He had so little ego in most things that it was the one and only thing he could normally take pride in that no one, other than Acheron, Xev, and Papa Bear Peltier could take away from him. And Acheron and Papa Bear positively dwarfed his Cajun hide. At almost seven feet in height, the two of them were truly giants in the modern world.
Nick squinted at Nathan. There weren't any horns hiding in that mass of thick dark blond hair. No other warning bells went off as their skin touched. His blue eyes were clear and normal. Intelligent, not demonesque. No diamond-shaped pupils.
No pimples, either, rank dog.
And of course, the punk was better dressed. But then, who wasn't? Since Cherise Gautier thought these tacky, heinous Hawaiian shirts of the middle-aged tourist kept her only son out of trouble--and they definitely were the best birth control ever invented 'cause no female looked at him and thought, hey, gotta get me some of that--Nick wore them with as much pride as he could muster.
For the record, that amount of pride would fit onto the tip of a flea's needle.
Dropping his hand, Nathan glanced past Nick's shoulder to where Kody and Caleb were waiting. "Yeah, Kody told me you were her boyfriend. Sorry if I pissed you off earlier. I had no idea. But I should have known that a girl that pretty would have been taken. I was just kind of hoping, you know?"
Nick would have felt a little better had Nathan not dropped his gaze meaningfully down to his garishly orange glow-in-the-dark shirt. But he was man enough to take it. Besides, if the school lost power, this shirt doubled as a glow stick.
Who would feel the fool then?
"Sorry I overreacted."
Nathan snorted. "It's okay. I get it. I'm the new kid in town and I overstepped. Won't happen again. I promise."
Yeah, dang straight on that.
The bell rang.
With a sharp, nervous twitch, Nathan shifted his books. "Down the hall? Right side? Across from 130?"
"That's it."
"Thanks again."
As Nathan left, Nick had that feeling that he'd lived this moment before. A phantom memory that hung just at the edge of his mind. Teasing and annoying. He could see the faintest outlines of it. But the harder he tried to look at it, the more elusive it became.
What was his mind trying to tell him? Why did he feel like this particular moment was a repeat?
It was the strangest sense of deja vu.
He went back to Kody and Caleb. "Is it me or is there something oddly familiar about this day?"
Kody nodded. "I keep thinking that, too. And the same with Nathan. I feel like I've seen him before, somewhere."
Scratching at his chin, Caleb shrugged. "I have no comment. Humans all look alike to me. And all my days run together, especially the ones where we're fighting demons."
Nick knew he wasn't serious about the human comment. He was just being contrary. However ... "So Nathan is definitely human, right?"
Kody pulled back. "Yeah, why?"
"I don't know. I had a strange sensation when he first appeared earlier. Kind of like my Wonder Twin powers activated for no reason. It's why I'm walking around like a cat in a Doberman factory. I can't shake the unsettled feeling I had. Makes me wish I still had Nashira in my pocket. Not that she'd have given me a straight answer. Still, I'd have felt better with her cryptic crap than being completely blind, going with nothing but a bad feeling in my gut."
Caleb groaned. "Bad feelings in your gut give me an ulcer."
"Tell me about it." He laughed as he went into class and checked his phone for messages.
Still nothing from Aeron.
Something was definitely up. It wasn't typical of Legolas to space like this. He didn't just drift off and vanish for no reason.
Caleb?
He nodded. I'm on it. I already heard your nervous thoughts about our errant irritant. Out loud, he got up and went to ask to go to the bathroom.
Nick wanted to go, too, but knew better than to ask. Teacher would never approve that. One student out, okay. Two equaled delinquents up to no good in the minds of the establishment. Dang inconvenience when the safety of the entire world was at stake.
Maybe I should fake a heart attack?
Nah, he knew better. Karma was a bitch, and he didn't mean Karma Deveraux, who could be quite special when stirred. Real karma had a way of delivering up nasty retribution and anytime he ever told even the smallest lie, it came back on him with interest. If he faked a heart attack, with his luck, some coronary hell-beast would rise up to rip his heart out and eat it, or worse, feed it to him during lunch. That was just how Nick's luck went. He was the type of guy who could buy a lottery ticket, scratch it off, and it would be a bill he'd have to pay.
