Intensity Read online

  Like Xev's wings being cut from his back ...

  Nick choked in sympathetic pain for them both. Even though they were technically enemies, they were also family.

  We are destruction. That is our birthright.

  Nick drew up short at the feminine voice in his ear. "Who are you?"

  Out of the aether of the grimoire, appeared a haunting face. Paler than frost, with eyes of mercury, she reminded him of Acheron and Styxx. Ethereally beautiful, she was fragile in her grace and yet there was a power to her that charged the air around him. It ran through his body, causing every molecule of his being to stand up and take note of it.

  Without being told, he knew this was Braith. Renamed Apollymi by Kissare, who refused to call her something that symbolized the shrieking, cold wind that had birthed her when Chaos and Order had first spun together to create her. The Sephiroth had come up with a name that meant the warmth and beauty she signified for him. He would never see her as anything else.

  Not even when they'd tortured him for his love of her.

  "So you're Acheron's mother." The words were out before Nick could stop them.

  Her swirling silver eyes turned red as her white blond hair flared out as if she'd attack.

  Nick braced himself.

  But something calmed her down. "You're the friend of my Apostolos ..."

  That was the name she'd given Acheron on his birth. "I am."

  Her gaze softened. "And you're of my bloodline. Distantly. He must have sensed that in you." She walked a small circle around Nick. "It's probably why he trusted you when it's not in his nature to do so."

  That was Nick's take on it, anyway.

  Yet as she continued to walk her circle around him, a peculiar sensation went through Nick. One that was unmistakable and draining.

  "You're not Apollymi!" He backed away from the fake goddess. "Who are you?"

  Laughter echoed around him. It sent chills over his body. Hallucinating was one thing, but why this?

  Why her?

  "You know why."

  He turned to find the other Malachai behind him.

  "I'm not going to let you destroy everything! You know that. It's not in me."

  Cyprian laughed. "You can't stop it. It's already happened. There's nothing you can do. I've already gotten away with it."

  "Then why are you here?" Nick smirked, wishing he felt as cocky as he pretended to be. "You think I don't know the fear I see in your eyes? Yeah, I see your fear ... boy. I can smell it!"

  Not exactly true. But bluster seemed like a good move right now.

  Yeah, that was usually a safe go-to when dealing with anyone other than teachers, his mother, Caleb, Kody or Bubba. They would normally kick his butt for copping this attitude.

  Others, however, were normally confused by it.

  Or, in the case of Cyprian, taken down a peg. Because they weren't sure if Nick was bluffing or not. This was the only "lie" he was capable of pulling off with a straight face. Anything else and he was screwed.

  For some reason, this one he could do.

  Strutting, he moved closer in to eyeball Cyprian. "What's the matter, demon-boy? Can't find your tongue or your backbone?"

  That went a little too far as it caused the fire to return to his eyes.

  He reached for Nick and grabbed him by his ugly Hawaiian shirt. "I fear nothing!"

  Yeah, they were related. Definitely. Nick needed to remember that, as being called out for cowardice was his bitch-switch too and it never failed to make him extremely suicidal.

  Apparently, that little acorn had fallen straight from the limb, hit the ground and dug its nubby little thorn in deep to the soil so as not to budge from its parent tree at all.

  Consider him woked and learned on that one.

  However, it also gave Nick a little more insight than ole Cyprian meant for him to have. "You fear the future as much as I do. Why else would you be here? Huh? What happens that it drives you back to babysit dear old dad? Who broke what?" He arched a goading brow at the demon. "C'mon, be honest. Bubba or Mark? You weren't dumb enough to leave them unsupervised with something important, were you?"

  "They're both dead, you fool!"

  Nick took that news like a sucker-punch. He literally felt it knock all the wind from his chest. "What?"

  "It's true. They both go down, protecting you. Did you miss that memo, old man?"

  Yeah, he had. But as soon as Cyprian spoke, he saw their deaths so clearly.

  Worse, he saw his mother's grief. Heard her screams as she learned about Bubba, and took the news the same way she'd taken it when her sister had died.

  Hard and personal. It all but destroyed her. And that was the one thing Nick could never stand.

  Seeing his mom in any kind of pain.

  Roaring, Nick grabbed Cyprian and shoved him back. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

  "You had everything I wanted!" he growled. "They all loved you and I had nothing! Nothing! They couldn't even look at me without disgust and hatred!"

  Nick was as shocked by those unexpected words as Cyprian appeared to be. Stunned, he stared into the demon's face that bore no semblance to his. 'Course a lot of that had to do with the fact that he didn't appear human at the moment, either.

