After Noir had taken possession of Zavid, Dagon had bought them enough time to gather Cherise and retreat with her here, out of his reach.
But that hadn't lasted long.
Noir had found them. Now they were fighting again.
Suddenly, a bright flash lit the foyer below. Livia appeared in her demon form. Holding her head high, she surveyed the combatants smugly.
"Give up, Nekoda!" she shrieked from the bottom of the stairs. "Nick is dead. I'm the new Malachai!" She held his sword above her head as proof of her bold declaration.
From the balcony above, Nekoda froze as those words hit her like a fist to her heart. No! It wasn't true. It couldn't be true!
Tears choked and blinded her as she nocked another arrow on her mother's bow. "You lie! I don't believe you! You're not powerful enough to take down Nick." Kody let fly the arrow at Livia's head.
She ducked and sent a blast toward her.
It missed and shattered the window over Kody's head. "Whose blood do you think covers me?" Livia asked. "I cut his throat with his own sword!"
Even though Livia had the Malachai sword, Kody refused to believe Nick was dead. She'd feel it if he was gone.
It was a trick.
"You lie!!" she growled. Nick knew better than to die on her. She'd never forgive him for that.
Never!
The entire house shook as Noir and Thorn and Menyara went at each other outside.
Kody was about to run out of ammunition. Beleaguered and exhausted, she hadn't been this tired since she'd fought against Nick beside her brother. Lightning flashed. Rain poured and demonic screams echoed all around.
Still, she fought on. It was what her parents had taught her to do. Past the pain. Past the exhaustion.
Never give up. Never give in.
Livia rose with the sword. "All of you!" she screamed violently. "Listen to me! You have to obey me now! I am the Malachai! I have his power! I took his blood and his sword!"
As those shrill words carried, the fighting slowly came to a stop.
Even Noir.
Covered in blood, he returned to the room to stand by Livia's side. "What is this?"
She held the sword out for his inspection. "I used the Malachai's sword to cut his throat and take his power. I am the leader of the usumgallu! Hear me, Chronus and Tiamat. God of order and goddess of chaos. I am now your lead servant. The one who will oversee the final battle."
Menyara and Thorn appeared next to Kody's side on the balcony, as did a wounded Xev and Dagon.
"What madness is this?" Xev growled.
Tears filled Menyara's eyes. "It's not possible. Not my Nicky."
Tiamat appeared before Livia and held her hand out. "Let me see the sword."
Tucking her wings in, Livia handed it over.
The goddess examined it before she nodded. "It is indeed the Malachai's sword, and it bears the blood of Ambrose."
Unable to breathe and choking on her sobs, Kody fell to her knees as she heard those words of bitter confirmation. Her only solace was that Cherise wasn't awake to hear them, too. It would kill her to know that Nick was dead.
Xev picked her up and cradled her against his chest, but there was nothing that could comfort her while she hurt like this. Nothing other than Livia's throat.
Her mind set on vengeance, Kody pushed herself away from him and started forward.
But Xev caught her in his arms. "Don't you dare. They'll kill you."
"Let them! He's all I have." Sobs racked her entire body as pain and grief permeated every molecule of her being. Her heart felt as if it'd been ripped out. She couldn't lose anyone else. She was tired of burying those she loved. Tired of saying good-bye.
Tiamat handed the sword back to Livia. "Pick your generals, Malachai."
Grim and Laguerre stepped forward with cocky grins.
Livia walked past them both.
Just as she was about to pick random demons, a deep, Cajun drawl rang out in the room.
"Oh no, you din't! Put my sword down. You getting bitch-cooties all over it. Don't know if I'll ever be able to sandblast them off that handle, you skank."
Kody's breath caught in her throat. Her gaze blurred by tears, she scanned the crowd until she saw the tall, proud, black-and-red-skinned, winged Malachai.
Ambrose!
Oh, she should hate that body with every last bit of her soul. But right then ...
She wanted to kiss him.
"Nick," she breathed as relief coursed through her veins.
He flew into the room with two others she didn't recognize. But by the way Xev stiffened, it was obvious he knew at least one of them.
Livia turned on Nick with a shriek. "No! I killed you! You're dead! I saw it."
Nick scoffed in that arrogant way only he could. "Obviously not. Really, we need to talk about your aim. Good thing you're not a man. 'Cause they'd ban you from restrooms all over town. Run you out on rails."
