Illusion

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Kody laughed. "I didn't lose him like that, Simi."

  "Oh. Then what'd you do?"

  "I left him to sleep, but I think while he was sleeping he was sucked into another dimension and into the future, and someone else is now here, in his body. Can you time travel?"

  Simi sucked her breath in sharply. "Akra-Kody, that's a bad bad idea."

  "But can you do it?"

  "The Simi can do lots of things, and as Akri say, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. But in this case ... not without Akri, and he won't never let the Simi do that. He'd sooner give the Simi people to eat."

  Kody sighed as she realized she'd have to go this alone. Not like that was any different than what her existence had been, but still ...

  She'd hoped to have some form of backup when she went into the unknown. "Then I'll have to do it myself."

  "Alone? What? Why would you want to go and do that?"

  "I have no choice, Simi. It has to be done. Nick can't stay unprotected."

  "How you find him when you don't know where it is you lost him?"

  "I have a general idea where he is. Kind of."

  Simi quirked an eyebrow at that. "What if he moves? Boys tend to do that. A lot. They not real stationary creatures, especially when they young and virile."

  Kody laughed in spite of her fear. Simi had a valid point. "Without his powers ... I don't know if anyone can find him. We have nothing to use to pinpoint him with. But I have to try."

  Pursing her lips, Simi tapped her forefinger against them. "Why don't Akra-Kody go ask Menyara? She always knows where Akri-Nick is."

  Honestly? Because Menyara was the one being who had the powers to see through Kody's guise. To recognize her. Even though Kody was shielded, Menyara was also the Egyptian goddess Ma'at. And as such, her powers were infinite.

  Since the day she had been sent to stop Nick, Kody had been very careful to fly below Mennie's radar. To never look her in the eye for fear that her great-aunt would see Kody's mother in her. Sense the bloodline they shared.

  But as she heard the storms outside picking up strength as the darkest powers gathered, she knew Simi was right. They didn't have time to play around and avoid uncomfortable situations. She had to go see her great-aunt and face the past.

  Her vision swam as tears gathered in her throat to choke her.

  "Is Akra-Kody okay?"

  No. She hadn't been fine in a long, long time. But she didn't want to share that. Not even with Simi. Thanks to the Malachai, she was alone in this world, and stronger than any being should ever have to be.

  "I'm fine, Simi. I'll go ask her like you suggested." As she started to flash away, Simi took her hand and squeezed it so that she could teleport with Kody. As much as she wanted Simi with her, she knew better. What she'd need to say to Menyara, Simi couldn't overhear. If the demon ever learned who and what Nekoda really was, it could cause unbelievable damage to the time sequence.

  Kody patted her hand. "I need to do this alone, Sim. Is that all right?"

  Smiling, Simi nodded. "The Simi wait here then." Without a second thought, Simi headed to Kody's bed to lie down with her feet running up the wall. Simi's toes almost reached the bow Kody had received from her mother.

  Kody laughed as she remembered being a small child and sleeping the same way. It had driven her parents to distraction.

  Are you a Charonte simi, too?

  Yes! she'd always answered back, proud to sleep like her favorite aunt. Many times, she'd napped on Simi's stomach with her legs propped on top of Simi's, while Simi kept her arms wrapped so tightly around Kody that it had been hard to breathe. Even so, Kody had never complained. Every child should be enveloped in such love. And so long as Simi held her like that, she'd known that nothing and no one could ever harm her.

  Not without Simi eating them whole for it.

  And both Simi and her husband had died while protecting Kody from the Malachai. Even now, Kody could see the horror of that night in her mind. She'd barely been school age when the Malachai's army had found their hiding place. Simi and her husband had stayed behind to hold the Malachai back while Kody's brother had run with her into the night.

  Ari had used his own powers to shield her from their demonic pursuers. "I will keep you safe, Belami. Always. Nothing's going to hurt you so long as I live."

  And just like Simi and her husband, Ari had fallen to the Malachai. Everyone Kody loved had been destroyed by the beast Nick was destined to become.

  How can I fight for him?

