“What was that?”
“When Menyara wrote the protections for her store, she trapped a number of entities in the fields around it. That was one of the things she pissed off.” Kody sighed. “What is going on here?”
“There’s another Malachai,” Caleb growled.
“Ambrose?” Kody arched a brow at Nick.
“That would make sense, but the last time I saw him, he told me to get the Eye, and reset everything. He said he was out of juice. That he couldn’t time travel anymore. He was on the verge of slipping over and destroying everything. I don’t think it’s him. It doesn’t feel the same. This is a very different kind of power.”
Caleb groaned. “I agree. Totally different essence and feel. More powerful.”
“More powerful?” Kody gaped. “That’s not possible. There’s never been a more powerful Malachai than Ambrose.”
And speaking of …
Nick’s pocket began to burn him. Hissing, he realized it was coming from the amulet. “Why’s the Eye hurting me?” When he started to reach for it, Kody grabbed his hand.
“Your powers keep waning. We don’t know what’s going on. If you touch that right now…”
It could kill him.
“She’s right. You need to get that off you without touching it.”
“How?”
“Drop your pants!” all three of them growled at once.
“Flipping great!” he yelled back. “Woman finally gets me out of my pants and it’s humiliating. Only my luck!”
Unbuttoning his fly, he quickly toed his shoes off and pulled his jeans down before kicking them off. Thank goodness he’d worn boxers this morning.
Worse? His mom was right. It paid to always have on clean underwear.
You just never knew.
Lesson forever imprinted on his psyche for all eternity. Especially when Kody glanced down, looked up, and started snickering.
“Kody!” he snapped. “Do you mind?”
“Sorry. It’s just adorably cute.”
“Cute? Really? That is not something a guy wants to hear the first time his girl sees him without his pants on. Dang, woman. Could you make this any worse on me? You know I have no ego as it is.”
“Sorry. So sorry.” And still she laughed. Pressing her lips together in an adorable expression, she batted her eyelashes at him. “It’s just … how Cajun are you that even your underwear is the New Orleans Saints? Seriously? I guess I should be grateful it’s not purple and yellow with masks and beads.”
Caleb snorted. “You should just be grateful it’s clean and that he’s actually wearing some that doesn’t have holes in it.”
Nick glared at him. “Shut up and die already! I thought you were on your last breath an hour ago! Shouldn’t you have bled out by now?”
Just as Caleb opened his mouth to retort, another bright flash almost blinded Nick. He expected it to be a new hell-monkey.
It wasn’t.
No, this varmint was far worse. Far more sinister.
Tall, dark, and terrifying, it was something that hell itself had spawned and spat out. Forget the Malachai. This made Nick’s father look like Mickey Mouse up against Godzilla.
They had bantered about the term primal power, but until now Nick hadn’t understood what that meant.
Yeah … if this was the good guy, he dang sure didn’t want to meet the bad ones.
Ever.
His head was bent low like a vicious predator that smelled fresh meat as he met Nick’s gaze. He had one eye that was a vibrant green and the other a dark, earthy brown. That stark contrast was as unnerving as it was startling. Shockingly enough, his features were almost identical to Caleb’s whenever Caleb was in human form. Same sculpted jaw. Same aquiline nose and arched brows, tawny skin, and jet-black hair. They were even the same height and build.
Only difference was the height and length of hair. Whereas Caleb’s hair was short, his father’s brushed his shoulders. There was also something even deadlier about his father’s demeanor. Colder.
Far more sinister.
Nick wouldn’t have thought that possible.
And when he turned to face Xev, his eyes blazed a vibrant red. The green amulet around his neck glowed with an ethereal fire a moment before he blasted Xev so hard, it lifted him from his feet and sent him slamming into the wall behind him.
“I warned you!” He snarled at Xev as he closed the distance between them. “This time, I will rip out your worthless heart and feed it to you!”
CHAPTER 8
Nick tried to reach Xev to help him, but some unseen force held him in place. He couldn’t move or speak.
Kody?
She could only move her eyes. I’m frozen, too. Jaden’s got me locked.