Nick could feel the breath of his son on the back of his neck as his powers weakened and left him feeling drained and helpless. For the first time in his life, he understood his father’s animosity toward him. It was an involuntary survival instinct built in to their Malachai DNA that wanted to destroy anything that threatened them.
It was innate and primal. Terrifying. The fact that his father had gone down protecting him and his mother said a lot for Adarian.
That alone allowed him to finally forgive his father for the sins that had created Nick. Allowed him to let go of the hatred and anger he’d borne for the creature who’d sired him. For the first time ever, he understood his father’s mind set.
And what made his mother such an incredible gift. Even after all the horrors his father had put her through, she’d still been able to find the good in both of them. Rather than hate Nick for the violence of his conception, she’d found a way to see past the horror of it. Never once had she held his father’s acts against him.
You are my most precious baby boy, Nicky-Boo. There’s never anything you could do to make me not love you, through and through. For you are, and will always be, my baby angel.
It was why the thought of her future murder crippled him now and would one day destroy him. She truly saw no evil in this world.
For he was a Malachai born of equal part Mavromino and equal part Kalosum. Like the firstborn, Monakribos, Nick alone shared that unique birthright.
So how then, could he have a son born of such hatred that he could feel it crawling over his skin like a living creature? This amount of venom came straight from the Source. He sensed it as if it were a part of him.
All Malachai were conceived in violence to do violence and to die violently.
Yet Nick knew that he’d never, ever be able to harm another person that way. It just wasn’t in him to act the way his father had.
Never. He knew himself better than that.
Laughter echoed in the aether, in and out and all around as he pushed himself to his feet. Something else sizzled.
He turned a circle in the darkness, seeking some hint of the malevolent child he could feel and not see. Why were they playing this cruel game of hide-and-seek?
Suddenly, he was surrounded. The very shadows emerged into the light to attack.
These were the kinds of demons he knew well.
With his Malachai powers, he summoned his sword and went after them. He felt the familiar surge of rage, but quickly pushed it down. Don’t give in. He knew better than to let his anger rule him. In spite of what Caleb and Xev thought, he was paying attention during his lessons.
He heard his instructors and friends.
Most days anyway.
He spun and caught the first demon behind him with a vicious blow that caused it to shrink back into the darkness. Another came forward to attack. Nick barely countered in time to keep it from slashing his arm. But he severed its hand. It shrieked and withdrew.
“Nick!”
That was Virgil’s voice.
Nick’s sight dimmed. Everything shook and spiraled. What he heck? He wasn’t sure what happened. Not until he began to fall through the aether again.
What was this feeling? It was as if he had no grounding anywhere. Something was pulling him against his will. He had no control.
Not until he found himself back on the floor of Takeshi’s home with Simi, Takeshi and Nashira standing over him like a group of worried parents.
Blinking, he stared up at them. “Having that moment where I feel like my mom was calling me for dinner and I was on the last level of a videogame and didn’t hear her ’cause the big boss was almost dead and there was no pause on the game.”
Takeshi rolled his eyes. “Feeling like that parent who wants to beat my kid, but can’t because I don’t want to go to jail and ruin my credit scores.”
Nick scowled. “Bruh, that makes no sense.”
“Neither does what you just said. Now you know how we feel.”
Snorting, he took Takeshi’s hand and let him pull him to his feet. “What happened?”
“Don’t know. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you hit the ground pretty hard. You okay?”
Nick rubbed at the large bruise that was forming on the base of his skull. “Major concussion would definitely explain the rodier I just went on.”
“Rodier?”
“You know … wander about aimlessly? Drag the streets? Make a pass through … Never mind. I’ve gone Cajun and y’all looking at me like Kody did the first time I asked her if she was playing rat de bois with me or if she wanted to go make groceries.”
Takeshi scowled. “Do what?”
Nashira shook her head. “Rat de bois means opossum. The other means he’s going to the market for food.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Hanging out in his pocket has been quite the education.”
“I can imagine.”
Nick snorted. “Hey now, don’t you even slap on me given the random acts of violence against the entire English language that comes out of the mouths of Aeron, Vawn and Kaziel. I only get about one-fifth of everything they say. Some days, not even that much.”
