He cursed her under his breath. “How very typical of you all. You put them in the line of fire without warning or defense. Without full knowledge or understanding. How could you?”
Nick whistled, interrupting them. “Hello? Who here has the faintest clue what they’re talking about?”
Not even Simi held her hand up, which said it all. Simi usually knew everything.
But for once, she simply shrugged.
Nick turned his attention back to the only two who did.
Menyara and Xev.
“All right. In that case, could one of you catch the room up? Please? Especially since this seems to be my life and family you’re discussing? And I have a really bad feeling about this?”
“You should.” Xev crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to glare at Menyara. “Your conception and birth were no accident, Nick. Your entire existence was a trap set for your father.”
That had better be a joke. “Excuse me?”
Nodding slowly, Xev turned to face him. “It’s what makes you so powerful and dangerous, and sets you apart from all the Malachais who’ve come before you. You’re not just born of the Mavromino. Like the very first Malachai who started this, you, too, through your mother, carry the blood of a Sephiroth warrior.”
Those words hit Nick like a fist to his gut. “Excuse me?”
Kody sucked her breath in audibly as Simi gaped so wide, she exposed her fangs.
“It’s what gives us hope for him.” Menyara stood to face Nick. Wringing her hands, she swallowed hard. “But it wasn’t supposed to happen like it did. None of it.”
Fret knitted her brow as Menyara tried to explain it to them. “You have to understand, child. We never meant to hurt you or your mother. That wasn’t our intent. We only meant to curb Adarian’s powers. To leash his anger and fulfill a prophecy that was given to us long ago.”
Stunned breathless, Nick exchanged a frown with Simi as he took Kody’s hand. Just knowing she was there kept him anchored and grounded as he struggled to come to terms with what Menyara was trying to tell him. Part of him had always suspected this truth, but the other part was angry and hurt. “I’m so confused.”
“The Simi bewildered, too. I done gots lost around the block a whiles ago.”
Xev laughed bitterly as he spread his arms out and braced his hands on the couch to lean against it. His eyes turned a bright, flaming red as they blazed hot with his own anger and hatred. “It’s what they’ve done to us since the dawn of time, Nick. We who are born of darkness are creatures of great power. Tiamat. Braith. Caleb. Me. You. Your father. The list goes on infīnitās. It is hatred, pain, bitterness, and rage that feeds our strength. Adversity is the stone on which we hone our swords for battle. What breaks lesser beings and sends them sniveling to their graves fuels us to victory. The cruelty of others doesn’t faze us even a little. It’s all we know. It is why we are invincible. Why they,” he jerked his chin toward Menyara, “can’t stand toe-to-toe in battle with us. And they know it. So they break us with the one thing we have no defense against.” His gaze went to Kody and then to their locked hands.
Nick frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Xev swallowed hard before he spoke again. “Because of who we are and how we are born and raised, we tell ourselves that we need nothing. We want nothing. We are nothing. That we are despised creatures of darkness. And that’s okay by us. We don’t need or want the approval or acceptance of them.” His gaze fell to the floor at Kody’s feet. “But there is one thing that will always draw us out against our will, and make us weak.”
“The light,” Kody breathed.
He gave a subtle nod. “No one will ever take us in battle. We know how to fight against all odds. How to stand strong in any maelstrom. We know how to deal with insults. Cruelty. And viciousness. That is and will always be our mother’s milk.”
Xev gestured toward Nick’s unconscious mother. “Sadly, it’s unexpected kindness that disarms us. A simple smile that throws us completely off guard. Innocent love that renders us defenseless and sends us to our knees. That’s how they cripple and defeat us. Not with war. But with friendship.”
Kody shook her head. “Love is never a weakness.”
He laughed cruelly. “Your own mother would be the first to violently disagree with that statement, Nyria.” His gaze went to Nick. “It’s what killed your father, Malachai. It’s what enslaved me and Caleb to our enemies, and it’s what will kill us all in the end.”
Menyara snorted rudely. “How dare you speak to them of love when you know nothing of it.”
He twisted his lips into the cruel mockery of a smile. “Yes, I had all of you to thank for that, didn’t I, Cam? You were all so kind and understanding of me when I was a boy, needing comfort and finding only the coldness of your rebuffs at best… the backs of your hands at worst. Your harsh brutality tutored me well on the subject, until all I knew was the hatred that filled me full from tip to root.”