Yeah, it really messed with his head whenever he stopped to think about it. While they physically appeared to be only a couple of years apart in age, their births were separated by thousands of years. He’d had no idea they were related when he’d saved Xev and allowed him to move in here.
Neither of them had known.
It was something they were slowly coming to terms with, especially since Xev had been forced to give up his son and had never thought to see him again. The last thing Xev had ever expected to find when Nick had rescued him was that he had a living granddaughter, never mind the addition of her smart-mouthed son.
Life as a Malachai was ever a strange, strange thing. But Nick was slowly acclimating to it.
Leaving Xev behind, he exited his condo and dug his car keys out of his pocket. His mom was still at work and would be there for another hour. Until Xev had moved in with them, Nick would have been worried about her walking home from the bar and grill where she worked by herself. But Xev would head over and see her home for him.
And he’d die before he allowed any harm to come to her.
That was the only thing that allowed Nick to function these days, especially given the number of creatures out to claim a piece of his hide. And who were willing to use his mom as a bargaining chip to get to him.
Thanks, Dad, for that birthright.
’Course, he couldn’t blame it all on his father. A large chunk of it had to do with his own surly attitude of pissing off everyone around him and in particular the Grim Reaper, War, and the essence of all evil himself. Nick had done all that on his own.
No help whatsoever.
In retrospect, he should have thought it through a little better before he lipped off at them. But at the time, he’d been a little put out. It’d seemed like a good idea.
Now …
Well, he wasn’t gutted yet. They hadn’t captured or killed his mother or Kody. So, he was almost winning.
Some days.
Yeah, that was the lie he was going to go with for now. It allowed him to sleep a few hours at night so long as nothing scratched at the windows or walls.
Pushing it out of his mind, he headed for Kyrian’s and tried to focus on the next forthcoming near-death experience—facing his immortal boss with bad news.
*
“Nick?”
Nick blinked at the deep, thick, indefinable accent that belonged exclusively to Acheron Parthenopaeus. An accent that came and went on Ash’s whims, much like his bizarre hair color that often rivaled Xev’s for garish hideousness. But in Ash’s case, it was a personal choice. As were the facial piercings and extreme Goth wardrobe. Something Acheron did in order to be off-putting and intimidating.
Not that he really needed it given his mammoth six foot eight inches of height. And that was without the additional three inches he gained by wearing his red Doc Martens combat boots. Or the terrifying aura that said he’d rather rip your spine out than converse with you.
A normal person with any kind of survival instinct would run for cover.
Luckily, normality had waved good-bye to Nick a long time ago and taken his sanity with it.
Turning to look at Ash, he raked a teasing grin over the ancient immortal’s intimidating lope and let it linger on his waist-length hair. “Nice shade of green you got going on there, buddy. Should I call Commissioner Gordon and let him know the Joker’s back in town?”
Ash didn’t comment on his snide tone as he used his inhuman powers to close the door behind him, as he drew closer to Nick’s location. ’Cause that wasn’t unnerving at all.
Good thing Nick was used to Ash’s idiosyncrasies, otherwise Kyrian would be looking for new help. After having to clean up a massive urine stain from his expensive carpets.
Ash paused beside Nick to frown down at him. “So, if I’m the Joker, that would make you—”
“The Boy Wonder.”
“Ah, so what are you doing in here … Dick?”
“Ouch! Somebody call me a burn unit!” Shaking his hand, Nick laughed and tried to deflect Ash’s attention from the fact that he’d been caught in Kyrian’s solarium where his boss kept the ancient Greek statue of his three sisters. It was one of the few things Kyrian had in the house from his days as a Greek prince. While he was proud of his heritage, Kyrian didn’t keep a lot of his past around. It was as if it was too painful for him to bear.
His sisters, however, were another matter. At least once a night, he’d come in here and “visit” with them. Sometimes he’d even leave flowers at the base of their feet.
Nick screwed his face up, unwilling to admit that he’d come in here trying to use the Eye to see if he could detect scenes from Kyrian’s past. “Nothing.”
Ash arched a brow that said he knew Nick was lying, but didn’t feel like calling him out on it. “Where’s Rosa?”
“She wasn’t feeling well. I beat her down and made her go home early.”
“What act of Congress did that take?”
Ash wasn’t joking about that. Kyrian’s ornery housekeeper never neglected her duty or Kyrian, whom she saw as another child and treated with utmost care and regard. There was only one other male who had any kind of power over her …