“I don’t understand.”
“Long before Caleb met his wife and decided to live the life of a peaceful farmer, he fought with my mother and his against our father. He was one of the Mavromino’s greatest and strongest generals. The Memitim were his soldiers that he used against the Kalosum. After centuries of warring against us and laying waste to mankind, he switched sides because of his wife and swore off his sword forever. When the Memitim went after him and refused to let him live in peace, he single-handedly put them down, and they swore vengeance upon him. These are their spirits and they’re here to make good on their vow.” His gaze burned into Nick. “Someone resurrected them for their revenge.”
“How do you know that?”
“You’re the Malachai. Listen to them and you can hear it in their cries.”
Nick tilted his head as he closed his eyes and did what Xev said. He opened up the part of himself that honestly terrified him. Anytime he tapped those powers, there was always a part of his heart scared that he wouldn’t make it back to be normal again. A part scared that he’d be lost to the darkness forever.
But Xev was right. He could hear them now.
Malphas! We’ve come for you! It’s time for you to pay for what you’ve done! Come out and face us, you craven dog!
Nick almost told them he wasn’t here, that they had the wrong address, then caught himself. Better they stay misinformed. So long as they were surrounding the wrong building, they wouldn’t be trying to break into the right one and kill his friend.
Yet one thing he knew for certain. Those crazy, batty crows weren’t going anywhere. Not until they had Caleb’s heart in their bloody little beaks.
And they had no intention of allowing anyone else to leave the building, either. Something proven when one of the cops tried, and the birds descended on him like a bunch of winged piranhas.
People screamed as two cops shot at the birds in an attempt to drive them off their colleague.
While they were distracted, Nick opened the door to return to his individual condo unit and let Xev and Kody in before they got caught in the cross fire.
Kody stepped away from the door. “I don’t understand. If the Memitim want revenge on Caleb, why are they here? Shouldn’t they be at Caleb’s?”
Xev shrugged. “His most recent scent would have been at your school or on Nick. It must be what they locked on to and followed when they were freed. Since they’re carrion spirits, they can’t come into this building because it’s protected. And they can’t find him because Nick teleported him to his home, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Then Caleb should be safe. For now.”
“Again with the should,” Nick mumbled. “Really hate that word.”
Ignoring his comment, Kody crossed her arms over her chest. “Could they have made Caleb sick?”
“You’re focused on the wrong concern.” Xev stepped away from them.
“Meaning?”
Xev looked past her shoulder to the window, where more crows were gathering. “It’s not whether or not they carried the illness that should concern you. It’s who opened the hell-gate that unleashed them.”
CHAPTER 6
N
ick grimaced at Xev’s dire words. “Dude, if my gut draws any tighter, I’m going to pass a diamond soon. So what hell-gate doth thou mean now, my lord demon? Or is it demon lord?”
Xev ignored his sarcasm. “You should know, since you’re part of the u?umgallu that controls them. Or, more to the point, the head of the beast.”
“Yes, but see, in the midst of my learning all about econ, biology, locker combinations, and American history, they foolishly ignored and neglected this part of my most vital education, and so I’m seriously lacking. Please, do catch me up before any more loathsome creatures come perching on my sill, and singing me such lovely death serenades.”
Xev ignored his sarcasm. “You know the story of Pandora’s Box?”
“Yeah?”