As Nick started taking notes another thought occurred to him.
Where was Nashira? He hadn't heard from her in a while now, either. Nor Dagon, for that matter.
His Power Rangers had abandoned him. They didn't normally do that ... Definitely weren't supposed to do that.
As his generals, they were under his direct control and were supposed to stay near him at all times. Not just because he could come under fire from Grim and his forces at any heartbeat, but because they were not used to the modern world. All of them had been kept imprisoned in alternate dimensions for centuries and had no idea how to really function in current society.
Other than Caleb and Kody. Caleb because he'd been the right hand of Nick's father and had been out in the world even longer than Adarian had, and way longer than Nick. And Kody because she'd never been sequestered from people. Not to mention that unlike the others, she actually liked humanity and didn't want to see them die screaming in agony, inside a fiery pit of demon hellfire.
Nashira could function alone a tiny bit, due to the fact she'd been able to hear and see from the confines of her book enchantment.
But Xev, Dagon, and Aeron ...
They did not need to interact with the general public without direct and intense supervision. At all times.
Ever. Heavy emphasis on the ever part.
Yeah, his ulcer was growing like a radiated lizard in a Godzilla movie. And if he didn't hear from one of them soon, it was going to have a baby the size of the Empire State Building.
Will this day ever end?
Nick cringed as the thought went through his head and he quickly glanced up at the ceiling. Yo, up there? I said day end. D-A-Y. Day. Not world. Daaaay. Please, do not get those two words confused or mistake my request, 'cause I know how you get ... when you want to prove a point to me. I don't need that lesson today. Really. Thank you, PTB. Peace, out.
Now if he could just keep the bad-luck fairy parked for a bit, he might be all right.
Caleb came back into the room with a look on his face that added a good six feet to the ulcer.
Nick arched his brow.
No sign of him.
Nick made a sound of distress. Which caused the other students to turn and stare at him. He flashed a bashful grin. "Puberty. It's so embarrassing."
"Excuse me?" his teacher asked.
"Everyone was staring at me like I'd grown another head so I was trying to lighten the mood."
"How about you lighten it on your own time, Mr. Gautier?"
"Yes, ma'am." Nick dropped his gaze to his textbook and pretended to study so as not to get into any more trouble. Last thing he needed was another trip to the office. That would get him suspended. While he could pull the mind trick once, he couldn't erase the records that said he'd been up there less than an hour ago. So unless he committed a crime, which he wasn't willing to do, he had to calm his nervous body down.
Releasing a zen breath, he sent his thoughts to Caleb. Did you learn anything else?
When he didn't get a response, he glanced over to his bodyguard. Caleb?
He acted as if he couldn't hear him.
Okay ... Had he pissed him off? Nick turned toward Kody. Are you two talking right now?
Like Caleb, she didn't so much as blink in response to his question. No
w that was really odd. Even when they were fighting, she at least gave him dirty looks.
Kody? I can see your bra strap.
She definitely didn't hear him, because even if she'd been mad at him for something, she would have checked to make sure that it wasn't showing, since it was a pet peeve of hers.
Instead, she carried on with their assignment, oblivious to his comment.
What the heck?
Worried, Nick held his hand out toward his pencil and attempted to command it with his telekinesis. Normally it would fly into his grasp without any effort.
Not this time.
No, no, no, no!
Fear wrapped around his heart at the thought of his powers being drained. But how? He was the Malachai. No one could do that to him.
No one other than his son, and he'd done nothing that could cause that. And he meant nothing.
Impure thoughts notwithstanding. After all, he was a healthy teenage boy and those couldn't really be helped, especially not when he had a girlfriend who was exceptionally pretty and smelled really nice. But that being said, all they'd done was kiss. Nothing more.
