Xev snorted. “The poster child for I Need Serious Parenting Classes isn’t lying about that.”
“Yeah, Nick. And it’s not hard to know why.” Caleb jerked his chin toward his father. “You met his parents during our last fun-filled Disney adventure.”
Nick scowled. “I did?”
Kody leaned in to explain what they were hedging around. “Tiamet and Chronus.”
His jaw went slack at the reminder of two of the scariest things they’d been up against in a while. And with Tiamet as a mother, it explained a lot about Jaden.
About everything.
He didn’t know who to feel worse for—Jaden or his sons.
“Those were your parents?”
“She birthed all the original monsters,” Xev muttered as he cut a pointed and meaningful glare toward Jaden.
Jaden arched his brow at the less than subtle innuendo. “Pardon?”
“Oh…” Xev blinked innocently and spoke with utter sarcasm. “Did I say that out loud?”
Jaden narrowed an evil glare on him. “Yeah, you did, and need I remind you that she didn’t birth the Malachai?”
“Oh, pardon. There’s one she didn’t birth. How forgetful of me. Must be all the centuries I spent in hell being tortured. Tends to take a toll on one’s memory.” Xev rolled his eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Need I remind you of where I’ve been? Where your brothers are … because of you?” Jaden snarled.
“I had nothing to do with that!”
“Yeah, sure you didn’t!”
“I didn’t betray my own army!”
While they continued to argue and Caleb blatantly ignored them, Nick’s mind spun with what they’d just inadvertently disclosed.
“Hold on! Wait with the family squabbling for a sec.” He scratched at his head as he ran through what they’d said.
Yeah … that was what they’d said.
He met Jaden’s freaky gaze. “Your father is Chronus, right? That’s what you said. As in the god of time?”
“What of it?”
“Is there any way you can get me into the future to talk to Ambrose?”
Kody turned pale. “Nick, that’s a profoundly bad idea.”
Caleb sat up. “She’s right. No one should know too much about their future and you already know way too much about yours. It’s why it keeps getting screwed up.”
“True, but I need to ask him one more thing. Please?” Nick turned his puppy eyes to Kody. “You said you could help me barter with Jaden to get what I needed, right?”
“I didn’t mean this.”
Xev shook his head. “Listen to them, kid. Don’t do it.”
“Maybe. But all of you, except Jaden, know how stubborn I am. You really think you can stop me?”
Caleb lay back down with a groan. “You know you can’t stop King Stupid from blatant acts of supreme idiocy. Believe me, I’ve tried everything. He wears you down with it and always wins. I’ve learned just to go with it and save my strength for battling whatever nightmare is unleashed by his failure to listen to good advice.”
Nick cleared his throat. “You know, Caleb, I am standing right here.”
“Yeah, and I’m laying right here, bleeding from the last time you didn’t listen to me.”
While he might have a valid point, Nick refused to concede—which was exactly what Caleb was arguing. But he was too old to change his ways now.
Besides, this was the best shot they had.
“Look, Ambrose hasn’t failed us. He’s been honest from the beginning.” At least for the most part and they didn’t need to know about the few lies he’d told himself.
“You said yourself that he was slipping,” Kody reminded him.
“True, but we could go back before Ambrose goes nuts and kills everyone. Right?”
Jaden hesitated before he answered. “That’s one unstable theory.”
And still the only thing they had to go on. Nick glanced around at them and at the destruction that told them nothing about whatever power or entity they were up against. “Fine, I’ll go alone. Risk only me. The rest of you can stay here until I return.”
“No!” they all shouted at once.
Jaden cast his gaze around at them. “Take it you’ve all had a bad experience?”
“You don’t want to know,” Caleb said bitterly. “He’s the only one I know who could find trouble waiting for him at the bottom of a Rice Krispies box.”
Nick would be offended if it wasn’t true.
Xev stepped forward. “I’ll go with him. I’m the least likely to screw something up.”
The look on Kody’s face said she wanted to argue, but after a few minutes, she relented. With an irritated glare, she turned toward Nick. “Are you set on this?”
Nick nodded. “I have to see it through.”
She glanced at Jaden. “Can they get back here?”
“Returning’s not the issue. They just have to make sure not to bring anything back with them.”
Nick held his hands up. “Not a problem.”
“See that it isn’t.” With that warning spoken, Jaden let out a long, tired breath. “We’ll work on the dramonks outside. I trust you know how to return?” he asked Xev.