"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."
CHAPTER 5
Nick felt the jolt to his powers the moment he walked into the police station. It slapped him like Stone's stench after gym class. And left him just as feral and ready to fight.
Totally Pavlovian.
Primal. The Malachai blood inside him reacted to evil the way a hungry baby embraced candy. It salivated and drooled, wanting him to tear them apart and feast on it.
His breathing turned ragged.
Virgil, who stood almost eye level with him, paused. "You okay, buddy?"
Nick felt his lip involuntarily curl. It actually wanted him to go for Virgil's neck--which would be really stupid as Virgil wouldn't take that lying down. He'd fight and make it hurt.
Eyes widening ever so much, Virgil stepped back. "I'll take that as a no."
And just as Nick was about to go for his throat, he felt an unexpected peace rise up within him. One so sudden and overwhelming that it made him gasp and stopped him dead in his tracks.
Thinking it was Kody, he turned to find his mother rushing toward them. Before he could so much as blink, she latched on to him in a fierce bear hug that was so powerful, it felt like some gigantic beast had wrapped itself around him and not the tiny waif of a woman who barely reached the middle of his chest and weighed less than his right thigh.
A slight exaggeration on her weight. But really, his mom couldn't be more than a buck even after an all day bender at the Cafe Du Monde.
"My baby Boo! You okay?" The tears in her voice wrecked him.
"Fine, Ma." He squeezed her back gently so that he didn't hurt her.
She nodded. "Okay. I'm going to beat some sense into these bracque crotte, mon petit garcon. Anyone goes to jail for murder today, it'll be me and they'll have you over my dead body."
Now his eyes widened at her choice of words. While calling them a crazy turd wasn't technically profanity, it was so unusual for his mother to insult anyone that it shocked him.
Ruffling his hair, she kissed his cheek and turned toward Virgil. "Point me toward someone, anyone, so that I can kick their stupid butts and get my baby home. No one messes with my boy!"
Like him, Virgil towered over the much tinier Cherise Gautier. And even the vampire lawyer, Virgil Ward, stepped back in fear from her fury. "Yes, ma'am. Right this way."
As he led her away, Bubba stepped forward with a laughing grin. "That's right, fear the mighty Chihuahua. Whoo, boy, your mama has been riled up since the moment they came by for you. And I am sure that officer is in therapy right now and will remain there for the rest of his life. I had no idea your mama knew that kind of language. Thank God, I'm not the one what ruffled her feathers. Remind me to never rattle her cage unless I make sure she's padlocked in it."
Nick snorted. "I'd be offended if it wasn't the truth. Love the woman, but her temper's like a head injury. It's hilarious only so long as it's happening to someone else."
"Yeah, that be about right." Bubba winked at him, then sobered. "How you holding up?"
"Ca c'est bon, n'est pas? Just a little baffled by this." Nick cringed as a cop came a little too close and eyed him like some Friday night hoodlum.
Bubba glanced around. "So where's the rest of your crew? Not like you to run solo."
"Caleb's on his way. Said he'd be here any minute. What about you? Who's babysitting Mark?"
Laughing again, Bubba scratched at his dark hair. He was one of the few people Nick looked up to. Both figuratively and literally. But not by much. He probably had an inch on him in height. Muscle-wise, Bubba was a monster beast. As a former football player, he had the kind of body Nick would kill for. And unlike Acheron, Caleb and Kyrian, he wasn't lean. He was Terminator muscle. The kind that made even tough guys gulp and stand down.
Which was one of the reasons why Nick was agreeable for Bubba to date his mother. So long as the two of them were together, Nick knew no one would hurt his mom. Bubba was a fierce attack beast who'd tear them to shreds if they so much as grimaced in her general direction.
And Cherise Gautier had no fear of him whatsoever. Bubba was always respectful of her and was as easily cowed by the barking Chihuahua as Nick was.
He liked that quality in a man. It made him feel better about being scared of his mother.
"Mark's actually out on a date of his own."
Nick gaped at the last thing he expected to hear. Not that he should be surprised. Mark was a far cry from a mutant life form. It wasn't so much that Mark couldn't get a date as much
And burn scars.
"Really?"
Bubba held his hand up to swear by his statement. "Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. I think he has a head injury from our last taping."