Having been born to a teen mother, and having spent the whole of his life raising her, he wasn't anxious to start parenting someone else anytime soon. He had enough paranormal brats he was responsible for already. Running after them, and cleaning up their messes, kept him plenty busy.
And then there was Kyrian who was in a special class by himself.
So, no ... there was no one who could drain his powers.
Yet the hairs on the back of his neck rose as he had the sudden sensation of being watched. Glancing around the fluorescent-lit room, he caught the gaze of Stone Blakemore fastened on him like he was the barely-clad centerfold of the Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated.
Yeah, that was some major stink-eye. Not like he'd done anything to Stone, ever. He basically left the knuckle-dragging werewolf alone. But Stone had hated him since the moment he walked through the school doors. It was as if Stone had smelled the Malachai in his genes and reacted to it on some primal level.
"Nick?"
It took him a second to realize Kody was speaking to him. "Yeah?"
"Are you all right?"
He blinked slowly. Honestly? He was a little light-headed. "I think so, why?"
"The bell?"
Nick glanced around and realized the room was empty. Kody and Caleb were standing beside him with worried frowns.
What the heck? He'd just been looking at Stone ...
Hadn't he?
"Something's wrong. I was trying to talk to you both with telepathy. Didn't you hear me?"
"No." Kody knelt by his side and brushed the hair back from his forehead so that she could press her hand against his skin to test for a fever. "You are flushed and clammy." Biting her lip in an adorable manner, she glanced up at Caleb. "Can a Malachai get sick?"
Caleb shook his head. "Not once his powers come in."
Grateful for her concern, Nick caught her hand and kissed her fingers. "Could it be the Eye messing with me?"
She grimaced at Nick. "Please tell me you left that thing at home."
"It's in my pocket. I was going to use it to play the lottery after school."
She said something under her breath he was pretty sure was a major curse in one of her parents' native tongues.
"Why?" Now there was the tone an impatient parent used when their kid did something exceptionally bright, like stick tweezers in an outlet.
"It wasn't good for anything else. I figured it owed me a Powerball for the trauma it's put me through."
Spreading her fingers wide, she had an expression on her face that said if she held his Malachai powers, she'd be Force-choking him right now.
Caleb placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Remember, you loooove him, Kody."
"Wondering why."
"I ask myself that every time you say it out loud."
"Way to prop up my ego there, buddy." Nick brushed his hand against his forehead and squinted in an attempt to clear his vision. "You think the Eye's messing with me?"
"No." Caleb picked Nick's backpack up to carry it for him. "But you look weak ... like your father used to get right after you'd visit him in prison."
Kody's jaw went slack. "What are you saying?"
"I said what I'm saying." Caleb held his hand out to Nick. "Give me your fist."
"Why?"
"Just do it and stop whining!"
Suspicious of what he intended, Nick didn't like that tone. Talk about things that didn't bode well. And when he obeyed and Caleb used his claw to slice open part of his hand, he knew why. Sheez!
"Hey! They hurt, you dick!"
Caleb ignored his words and cursed as he released Nick's bleeding hand. "You think that hurts? You've got no idea. And we have a massive problem."
His breathing labored, he retracted his claws and narrowed his gaze on Kody. "You know the cosmic laws. He's my master. I shouldn't have been able to harm him, at all. The only way for me to do that..." He jerked his chin toward the blood on Nick's hand. "Something's draining the Malachai out of him."
"How's that possible?" Kody breathed.
"I don't know. I've never heard of it before."
The color faded from Kody's cheeks. "Caleb ... if anyone finds out about this..."
"Believe me, Nyria, I know.... He's dead."
CHAPTER 4
Aeron pressed the heel of his hand to his eye as he tried to keep his skull from splitting apart. Though to be honest, he wouldn't mind it breaking open so long as it stopped aching like this. Please, anything, just stop hurting ...
He blinked open his other eye to see if he could figure out where in the blessed bog he might be, 'cause he had a bad feeling he wasn't at home in Caleb's house.
