“Okay.… Where did they come from?”
“They were a necessary evil after the Bellum Magnus. Your great ancestor had unleashed so many demons during the first war and corrupted them that we couldn’t corral them all back into their respective holes. Much like Artemis and her Dark-Hunters, the Kalosum designated warriors who would be charged with hunting them down and either returning them to their prisons, or killing them. The first group was hand-selected from volunteers. They’d been among some of the best warriors and heroes of the Bellum. And because they knew the inherent dangers of the creatures they were pursuing, they understood that their lives would be short. You don’t hunt that level of bad-ass for long, without losing a fight and your life. The Kalosum knew there wouldn’t be any way to maintain a constant supply of warriors with their same skill set and strength. No way to adequately train replacements in time.”
“So like a Malachai,” Dr. Burdette said, picking up the explanation, “they agreed to have their ouisa and souls bound to Seraph medallions and swords. Upon their death, those medallions call to another family member the medallion deems worthy to pick up their swords and fight. Their lure is undeniable and once you take the medallion in your hand, you’re screwed.”
Caleb gave a bitter laugh. “You don’t get to back out of it. The only way is if Gabriel refuses to let you fight. He, alone, has the ability to call the Seraph out of you and return it to the medallion before your death.”
Oh, goodie. That didn’t sound like fun. “So after they possess you, what happens to the person you were?”
“It’s not possession,” Caleb said quickly. “Again, it’s like you with the Malachai. They gain the memories of their predecessors so that they can call on their knowledge and strength to fight the demons they have to go after … you know, Nick. It’s a cheat code to take the big monster at the end of the game without having to bank experience points.”
“The more demons we defeat, the stronger we become.”
“Yeah,” Caleb said with an odd half laugh. “And if one of them can put down a Malachai, he’d be the hum-daddy of them all. Which is why, kid, we need to keep you far away from them.”
“Duly noted. Avoid Hell-Hunters, pointy objects, and any hell realm, hell mouth, and babes wielding swords … except for the one I’m currently dating.”
“You’re really dating an Arel?” Dr. Burdette asked again.
“Yeah.”
“The world makes no sense.” He glanced at Caleb. “It’s the End Times, isn’t it?”
“That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
Now that Nick was sure his death wasn’t imminent, he sat down on the couch. “You’re not going to try and exorcize me or anything while I rest, are you?”
“You sling holy water on him, you’ll be extremely disappointed. I’m rather sure his mother fed it to him in his baby bottle.”
“No, she didn’t, Malphas. That was frankincense oil. Learn the difference.”
“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t mean to confuse them.” Caleb rolled his eyes.
Dr. Burdette gave them a look that said he was having a hard time imagining them in their true, respective roles. “How is it a Malachai knows so little about demons?”
“He screams like a girl if he has to watch a horror movie.”
“Hey!”
“Well, you do. I tried to watch Child’s Play and you ran off to hide during the opening credits. And then he had to go sleep with his mom in her bed for three days because he was so scared.”
“Dude! You promised me you weren’t going to tell anyone about that.”
Dr. Burdette gaped. “You’re not kidding?”
“Of course not. I have to change his jeans whenever he wets them.”
“Cay! That’s it! You’re banned from watch duty. Don’t I have someone else who can guard me? Where’s Xev? At least he doesn’t speak to anyone. Never mind tell them horrifying truths about me. Except for the pants wetting … for the record, I quit doing that.”
“Yeah, last year.”
“Caleb!”
Dr. Burdette laughed. “You two are not the norm I’m used to running across in this job.”
Caleb snorted disdainfully. “That’s because you hang out with loser classes of demons. You should party with me and my friends sometime. Leave the weaponry at home, though. You pull something on one of us, and we will return it to your possession through your least comfortable orifice.”
Nick cocked his head as a weird vision went through his mind. Funny, he never really thought about what Caleb did when they weren’t together. Who he hung out with. Since Caleb didn’t talk about it, he’d assumed that he went into demon limbo or something.