Nick burst out laughing at the reminder of their "survival tip" that had almost killed them both. While videoing an episode for their Zombie Alert Network, Mark had slipped and fallen from his chair, hit his head and knocked a rack of MRE's down on top of him. Somehow one of them had fallen in such a way that it'd set off a flare that then struck a display and almost set fire to Bubba's entire store.
"So who's he out with?"
"The nurse from the burn ward."
Snorting and shaking his head, Nick settled down into a nervous laugh. "He should probably marry this one. It'd save on the medical bills."
Bubba scoffed.
Suddenly, someone grabbed Nick from behind. Hissing in fury, he turned to punch them, only to find Caleb there. "Boy!" he snapped. "You're lucky I didn't take your manhood just then."
When Caleb didn't respond with something snotty, a bad feeling went through Nick. But this had to be Caleb. Otherwise it would trip his perspicacity and he'd see the truth of who and what this creature was.
Unless it's the other Malachai.
A smile twitched at the outer edges of "Caleb's" mouth--as if he were reading Nick's thoughts.
The Malachai took a step toward him at the same time Nick felt his mom at his back.
Unaware of the creature with them, she smiled at them both. "Hey Caleb, mon beau-coeur. I knew you couldn't be far behind my Boo." She stepped past Nick to hug him.
Nick started to protest until he saw the expression on "Caleb's" face. At first it was startled alarm that settled down to all-out shocked disbelief. And then there was a longing, so profound that it choked him for the demon. It was obvious he'd never been hugged before and there was nothing quite like one of his mother's hugs. The closest thing Nick could compare it to was being wrapped in rose-scented sunshine. It warmed every part of the soul and could soothe any pain or ache in an instant.
No wonder my dad couldn't resist her. She never saw the bad in anyone. Not him. Not his father.
Not the creature whose eyes began to tear.
Right before they flashed red and his nostrils flared.
Clearing his throat, "Caleb" mumbled something, then ran for the door.
With a hurt look, his mother turned toward him. "Did I do something wrong? Is he okay?"
Leave it to his mother to quell the most horrific evil in all the known universes. Not with a fight or a shout.
With a simple hug.
"I think he had to whizz, Mom."
"Nicholas! I trained you better than that. I swear, boy! The things you do!"
He rubbed at his eyebrow. "What can I say, Ma? I'm not quite housebroken yet."
Bubba laughed. "You want me to beat him for you, Cher? Be glad to. Or worse, I can make him clean Mark's bathroom."
A smile broke across her face. "I'll just make him clean his. Trust me, there's no worse punishment. Have you seen the biohazard experiments he has growing on his sink?"
"Ah, gee! Now who's being mean?"
Virgil approached them with Kyrian and Acheron. All three of them had a satisfied gleam in their eyes. "Well that was so easy, I feel bad to bill you for it." He handed a piece of paper to Nick. "You're free to go. And I suggest you buy your mom dinner, kid. We should all have an advocate like her in our corners. Dang. I've never seen anyone set a judge back that fast, and so politely." He clapped Nick on the shoulder, then left them.
Even Kyrian was smiling enough that Nick caught a flash of his fangs. "He's not joking. Your mom is quite the lady, kid. So glad I'm not the one who riled her."
Kyrian clapped him on the back. The moment he did, Nick was jerked out of his body. Time stood still.
No longer in the police station, he was far in the future. Back in what he'd prayed was once a nightmare.
He saw himself as the Malachai, leading his army of demons through a devastated New Orleans that was burning all around them. Explosions went off like a pyrotechnics show. The rumble of thunder mirrored their hunger and anger.
All that was left intact was St. Louis Cathedral.
Where the last of the humans in the city remained cowering.
No, not cowering. Preparing a last stand. Tabitha. Bethany. Amanda. Kyrian. Their daughter, Marissa. Their son who'd been named after Nick.
And Kody.
With their daughter.
Nick froze as he suddenly knew the faces he hadn't known before. Even though he was outside the building, he could see them inside it. Feel their panic. And their bravery.
Kody's mother, Bethany--an Egyptian goddess-- grabbed their daughter, Chastity, and placed her in Kody's arms. "We'll hold them back. Take her and run."
Kody hesitated. "That's not Nick! You know it's not."
"There's only one Malachai."
"And I know my husband. He would never attack us. It's not in him."
Tabitha sneered at her. "Then where is he? Huh? He was supposed to meet us here. Him and Caleb."
"Nick wouldn't do this."
"Ambrose would." Tabitha wiped the blood from her cheek. "We lost him to the beast."
