Illusion

  Caleb shook his head in denial and turned away.

  But Nick wouldn't let him. He pulled his arm until their gazes locked. "You still care, Caleb. In spite of everything you've been through. I've seen it. I know it. You're wounded and you're hurt. We all are. But we've made our own screwed-up family of misfits out of the chaos that is our life. You. Me. Kody. Menyara. Simi. Acheron. Bubba. Mark. Kyrian. My mom. We have bled, inside and out, for each other. And yes, all of us will die eventually, but that isn't what matters. What matters is how we live in the interim. We don't fight for ourselves. We fight for who and what we love. And if there's any chance to save them, we have to take it. Because they deserve nothing less than our absolute best, and by all the gods of all the universes that's what I plan to give to you and the others. My absolute best. Always."

  For several seconds, Caleb said nothing as the thunder rolled around them. Finally, he glared at Nick. "I really effing hate you, Gautier."

  Nick grinned at him. "Yeah, me, too."

  Grabbing his hand, Caleb yanked him into a bro-hug. "We will get Kody back, Nick. I swear it."

  "I'm going to hold you to that." Nick clapped him on his shoulder then stepped away. He gestured at the mess Caleb had made. "So have we completely ruined this? Do we have to start again?"

  Caleb shook his head. "It's done. You just need to stand in the center and assume the rest of your powers."

  Nick arched his brows. "All of them?"

  He nodded. "And try not to set the world on fire. Definitely don't make my head explode."

  "Great way to build up my confidence, brother."

  "I have faith in you."

  Coming from Caleb, that said a lot.

  Nick took a deep breath and walked to the center, where Caleb had used the oils to draw the Malachai emblem in the rain. He raised his fist high in the air as lightning lit the sky above them. "By the power of Grayskull ... I have the power!"

  Caleb groaned. "By the power of Grayskull, I'm going to cleave your skull from your shoulders if you don't take this seriously."

  Lowering his arm, Nick snorted. "Dude, you've seen my screwed-up life. I take everything seriously." He winked at the demon, then used his powers to transform from human to his Malachai form.

  Nick stared down at his marbled black and red skin. He would never get used to seeing that. "Tell me I'm better-looking as a demon than you are."

  Caleb rolled his eyes. "You're not my type, Gautier. I think you're uglier than a three-toed warthog, and Mark after a four-day swamp zombie hunt."

  "Ah, man. Now that's just plain mean."

  Caleb shoved at his shoulder. "Get on with it before I get hit by lightning."

  Sobering, Nick cleared his throat before he spoke the words he needed to seal off the rest of the usumgallu. "Ahira, ahira, esh'in ay. El ee, el loh door ... duh ... d..." Crap, he'd forgotten already.

  "Dor ey uh."

  He inclined his head to Caleb. "Dor ey uh. Dash ee Malachai tirre tirre el lan de um." Honestly, he had no idea what he'd just said, but no sooner had he spoken the last syllable than the storm began to recede. The rain slowed.

  "It's working?" he asked Caleb.

  "It's working."

  Relieved that he hadn't had to attack Xev or Livia, or anyone else, Nick returned to his human form. "Man, I'm so glad I didn't have to bleed this time. It's a miracle."

  "Actually..." Caleb pulled the hem of Nick's T-shirt up to expose the scar on his chest where Ameretat had stabbed him. "You did bleed. Most of it's still on the floor of my house, I'm sure."

  Nick fingered the scar that formed an intricate pattern that eerily reminded him of Noir's and Azura's symbols. "This isn't the trunk monkey, is it?"

  Caleb laughed. "No. It's not. It's a memento from your enemies."

  "Yeah, well, at least it makes my heart surgery scar look cooler."

  "Speaking of, how do you feel?"

  Nick took a minute to consider it. Honestly, it was hard to put into words what he felt now. "Stronger. More powerful ... like a target."

  "You are all of those."

  Great. Just what he wanted.

  But he was done complaining about it. All the bitching did was make Caleb crankier than normal.

  "So do you think the other Nick made it back home?"

  Caleb picked up the remnants of his oils and packed them away. "You would know before I would."

