With a fierce scowl, he went to investigate. As soon as he parted the curtains, he jumped back with a startled piercing shout that would have rivaled scream-queen Marilyn Burns confronting Leatherface. Not the manliest sound he’d ever made. Thank goodness none of the others could bear witness to it.
Outside the window, floating in midair, was the king of the plague doctors. Only this guy looked like he’d not only gotten the plague, he’d picked up scabies, rabies, and a few other flesh-rotting diseases along the way.
A bony finger emerged from bloody robes to point at Nick and motion him outside.
Nick shook his head. “Sorry. I’m grounded. My mom won’t let me come out and play until all my homework and chores are done. Should be at least a decade or so… maybe a couple of centuries.”
It held up a large hourglass that only had a few grains of sand. “When this empties, if you’re not out here, Malachai, everyone you love will die.”
Nick scoffed until he realized there was a zeitj?ger standing over everyone in the room, with a bloody sickle angled for their throats.
Everyone.
Including his unconscious mother.
How was that possible?
Stunned, he looked back at the king of all death and realized the sands in the glass were almost gone.
CHAPTER 11
T
here are some journeys we must take alone. Nick paused as he heard his mother’s voice in his head with something she often said to him.
Birth. Death. Flossing. Toenail clipping. Bathroom breaks.
Garbage duty…
And apparently, facing whatever the heck that thing was outside his condo that appeared to be in charge of the zeitj?gers.
All of those had to be done alone. Though to be honest, he had a childish urge to run through the birds, screaming like a hyperactive kid at the beach on a massive sugar high. A part of him wondered if they’d take flight and scatter like other fowl creatures.
Most likely not.
His luck? They’d gut him where he stood and peck out his eyes. They didn’t seem like the skittish type. More like the ones Zeus used to torture poor Prometheus for daring to give fire to mankind.
All right. Strap up, boy. Square those shoulders. Hold that head high. He was the Malachai. It was time to be the baddest beast in the land and show them who was boss.
But honestly? He wanted to tuck and run screaming in the opposite direction until there was nothing left of him except a vanishing vapor trail. The only thing that kept him from it was the number of people who were relying on him to be rock-steady. His mom. Kody. Caleb. Simi. Xev.
He refused to disappoint them.
They needed him to see this through. To be the man he pretended to be – the one he arrogantly professed to be whenever he was challenged. Not the boy he still felt like most days.
He wanted them to treat him like an adult. This was where adulthood began. And that was what being an adult meant. Handling crap you didn’t want to deal with. Standing strong when you wanted to cave. He’d seen his mom do it enough to know the truth. How many times had she put on a brave face while hiding tears and dressing for a job that demeaned her and sucked out a part of her soul?
And how many times had he overheard her quiet morning pep talks she gave herself as she readied herself to face the coming horrors of a day?
Yet to feed him and keep a lousy roach-infested roof over their heads, she’d done it, day after day, while never once complaining about it.
You did what you had to.
Now it was his turn to strap on his big boy pants and save her and the others. I can do this.
Nick inhaled a deep breath to steady his nerves and released it as he flashed himself outside to face the demon lord, and see what the beast wanted with him.
One who was a heck of a lot larger up close than he’d appeared through the window. What kind of steroids did he take? Dang!
Seriously subdued, Nick paused on the street with a grimace as he glanced around at the demons, who were also bigger up close and personal. Did they just multiply in number, too? He could have sworn there weren’t this many a second ago.
Maybe that was just his nerves learning “new” math. Yeah. Could be.
As soon as they saw him, they moved into attack formation. Okay, that was even scarier than he’d anticipated.
Hold it together, Gautier. You’ve got this.
I don’t got shite… are you blind?
Yeah, so much for his mom’s self-help pep talks. They didn’t work for squat. His gut was still tight enough to form a new diamond mine.
“Malachai!” His title went through their ranks like a hated whisper.
For one tiny, infinitesimal moment Nick thought when they did that, that would settle it. That they might run for cover like frightened rabbits.
Until he realized how right Xev had been. Their fear was more a rallying call than anything else. It made them even more unstable and hostile. More likely to attack him than to bolt.
Beautiful. Just beautiful. Scared, feral attack demons. Just what he’d asked for.