When she went to attack, Nick threw his arm out and yanked his sword from her grasp. Then he pinned her to the wall with his powers, and faced Tiamat.
Nick was in no mood to play with the ancient goddess. While he was well aware of the fact that she could splinter him to pieces, he really didn't care. "I'm assuming I passed your test?"
All she did was nod.
"Good. Does this mean I get to pick my generals now?"
Again, she nodded.
Nick's gaze never left hers as he rattled off his list with ease. "Nashira. Xev. Dagon. Aeron. Kody. Caleb."
"You can't do that!" Grim and Laguerre protested in unison.
Tiamat quirked her lips. "Actually, he can choose whomever he wishes to lead his armies. That is his prerogative." She turned back toward Nick. "But be warned with that lineup, Malachai, you have chosen one of the most powerful groups ever assembled. Together, they could wield enough power to one day kill you."
Nick inclined his head to her. "I'm counting on it."
Tiamat and Chronus closed ranks around Noir. "Time for you to return to your realm."
"No!" he snarled. "That wasn't the deal."
Chronus shrugged. "The balance is maintained and Ambrose has proven himself worthy of his bloodline. He bested his competition. Passed every test and resurrected himself. He's even subdued his old generals and chosen new ones. Order is restored and he's claimed his birthright."
Tiamat wrinkled her nose. "Deal with it."
Noir's hate-filled gaze went straight to Nick. "I know who you are now, boy. This is only the beginning."
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin with every bit of stubborn Cajun pride he possessed. "You might know my name and face, but you know nothing about me personally. And that's your mistake. If you did, you'd know not to threaten me or mine." He raked a sneer over Noir's body. "If you think you can take me, you better not come alone." He cast his gaze around at the bodies on the floor. "And don't forget to stock up on body bags before you do."
With a furious growl, Noir vanished and took a screaming Livia with him.
Grim exchanged a furious glower with Laguerre before he closed the distance between him and Nick. In full reaper mode, he stood toe-to-toe with Nick's Malachai form. "This little slight here today will not be forgotten, boy. So let me put Noir's sentiments into words you and your little demonteers can fully understand..." He swept his gaze around to each of them. "Consider yourselves served. It's on, bitches."
With a snap of his bony fingers, he, Laguerre, Pain and Suffering all vanished from the room.
"On what?" Dagon asked.
Snorting, Kody explained while Nick looked around for Zavid.
Menyara gave a sad shake of her head. "Zavid's gone, Nick. I'm sorry. Livia sacrificed him to bring Noir over to this realm."
"No..." Nick couldn't believe it as pain for his friend racked him. "What about Caleb?"
"He's upstairs, still unconscious. She tried with him, but he was too powerful. Even asleep, he fought her."
Thank God
"My mom?"
Kody approached him slowly. "She's with Caleb, and Simi's guarding them both."
Breathing in relief and grateful beyond measure to his friends, he finally transformed back into his human body.
Now that he no longer looked like the creature who'd coldly murdered her and her brother, Kody brushed her hand through his hair. "Should I ask about the new Malachai you?"
He gave her a sheepish grin before he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her neck so that he could inhale that sweet vanilla scent that always made his head spin. "I found a way to control it. At least for now."
She held him close. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Never," he snorted, then kissed her.
Thorn sauntered over to Nick and let out a weary breath as he eyed him. "I hope to God you know what you're doing with this new group you've chosen, kid."
By the way he stared at Aeron, Nick had a feeling there was some serious history between them. But neither gave a clue as to what it was.
Same with Thorn and Dagon.
Holding tight to Kody, Nick shrugged at Thorn's warning. "At least I know something about these sarras and their loyalties."
Thorn snorted. "Familiarity breeds contempt." And with that warning, he left them alone.
Nick watched as Xev stared at Aeron in utter disbelief. He circled around him as if he was afraid to touch him.
"You're corporeal? How?"
"I borrowed a little blood." Aeron cast a sheepish gaze toward Nick.
Xev gaped. "He didn't kill you for it?"
"Not yet."
Shaking his head, Xev held his hand out to Aeron, who hesitated before he took it. Xev pulled him in for a man hug. "Thank you, little brother."
Aeron nodded.
Xev kissed him lightly on the head before he released him. He stepped back and met Nick's curious stare. "I owe him my life in ways you can't even begin to imagine."
Nick held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I don't judge. My own life's too screwed up for that. To each, his own."