Bethany cupped her daughter's cheek before she kissed her and then her grandbaby. "Stand strong. Be safe." She nudged her toward a tall, blond man who was the very image of Acheron. And by that, Nick knew he must be Kody's brother. "You two take care of each other. Protect each other's back and stay safe, whatever it takes. Love you!"
A tear slid down the man's face. "Love you, Mom. Dad would be proud, if he were here."
She choked on a sob as she gave her son and daughter a tumultuous smile. "Yes, he would. Now go! I'll hold a shield around you as long as I can."
Kyrian pulled his daughter away from the children she was trying to comfort and protect. "Marissa, go with them."
"No! I won't leave you to this!"
Kyrian's wife, Amanda, joined them so that she could force her daughter to obey. "Yes. No argument. I'm not about to watch you die!"
Marissa began to cry over her parents' orders before she nodded. She hugged Kyrian, then Amanda and Tabitha. Without a word, she followed Kody to the back door. She paused to look back at them and the longing ache in her eyes made Nick choke on his own sob.
And the moment she left the knave, the front door broke open, spilling demons into the church.
Nick saw himself leading the demons.
Until Caleb, in his own demon form, came flying in for the attack.
The moment Caleb was there, Ambrose caught him by the throat. And in that instant, Nick realized something. Something he'd missed in his previous nightmares and visions.
Caleb met his gaze and froze. "Who are you?"
In all the visions he'd had before, Nick had taken that to mean that his friend hadn't recognized the Malachai demon that had swallowed Nick whole. That he'd been baffled by Nick's actions that day.
This time ... this time, Nick saw it for what it really was.
Too late, Caleb realized that he wasn't Ambrose.
Like Kody, he saw the truth of the beast. That this Malacahi was an imposter, and that was what had caused the Malachai to kill him. Not for the fact that Caleb had failed to follow his orders, or kill Kyrian and the others.
Caleb had known the truth.
There was a second Malachai masquerading as Ambrose.
"Who are you?" he breathed, desperate to have an answer as to who the Cyprian Malachai really was. But at least he had the comfort of knowing that he, Nick, wasn't the beast who'd killed everyone he loved.
He was only the poor fool framed for it all.
"Nick?"
He heard Kyrian's voice off in the distance.
At first he thought it was the wind. Until he realized his boss was dragging him from his vision and back to where they'd been in the busy police station.
Blinking, Nick glanced around them. "Um, yeah, sorry. I just remembered an assignment I didn't finish. I'm going to be in all kinds of trouble at school tomorrow if I don't get it done."
With that, he bolted for the door, needing to find out more about what was going on.
Caleb was still MIA and that wasn't like his demon protector. He didn't even let Nick go to the bathroom alone. That meant, something bad was up for Caleb to be missing this long.
More fear went through him as he struggled to stay in the present. But his powers kept trying to drag him away to both the past and the future.
At the same time.
He felt like a boat that'd lost all moorings. All sense of time and place.
He couldn't even begin to ground himself.
I need Kody.
Just as he was sure he'd lost his mind completely, he heard something calling to him.
Not a person, though. He wasn't sure what it was.
This is so peculiar.
How could he stop it and ground himself so that he didn't keep floundering?
"I will always be here for you."
On the steps, outside the station, Nick froze at the voice. The spinning stopped so that he could see the street and the traffic. He was still in New Orleans. In his right time period. This was where he was supposed to be.
Cocking his head, he reached out with his powers. His mom, Bubba, Acheron and Kyrian were still in the station. Talking about him, and how strange he'd been acting.
They weren't the ones who'd spoken, though. That wasn't what he'd heard. The voice had been familiar, yet not theirs.
He struggled to place it and couldn't.
"What is wrong with me?"
With no clue, he pulled his phone out and dialed Caleb.
He didn't answer.
Completely worried, he tried Kody.
Like Caleb, she ignored his call, too. He reached out with his powers.
They, too, failed him.
Yeah, this was all kinds of wrong. A chill went down his sprine.
Nick attempted to teleport and couldn't. His powers were weakened again. The other Malachai was draining him faster than he'd ever dreamed possible. No wonder his father had stayed in prison after his birth.
He totally understood Adarian's demented reasoning now. It was probably the only way his father had been able to retain any power at all. In prison, Adarian could suck the evil straight out of the other inmates so that he'd be able to fight against the never-ending stream of enemies out to end or enslave him.
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