“Don’t worry. We won’t let them eat you. Alive anyway.”
Nick snorted at Kyrian’s dry tone. “Thanks, boss,” he said sarcastically. “Now I’m glad I didn’t save you any of Rosa’s cookies. You’re not worthy!”
Kyrian clapped him on the back. “That’s okay. You’ll have earned them before the night’s over.”
“How you figure?”
“It was payday today. Artemis dropped my money in the pool. You get to dive for it.”
Nick bristled indignantly. He hated that the ancient Greek goddess Artemis couldn’t get with the times and pay her Dark-Hunters in cash or electronically. No, she still thought it was the Dark Ages, and once a month plopped a buttload of gold bars and gems on them. Saddest part was that, for a goddess renowned for her unerring archery skills, she had no aim. She always dumped it somewhere extremely inconvenient—then again, she might be doing it on purpose. That made the most sense.
He glared at Kyrian. “Are you…” He paused as he realized what that look on Kyrian’s face meant. “No, not there again. Anywhere, but there.”
“Oh yeah … it landed at the bottom of my pool in the backyard. Have fun digging it all out. Make sure you don’t miss any diamonds this time.” And with that Kyrian walked off with an evil laugh echoing behind him.
“I hate you!” Nick called after his departing back. “And I quit!”
“You can’t quit. I own your sorry ass, and your mom won’t let you quit until you pay off the hospital debt you owe me.”
Nick mocked his words while Acheron laughed at him. He grimaced at the ancient being. “Don’t you need a cute, tacky-shirt-wearing, indentured servant?”
“Like a hole in my head.… No.”
“You both suck.”
“Yeah. It’s what the fangs are for.” Acheron ran his tongue down one of them to emphasize his point.
Sighing irritably, Nick shook his head. “Fine. Just don’t let me get eaten like those other Squires. Remember, you can’t kill me ’til I’m twenty-four. That’s our bargain.”
Acheron shoved at him. “You’re so weird.”
“And yet you like me. What’s that say about you?”
“That I don’t get out much.”
As Nick headed for the door, Ash stopped him. “You want me to lend a hand with the pool?”
“Nah, I got it. Go save the world. But if you want to zap me some swim trunks, I’m sure Kyrian’s neighbors would be eternally grateful. Otherwise I’m going commando.”
No sooner had he spoken than a pair appeared on his head.
Groaning in agony, Nick pulled them off. “I see now where Artemis gets her aim. You two train together much?”
Acheron muttered something in Atlantean as he walked away. That wasn’t unusual.
What made Nick pause was the fact that this time, he understood the words as well as if they’d been spoken in English or Cajun.
Kid, don’t even say Artie right now. Last thing I want to do is deal with her tonight. Don’t stir that redheaded dragon. She might hear you and come calling.
At least one of his Malachai powers was working the way it was supposed to. But that actually scared him. He wasn’t used to it. They normally backfired. Misfired. Went sideways or flat-out did nothing.
And as he looked back at the statue, for the first time he saw Kyrian’s sisters not in their pale marble forms, but as they’d looked in his lifetime. Phaedra, who was younger by only a single year. She’d sang with the voice of an angel. Althea, the baby of the family, who had been Kyrian’s favorite sister. The one he’d doted on incessantly and coddled to the point that his parents had complained that he’d spoiled her rotten. While his whole family had been devastated by his death, she had taken it the hardest of his sisters. So much so, that she’d shaved her blond hair that had been a match for Kyrian’s and had refused to speak.
And Diana. The sister he’d been the most like and as a result, they’d fought constantly. About everything under the heavens. Both stubborn and unyielding. Ironically, she’d ended up married to one of his best friends, who was very similar in temperament and form to Kyrian—as if she’d missed her brother so much that she’d gone looking for someone who reminded her of him.
Not only could Nick see them, he felt Kyrian’s love for them. Their love for Kyrian. It was so incredibly strong that it traversed the aether and spanned the centuries to form a protective cloak for his boss even two thousand years later.
No wonder Kyrian had taken so much care to protect and carry this one memento of them with him throughout time.