you."

I spun on my heel and headed for the door. "There is. I'm going to find Hendrickson and kill him before he can activate the command. Screw Meliodas' request, you can find him yourself."

"Estra, don't do this. You'll die."

I stopped, unable to turn around and look at him. "Then I die," I growled.

"I'm not letting you die!" His outburst shook the books on the shelves and rattled the ornaments. A sudden fear locked all my muscles for a split second. He sighed. "At least just listen. Then you can leave."

I crossed my arms and turned around. "Speak." 

"I was a grey demon before the King exiled me. I might no longer be one but that doesn't change my inherit nature. There's a hierarchy of sorts in the Demon King's realm. Red Demons fall beneath Grey Demons. I believe that the contents of my heart will purge out the demon blood inside of you and remove Hendrickson's influence over you."

"Have you any proof?"

"There's only so many hearts I have left to spare, Estra. I only have one chance at this."

"So we're going off theory only?" But I didn't need to know if he had an answer. I must be all types of stupid because I didn't leave. I moved away from the door and back to the counter. "How sure are you that this will work?"

"To be honest, it's fifty-fifty," he confessed, eyes softening. His hands twitched at his sides like he wanted to touch me. "But we will be running out of time. Hendrickson is bound to know that the sins are in Liones and it won't take long before he has everything set up the way he wants it."

I scrubbed at my face, thoughts whirring. Unfortunately, Leraj was right. If I went to Hendrickson, I'd probably be killed by all the Holy Knights under his command; or even worse, turned into a monster before I could even land a blow. There was only two options available and I was not about to take my own life unless this got desperate.

"Fine then," I resigned. "We're running low on time and I'm out of options. Let's see if this works."