As his generals, they were under his direct control and were supposed to stay near him at all times. Not just because he could come under fire from Grim and his forces at any heartbeat, but because they were not used to the modern world. All of them had been kept imprisoned in alternate dimensions for centuries and had no idea how to really function in current society.
Other than Caleb and Kody. Caleb because he’d been the right hand of Nick’s father and had been out in the world even longer than Adarian had, and way longer than Nick. And Kody because she’d never been sequestered from people. Not to mention that unlike the others, she actually liked humanity and didn’t want to see them die screaming in agony, inside a fiery pit of demon hellfire.
Nashira could function alone a tiny bit, due to the fact she’d been able to hear and see from the confines of her book enchantment.
But Xev, Dagon, and Aeron …
They did not need to interact with the general public without direct and intense supervision. At all times.
Ever. Heavy emphasis on the ever part.
Yeah, his ulcer was growing like a radiated lizard in a Godzilla movie. And if he didn’t hear from one of them soon, it was going to have a baby the size of the Empire State Building.
Will this day ever end?
Nick cringed as the thought went through his head and he quickly glanced up at the ceiling. Yo, up there? I said day end. D-A-Y. Day. Not world. Daaaay. Please, do not get those two words confused or mistake my request, ’cause I know how you get … when you want to prove a point to me. I don’t need that lesson today. Really. Thank you, PTB. Peace, out.
Now if he could just keep the bad-luck fairy parked for a bit, he might be all right.
Caleb came back into the room with a look on his face that added a good six feet to the ulcer.
Nick arched his brow.
No sign of him.
Nick made a sound of distress. Which caused the other students to turn and stare at him. He flashed a bashful grin. “Puberty. It’s so embarrassing.”
“Excuse me?” his teacher asked.
“Everyone was staring at me like I’d grown another head so I was trying to lighten the mood.”
“How about you lighten it on your own time, Mr. Gautier?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Nick dropped his gaze to his textbook and pretended to study so as not to get into any more trouble. Last thing he needed was another trip to the office. That would get him suspended. While he could pull the mind trick once, he couldn’t erase the records that said he’d been up there less than an hour ago. So unless he committed a crime, which he wasn’t willing to do, he had to calm his nervous body down.
Releasing a zen breath, he sent his thoughts to Caleb. Did you learn anything else?
When he didn’t get a response, he glanced over to his bodyguard. Caleb?
He acted as if he couldn’t hear him.
Okay … Had he pissed him off? Nick turned toward Kody. Are you two talking right now?
Like Caleb, she didn’t so much as blink in response to his question. Now that was really odd. Even when they were fighting, she at least gave him dirty looks.
Kody? I can see your bra strap.
She definitely didn’t hear him, because even if she’d been mad at him for something, she would have checked to make sure that it wasn’t showing, since it was a pet peeve of hers.
Instead, she carried on with their assignment, oblivious to his comment.
What the heck?
Worried, Nick held his hand out toward his pencil and attempted to command it with his telekinesis. Normally it would fly into his grasp without any effort.
Not this time.
No, no, no, no!
Fear wrapped around his heart at the thought of his powers being drained. But how? He was the Malachai. No one could do that to him.
No one other than his son, and he’d done nothing that could cause that. And he meant nothing.
Impure thoughts notwithstanding. After all, he was a healthy teenage boy and those couldn’t really be helped, especially not when he had a girlfriend who was exceptionally pretty and smelled really nice. But that being said, all they’d done was kiss. Nothing more.
Having been born to a teen mother, and having spent the whole of his life raising her, he wasn’t anxious to start parenting someone else anytime soon. He had enough paranormal brats he was responsible for already. Running after them, and cleaning up their messes, kept him plenty busy.
And then there was Kyrian who was in a special class by himself.
So, no … there was no one who could drain his powers.
Yet the hairs on the back of his neck rose as he had the sudden sensation of being watched. Glancing around the fluorescent-lit room, he caught the gaze of Stone Blakemore fastened on him like he was the barely-clad centerfold of the Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated.
Yeah, that was some major stink-eye. Not like he’d done anything to Stone, ever. He basically left the knuckle-dragging werewolf alone. But Stone had hated him since the moment he walked through the school doors. It was as if Stone had smelled the Malachai in his genes and reacted to it on some primal level.
“Nick?”
It took him a second to realize Kody was speaking to him. “Yeah?”
“Are you all right?”
He blinked slowly. Honestly? He was a little light-headed. “I think so, why?”