  You have no choice. Only Nick can defeat the usumgallu. She had to save him. He was the only hope they had.

  The time sequence couldn't stop here. It had to go forward. Too many lives depended on her, as well as the fate of the entire world.

  Determined, she flashed herself to the front porch of Menyara's small duplex condo that Menyara had once shared with Nick and his mother.

  Kody took a moment to compose herself. Because Menyara was her blood family, it was always hard for her to be around Menyara and not betray herself. Every time Kody saw the petite primal goddess, she wanted to throw herself into her arms and cry. To tell Menyara who she was and what was to come.

  But she couldn't, not without destroying everything.

  With a ragged breath, Kody knocked on the door and braced herself to meet her aunt.

  Dressed in a light yellow cotton dress, Menyara opened the door and arched a brow at her. Today, she had her sisterlocks curled about her beautiful face.

  Kody ached to bury her hand in them like she'd done as a child. Back then, whenever Menyara visited, she'd rock Kody and sing ancient Egyptian lullabies to her. Kody would twist her fingers in Menyara's hair and bury her face in the rose-and-hyacinth-scented strands until she fell asleep, nestled in Mennie's warmth.

  How she loved this woman.

  Menyara smiled at her. "Miss Kody, to what do I owe this honor?"

  Kody opened her mouth to tell her what had happened to Nick, but no sound would come out. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe at all. Her throat tightened as if someone was choking her. Tears gathered in her eyes.

  Then everything went dark.

  CHAPTER 4

  Nick came awake to the sight of Amanda and Tabitha standing over him. His cheeks stung as if someone, probably Tabitha, had slapped him a few times in an attempt to revive him.

  Amanda let out a relieved breath.

  Tabitha snorted. "We're in luck, T. He's not dead ... yet. We didn't kill him. Hallelujah! We don't have to call the lawyers or hide another body."

  Another?

  Scared of that thought, Nick scowled at the familiar raven-haired Goth queen who was decked out in black leather pants and a black bell-sleeved shirt. This was what he knew. Thank God, he was home. "What'd you do, Tabitha? Run me over again?"

  She duplicated his frown. "When did I run over you the first time?"

  Selena slapped at her arm. "I told you, Tab. He's from an alternate place where he knew you."

  Nick winced at Selena's disgruntled voice. Dang, it hadn't been a dream, after all. He was really here.

  With them.

  Worse? They'd multiplied. There was now a total of five Devereaux sisters. Tabitha, Amanda, Tiyana, and Selena he knew. The other one he'd seen in a picture pinned by the register in the store.

  "I'm Tiyana," the one closest to him said.

  He caught himself before he mentioned that they'd already met here in this store. But that had been in a different life, and in a different time. "And you?" he asked the other one, who was leaning against the counter, looking completely bored.

  "Karma."

  "The woman who works with bulls?"

  Karma snorted. "Yeah. And I'm the vengeful, mean one, too. You'd do well to remember that."

  "Duly noted." Nick sat up slowly with Selena's help. He felt weak and dizzy. Disoriented.

  What had happened to him?

  "Now that is wicked."

  He frowned at Tiyana, who was staring at him l

ike a lab experiment that had just sprouted a new head from its belly button. "What?"

  "Your aura. It's..." She locked gazes with Selena. "He's not crazy. What he told you is true. He doesn't belong here. We have to get him back to his realm or something terrible will happen there and here."

  "I don't know. He's kind of cute. Can't we keep him?"

  "He's not a puppy, Tabby."

  Tabitha smiled. "Maybe, but he'd look awesome in this spiked dog collar I have at home."

  Nick moved over to Amanda, who seemed to be the safest bet in this family of homicidal loons.

  Amanda glanced at him over her shoulder. "For the record, if they attack, I'm throwing you at them and running for the door."

  "Gee, thanks."

  She shrugged. "How you think I've survived so long in this family?"

  Tabitha cocked her head as she studied him with unsettling scrutiny. "So what are you, exactly?"

  "How you mean?" Nick asked.