As everything slowly returned to normal, Nick and Kody went upstairs with Aeron and Xev to give the berries to his mom and Caleb and return them to normal.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Nick asked as they carefully dispensed the berries' juices.
Aeron gave him a droll stare. "You're not seriously asking that, are you?"
He'd barely finished speaking before Caleb woke up, choking and gasping. The minute he saw them in his room, he cursed Xev. "What's he doing in my house?"
Xev sighed heavily. "Nice to have you back, brother." He vanished a minute later.
Nick let out a tired breath. "You know, he saved your life today."
Caleb glared at him and scoffed. "No, Nick. He took my life when he allowed my enemies to have my wife's. And I wish to the gods that you'd never allowed him to go free."
"Is that why you're trying to bargain for your freedom?"
Caleb scowled at him. "What new paint fumes have you been inhaling?"
"Livia told me that you'd been summoning stronger powers in an effort to break free of me, for a while now."
Caleb pressed his hand to his head as if he had a severe migraine. "What? Are you totally stupid? Wait. It's you. I know that answer."
He let out a slow breath before he spoke again. "Look, dumbass ... I don't care what stupidity Livia has filled your head with. The only person who could possibly free me from you, outside of a grisly death and damnation I'd rather not face, is my father. And I wouldn't trust him for anything. Not that he would do it anyway since he's currently Noir's right hand. To get free of you, I'm rather sure he'd require I unleash you on the world, which would defeat the purpose of being free of you. So no, I haven't been trying to get free of you as there is no point in it." Caleb scratched at his face. "Besides, I'm getting way too attached to your annoying stupidity. You're like a pet that chews up my favorite shoes."
He should probably be offended by that, but coming from Caleb's surly hide, that was a deep avowal of love.
"I'm glad you're not dead. Today." Nick left the room only to hear Caleb's shout about why and how Dagon was there.
Ignoring him and leaving it for Menyara to explain, Nick joined Simi in the guest room and waited with bated breath until his mom opened her blue eyes.
She scowled up at him before she slowly glanced around the room. "Where am I? How did I get here?"
"Don't you remember, Ma?"
"Um ... no."
"Our power went out. We came over to Caleb's. You were on the stairs when the storm broke the window and some of it hit you. You fell." Nick committed that lie to memory so that he could confess it to the priest on Saturday. Of course, he had a lot to talk to the priest about. Most of which left Father Jeffrey thinking he was writing a novel.
But that was okay by him.
He was just grateful that he was alive and that his mother was still with him.
Which reminded him of one more extremely important thing he had left to do.
EPILOGUE
Nick, Simi, Kody, and Dagon stood deep in the bowels of Tartarus, where Simi's "scary" room was located. She was right. It was kind of slimy where they kept the Eye of Ananke.
But for once, they'd had an easy time getting to it, since their guide was the son of the goddess Hekate.
Turns out, if you're friends with a friend of Hades and your mom is best friends and the handmaiden of Persephone, you're gold to visit his realm. All Hekate had demanded was a kiss and hug from her son.
Simi picked up the dark green gem and handed it to Nick. "Oooo sparkly. So what's this for, anyway?"
"Not real sure."
Dagon took it out of Nick's hands and pressed it to Nick's forehead. "It functions like a third eye. You place it there and you can see the future."
Nick fell silent as he saw not just the future, he saw all of them. It was like being in the alternate universe all over again.
Only this time, he saw every universe, including this one.
Now he understood exactly what Ambrose had been talking about.
No wonder his future self had been so freaked out by everything.
There before him, he saw clearly every single mistake each of them would make that would bring them closer to the end of the world.
It was horrifying.
But the one question still remained ...
Could it be stopped before it was too late?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author SHERRILYN KENYON is a regular in the #1 spot. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre in which she writes. More than 60 million copies of her books are in print in more than one hundred countries. Her current series include The Dark-Hunters, The League, and Chronicles of Nick. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures. You can sign up for email updates here.
Also by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Illusion
Inferno
Infinity
Invincible
Infamous
The Dark-Hunters, Volume 1
The Dark-Hunters, Volume 2
The Dark-Hunters, Volume 3
The Dark-Hunters, Volume 4
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
INSTINCT. Copyright (c) 2015 by Sherrilyn Kenyon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Elsie Lyons Cover art of symbol by Cliff Nielson Cover photograph of teen (c) Colin Thomas eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-06386-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-46686886-1 (e-book) eISBN 9781466868861
First Edition: April 2015
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