Sighing, Nick nodded. “Thank you.”
So what got you all unlaced?
Nick felt his temper rise again. There’s a prick in my classroom making eyes at Kody. Go kill him.
Aeron burst out laughing.
Until he realized Nick was serious. What? You’re serious, like?
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Nae. You look like we need to loosen the knob on your lid before you blow your gasket and pop your fool head off. Aeron tsked, then moved as if to chuck Nick on his arm. But since he wasn’t in his physical body, his hand passed through Nick’s shoulder and left a peculiar tingle there. Sorry, boyo. But you know I can’t kill a man for simply eyeing your girl.
“Then pluck his eyes out. Bring me his male parts. At the very least snap off a finger!”
Aeron’s eyes widened as Nick’s voice deepened to the demonic level. Having some trouble there, son?
“Little bit!”
“Little bit of what, Gautier?”
Nick froze at the sound of Mr. Head’s voice. Great. That was all he needed. The principal thinking he warranted a visit to the psych ward. “Sorry, Mr. Head. I was thinking about my next class. I needed a little bit more time to finish the reading for it.”
“Well, come on in and let’s discuss this latest event that has you darkening my doorway. I can’t wait to hear your version of the matter.”
Nick met Aeron’s gaze, then sent his thoughts to him. If you won’t kill him for me, at least go keep an eye on the troll. And if he lays one hand on her, make it a bloody stump.
Aeron shook his head. Hold that temper, Malachai. It’s going to get you into all kinds of trouble.
Yeah, it already had. Sighing, he headed into the office.
Aeron tried not to be amused as he watched Nick vanish. It wasn’t funny, yet he couldn’t help being entertained. He’d never seen the boy get jealous before. At least not like this.
And that made him curious about the Nathan boy who’d evoked such a powerful emotion. Poor child had no idea what he was courting.
With that thought, he turned back into his púca form and headed for Caleb’s old raunchy smell. Bad thing about a Daeve—couldn’t miss their unique stench. Though the last time he’d pointed that out to the ancient demon and handed him a bar of soap, Caleb had gotten a mite testy about it.
But as Aeron neared the door of the classroom, he felt a peculiar presence. One that made his blood run cold.
Before he could act, he was sucked into a vortex.
CHAPTER 3
“So … do I have to go punch Stone in the face, or just burp in Richardson’s class?”
Nick scowled at Caleb’s bizarre question as he took his backpack from him in the hallway outside their next class. “Do what?”
“I’m trying to gauge how much detention I need to earn to match yours. Therefore I’m asking the severity of my grievance and who to assault for it.”
Nick snorted. “I don’t know. Depends on Richardson’s mood. With that evil witch, you could get more detention for the burp than you would if you coldcocked Stone and made him sterile. Which might not be a bad thing. Future generations would thank you for it.”
“Very true.” Caleb brushed his dark hair back. “So…?”
“You’ll be proud. I’ve finally mastered my ability to manipulate the weak-minded without turning anyone into a goat or exploding the space-time continuum.… I got none.”
Instead of being happy that Nick’s power had worked for once and nothing had exploded, melted, or summoned a terrifying higher deity or hell-beast from another dimension, Caleb grimaced. “While I am more than thrilled at the prospect of not having to suffer through another round of teenage after-school angst and drama with you, I feel the need to caution you about using those powers for something so trivial. Remember, magick comes with a cost. Even for a Malachai. Ain’t no such thing as a free ride in life, my friend. Sooner or later, we all pay the piper. And when that cretin comes home to roost, he always craps right on your head and ugly, oversized shirt.”
“Duly noted.” Nick sidled up to Kody. “You mad at me, cher?”
She paused to rake a suspicious grimace over him. “Uh … should I be? What mischief have you wrought now that I don’t know about?”
“For sending Aeron to spy on you.”
That took every bit of friendliness out of her stare. In fact, he could flash-freeze fire with that stare, and a certain part of his anatomy crawled back into his body as she scorched him with it. “When was this?”
“While I was mind-melding with Head.”
She glowered even more. “Aeron didn’t come into the room.”
“Yeah, he did. I sent him straightaway.”
“No, he didn’t,” they said in unison.