  She approached him slowly until she had him pinned between her and Amanda. "You look human, but..." She took a lock of his hair between her fingers and studied it. "I know you're not the undead. You're blond, yet you're not a Daimon. Demon, maybe?"

  To his shock, Amanda leaned forward and smelled him.

  Stepping away, Nick screwed his face up at her. "Hey! That's gross."

  Amanda shook her head. "Can't be demonspawn. He lacks their stench."

  "Yeah well, I did have my biweekly bath this morning."

  Amanda gave him a dry stare. "You still haven't answered my sister's question. What are you?"

  "Mostly confused and, honestly? A lot scared."

  Karma laughed. "At least he's not stupid."

  Shaking her head, Tiyana snorted. "Karma and Tabby, don't bleed him until we know what we're dealing with. His blood could be potent. 'Cause let's face it. Things are only sent into alternate realities for one of two reasons."

  "To hide," Amanda said.

  Tabitha folded her arms over her chest as she eyed him with an unsettling intensity. "Or to be killed in a realm where they're weak."

  Nick started to deny it. But like it or not, he was probably here to die and they were the closest things to protection he had, and while Tabitha was extreme, she could fight. "It's definitely one of the two. And if I knew how I got here, I'd know which one was right."

  Karma pulled out a knife that was similar to Nick's Malachai dagger. "You threaten my family, and I will end you."

  Tiyana pulled Karma's hand back. "Don't bleed him," she repeated through gritted teeth. "Blood has power and we don't know what blood he holds. Until we do, we need to keep him whole."

  Karma put her knife away.

  Shaken and trying not to show it, Nick turned back toward Tabitha. "Do you stalk vampires and Daimons here, too?"

  "Yeah. Your point?"

  "The paranormal exists here in your world, like mine. Maybe we can find some of it to help me get back home."

  Tabitha looked past him to Karma. "Sounds like we should take him to your house."

  "Worth a try, I guess." Karma turned her head to Tiyana. "Unless Her Supreme Majesty objects."

  Tiyana rolled her eyes. "You're such a bitch."

  Unaffected by the insult, she smiled. "That's Karma, baby."

  With a pain-filled groan, Tiyana headed to the register. "Take Tabby and Mandy with you in case there's trouble. Selena, stay with me and we'll search through our grims and see if we can find something about this."

  Nick thought he was safe until Amanda held her hand up and a knife came flying out from the counter to land in her palm. She tucked it into her back pocket.

  Gaping, he was stunned.

  "Telekinesis," she explained nonchalantly as if that was an everyday thing.

  Which, to him, it actually was.

  "Yeah, I know. I'm supposed to have it myself. But where I come from you don't believe in any of this."

  "Who says I believe here?"

  He didn't comment on that dichotomy as Amanda led him outside to her white Toyota. He got into the back while the twins took the front seat. Karma eyeballed him with blatant hostility through the window before she went to her red Honda Nighthawk and pulled on her helmet so that she could follow them.

  After belting herself in, Tabitha turned around to pin him with an intense stare. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

  "I cut class."

  Amanda pulled away from the curb. "You shouldn't do that."

  "I know, and I don't normally, but extreme circumstances led me to the path of juvenile delinquency this morning. Besides, I didn't even know what my classes were or where they were. I didn't want to look like a complete idiot." He didn't mention the fact that he'd almost passed out at school like he did in their store.

  Something was tugging at him and until he knew what, he didn't want to be around innocent victims who wouldn't know how to protect themselves from the paranormal should it appear and pick a fight. For that matter, he wasn't sure if whatever it was was trying to pull him back to his realm or join him in this one.

  "So what am I like in your world?"

  He smiled at Tabitha's question. "Very similar to here. But your hair is shorter and you wear tighter clothes."

  That seemed to please her. "And Mandy?"

  "She doesn't have any powers where I come from. At least none that any of you have talked about. She's the normal to your eccentricity."

  She playfully hit Amanda on the arm. "I guess some things never change."

  Amanda glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "What about you? How do you know for sure that you're not you?"

  "For one thing, I'm a lot taller in my world. Have dark hair and my father's dead."

