“Yeah.” Covering her mouth with her hand, she looked as sick as Nick suddenly felt. “What are we dealing with?”
“Same thing we’ve been dealing with. The end of the world. Only we no longer know how to stop it.” Nick walked around the shattered remains of Menyara’s store. “I mean, look at this place. If they could come in here and do this to Mennie … how are we going to stop them?”
Caleb glanced at Xev. “You’re up.”
“Not me … Kody.”
“I’m on it.” She went to Nick and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Breathe deep and focus. Shh…”
Nick was having a harder time than normal with his panic attack. He opened his mouth to tell Kody that she wasn’t there—that she hadn’t seen it, but luckily caught himself before he was that stupid and insensitive.
She’d not only seen it. She’d died there with her family.
And that made it worse for him.
His breathing turned more ragged.
“Beware the seeds that are planted, even in the most fallow of fields. For those we lay with callous hands, might very well prove to be those of our ultimate destruction.”
Nick blinked at Jaden’s words. “Pardon?”
“It’s something Bathymaas used to say.” Caleb’s voice was tight as he spoke. “Those words were often carved on her temple walls as a reminder to use restraint and good judgement in all things. For whatever you plant today, you will ultimately reap tomorrow. Whenever you bring evil into your life or do evil to others, the universe will spit it back at you with a vengeance.”
And if Nick wasn’t on edge enough, two seconds after Caleb finished speaking, something hit the front doors so hard, it caused them to rattle.
Worse, blood ran beneath the doors, pooling around his feet.…
CHAPTER 13
“Hellooooo? Akra-Menyara Cam lady, quality goddess, you in there? Why you gots all these nasty uglies circling outside your door anyways? Can the Simi eat some? ’Cause they just gonna drive away your good business people and they kind of scaring the tourists. If you ask me, it’s just a public service to let the Simi eat them. Hello? Akra-Mennie? You in there? Can you hear me?”
Laughing nervously, Nick almost fell over in relief at the sound of Simi’s singsongy accent as she pounded on the doors with enough force to rattle the hinges. It was a wonder she wasn’t shattering them.
Dang, that demon was strong to be so thin. She could double as a wrecking crew.
Kody went to the door to unlock it, while being careful not to step in the bloody demon mess that Simi had left behind on her arrival.
She carefully opened the door after first peeking outside to make sure all the other demons were gone.
Or eaten.
Though to be honest, Simi usually asked permission before she chowed down on things that could converse.
“That is you, right?” Kody asked.
“Well, there better not be nobody else pretending to be the Simi or else the Simi going to have to get some barbecue sauce and eat them heads ’cause I ain’t going to have no one else sleeping in my bed or hanging out with my akri in my stead, pretending to be me. The Simi don’t cotton to no imposters. Nor do she share, unless forced to against her will and loud complaints. You can ask my akri and he will tell you this is quite true. Don’t know what you heard, akra-Kody, but you were badly misinformed if you think otherwise.”
Yeah, that was definitely the adorable Goth demon Nick knew so well. All six feet, striped leggings, leather purple corset, and short, black frou-frou skirt of her. She had her black hair pulled up into two pigtails that fell in twisted cybergoth falls from just above her ears. Her coffin-shaped bag was slung over one shoulder and she wore a crystal vampire-bat choker.
Cocking her hip and head, Simi frowned, pouted, then frowned again at them. “Well, what all happened in here that has y’all looking so sad and irritable? Party? Bomb? Bomb party? Did someone get a little too excited and burp a chaos demon who ran amok and did all this?”
Then she saw some of the entrails on the floor and she bowed up at Caleb. “Oh no! No, you didn’t! You done had a buffet and you didn’t invite the Simi, for shame on you akri-Caleb! You a mean demon boy! You off the Simi Christmas list for that! No oven mitt for you! Bad, bad demon, bad!”
Caleb laughed. “There was no buffet, Simi, I promise. We got here after it. I mean, not after the buffet. After the fight that made this mess. You didn’t miss anything, other than a battle.”
“Oh, okay.” She grinned adorably. “I’ll put you back on my happy list of mitt deserving quality demons, then.” She waved at Jaden. “Hello akri-demon-dealer-god-man! Been long, long time since I saw you last.”
“Hi, Simi. You still hanging out with that loser with a surfboard?”
She gasped. “Akri-Savitar is the bestest. He makes the hottest diamond barbecue sauce this side of the Sunken City. You should try it sometime.”