Ready to battle, Nick stood up on the bleachers as two of Satan’s plague doctors came up to sniff at him while four more hung back, unseen and undetected, to float around his classmates like freaked-out Kabuki dancers. The one thing he’d learned over the last couple of years while dealing with preters was to be ready for anything.
But don’t start nothing with them until you had to.
Though to be honest, it was really hard to not shove them out of his personal space. Especially when they practically buried their wrapped, bloody beaks in his armpits.
Not to mention the other no-zone of his body they were headed for.
“Nick, don’t move.”
He saw Kody’s ethereal form on his right. What are these things? he projected his thoughts to her.
“Zeitjägers.”
I just love it, cher, when you say things like I ought to know what they are.
One of them rudely poked his shoulder.
He barely caught himself before he taught the hideous thing some manners.
“Just relax, Nick. I don’t think they’re here for you.”
Don’t think or don’t know?
Before Kody could answer, Ms. Pantall stood up to glare at him from the lowest bench. “Nick? Do you have a problem?”
He slid his gaze to the huge sickle that was still coated with the blood of the last victim the demons on each side of him had beheaded. That blood was also smeared all over the bandages and clothes wrapped around the two of them and dripping onto the bleachers.
Yeah, he had two very big, ugly problems.
Unfortunately, his teacher couldn’t see either of those problems or the sickles they carried. Probably a good thing she didn’t see the blood, for that matter.Nick tried to stay as still as possible. Maybe they were like bulls and only attacked things that moved. “No, ma’am. Just having some growing pains. Trying to stretch them out a bit.”
“Sit your butt down, Gautier, or you’ll be running drills during practice till you drop!”
Nick cringed at Coach Heffron’s sharp bellow. “Yes, sir.”
One of the demons pointed at Nick’s foul orange shirt and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter before it stepped back and they moved away from him. Great. Even the seriously jacked-up horror movie rejects mocked his wardrobe.
Thanks, Mom. My future therapist will appreciate the business.
Torn between being relieved and offended, Nick sat down.
Kody’s astral projection moved to sit next to him. “You okay?”
He gave a subtle nod. Just a little offended. So … what’s a zeitjäger? And do they have anything to do with Caleb’s sudden onset of projectile vomiting?
“I doubt they have anything to do with Caleb’s sickness. My fear is that they might be here for you and they don’t know it yet.”
Meaning?
“They’re time sentinels, Nick. They guard it, monitor it, protect it, and punish those who abuse it.”
Another bad feeling went through him as she said that. “Is that why I haven’t heard anything from Ambrose?” Ambrose was his future self who had tricked and killed a demon to steal enough power that he could come back in time and try to save the life of his mother and change his destiny so that he didn’t destroy the world.
So far, Ambrose had only mucked things up worse.
Together, they were supposed to be trying to unravel this gnarled mess that was Nick’s life and future. But it’d been some time since Ambrose had made an appearance. The last time Nick had seen him, Ambrose had confessed that he was on the brink of slipping and turning into the demonic Malachai that would destroy the world and end everything and everyone.
Even himself.
Every day that passed without any word from Ambrose made him wonder what his future self was up to.
If Ambrose had given in to their horrific destiny.
Nick stared at the overhead windows where lightning flashed and thunder clapped like cannon fire. Today, it wasn’t looking good for either of them.
And he really didn’t relish the thought that he would one day usher in Armageddon and unleash an army of ancient ticked-off demons onto the innocent world. An army that would claim the life of everyone Nekoda loved …
As well as Nekoda herself.
It was a terrifying and sobering thought that he could become that monster. That was not what he saw when he looked in a mirror and it was not what he wanted to put on his résumé for his future plans.
Suddenly, Mason let out a howl and turned from human to wolf. The students closest to Mason screamed out loud and bolted fast from the bleachers to the floor.
Stone and Alex penned the wolf between them, while the teachers tried to decide how best to handle this. Personally, Nick would have voted for running and screaming like a cheerleader in a cheap horror movie. But apparently, they were a little more sophisticated than that.
“Squires!” Ms. Pantall clapped her hands together to get their attention. “I need all of you to head on home. Don’t worry about school until tomorrow. Brynna? Can you go to the cafeteria and let Mr. Head and Sister Katherine know to dismiss those students and call for buses? Tell him what’s going on, and we’ll hold the Weres here until their parents can come get them. We won’t be putting any of them on buses, given the risk factor. They should be fine in here with us until their parents arrive.” Biting her lip, she looked at Mason, who was snarling and trying to bite at Stone, and said, “I hope,” under her breath.
Nick wasted no time heading for the cafeteria to pick up Kody’s corporeal form. She was already back in her body, waiting for him, right inside the doors as the rest of their class rushed past him in their eagerness to vacate the building before the principal changed his mind and made them stay.