Laughing, Takeshi brushed his thumb against his bottom lip. “So what happened?”
“I don’t know. I got snatched into the aether by … something. The other Malachai, maybe? At least I think that’s what happened.” Nick pressed the heel of his hand against his eye to ease the ache there. “How can he be here? And who the heck is he? Who’s his mother?”
Nashira and Takeshi passed a look between themselves that said they knew the answer, but had no intention of sharing it.
“C’mon, guys! Really? You can’t sit on this one! You have to tell me something. Especially if you know who he is.”
Takeshi shook his head. “Nick, you know the law and how this works. The more you know, the worse it gets.”
“Then why do I have Clairvoyance at all?”
“Do you?”
He had a point and Nick hated him for it. From what he understood about the power, even when it worked, it wasn’t foolproof. “Why do you have it?”
“Because I don’t use or abuse the power. I know how dangerous it is to tamper with things best left undisturbed.”
Nick was about to snark at him when he felt a peculiar sensation go through him. One that was unmistakable and left him sick to his stomach.
Eyes wide, he met Simi’s gaze. “Kody’s under attack!”
Without waiting for anyone, he teleported to her house. To his horror, he found her there, surrounded by more than a dozen mortent demons. True to her breeding, she was holding her own. But she’d broken a good sweat and was definitely outnumbered.
“Need a little hand, cher?”
She passed him a disgruntled grimace. “Nah, sugar, I got this. Go have some lunch.”
Laughing at her sarcasm, he manifested his Malachai sword and moved in to protect her back. Still the demons kept coming. It was like a bad dream.
“How are they getting in?”
Kody shook her head as she parried another assault. “No idea. I had everything locked down. Nothing should have been able to breach my shields.”
Nick hissed as the demon he was fighting caught him with his fangs. Punching the wretched beast knocked him away. “Well, this isn’t fun!”
Simi, Takeshi and Nashira finally joined them.
“Did y’all get lost?”
“No. Her sigils blocked us.”
Kody lopped the head off the demon she was fighting before she gave him an I-told-you-so stare.
“Yeah, but they’re here. You can’t argue with this.” He gestured at the carcasses of the smelly beasts lining Kody’s floor.
“I know. It defies my best ability to explain it.” Takeshi glanced to Simi who was staring at the wall. “What do you see, Sim?”
“The evil Arel. He did this.”
Kody gasped. “Sroasha?”
Simi nodded. “Him mad that you not kill Akri-Nick. So he now working with them Grim and War to kill you, Akra-Kody.”
“Well, that’s a load!” Nick felt his eyes change as his powers surged from the rush of anger that went through him at the thought of Kody being harmed. Especially because of him. “I thought we’d gotten rid of those pricks.”
But he knew better. That had been wishful thinking on his part. The Arelim controlled Kody. They were the whole reason she was here. The reason she’d been brought back from the dead in the future and sent back in time.
Her eyes sad, she cupped his face in her hands. “Breathe, Nick. It’ll be fine.”
He didn’t believe it for a minute. Everything was spiraling out of control, faster than he could catch it. Faster than he could catch his breath.
She kissed his lips, then grimaced at him. “And why are you here with Takeshi and Nashira?”
“You know Takeshi?”
What a stupid question. Of course she knew him. She knew everyone.
“He was friends with my father and uncle.”
Nick didn’t miss the odd light in Takeshi’s gaze as he studied Kody. “What’s that look mean?”
“Déjà vu.”
Now it was Nashira’s turn to go pale. “You can’t have that.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m having it anyway, and it’s freaking me out as much as it is you.” Takeshi jerked his chin toward Kody. “The last time I saw her, she was a grown woman. She’s not supposed to look like this. That’s not her body …”
Kody scowled. “Pardon?”
Takeshi crossed his arms over his chest as he surveyed the house and the dead demons on the floor. “You don’t remember your life, do you?”
“Of course! I remember my father and brothers. My mother …”
“What do you know of Nick?”
“He killed me and my family.”
Takeshi let out a nervous breath. “No, Neria. He didn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes and stepped back in confusion. “Are you sure?”