  Tabitha gasped. "Triple Threat's dead?"

  Nick shook his head. "No. In my world, he's a friend, not my dad. The man who fathered me is the one who died. Not Bubba."

  "Interesting."

  Nick didn't miss the underlying note in Tabitha's voice. "What is?"

  "That he and you would be so different while we're not."

  "Yeah, I know, right? I can't figure that out. And people I know for a fact are demons in my world are regular humans here. Why is that?"

  Instead of answering, Amanda sucked her breath in sharply. "That's what you really are, aren't you?"

  "Yes, he is," Tabitha said before he could even part his lips to speak. "You should have seen the dance his aura just did over that question."

  Nick gasped out loud as he was pinned to the seat with an invisible hand. "Hey! I'm not like that."

  "How do we know?" they asked simultaneously.

  "Do I look evil?"

  Tabitha narrowed her gaze on him. "Evil seldom looks it."

  "Yeah," Nick choked out as the grip around his neck tightened, "but we all fight with you. And I work for a Dark-Hunter."

  Tabitha scowled. "What's a Dark-Hunter?"

  Of course she wouldn't know that. He'd forgotten that unlike him, Tabitha wasn't really part of their hidden world. "Immortal warriors who are owned by the goddess Artemis. They spend eternity fighting Daimons and anything that threatens the safety of this world ... or my world, rather."

  "He could still be lying," Amanda said to Tabitha.

  She shook her head. "No. His aura says he's not. I believe him. He has this whole innocent puppy look."

  Great. That was so the image he was going for. He might as well be dressed as a dork again.

  Finally, Amanda released her death grip on him. Nick rubbed his neck, grateful he could breathe finally. Coughing, he straightened his clothes.

  "So what's it like to be a demon?" Tabitha asked.

  "Like being human, except I have a lot of scary things who want to kill me and suck out my powers. Or worse, stick me in a cage so I can serve them."

  Tabitha snorted. "Sounds a lot like my life."

  "You think that's why you were sent here?" Amanda asked as she turned a corner. "Something's trying to capture or kill you?"

  "No idea. We tried to bind my powers last night. I'm thinking maybe the spell we used might have backfired."

  Tabitha shook her head. "No. It takes something with serious juice to rip someone from their universe and put them in another. Definitely not a misfire or runaway spell. Had to be done intentionally."

  That did not make him feel better. Kind of like a nail through his shoe. And if it was done intentionally, where was the responsible party?

  Nick looked around nervously.

  Amanda pulled into the narrow, tiny driveway of a small white shotgun. They got out as Karma parked her bike on the street in front of the house. After dismounting, she took her helmet off and held it by the strap as she joined them then led the way to her front door.

  After she unlocked it, Nick followed them inside. "So why exactly are we here?"

  No sooner had he asked the question than a bowl went flying at his head. With reflexes honed by fighting the worst of the paranormal world that liked to ambush him, he ducked.

  The bowl shattered against the wall.

  Tabby gave him an impressed smile. "Nice reflexes."

  "Hey!" Karma shouted out in a hostile bark. "What have I told you about that? Until you learn to pay bills again, lay off my stuff!"

  "Who's she talking to?" he whispered to Tabitha.

  "Henrietta, I think."

  He frowned. "Who?"

  "An irritating ghost." Karma set her keys down on the small table in the foyer before she placed her helmet on the coat tree. "She came with the house and we've been at war ever since she told me to get out."

  Nick arched a brow at her bravado. Had a ghost told him to hightail it, he'd vapor off so fast, all he'd leave behind was a blur. "Why don't you?"

  Karma looked at him as if he was the one who was insane for asking a logical question. "My house. I told her when she learns to pay the bills, I'll move out. But I'm not taking a hit on the price just because she's too lazy to pack her things and move on. And let's face it, she has a lot less to pack." Karma tilted her head back to speak to the ceiling. "Start with me, and I'll break out the ghost torment equipment again. See how y'all like that, huh? I'll knock down walls, move furniture, and I'll start playing Bauhaus on all the speakers. I know what a big Peter Murphy fan you're not."

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