Or worse, someone assigned them homework.
He cringed as the storm outside picked up its fury. “Not sure it’s a good idea for anyone to be out in this.”
“Yeah,” Kody agreed. “But not sure how wise it is to be in here with Mason already shifted, and the others on the verge of turning into animals, either.”
No sooner had she finished her sentence than a pack of wolves came tearing down the hallway.
Since they were in the cafeteria, out of the line of sight, the wolves ran past them, toward the exposed students who were at their lockers.
Ah, crap.
The wolves attacked without pause. The humans screamed and ran for cover as best they could. Some even tried to climb straight up the lockers.
Wincing, Nick knew he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Before he could move, Kody grabbed an unattended lacrosse stick and ran after them to protect the humans.
By the time Nick caught up to her, she was barely holding the wolves off. Stone—he could tell by the size, color, and ferocity of the beast who’d attacked him on previous occasions—had the scoop in his massive jowls and was trying to wrench it free to bite Kody. It was so tempting to send a jolt through him and watch him change into a naked human in the middle of the hallway. Only the screaming, fleeing baretos kept Nick from it. While Nick might want to traumatize Stone to get back at him for all the times he’d embarrassed Nick in public, no need in sending the innocent into therapy.
Or blinding himself with the unwanted sight of Stone’s hideous naked body.
Instead, he whistled for the wolves and then ran so that they’d chase him back toward the gym. They wasted no time in coming for him like he was the only bowl of Alpo to be had. It was a pants-wetting kind of intensity.
And as Nick slid through the gym door and Mason sank fangs into his arm, he regretted that decision in the worst sort of way, especially since the room was filled with witnesses who prevented him from using his demonic powers to get Mason off him.
Dang you, nonsensical rules of sanity! Dang you all!
Mason dragged him down hard. Nick tried to pry his arm free as the rest of the pack descended on him with vicious bites.
Yeah, this had definitely been a better idea in the abstract. The reality was much more painful than he’d imagined and it made him really miss Caleb. At least with Caleb around, his enemies had another moving target to chase and chew on.
“Get off him!” Kody tossed a net over Mason she must have manifested out of the sight of the others. She dragged him away from Nick.
Stone went for her throat. Reacting on pure instinct and forgetting the rules about using magic in plain sight, Nick threw his hand out and zapped him. The bolt sent Stone skidding into the bleachers, where he flashed from human to wolf and back again.
Nick started to panic about his slip until Kody distracted them with a scream. As the teachers and adult Weres took over herding the wolves, he saw that the zeitjägers were back and watching everything closely.
Too closely for Nick’s sanity.
Without a word, Kody pulled him into the hallway, out of the line of fire.
Nick took a second to make sure no one could overhear them. “What are the odds that one of the Were-Hunters made a bad time jump and that’s what brought out our ugly giant plague doctors?”
“Sadly, the young Weres do that all the time. No. Something much more treacherous is going on here.”
“Like…”
“No idea. But it has to be bad. I’ve only heard of zeitjägers appearing in number right before something catastrophic.”
And given the fact she was a warrior who’d been killed during Armageddon and sent back in time to stop it from happening, that basically said it all.
They were screwed.
Sighing, Nick looked up at the ceiling. “I swear, if I survive this, I will never, ever say that a day is going good again in my life. Lesson learned. All days suck from now on.”
As the adult Squires began to arrive to evacuate the school, Nick saw Bubba Burdette come in among them. At six foot four and being a former college football linebacker turned zombie-survivalist, Bubba tended to stand out even in a crowd. He was a strange combination of horror-movie buff and redneck, complete with a well-trimmed beard and black hair.
But the one thing everyone knew about Big Bubba Burdette, he hated mornings with a burning passion. The fact that he was awake and here at this ungodly early hour more than anything else confirmed that the end of the world was upon them.
His heart pounding, Nick met Kody’s gaping expression. “What new hell-monkey wakens?”
Bubba snorted at his sarcasm. “After all the weirdness of the last few days and what with this storm moving in like it did and throwing down hailstones the size of baseballs, me and Mark wanted to make sure you and your mom were safe. I left him with Cherise and promised her I’d see you home.” He scowled as he saw the blood on Nick’s arm from where Mason had taken a bite out of him. “What happened? Do we need to get you to a hospital?”
That mixture of raw fear and concern in Bubba’s blue eyes caught Nick off guard. When Nick had been sucked into an alternate universe, Bubba had been his real, natural father there. A part of him he didn’t want to acknowledge had kind of liked it. Since his own dad had spent the majority of Nick’s life incarcerated or trying to kill him, Bubba had been the only real father figure Nick had ever known.