“You know I would never lie to you. Have you really forgotten your children?”
Indecision played across her features as she shook her head. “I was a girl in battle.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Kody glanced back at Nick and the uncertainty in those green eyes scorched him. “It makes sense, in a weird way. I think that’s why I couldn’t kill you when I first met you like Sroasha wanted me to.”
Takeshi gaped. “Pardon?”
She swallowed hard before she spoke again. “He sent me back in time to stop the Malachai. First Jeros and then we went through several of them. I failed each time because they were far more powerful than I was … until we got to Nick. Him, I could have taken. Easily, because he hadn’t come into his powers yet. He was too young and ridiculous when I met him. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to take the killshot even though I knew he’d eventually go bad and kill everyone I loved. I kept seeing the good in him and thinking that he could be saved.” She cupped Nick’s cheek. “There was something about him I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s the Rubati blood in you. Instinctively, it calls to Monakribos, regardless of the incarnation of your own body. And that’s why Nick is leashed with you by his side. You anchor him, just as she anchored Kree all those centuries ago.”
“But then why would Sroasha want me to kill Nick? Especially if he wasn’t the one who destroys everything?”
Simi tsked at her. “Make total sense, Akra-Kody. ‘Cause if the bad Malachai demon-boy had already kilt you and Akri-Nick, then he’d be stronger. So the best way to beats him would be to kills his father afore he’s borned.”
“She’s right. It’d be the only way to stop him, especially if you don’t know who he or his mother is.”
Nick scratched his head. “I’m still so confused by that. If I’m in love with Kody and I know it, then I know I didn’t two-time her with someone else. I’m not that kind of dirtbag.” He jumped as his phone rang and startled him. “Sheez!” Grabbing it, he saw it was Virgil again. Sheepishly, he answered it.
“Where are you?”
“Sorry. Had a little demon trouble to take care of. We’re on our way. Be there in a few.” He hung up. “I have to meet Virgil and go to the police station.”
Kody’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Yeah. It’s good to be me.” He sighed. “Let me get this over with and then we can clean this mess up.”
“I’ll tell Caleb to meet you there. Just in case you get stuck.”
He started to tell her not to be so paranoid, but they were talking about him. Yeah, with his luck, a backup plan was always a smart idea. Things tended to go sideways as soon as he lifted his head off the pillow. Sometimes before he even opened his eyes in the morning.
Sliding the phone into his pocket, he faced Takeshi. “Anything I need to know going into this?”
A deep, dark red light flickered in his eyes. “The future is determined by the decisions you make every second of the day. Victor and victim. Both come from the Latin word, victus. To vanquish or be vanquished, yet the original meaning of victim was to be a living entity killed and offered in sacrifice to some higher, supernatural power.”
Those words sent chills over Nick. “Invictus.” It was the tattoo on Ambrose’s arm that meant unconquerable. Never subdued.
Like his friends Bubba and Mark always said, you might kill me, but I’ll be taking you to hell with me so that I can chain you to the throne of Satan myself and spend the rest of eternity whupping your ass. That was the Southern way.
It was also very Cajun and vintage Malachai.
“No dang demon kills me and lives. On that you can bank.” Nick held his hand out to Takeshi.
Takeshi smiled as he shook it. “That’s the Ambrose I know. Take care. I’ll be seeing you, kid.” He vanished and left Nashira.
Kody frowned. “Caleb isn’t answering his phone.” She hung up. “Can you reach him?”
Nick didn’t bother with the phone. He used his powers to call out for his surly bodyguard. “Yo! Baby Cay-Cay? I’m doing something stupid and dangerous. You gonna come knock me in the head for it? Or do you plan to let Simi have all the fun honors?”
Caleb didn’t answer.
An awful feeling went through him.
Where was Caleb?
Kody swallowed hard. “He’s not answering you either, is he?”
He shook his head. “I can’t go to Virgil until I make sure Caleb’s okay.”
“I know. We’ll meet you there.”
They all teleported to Caleb’s front door. Nick would have gone inside since he had permission to get past Caleb’s sigils, but he wasn’t about to pop in alone when he didn’t know what was on the other side, waiting to devour him. While he was about as reckless as anyone could get he wasn’t particularly stupid as that tended to be fatal in large doses.