  Nick started to ask him how, but before he could, he knew the answer. Somehow. "Yeah, he did." He frowned at Caleb. "How do I know that?"

  "You're the Malachai," he said simply.

  The universal target for everything nonhuman in existence. A walking trophy that all preternatural creatures would kill to defeat, slay, or enslave.

  Up until now, that had terrified him. Yet as Caleb handed him the basket of oils to carry while they headed back to his house, Nick realized that it wasn't so bad.

  Yeah, okay, it really was. It sucked. It blew. It was a destiny he wouldn't wish on anyone.

  But this was his life, and honestly ...

  He liked it. It wasn't perfect, yet it was all his.

  And while it was true that he'd had no choice in how he'd entered this world, and he would most likely have no choice in how he left it, he did control the in-between years.

  As his father had said, the Ambrose Malachai would never be forgotten. But it was up to Nick, alone, as to how he'd be remembered.

  And from this moment forward, he intended to make every single day count. Most of all, he intended to minimize any future regret.

  EPILOGUE

  "All right, Xev," Nick said, just outside the locked door. "Brace yourself. There's no telling what we're about to walk into. It could be bloody bloody."

  "I think I can take it, Mal--"

  "Nnh! What did I tell you about using that name?"

  "Gautier," Xevikan corrected. "Believe me, I've been in much bloodier battles than this."

  "Doubtful. But keep up that bravery. We're going to need it."

  Holding his arms out to the sides of his body and shaking them, Nick took several deep breaths for courage then loosened up his neck muscles. Man, he was terrified. But he wasn't about to admit that out loud, and he couldn't delay this any longer.

  It had to be done.

  He inclined his head to Xevikan. "Here we go." He opened the door and stepped inside.

  Nick had barely taken a step before the fiercest beast of all latched on to him with a Velcro-tight grip that no amount of strength could break. "Ma! Ma! Please, you're killing me! I can't breathe!"

  Instead of loosening her hold, she only tightened it more. "Boo, I've been so worried about you. Are you all right?"

  "Until you choked the life out of me, yeah."

  Tsking, she finally stepped back and stared up at him with a joyous smile that lit her entire face. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a wavy ponytail that made her look more like his older sister than his mother. Her blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. "You have no idea how scary it is to be trapped with Bubba and Mark in a storm."

  "Actually, it's probably the safest place to be in New Orleans."

  She scoffed at that. "Did you know--" Her sentence broke off as she realized Nick wasn't alone. A deep frown creased her brow while she took in Xevikan's height and unorthodox appearance.

  Both Nick and Zavid had tried their best to mask the boy's multicolor hair, only to learn that part of his curse was that it couldn't be changed. No matter what they did, the colors bled through.

  "Are you Ash's little brother?" she asked.

  Xevikan raised a curious brow. "Ash?"

  "A friend of mine," Nick explained quickly. "No, Ma. This is Xev..." His voice trailed off.

  Crap, somehow they'd forgotten to give him a last name.

  "Daraxerxes."

  Wow, props to the Sarru-Dara for thinking fast on his feet. Not that Nick could have repeated that name if his life depended on it. "Um ... yeah. What he said." He stepped behind his mom to frown and
mouth the name at Xevikan.

  What kind of freaky moniker was that?

  His mom smiled. "That's absolutely beautiful, but quite a mouthful ... says the woman with a last name no one can ever pronounce or spell correctly, including other Cajuns. Please say it again."

  Xevikan repeated it slowly. "Dah-rah Zuhr-cees."

  "Dara-zur-zur-cees?"

  He grinned at her attempt. "Very good, Mrs. Gautier ... I'm impressed. You did much better than most."

  "Thank you. Your accent is quite lovely, too, but I have no idea where it comes from."

  "It's, um ... I forget in English. Khvrvarn?"

  His mother actually squirmed. "I've never heard of it."

  Now it was Xevikan's turn to be uncomfortable as he looked to Nick for help, as if Nick had a clue where on a map that was. Most days, he could barely find New York state. "Um ... it's Mesopotamia? The land between the rivers?"

  "Oh! Well, don't I feel stupid, now. Sorry."

  "No, you should never apologize for such, Mrs. Gautier. I'm the one who couldn't translate it correctly. It was my bad."

