“Well, we have to wait for…” Verlyn’s voice trailed off as Zavid ripped the still-beating heart from the demon’s chest. “Never mind.”
Aeron passed an impressed look to his friends. “I like him already.”
Vawn snorted irritably. “You would, like.”
“Och now, with you. There was a time you would have, too.” Aeron cocked his head back. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Long story, that. Not in a mood for it. Buy me a firkin of ale and we’ll talk, now, in a minute.”
“All right, then. Plan to hold you to that, and a full firkin, it is. Two actually. One for each hand.”
Verlyn made a face at their rapid-fire conversation. “At what point do you people start speaking English?”
Vawn snorted. “Fancy that one, eh? What with the accent he has on him. Can’t understand a single word he says half the time.”
Aeron made a peculiar noise. “Just wait ’til you get around the Malachai’s friends, Bubba and Mark. There’s an accent for you, what’ll make both ears bleed. And your noggin ache.”
Suddenly, one of the demons turned toward them.
Too late, Aeron remembered he wasn’t supposed to be out and about. Sadly, that particular demon hadn’t forgotten it.
Before they could move, the demon cried out an alarm to his friends to attack them.
CHAPTER 15
Nick slowly entered Menyara’s small duplex, just in case there was a trap waiting. Which there was, but luckily it was her normal one that she had set to keep out the unfriendlies they normally had to fight.
The walls lit up at his presence, activating the protection spells. Since he was known and not here to do harm, they slowly faded back to blend in with the paint.
Turning on the lights, he allowed his friends to enter behind him.
“No one’s been here.”
Kody bit her lip. “Why would they attack the shop? It seems like she’d be stronger there than even here.”
Nick picked up an old photo of him with Menyara from his third birthday party where he was sitting on her lap, wrapped in her arms. She’d kept it on her shelves as far back as he could remember. He had one identical to it in his own bedroom. “Maybe because they could get in there. This is personal space. Evil can’t enter here unless invited. The store’s neutral ground where the protection sigils aren’t as strong. They could get in and up close before she’d be alerted to what they really were.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Kody wrapped her arms around herself as they looked about for clues.
That action concerned him. Kody only did that when she was emotionally hurt and needing comfort. Nick set the picture down and drew her into his arms. “You okay, cher?”
She let out a shaky sigh. “Tired of burying loved ones. It’s just stirring bad memories.”
Nick flinched as her words awoke flashes in his own mind. He saw his future home and his mother … He staggered back from the image of her death and shook his head to clear it of an event that he couldn’t bear to think about.
“Whoa, Nick! You okay?”
“Yeah, another vision. I’m starting to wish I’d never touched that Eye. Just reminds me why drugs are a bad idea. I can’t stand this. Who in their right mind would intentionally do this to themselves?”
She rubbed his back, then frowned. “You’re burning up again.” She placed her hand to his cheek. “You feel all right?”
“My hands are cold. Other than that, I’m fine.”
Kody took his hand into hers. “That’s not cold. It’s arctic.… Caleb, feel this.”
Frowning, he stepped over and did as she asked. His jaw dropped. “You’re like a corpse.”
Suddenly, he heard whispering in the aether around him. Subtle and light, it was barely audible. Only his Malachai powers could detect it.
The room and his friends faded. He was no longer in Menyara’s home …
He wasn’t sure where he was. It was somewhere he didn’t know. Some place he couldn’t identify.
Then, he saw Acheron …
No, not Ash. This man had short, curly blond hair and blue eyes, instead of Ash’s swirling silver ones. But other than that, he was identical. Same towering, six-foot-eight height. Same athletic warrior’s build. Dressed in black armor that was a cross between ancient Greek and futuristic Kevlar, he stormed inside a palace Nick had never seen before to face a gorgeous blond woman. Her pale blond hair glistened in the darkness. It was so dark here. As if no light could reach this place.
Her gown was made of an ebony material so lightweight that it floated over her body like a cloud. She was the epitome of a regal queen and yet power and fury emanated from her. When she turned to face him, she held the same swirling silver eyes of Acheron, and features that were the feminine version of both his and Styxx’s.
“What are you doing here?” Her gaze went from him to the army of Charonte he’d brought with him.
“Acheron sent me to evacuate you.”
She laughed. “Where? I can’t leave. He knows this.”