So he paused until Simi, Nashira and Nekoda caught up to him. Then he knocked on the door of Caleb’s huge antebellum mansion. The sound echoed through the place.
No one came to the door.
Nick passed a grim stare to the women. “All right. I’m going in first. Simi, anything rears its head, barbecue it up.”
Rubbing her hands together, she smiled so wide it showed off her fangs. “Oh goody! The Simi knews there was a reason she loved her demon-boy!”
Not wanting to think about that, Nick took the knob in his hand and used his powers to unlock it. He opened it slowly, expecting snot-demons, hell-monkeys … who knew what to come flying at him.
But there was nothing in the foyer. Dark and quiet, the house seemed abandoned.
“Caleb? Vawn? Aeron? Xev? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?”
Snorting at his joke, Nashira jerked her chin toward the staircase. “Upstairs. I heard a groan.”
Nick bolted for the steps and took them two at a time. He didn’t slow until he reached Caleb’s upstairs study where he found them wounded and bleeding. “Oh my God!”
In his orange demon form, Caleb was flat on his back and lying with a blood-soaked cloth over his abdomen. “Not exactly the right entity.” Then, he groaned.
Aeron grimaced. “Be speaking for yourself, demon. When I lay me hands on the bloody knackers, I’ll be teaching them what it is to come at a war god unawares. Ain’t been hurt like this since the time I ran afoul of The Dagda.”
Vawn nodded in agreement as he drew a ragged breath. “They came upon us like a pack of jackals. So fast we ne’er saw them until they had us all bleeding.”
“Who were they?” Nick knelt beside Caleb while Kody checked on Aeron.
“Sephirii.”
Nick froze at the last word he expected out of Caleb’s mouth. “Pardon?”
Kody shook her head. “That’s impossible. They were all put down.”
Caleb pushed himself slowly to his feet to face her. His features were strained and earnest while he held his makeshift bandage against his ribs. “Yeah, I know. I was there. I saw them fall. But I also led my army against and for them for hundreds of years. Believe me, I know a Sephiroth sword when it cuts me.” He pulled the cloth away to show them the grisly wound on his stomach. “Nothing else looks like this, cuts as deep or burns half as much.”
Nick screwed his face up at the painful sight. “Bruh! There’s ladies present. Cover that!”
Kody ignored his outburst. “Jared is the only Sephiroth left and he’s imprisoned. His sword was destroyed when they enslaved him.”
“Yeah, I heard that lie, too.” Caleb pointed back at his wound. Then he threw his head back and let out a shout that practically shook his rafters. “Shadow! Get your rank, worthless carcass here. Now! Don’t you dare drag your ass or I’ll kick it every step from here to Avalon and back.”
“Sheez almighty, demon. What’s your dama—” the disembodied voice broke off as a man materialized in front of them and he saw Caleb’s wounds. “Oh … you really are damaged.”
About half a foot shorter than Nick, he appeared to be mid twenties, with hazel gray-blue eyes that held a storm inside them. The man’s hair was a strange shade. Neither light nor dark, it held strands of both and managed to fall between the two colors. And he wore it pulled back into a short, tight ponytail. The one good thing about him was that unlike Aeron, Kaziel and Vawn, his British accent was light, pleasant and easy to understand.
Caleb glared at the man as if he could rip his throat out. And the funny thing was, he didn’t react to Caleb’s venom at all. He was so cool about it, he practically bled icicles.
“So Shadow, explain to me how it is we were just attacked with Sephirii swords.”
Shadow blinked twice before he glanced around at each of them. Still so nonchalant that Nick admired his ability to show nothing. Dang, to have that amount of control over his emotions. He’d never get in to trouble for anything. “No idea.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“So, you’re telling me that you really destroyed every last one of them like you were instructed to do after the Primus Bellum?”
Only then did his facade crack. In fact, his expression was the same one Nick got whenever his mom asked if he was the one who’d forgotten to put the toilet seat down. Which she already knew the answer to since he was technically the only guy in the house—and Xev didn’t count because he was in the disguise of a cat and his mom didn’t know it. And well, the nasty buggar never forgot to put it down once he was finished. All that aside, Nick hated it whenever she pulled that crap with him, as it was grossly unfair. Although, to be honest, he’d tried to blame it on space aliens a couple of times.