At least until two years ago when the immortal Dark-Hunter Kyrian had saved his life and given him a part-time job. Now Kyrian was like a second dad to him, which, while annoying at times, was also kind of nice.
There was nothing Nick wouldn’t do for either man.
“I’m fine. Just a flesh wound.”
Bubba narrowed his gaze on him, then looked at Kody. “Is he lying to me, Ms. Kody?”
She flashed a playful grin. “Doubtful. You know Nick. If it was really bad, he’d be whining like a baby and begging for his mom, and a lollipop and sticker.”
Bubba laughed before he took Nick’s backpack. “C’mon, runt. Let me get you home to your mama. She’s worried sick.” He glanced around. “So where’s your other cohort? Not like Caleb to leave you alone. Way he hangs all over you, boy, I keep waiting for a wedding announcement.”
Nick snorted. “Sent home for hurling.”
“Lovely.”
“Not really. Except for when he scored on the shoes of my least favorite teacher. That was pretty epic.”
Bubba shook his head. “Did you drive?”
“Nah. After I got jumped, Ma wants me to, but seriously?” Nick had to force himself to not roll his eyes since he only lived a block and a half away. “Takes longer to find a parking spot than it does to walk it.”
This time, Bubba broke out into laughter. “Being the only son of an overly protective Southern mother, I get it … in a way only you know. They are truly God’s very special creatures.”
“Heavy emphasis on the creature part. Especially those long, clinging, fun-sucking tentacles that wrap around and hold you down till you can’t breathe.”
“Amen, little brother. Amen.”
Kody grinned at them. “Your mama still in town?” she asked Bubba.
“Nah. She left last night. Thank God. I wouldn’t want her trying to travel in this mess. I’d be the basket case if she was at the airport today.”
“You two,” Kody said with a laugh. “I don’t know why you pick on your mothers when you’re both worse about their safety than they are with yours. Nick, your mom’s younger than Bubba and I’ve seen you hold on to her arm when she’s going up and down stairs.”
“Hey now, you don’t know.… I’ve seen her trip on straight ground. Many times. She could fall. Hurt her arm. Then I’d have to actually wash a dish for myself. God forbid that humanity! I’m not even sure how to work a sink. Could fall in and drown myself on accident or something.”
Laughing even harder at something she knew wasn’t true since Nick washed dishes most nights while his mom worked, Kody shook her head. “Like I said. Neither of you has room to complain about them being overprotective.”
Nick paused as he reached the doors and saw the storm outside. The sky was pitch black. The rain and hail hit the building so hard, it sounded like gunfire. He scowled at the sight of the rain’s red spatter patterns. “Is that…”
“Blood,” Kody finished for him. “It’s raining blood.”
Nick met Bubba’s horrified gaze. “Zombies?”
Grimacing, Bubba shoved at him. “Don’t sass me, boy. You’re not that cute in high heels.”
A chill went down Nick’s spine as he turned to see the zeitjäger behind him, watching them with great curiosity. They had stopped the Apocalypse. He and Caleb had sealed the portal before the ušumgallu could gather and summon their armies to attack.
Why was this still happening?
It made no logical sense. What else could possibly cause something like this to happen?
He looked at Kody. Are you sure this isn’t from the Arelim civil war?
No, Nick. I have a bad feeling it’s from something a whole lot worse.
His stomach shrank with dread as stark cold terror filled him. “What could be worse?” Nick asked without thinking.
No sooner had those words come out of his mouth than a swarm of bat-sized mosquitos swarmed, driving parents, students, Squires, and faculty back into the building. They screamed and ran, fleeing the pests and seeking shelter.
Nekoda glared furiously at him. “What did I tell you about saying things like that, Nick?”
Not to be stupid. But that was like asking him not to breathe. It seemed to come a little too naturally to him most days. “At least they’re not loc—”
She covered his lips before he could say finish saying “locusts.” Which was probably a good thing given what kept happening to them. But …
Nick stumbled back as a weird feeling came over him. One second everything was weird.
The next, it went dark. He struggled to breathe against a frigid cold calm that invaded him. It paralyzed every part of his being until he couldn’t see or hear.
His eyes rolled back in his head and his knees buckled.
“Nick!” Kody panicked at the way he hit the ground. It was as unnatural as the sudden pallor of his skin. Terrified and shaking, she met Bubba’s gaping stare as he knelt beside them.
Bubba gasped in his own alarm. “Nick? C’mon. Talk to me! Say something stupid, boy!”
Yet it was too late. Tears filled Kody’s eyes as grief choked her. She couldn’t find Nick’s pulse in his wrist or neck. He wasn’t moving.
Not breathing. No. It couldn’t be.
Yet it was.
Nick was dead.