Nick ducked and rammed his shoulder straight into Thorn’s stomach, knocking him down. Rolling on the ground, Thorn shot to his feet, then sent a fireball straight at Nick that Nick blocked with his powers.
He sent it straight back into Thorn, who barely dodged it. And it succeeded in wiping the smirk off his face. Nick followed it with a blast of his own that caught Thorn’s shoulder. Yelping, Thorn manifested a sword and lunged forward.
With his powers, Nick created a staff and deflected it, then parried with a blow that caught Thorn across his spine.
Kody gaped as she watched Nick and Thorn spar. She met Caleb’s equally stunned expression. “When did he learn to do all that?”
“Not one hundred percent sure. But remind me the next time I say something snarky that he’s come a long way with his battle skills.”
Yes, he had. In the past, Nick could always take a punch. Now, he was able to give them.
He fought like a boss.
Until Thorn turned it on him. Kody started forward, but Caleb stopped her. “He has to defeat Thorn on his own. Without help. Otherwise, he won’t be able to subjugate the ušumgallu.”
She glanced around the yard where Simi had already routed the other demons. Selena and Amanda had vanished into the crowd. Tabitha was heading for Nick and Thorn. I might not be able to help with Thorn, but … She could definitely take that witch down. No one was going after Nick while she was around.
Kody headed for her.
Nick saw Kody from the corner of his eye. That distraction cost him as Thorn moved in and caught him a significant blow to his jaw that sent his head spinning. He staggered back. Thorn kicked him hard in the solar plexus.
Everything darkened. And for a second, he honestly thought he was going to black out. Until he saw the darkness slithering again. It was like a living, breathing creature.
I’m hallucinating.
What if he wasn’t? Given all the other weirdness in his world that wasn’t crazy, what if …
Nick held his hand out to pet it. The dark rose up to caress his arm and lick it. Before he could rethink it, Nick slung his hand out and sent the darkness for Thorn. With his thoughts, he commanded it.
One second Thorn was about to stab him, and in the next, the darkness jerked him out of reach. It was only then that Nick saw it for what it really was. Not one single creature, but an amalgam of night. Lifting his hands, he orchestrated it to go after the others, including Tabitha.
Holy crap … it was working. He could actually do this and the power wasn’t malfunctioning on him. At least not yet.
Kody froze as Tabitha was pulled back from their fight and held immobile by nothing. No, not nothing.
By the element of night.
Terror filled her as she realized what was happening. Nick had embraced the darkness. He was commanding it. Something he shouldn’t be able to do for decades yet. And for him to do that now boded the worst kind of evil for them.
Biting her lip, she watched breathless as Nick started to transform from a human into a demon. He stalked toward Thorn with eyes so red they glowed and snapped like a living fire. The Malachai powers were alive and they had possession of him. Completely.
What have we done?
Once tapped, Noir’s powers were seductive and all-consuming. Irresistible. Worse, they allowed the primal god to locate his property. So long as Nick used them, Noir could hone in and attack him.
She met Caleb’s concerned gaze and saw the same horror mirrored on his face.
“Nick!” he cried.
But it was too late. Nick was transforming in front of them. And he was about to kill Thorn and absorb his powers, too.
CHAPTER 17
You command the power of the universe. Life, itself, is in the palm of your hand. There is nothing that can stop you. No rules that apply to you. You are the only one who matters in this existence. The rest are pawns and tools to be used and destroyed as you see fit.
Embrace your fate, Malachai. Become what you were born to be.
Nick let the truth ring in his ears as he effortlessly pinned Thorn to the lawn with one hand. The demon lord wasn’t so powerful now that he squirmed like a worm caught on drying pavement by the heat of a sun he couldn’t fight. He was every bit as pathetic and helpless as those insignificant creatures that crawled up from the belly of the earth and were used as nothing more than bait for and by their betters.
Kill him and you’ll be even stronger than what you are now. You’ll have powers the likes of which you cannot imagine.
Nick scoffed. I don’t know, disembodied voice in my head. I have one heck of an active imagination. You’d do well not to underestimate it.
In his mind, Nick saw himself as he wanted to be. Confident. Suave. Sophisticated. Tough. Like Kyrian, Talon, Caleb, and Acheron. The epitome of badass respectability. Not the pathetic loser dork who banged his arms and feet into everything he passed. One who bumped his head anytime he neared low-hanging signs or plants.
Just once, he wanted to walk into a room, without tripping over nothing, and not have someone snicker or comment about his clumsy awkwardness or foul clothing.
Kill him and it’s all yours. Everything you want. You will be the very top of the food chain. No one will ever dare to mock you again.
Nick tightened his hold on Thorn’s throat. It was so tempting. All he’d ever wanted in his entire life was respect.
And the voice was correct. Right now, he saw terror in Thorn’s green eyes as he struggled against Nick’s iron grip that would not be broken. Gone was any hint of condescension or contempt. Thorn definitely wasn’t smirking now as he began turning blue and his eyes bulged.
I could kill him and no one would care. Who would miss a creature like Thorn?
No one. It would be easy.…
So very easy.
But as Nick felt Thorn’s weakening grip on his hand, he loosened his hold. I am the Malachai. The baddest beast in the land. What would killing Thorn really prove?
A truth he already knew? That he was stronger? Better?
What was the point? He didn’t need blood on his hands to show the world who and what he was. Nick already knew, and so did the people who mattered to him.
The devil take the rest. He didn’t owe them anything. And they weren’t worth his life.
Definitely not worth his soul.
Nick Gautier had nothing to prove to anyone in this, or any, realm.
But he still had people to protect. People he cared about and loved.
With that in mind, he slackened his hold to give Thorn some breathing space. “Do you yield to me?”
Thorn growled at him.