And that had gone over about as well as Shadow’s next words. “Basically. I destroyed the vast majority of them. Yeah.”
Aeron cursed, then started for him, but Vawn caught him and held him back.
“Define majority,” Caleb said in a voice that let it be known Caleb was only one wrong syllable from unleashing Aeron all over Shadow.
“I was given counter instructions by someone I trusted.”
“Who?”
Shadow shook his head. “I took a vow to never disclose that. But I believe what they told me.”
Caleb let out a feral growl. “You’re an idiot.”
“Of course I am. I followed you into battle, didn’t I, Commander? And what did it get me?”
A tic started in Caleb’s jaw. “As I recall, you came out of it a lot better off than I did.”
Shadow took a step forward and lowered his voice to that demonic, evil tone. “You really want to compare those scars, Malphas?”
Nick stepped between them. “All right. Ding! Ding! Fighters to your corners!” He gently nudged more room between them, then turned toward Shadow. “If you think the swords are where you left them, check and see. It’s an easy fix. Let’s make everybody happy. How ’bout that?” He met Caleb’s gaze. “Would that satisfy you?”
Stepping around Nick, Caleb slugged Shadow.
Shadow took the blow without flinching. All he did was wipe the blood away with the back of his hand while he glared angrily at Caleb. “Calm down. I took them into the Nithing. Nothing can get to them there.”
“Something did! I was just attacked by a group of them, including Takara!”
Shadow went pale. “Impossible.”
“If one more person says that word to me today I swear I’ll gut them!” Caleb growled those words out between clenched teeth. “I know my brother’s sword.”
Technically, it was his nephew’s. But since no one was supposed to know Xev was Jared’s real father, Nick didn’t bother to correct Caleb. Obviously, he didn’t trust Shadow with their well-kept secret.
Shadow stepped back. “No one, and I mean no one, knows that I have those swords.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Not even Jared was told.”
“How did you end up with them?” Nick asked.
Shadow let out a bitter, scoffing laugh as he raked him with a look that said he equated Nick to a talking gnat. “Who are you and why are you bothering us?”
Nick curled his lip as he let his own offense show. “Not the goo on the bottom of your shoe. That’s for sure.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “He’s the Malachai.”
“Him?” He burst out laughing, until he realized Caleb was serious. “Really?”
“Yeah. Don’t underestimate him.”
The pained noise Shadow made said he was doubting, big time. But then, Nick was used to that.
Clearing his throat, he returned to Caleb’s question. “I hid them deep and have never breathed a word about their location. I knew better.”
“What about Lombrey?”
“Not even he could have found them. Believe me.”
“Yeah, well. Somebody did, Shadow. I didn’t stab myself.” He gestured to Vawn and Aeron. “And you’re lucky I’m not feeding you to them. Especially given how ticked off they are right now.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t a Sarim medallion sword you faced?”
“I know the difference. Like Nick said, go and check if you doubt me.”
“Fine! Let’s go! This I can prove.” He held his fingers up and snapped them the way someone would irately summon a waiter. An action that would most likely end with water being “accidentally” dumped on their head.
The moment Shadow did that, a whirlwind whipped through Caleb’s elegant home.
Nick instinctively reached for Kody.
Simi grinned. “Can the Simi eats the Fringe-Hunters if they comes near us, Akri-Shadow?”
“Only if they attack you, Sim. And if they do, please, have at it.”
When the winds cleared and Nick could see again, they were in a strange surreal place. Neither light nor dark, it was a shadowy realm that reminded him of Azmodea where the hellchaser, Thorn, made his home, except everything here was an eerie gray. There was no color whatsoever. “Where are we?”
“The Nithing. It’s the shadowland between realms. Like perpetual dusk.”
“It’s creepy.”
Shadow didn’t say anything in response to that as he led them to a peculiar looking forest of gray twisted trees. Trees that had almost human-like features.
“You hid the swords in the forest of Woe?” Caleb gaped.
