What was this feeling? It was as if he had no grounding anywhere. Something was pulling him against his will. He had no control.
Not until he found himself back on the floor of Takeshi’s home with Simi, Takeshi and Nashira standing over him like a group of worried parents.
Blinking, he stared up at them. “Having that moment where I feel like my mom was calling me for dinner and I was on the last level of a videogame and didn’t hear her ’cause the big boss was almost dead and there was no pause on the game.”
Takeshi rolled his eyes. “Feeling like that parent who wants to beat my kid, but can’t because I don’t want to go to jail and ruin my credit scores.”
Nick scowled. “Bruh, that makes no sense.”
“Neither does what you just said. Now you know how we feel.”
Snorting, he took Takeshi’s hand and let him pull him to his feet. “What happened?”
“Don’t know. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you hit the ground pretty hard. You okay?”
Nick rubbed at the large bruise that was forming on the base of his skull. “Major concussion would definitely explain the rodier I just went on.”
“Rodier?”
“You know … wander about aimlessly? Drag the streets? Make a pass through … Never mind. I’ve gone Cajun and y’all looking at me like Kody did the first time I asked her if she was playing rat de bois with me or if she wanted to go make groceries.”
Takeshi scowled. “Do what?”
Nashira shook her head. “Rat de bois means opossum. The other means he’s going to the market for food.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Hanging out in his pocket has been quite the education.”
“I can imagine.”
Nick snorted. “Hey now, don’t you even slap on me given the random acts of violence against the entire English language that comes out of the mouths of Aeron, Vawn and Kaziel. I only get about one-fifth of everything they say. Some days, not even that much.”
Laughing, Takeshi brushed his thumb against his bottom lip. “So what happened?”
“I don’t know. I got snatched into the aether by … something. The other Malachai, maybe? At least I think that’s what happened.” Nick pressed the heel of his hand against his eye to ease the ache there. “How can he be here? And who the heck is he? Who’s his mother?”
Nashira and Takeshi passed a look between themselves that said they knew the answer, but had no intention of sharing it.
“C’mon, guys! Really? You can’t sit on this one! You have to tell me something. Especially if you know who he is.”
Takeshi shook his head. “Nick, you know the law and how this works. The more you know, the worse it gets.”
“Then why do I have Clairvoyance at all?”
“Do you?”
He had a point and Nick hated him for it. From what he understood about the power, even when it worked, it wasn’t foolproof. “Why do you have it?”
“Because I don’t use or abuse the power. I know how dangerous it is to tamper with things best left undisturbed.”
Nick was about to snark at him when he felt a peculiar sensation go through him. One that was unmistakable and left him sick to his stomach.
Eyes wide, he met Simi’s gaze. “Kody’s under attack!”
Without waiting for anyone, he teleported to her house. To his horror, he found her there, surrounded by more than a dozen mortent demons. True to her breeding, she was holding her own. But she’d broken a good sweat and was definitely outnumbered.
“Need a little hand, cher?”
She passed him a disgruntled grimace. “Nah, sugar, I got this. Go have some lunch.”
Laughing at her sarcasm, he manifested his Malachai sword and moved in to protect her back. Still the demons kept coming. It was like a bad dream.
“How are they getting in?”
Kody shook her head as she parried another assault. “No idea. I had everything locked down. Nothing should have been able to breach my shields.”
Nick hissed as the demon he was fighting caught him with his fangs. Punching the wretched beast knocked him away. “Well, this isn’t fun!”
Simi, Takeshi and Nashira finally joined them.
“Did y’all get lost?”
“No. Her sigils blocked us.”
Kody lopped the head off the demon she was fighting before she gave him an I-told-you-so stare.
“Yeah, but they’re here. You can’t argue with this.” He gestured at the carcasses of the smelly beasts lining Kody’s floor.
“I know. It defies my best ability to explain it.” Takeshi glanced to Simi who was staring at the wall. “What do you see, Sim?”
“The evil Arel. He did this.”
Kody gasped. “Sroasha?”
Simi nodded. “Him mad that you not kill Akri-Nick. So he now working with them Grim and War to kill you, Akra-Kody.”
“Well, that’s a load!” Nick felt his eyes change as his powers surged from the rush of anger that went through him at the thought of Kody being harmed. Especially because of him. “I thought we’d gotten rid of those pricks.”
But he knew better. That had been wishful thinking on his part. The Arelim controlled Kody. They were the whole reason she was here. The reason she’d been brought back from the dead in the future and sent back in time.
Her eyes sad, she cupped his face in her hands. “Breathe, Nick. It’ll be fine.”
He didn’t believe it for a minute. Everything was spiraling out of control, faster than he could catch it. Faster than he could catch his breath.
She kissed his lips, then grimaced at him. “And why are you here with Takeshi and Nashira?”
“You know Takeshi?”
What a stupid question. Of course she knew him. She knew everyone.
“He was friends with my father and uncle.”
Nick didn’t miss the odd light in Takeshi’s gaze as he studied Kody. “What’s that look mean?”
“Déjà vu.”
Now it was Nashira’s turn to go pale. “You can’t have that.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m having it anyway, and it’s freaking me out as much as it is you.” Takeshi jerked his chin toward Kody. “The last time I saw her, she was a grown woman. She’s not supposed to look like this. That’s not her body …”
Kody scowled. “Pardon?”
Takeshi crossed his arms over his chest as he surveyed the house and the dead demons on the floor. “You don’t remember your life, do you?”
“Of course! I remember my father and brothers. My mother …”
“What do you know of Nick?”
“He killed me and my family.”
Takeshi let out a nervous breath. “No, Neria. He didn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes and stepped back in confusion. “Are you sure?”
“You know I would never lie to you. Have you really forgotten your children?”
Indecision played across her features as she shook her head. “I was a girl in battle.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Kody glanced back at Nick and the uncertainty in those green eyes scorched him. “It makes sense, in a weird way. I think that’s why I couldn’t kill you when I first met you like Sroasha wanted me to.”
Takeshi gaped. “Pardon?”
She swallowed hard before she spoke again. “He sent me back in time to stop the Malachai. First Jeros and then we went through several of them. I failed each time because they were far more powerful than I was … until we got to Nick. Him, I could have taken. Easily, because he hadn’t come into his powers yet. He was too young and ridiculous when I met him. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to take the killshot even though I knew he’d eventually go bad and kill everyone I loved. I kept seeing the good in him and thinking that he could be saved.” She cupped Nick’s cheek. “There was something about him I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s the Rubati blood in you. Instinctively, it calls to Monakribos, regardless of the incarnation of your own body. And that’s why Nick is leashed with you by his side. You anchor him, just as she anchored Kree all those centuries ago.”