“That’s not an answer.” Nick traded hands and increased the pressure on Thorn’s throat again. “Do I really have to kill you on the front lawn of Bubba’s house? Is that truly what you want? Because, no offense, killing you is not the way to get my girl to kiss me at the end of the night. And I’d much rather snuggle with her than step over your dead body and tick her off. Pretty sure you’d rather I not kill you, too. Or am I wrong? Are you suicidal? Do we both go home happy or will I later be defacing your corpse because you got me in the doghouse?”
Thorn’s eyes glowed red in the darkness. “I will follow no one ever again. And that includes you.”
“Good. ’Cause I’m not leading. There will be no battle and you’re not being summoned to my army or to any kind of fight on my behalf. The only war I want is the solo one against my own stupidity—which seems a losing battle most days. And while I’d like to defeat that, I don’t want to end the world or you or anything other than this ridonkulous standoff.… However, I will kill you if I have to, to stop this, but I hope it don’t come to that. Honestly, all I expect is for you to crawl back to your hole and stay there like a nice demon lord. Because the next time I confront you, boy, I won’t show mercy. You will bleed and I will be in the perpetual doghouse with both the women in my life. Got it?”
* * *
Kody started for Nick, but Caleb caught her arm. She glared at the demon. Did he not understand what was going on? If they didn’t do something fast, it would be over for all of them. “Nick’s metamorphosing.”
A slow smile broke across Caleb’s handsome face. “Yes, he is.”
How could he be so nonchalant? So happy? Did he want Nick to become a bloodthirsty monster? If Nick gave in to his dark powers, Caleb would suffer as much, if not more, than she would. Especially now that Nick knew his real name.
Terrified, she glanced to Nick, who was about to finish Thorn off, then back to Caleb. “We have to stop it! If he becomes the Malachai—”
“Kody,” Caleb said in an even tone, breaking her words off. “Can you not understand what they’re saying?”
She shook her head. “It’s demonkyn. I only know a handful of words.”
“Yeah, well, I know a few more.”
All of a sudden, Nick stood and backed away from Thorn. With a glower of fury at him, Thorn slowly pushed himself to his feet. She expected him to attack Nick again.
Instead, he saluted him, then gathered his demon minions and Tabitha and her sisters, and left.
Completely confused, she stared at Nick as he went to check on Savitar and Acheron, who were still lying as lumps on the lawn. By the relieved expression on his face while he felt for a pulse, she knew they were okay.
And while that thrilled her, it didn’t take away her shock at Nick’s actions. She gaped at Caleb. “He’s in control of himself?”
Caleb nodded. “Completely. Somehow he pushed the darkness out and resisted it.”
How? It was unheard of. No one turned down Noir. And they definitely didn’t do it like this.
As Nick headed toward her, he gave her that devilish grin that never failed to speed up her heartbeat. But as fast as that smile came, it vanished with a curse. Clutching his chest, Nick fell to his knees on the lawn. Then he collapsed.
Petrified, she ran to him. “Nick?”
Arching his back, Nick screamed out. He shook all over. She met Caleb’s and Simi’s wide-eyed stares as they joined her by his side.
“What is this?”
They shook their heads in unison.
Kody knelt and placed her hand to Nick’s cheek. “Sweetie? Can you hear me?”
He bit his lip and cursed again. “It burns like fire.”
“What?”
He pulled his shirt down so that he could blow across his chest. And as he did so, an ancient symbol formed over his left pectoral. It was a circle that held Noir’s emblem on top and Azura’s on the bottom. The mark of their ownership.
But why was it appearing on his temporary body? That made no sense at all.
Swallowing hard, she met Caleb’s wide gaze. He paled instantly. “What is this, Caleb?”
“He’s marked.”
She understood that part. The demon was being evasive and she wanted to beat him for it. “Elaborate.”
Caleb shook his head slowly. “You really don’t want me to.”
“Oh, I really do.”
Caleb grimaced and continued to hedge. “Why ruin all our days?”
“Caleb!” she snapped simultaneously with Nick.
Nick reached up and grabbed the front of Caleb’s shirt. “What is happening to me?”
“Your parents want their baby home, son. And this—” Caleb touched his mark. “Is their Tactical Trunk Monkey.”
Scowling at the term, Nick dreaded the answer in the worst sort of way. “What’s a Tactical Trunk Monkey?”
Caleb made another grimace. “In a couple of years, you’ll know exactly what I mean. For now, think of it like a homing beacon from hell.”
Nick stifled the fear in him that was trying to take over. Not a good time for that. He really needed his levelheaded sanity. Although honestly, he couldn’t think of anything better than to panic right now. For that matter, his sanity hadn’t proven all that beneficial, either.
Maybe freaking out would help?
Nick ground his teeth against the agony that continued to pierce him. “How do we get rid of it?”
“The Simi could barbecue your skin. That would take it off. Might take some muscles and other things, too. Should we try?”
Nick made a high-pitched noise of disagreement. “No!”
Simi bared her fangs at him. “The Simi don’t like that word, Akri-Nick. It a bad bad thing.”
“And I don’t like being burned by flaming demon breath, either, Simi.”
She blew him a raspberry. “You big demon baby.”
“Dang right.” He tightened his hold on Caleb’s shirt. “What do I do?”
“Run.”
Nick scoffed. Caleb made it sound so easy. But if he knew anything, it was that his life never had a simple answer to his problems, and he couldn’t breathe or stand, never mind get up and sprint across the lawn. “Won’t they find me if I run?”
Caleb didn’t hesitate with his response. “Yeah.”
“Then what’s the good in running?”
“You’ll feel like you at least tried?”
He gaped at his friend, hating Caleb’s sarcasm. “Not comforting, Caleb. Not comforting.”