By the crappy, moldy, pungent, stale stench of the place, it wasn't St. Richard's, unless he'd somehow gotten locked in the bottom of the boys' dirty laundry chute.
And no one had bothered to do laundry in a few dozen decades.
Maybe longer.
"Gah, I'll never complain about the Daeve's smell again." To be honest, he'd rather bury his nose in the smoking pits of Caleb's hairy arms after his football practice in August than inhale this wretched stench. It smelled worse than the Dagda's boots after he'd been chasing the Morrigan around the bend.
The moment he sat up, he froze. Two inches from his nose was the ugliest dog he'd ever seen. It made the Cwn Annwn look like a swan. All it needed was to have red ears and be howling and he'd know his death was imminent. "Here now, puppy. I'm sure I can find a nice slipper for you to chew on, eh?"
If you hand me a shoe, I'll shove it up where the sun don't shine, Irishman.
Dropping his hand, Aeron cracked a grin at the snide tone. "Not Irish, if you want to be technical. And who are you, Scooby?"
Not Scooby ...
"Hellhound?"
Mostly ... if you want to be technical.
"Snotty little bastard, aren't you?"
You stay here any length of time and you will be, too.
"And here would be . .?" Aeron let his voice trail off meaningfully.
Azmodea.
Of course it was. Aeron groaned out loud. "I'm assuming we're on the bad side of the fence?"
Is there a good side?
"Thorn's."
I know nothing of a Thorn.
"And that answers that." Aeron glanced around at the dank, iridescent-black walls of his makeshift prison. They bled like an oozing oil pit. At least he wasn't bound. Not that it would have done them any good. Hard to pin a puca with shackles, and while he was still a bit chafed at his family for what they'd done to him with their cursing, there was something to be said for it.
Sitting back, he looked up at the eerie blue lights that radiated above their heads. They pulsed like a living creature.
He grimaced at the sight of what he was pretty sure were the remains of a poor beast who'd had a much worse day than his. Thank the gods his innards
didn't glow after death. He'd hate to have his guts used in such a manner.
"You didn't happen to see what brought me here, did you, boyo?"
Taahiki demons.
Well, that explained the stench. They were the polecats of the demon world. It'd be weeks before he'd get that off his skin. "Now, I'm going to ask a ridiculously rhetorical question."
No, there's no way out of here.
"You could have at least given me the satisfaction of asking it. But since you ruined that, I have another. Me master has misplaced his own hellhound. Any chance you might be familiar with him? He's named Zavid."
You serve the Malachai?
Aeron hesitated in his answer. One thing he'd learned aeons ago--you volunteer no facts until you knew what side of the matter your opponent was aligned to, and he knew nothing of this new "friend."
"I don't serve anyone."
"Yet you're the one who said it was your master's hound." A low, insidious moan echoed around them from no known source.
The black wolf crouched low and began growling at the wall to Aeron's left.
"What's that?"
Noir's servants. If you are friend or servant to the Malachai, they're coming to make you regret it.
"And what are you?"
I'm no friend of Noir's or Azura's. But if you can show me this Thorn, I will be the best friend you've ever made.
Rising to his feet, Aeron stepped away as every warning in his body went off simultaneously. This was a little too easy. "And why would I be wanting to take you anywhere when you're the one who'd be knowing the way when I don't? Not like I've got a set of keys to the kingdom. You could have left here at any time. Why did you wait on me when you didn't know I was coming...? Or did you?"
A flash of light blinded him an instant before the wolf became a tall, thin, male demon. "You're just all kinds of smart, aren't you? Pity that..."
*
"You know that won't break him, right?"
Noir turned a ball-shriveling glare toward Grim that would have sent anyone else in this dismal realm scurrying for a hole to vanish into. Almost seven feet in height, the ancient primal god held an insidious beauty that only the source of all evil could possess.
His black hair and eyes were as soulless as his actions. And there was a wicked light that flickered in the depths of those cold eyes that seemed to match his dark burgundy demonic armor. He tossed his bloodred cape back over his shoulder. "Are you trying to piss me off?"