“Last place anyone would look.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that.”
Nick wasn’t sure what that or Caleb’s irritable tone meant. “Why?”
Kody snorted. “It drains their power and that of any and everything that comes here. Actually, it’s a great place since that would keep them about as hidden as being destroyed.”
Shadow touched his nose in approval as he nodded. “Exactly. Out of the hands of all evil beasts.”
“Except for you?”
He glared at Caleb. “You went there, Mal? Really?” Without another word, he headed for a tree.
Curious, Nick watched as Shadow drew a sigil over the bark and spoke an incantation. The tree bark split apart and opened. Holding his breath, he waited to see these magical swords they were all so hot and bothered about.
But the moment it showed the inside of the trunk, they realized Caleb was right. It was empty inside. There wasn’t a single sword to be found.
Shadow and Caleb cursed in unison.
“Told you!”
Shadow shook his head in denial and cursed. “I don’t believe this. You see where I kept them! No one else knew about this. No one else could get here to claim them, at all!”
Those words went through Nick as an awful bad feeling made his flesh crawl. “Here’s a weird question.” They turned to stare at him. “This would count as me learning their location, right? I mean, I don’t really know, but I do. And if I’ve seen what I’ve seen and someone else saw what I just saw and then asked someone else who might know, then they could use my memory to find them, couldn’t they?”
“What did he say?” Shadow scowled at him.
“Nick logic.” Kody sighed before she explained it more clearly. “I think he’s saying that Ambrose might have stolen them in the future.”
“Close. I’m thinking Cyprian did.” Nick gestured at the tree. “I just saw the location. Right? So Ambrose would know the location as a memory. Which means Cyprian would have learned it when he got my memories after he killed me. He could have taken that to Grim or someone else and they might have figured it out if they mind-melded with him. At least that’s a possibility. So in the future, he could steal the swords and then come back here with them and attack Caleb. Or come back in time and then steal them, then attack Caleb. Either way, he Bogarted the swords from my memories. Possible, right?”
Shadow cursed again—apparently he had trouble with that. “Well … we just screwed up, didn’t we? Why didn’t someone tell me we had a time-traveling Malachai we had to guard against? That’s new. What, boy? You get frisky in the future with a zeitjäger?”
“Uh, no. You seen what they look like? I don’t ever want to get so drunk that I tap that. I would sooner die with my wizard powers intact, thank you very much. I will never touch a nip of alcohol or anything else. Ever!”
“Excuse me?” Nashira loudly cleared her throat. “They are quite nice, thank you very much! Much better looking than a Malachai!”
Caleb cleared his throat to keep them on topic. “And we still don’t know for a fact that it was Cyprian who got his hands on the swords, folks,” he reminded them. “Focus, escapees from ADD Academy.”
Shadow jerked his chin at Nick. “His theory’s the most sound. Bad as I hate to admit it. It explains how they could have found them.”
“Which means those swords could now be in the hands of Noir and Azura. And if they are …”
Kody’s words put a chill down the spine of them all. Noir and Azura were two of the gods of the original source of all evil. If those swords were in their hands …
It was a bad day for humanity. As the Source, they would have the ability to create new warriors for them. Warriors so powerful that no one could stand against them.
“We have to get those swords back.”
Caleb laughed.
Until he realized she was serious. “Child, my entire army couldn’t take down the Sephirii and believe me, we tried. All the Malachai together, couldn’t defeat them. They tried. It was basically one bloody standoff every time we went to war against them. Which begs the question of who the hell was so stupid as to tell you, Shadow, to keep them?” He turned to glare at the man.
“And I repeat … someone I trusted. Short list, that.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“No arguments there. I used to hang out with you. Even worse, I followed you into battle, which says it all about my intellect and great mental abilities.”
Nick stepped back out of Caleb’s way. Given the expression on his face, he wasn’t about to get between them in the event the demon started swinging. He knew that look and it never boded well for the person or demon receiving it.
“Before you two go World War III, can I ask something?” Now they were both giving him that glower. “What happened to the demons and swords that attacked you? Did you kill them all?”
“No. We barely beat them off. They were more intent on weakening us.”
“Why?”