  His mom smiled again at his colloquialism that sounded extra weird through his heavy accent. "It's always nice to meet one of Nick's friends." She took his hand and patted it kindly.

  The moment she touched him, an unexpected tear slid down his cheek. Embarrassed, he pulled his hand away and wiped at it. "Forgive me."

  His mom frowned in concern. "Are you all right, sweetie?"

  Nick wouldn't have believed it, but the ancient being was as cowed by his tiny mother as everyone else.

  Nodding, Xevikan looked about nervously. "I never had a mother so I don't know what's appropriate. Nick failed to warn me that you would be ... warm and gentle."

  "Oh, you poor Boo!" His mother pulled him into her arms and held him tight about the waist.

  Eyes wide, Xevikan appeared terrified as he held his arms out, away from her, over her shoulders.

  Nick bit back a laugh at the sight of his tiny mother who barely reached mid-chest level on the fierce Sarru-Dara. She had absolutely no clue. "Just go with it, Xev. My mom mothers everything. She can't help herself. And whatever you do, don't take her to a pet store, especially not on adoption days."

  Making a sound of irritation, his mom pulled back and rubbed Xevikan's arm. "Are you staying for dinner? I have chicken jambalaya almost ready and there's more than plenty."

  "About that, Ma..."

  She turned toward Nick. "What?"

  "Xev's place got flooded during the storm. Do you mind if he bunks here a few nights until it's habitable again?" Or more to the point, until they found him someplace to live.

  She drew her brows together into a puzzled expression. "Where's your family?"

  "I-I don't have any."

  "Then how are you here?"

  Nick jumped in with an answer before Xevikan accidentally outed them. "He's on a student visa. Don't worry, Mom, he's not a serial killer. If he was, I wouldn't have him near you. I promise I'll keep him locked in my room. You won't even know he's here, and he's not nearly as messy as I am." At least, he hoped that was true.

  She shook her head at him. "Of course, it's fine for him to stay. You know I can't stand to see anyone on hard times. Now let me go check on our dinner before it burns. Y'all get cleaned up and I'll see you in a sec."

  Xevikan watched her leave with a longing in his eyes that wrenched Nick's gut.

  "You all right, buddy?"

  Blinking, he nodded. "I now understand."

  "What?"

  "Why you are who and what you are." He locked gazes with Nick. And there in his eyes was a quiet longing Nick didn't understand until he spoke a single question. "What is it like to be loved?"

  "Don't you know?"

  He shook his head slowly.

  Nick laughed, until he realized it wasn't a joke. "C'mon, seriously. Brother? Father? Pet? You had to have family at some point. Right?"

  "Yes, but we didn't have love. We had honor, obligation, and responsibility. Nothing more."

  "Nothing? Is that why you betrayed them?"

  His eyes turned as red as his hair. "I did not betray them," he ground out between clenched teeth. "I was the one who was betrayed ... by all of them."

  Nick held his hands up in surrender and to calm down the older being. "Okay, sorry. I heard a different version of the events. I'm not judging you. I wasn't there. Consider me Switzerland."

  "Switzerland?"

  Nick patted him on the arm. "We got a long way to go with your education." He jerked his chin toward the hallway. "C'mon, I'll show you to my room."

  Xevikan followed even while he kept waiting for something terrible to happen. For Nick to turn on him and lunge for his throat.

  Or bury a dagger in his back.

  After all, Caleb had welcomed Zavid and Livia in to stay in his home, but he'd mercilessly thrown Xevikan out of his house and told them both that Xevikan would never be allowed there again.

  Though to be honest, everything considered, it was a much kinder expulsion than the last one Caleb had given him. He wasn't bleeding nearly as badly this time.

  Inside or out.

  "And this is the bathroom." Nick opened the door.

  Sweeping his gaze over the room, Xevikan had no idea what anything inside there was. "I assume you bathe in here?"

  "Um ... yeah."

  "Then where's the pool?"

  Nick grimaced. "Ah man..." He sighed heavily. "We don't have a pool. You bathe in the bathtub or shower." He showed him how to use it. "You do your business in the toilet, use some TP and then flush it or my mom will kill us both. Understood?"

