“Nick —”
“Kyrian.” He duplicated Kyrian’s agitated tone. “No offense, boss, there’s not a lot you can do this time of day.” As an immortal Dark-Hunter whose job was to protect mankind from the soulless Daimons who preyed on them at night, his boss had a nasty tendency to burst into flames should daylight touch any part of his body. “Not like you can come out and check on me. It’s fine, really. Bubba’s right here, by my side.”
“Still… I can call Acheron and have him —”
“Really, it’s okay. Why you calling, anyway? You should be asleep.” Since Daimons preyed on humans at night and Kyrian couldn’t be in daylight, he usually slept all day and didn’t wake up until about an hour after Nick showed up for work after school.
“The weather woke me this morning, and when I checked my phone for voicemail, I saw the notice about the Squire alert at St. Richard’s. I wanted to check in with you. Make sure I didn’t have to start looking for a new Squire. I hate that crap. Hard enough to deal with you. Last thing I want to do is start breaking in a new pain-in-my-keister. Gah, I’d have to change all the locks on the house again.”
Nick smiled in spite of the awful day and Kyrian’s feigned surly tone. He’d gone from having no one look after him to an extended family that still amazed him whenever he stopped to think about it.
“Bad news. Still alive, boss.”
Kyrian scoffed irritably at Nick’s light tone. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll get the Squires looking for your mother, immediately. And Acheron. As soon as the sun goes down, we’ll all be on it.”
“Thanks. We have absolutely no leads on where to begin hunting her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
“We’ll find her.”
Yeah, but in what condition? That was the nightmare that was currently haunting him while he was awake.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
As Nick hung up the phone, Kody approached to rub his back. Closing his eyes, he savored the warmth of her touch. His fear and anger churned inside him and he needed her to ground him right now. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she wasn’t here to keep him calm.
“Kyrian’s contacting Acheron.”
He felt her hand tremble at the mention of her uncle. Acheron had no idea who Kody was, which made sense given that she wouldn’t be born until centuries from now. They couldn’t let Acheron know, either, especially since his brother, Kody’s father, was currently being held by Artemis in a hellish prison. It would totally wreck Acheron’s world.
For that matter, Nick couldn’t imagine how hard it had to be for Kody to be here in this time with her loved ones who had no idea she was related to them, knowing that if they didn’t change things, she’d lose them all over again. That if they made one wrong move, she’d never be born at all.
It was enough to make him lose his mind whenever he stopped to think about it.
How could she stand to be near him, knowing he was the sole reason they would one day die? That he, alone, would one day single-handedly wreck her entire life and everything in it?
Kody’s capacity for love defied explanation. It made no sense to him. He doubted if he could be so forgiving in her place. She had every right to kill him.
But then, that was what made her so incredibly special. What made her hold a part of him that no one else ever would. Like his mother, she was a creature of pure light. One who never failed to warm him no matter how beat down or cold he felt. They could always make him feel better. Make him feel important.
Make him feel loved and cherished.
Heroic.
Cupping her chin in his hand, he leaned down to press his cheek against hers and inhaled the warm, vanilla scent of her skin.
“What am I going to do, Kody?”
“What you always do. Fight with everything you have, no matter what they throw at you. Over. Under. Around, or through. There’s always a way… Your enemies will not take mercy on you. The world will not take mercy on you. Therefore, I will not be doing you any favors if I take mercy on you.”
He laughed at something her brother used to say to her. It was something her brother had learned from their father. “Love you, Kode.”
“Love you, too.” Rubbing his arm, she stepped back. “You want me to contact Suriyel and see if they know anything?”
He shook his head. “Let’s keep the Arelim out of this for as long as we can. If they don’t know anything, I don’t think we should notify them. Might stir them up. Make them do something stupid. ’Cause while I like to think I own the majority share of that, it’s the part I don’t own that others do that keeps me up at night, terrified of what they’ll do with their portion of it.”
“Good point.”