Caleb shrugged. “They’re demons. They don’t have to make sense.”
Nick snorted at something he knew was bull. “Since when?”
“Since you never do.”
He had a point. Still … “Isn’t this sending a flag up anyone’s pole, other than mine?”
“He’s right.” Kody bit her lip. “They came at me and Nick, at the same time they attacked you. It was strategic. Why?”
“Divide and conquer.” Caleb pulled the cloth away from his stomach to check his wound. “With those swords, they could have killed us. Yet they chose not to. You’re right. There was some reason they pulled back.”
A bad feeling went through Nick as he took Kody’s hand. “What’s your weakness?”
“You.”
That single word made his stomach tighten and his heart light. But as sweet as it was, it wasn’t what he needed right then. “Seriously, Kode. What are they trying to do with you?”
“While I’m technically dead, this body is living. It can be killed and I wouldn’t be able to stay here. I’d have to leave you.”
That thought tore him up inside. He couldn’t imagine living without her. She was vital to him in a way he couldn’t even begin to explain. Like breathing, only more important.
“What’s the new Malachai’s goal?” Nick whispered. Cyprian couldn’t kill him without ending his own future. If Nick died now, he wouldn’t be around to father him tomorrow. Kody was a different story. She technically didn’t live in this time period, so she wasn’t critical to Cyprian’s future.
And while he’d seen Caleb in the future, it didn’t mean his destiny couldn’t be altered. His death wouldn’t matter either.
Caleb sighed. “We know Sroasha wants you dead.”
Nick nodded, well aware of that fact. “But what about Cyprian? What does he want here?”
“That is anyone’s guess.” Caleb passed another sullen glare at Shadow. “You should have destroyed every last one of those swords.”
“Clearly I’m choking on regret.”
“You’re about to be choking on my fists.”
“When did this escalate to violence?” Nick asked.
Caleb gestured at his stomach. “The moment I was stabbed. What part of me bleeding and my guts hanging out did you miss?”
Kody shook her head. “This bickering is pointless and Nick has something he should be doing.”
“Yeah and I’m doing it. Protecting all of you.”
She tsked at him. “You need to go and take care of the matter with Virgil. We’ve got this.”
Nick didn’t like the sound of that even a little bit. Nor did he trust in the universe enough that he believed for one yoctosecond it didn’t plan to screw him over.
It always did.
“I don’t like unsolvable puzzles.”
Kody kissed his cheek. “We’ll figure this out.”
Growling low in his throat, Caleb took on his human appearance. “C’mon, Lord King Pain. Let’s get this over with.” He paused to glare at Shadow. “You, find out what happened. I’ll be back to kick your butt later.”
Shadow scoffed. “You better bring back up.”
“Won’t need it for your worthless hide.”
He laughed. “I’ll take that wager.”
Without commenting, Caleb grabbed Nick and took him home.
Kody met Shadow’s worried gaze the moment they were alone in his realm. “What are you hiding?”
“Certainly not the fact that I’m an idiot.” He glanced over to Simi and then to Aeron. “‘Course, he knows that.”
Aeron laughed. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“And you’re hedging.” She could feel it deep inside. He had an aura like Nick’s. Both of them were handsome beyond belief, with a bashful confidence that said they’d been kicked enough to wear down their conceit. And both wore their cockiness as a mode of self-defense against a bitterly cruel world that ever sought to bring them to their knees. It made her protective of a man who was probably older than both her ancient parents.
“I’m just thinking that with those swords, in the right hands, they could breed new Sephirii.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Depends. Those swords were forged from the pit of the Source. The very essence of the universe is inside them. Their blades will cut through anything, and they will cut through anyone. With them, their wielders can kill gods.”
“But the swords have to choose who wields them and they don’t bond with just anyone, yes?”
“True, but the swords feed on blood. They thrive on it. In the hands of a Source god, such as Azura or Noir, or one who is familiar with them, such as Grim or Laguerre, they can be tricked to bond against their wills. Enslaved if you will.”
“What happens then?”
Shadow’s eyes turned sinister and his voice dropped a full octave. “You create a monster so vicious, it makes the Malachai look like a friendly puppy.”