  "Understood."

  "And you wash your hands here." Nick illustrated how the sink worked and where the soap was kept.

  "Got it now. Thank you."

  "No problem." Nick headed back to his room across the hallway.

  Xevikan took a moment to experiment with the wall switch and lights. He had a lot to learn about this human world. He hadn't been free in more centuries than he could count.

  And so much had changed.... But for his powers, he'd have no way of understanding their language or anything else. Yet for all his abilities, he had a lot of gaps in his knowledge, as Nick was proving repeatedly.

  I will make do. He always had. Still, he felt lost. Unsure. Hatred and anger, he was used to.

  Kindness ...

  That was scary stuff.

  Turning the light off, Xevikan headed back to Nick's room, to find him on the phone.

  "Caleb, there has to be some spell or something to bring her back. I don't care what it takes. We can't leave her stranded. I want my girl. I miss her."

  "Nick!" his mother shouted suddenly.

  He covered the phone with his hand. "Coming, Ma." Glancing at Xevikan, he returned to his call. "I have to go. But we have to find something. Fast. Talk to you later." He hung up.

  "Your girl?" Xevikan asked as Nick slid the phone into his pocket.

  Nick let out a sad sigh that was nothing compared to the pain in his blue eyes. "Kody was left stranded on the other side when I returned to this realm. She helped me reach home and now there's no one to free her."

  He related to that a lot more than he wanted to. It was an awful feeling to be imprisoned in an unknown dimension. Alone. Afraid. Ignorant of its rules and customs. "Is she human?"

  Nick shook his head. "A ghost."

  That was the last category Xevikan had expected. "Your girl is a ghost?"

  "Yeah, I know. My life is really messed up. And so are most of the people in it. But I don't mind." Nick swallowed hard. "I wouldn't have made it back here without Kody, and I can't leave her there alone. I owe her too much to just walk away while she needs me."

  "I see."

  Nick headed for the hallway, then paused as he realized Xevikan wasn't following after him. "Something wrong?"

  "I need a minute. Is that all right?"

  "Yeah, sure. We'll be in the kitchen. Don't wait too
long or I might scarf up all the jambalaya. No one makes a better batch than my mom."

  Xevikan waited until he was alone before he shut the door. As he turned, he caught sight of himself in the dresser mirror and winced. No wonder Mrs. Gautier had reacted to him the way she had. He was hideous like this. His family had left him with nothing.

  Not even his dignity.

  If only they'd listened. But no, they'd been too angry to hear anything more than their own condemnation. He'd been used and then thrown away as if he was nothing more than useless, unwanted rubbish.

  Nick and his mother, alone, had treated him as if he mattered. They had finally given him a modicum of dignity. He wasn't sure how much of his powers were left. His family had stripped the majority of them from him when they cast him out. And the Malachai who'd enslaved him had taken his own toll on them.

  But maybe, just maybe, he might be able to repay Nick's kindness.

  Closing his eyes, he mustered as much as he could and allowed his conscious spirit to leave his body and traverse through realms he used to travel effortlessly.

  It took several minutes before he was able to gain his bearings. He'd forgotten how dizzying it could be. How disconcerting.

  "Kody!" he mentally called, trying to find the right spirit.

  "I'm Kody. You are?"

  He turned toward the demon and shook his head. "You're not the one I seek."

  "But I could be."

  Shaking his head at her offer, he drifted away from her and kept searching. It seemed to take forever as he retraced Nick's path to the other side.

  He was just about to give up when something struck him hard between his shoulders.

  Hissing in pain, he turned toward his attacker, ready to battle. Until he saw the small Arel who was glaring at him. Instantly, he remembered what Zavid had told him about Nick's girlfriend, and it all made sense. "Kody?"

  "You are not overtaking this world!" She rushed him.

  Xevikan ducked and twisted away from her. "I'm not trying to take over."

  "Don't lie to me. You're the Sarru-Dara! I can smell it on you."

  "And you are Nick's Kody."

  She retreated a step. "How do you know that?"

  "I've come to return you to him."

  Suspicion clouded her green eyes. "You can't do that. I can't go back there. Ever."

  "Yes, you can. I have the power to restore you."