Sighing, Nick patted him on the back. “You good? ’Cause, no offense, you’re freaking me out, Gramps.”
Laughing, Xev kissed him on the head before he let go.
Nick ran his hand through his hair to settle it back into place. “We really need to get you your own pet or teddy bear or something.”
“No, we just need to make sure you don’t get hurt.”
Nick nodded, then turned around to face Jaden. “So what exactly’s involved in doing this? We sacrifice a Lego? Bathe under the light of a full moon? Eat nachos? Yank on Acheron’s coat and run before he catches us?”
Jaden wore that same pained expression his teachers often had whenever they saw him in their room on the first day of class and realized he was there to stay and not dropping off books for a friend, especially his English teacher.
Like they were nursing an ulcer.
He glanced at Kody. “Is he always like this?”
“Yes.”
“Poor you.”
Kody screwed her face up. “You know … a lot of people say that to me.”
“Yeah, it’s beginning to give me a complex.”
Laughing, she kissed Nick’s cheek. “Don’t listen to them. I think you’re wonderful. Just the way you are.”
“I really appreciate that, Kode. And I love and adore you. But the mere fact that you go out with me and continue to do so brings your entire ability to reason and judge into question.”
Laughing, she wrapped her arm around his waist and buried her face against his shoulder blade. Nick sucked his breath in sharply, savoring the warmth of her body pressed against his back. She had no idea what that embrace did to him. What it meant to his sanity.
Then again, she was his anchor. Maybe she did know and that was why whenever he needed her most, she was here to keep him grounded. For all the preternatural abilities and magic he normally wielded, they paled in comparison to the sorcery of her touch. She alone could tame the Malachai inside him and bend it to her will.
He was completely helpless where she was concerned. And he couldn’t imagine a world where that would ever change.
Sobering, she peeked up at Jaden. “Don’t let him get harmed. Nick better come back whole and healthy or else you’re going to meet the Bathymaas side of me.”
Jaden’s eyes widened. “You’re threatening me?”
“I’m promising you.” She gave Nick a fierce hug before she rose up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Please stay out of trouble.”
“Cher, you know how hard I try. But when the devil be wanting a fais do-do, what’s a po’ boy to do?”
“Stay out of trouble,” she repeated. “I mean it.”
“I will do my best.”
Her eyes sad, she nodded and let go of him. Then she went to Xev to give him a hug. “Be careful, especially since you’re hauling the trouble magnet.”
Nick clapped his hands together. “All right. What—”
A bright light cut his words off.
One second they were in the remains of Menyara’s store and in the next, he was standing outside of St. Louis Cathedral.
At least that was what it looked like it used to be.
His heart pounding in terror, Nick turned around slowly to see that he was definitely in what remained of Jackson Square. But it was currently on fire. The Pontalba Buildings and Cabildo … even the Café Du Monde were all ablaze. This was a hellacious inferno. Bodies were strewn like contorted dolls in the street. Cars were twisted, burned-out chassis, interspersed with military equipment that included the remains of tanks and even downed helicopters.
Bile rose in his throat to choke him. He felt the color drain from his face as he realized that Jaden had dropped him straight into ground zero of his worst nightmare.
This wasn’t before Ambrose had lost his mind.
This was at the height of him and his army destroying the world.
Xev appeared as stunned as Nick was while they both turned in slow circles to stare agape at the unholy destruction around them. “How is this possible?”
Nick swallowed hard at the devastation. “This is what I’ve been seeing in my visions. It’s what Ambrose has been warning me about.”
Suddenly, a loud pterodactylesque scream sounded. They turned in synch to find a huge red-fleshed demon bearing down on them from the sky. Closing the distance between them, Xev grabbed Nick to shield him with his body.
Just as the beast would have reached Nick with its claws, it burst apart with an ear-splintering cry. Blood and entrails rained down everywhere, along with hot fire that luckily Xev used his powers to deflect.
Straightening, Xev loosened his hold. Disgusted by the mess, Nick lifted his head as the smoke around them swirled and dissipated a bit.
Out of the darkness stepped the last person he’d expected to see.
It was his lunatic demon friend, Simi. Only she appeared older than the teenaged shopping, diamond-eating Goth he knew and adored. Dressed in gleaming armor and with her black hair braided, she was the best sight he could imagine in this madness.