  Even so, his red eyes were filled with anguish. "I hate you for you're all that I never was, and will never be!"

  Nick winced at the sincerity of those words, wishing he could fix this. While he now knew how Cyprian came into being, there was still one important piece he didn't have.

  One piece he needed to fix this.

  "Who's your mother?"

  Cyprian laughed in his face. "You'll find out."

  "Then it's not Kody?" It was a stupid question, given what he'd seen about the future. He knew it couldn't be her. But he had to have some confirmation to go on right now.

  And anything, even something ridiculous, was better than nothing.

  Hissing, Cyprian went for Nick's throat.

  Nick barely got out of the way. "Yo, psycho-nut! Stop and talk! Why you got to be so violent?"

  Aside from the obvious reason that he was a Malachai and it was their nature ...

  When Cyprian went to punch him, Nick ducked and caught him with a blow that caused him to stagger back. He then kicked him, twisted, and went to grab him.

  In an impressive move, Cyprian swept to the side and came up behind Nick to wrap his arms around his chest. He held him incapacitated. "Have you any idea how hard it is for me not to rip open your throat and bleed you out at my feet?"

  "Dude! You need some serious counseling and professional help. And anger-management. At least let me lick your seatbelts and date your sister before you harbor this much animosity for me. Sheez! What'd I do, use all your data plan? Spike your kid's bottle with some Red Bull and give him ring pops for your favorite white sofa? Back over your petunias and not leave a note?"

  Cyprian moved to make good on his threat to kill Nick.

  The instant he did, Grim appeared and grabbed his hand to stop it from happening. His face was twisted into a grimace of fury as he backhanded Cyprian with enough force to knock him several feet away.

  Stunned into a practical coma, Nick didn't move. He wasn't sure what part he reacted to most. That Grim was here. That he dared to attack another Malachai.

  Or that he was defending him. 'Cause the last time they'd been together, Grim had threatened to see Nick in his grave and to dance and whizz on it.

  All while laughing and stabbing at him.

  Yeah, this made the least amount of sense out of all this insane madness.

  Grim glared at Cyprian. "Kill him now, fool, and you'll end your own existence!"

  Cyprian wiped at the blood on his lips. His breathing ragged, he glared at them both with an insanity that said he really didn't care.

  It was almost enough to put some fear in Nick's spine. But his Cajun grit caught it before it could take root and sent it back down to the bowels of his mind so that it couldn't interfere with his better sense. As if anything could ever give him some common sense.

  And true to form, Nick jutted his chin to goad Cyprian and Grim both. "C'mon, boy. Come get some." He let his wings out and his own Malachai form take over. Though to be honest, he had a bad feeling he was looking a bit wilted, and not up to his usual fearsome self.

  Grim scoffed at his bravado.

  Not exactly the reaction Nick was going for. It actually kind of stung his ego and hurt his feelings. And it made him eternally glad that Kody wasn't here to see it. Doubly glad that neither Caleb nor Aeron witnessed the humiliation. Hard enough to look tough without his boys witnessing him getting dissed by the designer douche in bad clothes and knock-off Halloween gear.

  But he couldn't help that.

  And none of it was enough to make him back down.

  Throwing his hand out, Grim used his powers to pin Nick to the wall behind him. "You need to return to being the useless snot-nose, smart-mouth guttersnipe who was hustling tourists and hanging out with your loser friends after school. Now be a good boy and drink your water!"

  Shaking his head at Grim, Nick tried his best to push against him with his own powers. He cursed silently as they continued to fail him. "Ah, Grimmy, baby, why would I start pleasing you now, when we both know nothing makes me happier than to give you IBS?"

  "Let's just cage him." Cyprian flapped his own wings.

  "He has things he has to do for the future to play out the way we need it to."

  "Then let me take his place. I know what needs to be done to set the future straight."

  Nick went cold.

  Grim started to curl his lip then paused. He slowly arched a brow as if he were actually considering it.

  Nick began to panic at the thought. Surely they couldn't do that and get away with it. No one would fall for such a trick. Anyone could see through a fake copy. No one could be so stupid! "Ah bullcrap! That loser can't pull it off. Ain't nobody me, but me. My mama would know in an instant if he walked near her!"

  And still Grim stroked his chin. "You know ... you might be on to the solution, finally. You pulled it off once. Why not? Not even Acheron could tell you apart. Or Neria."

  Cyprian sneered at Nick. "Who says we need him here at all in the book? Lock him up. Feed him to the demons and weaken Noir even more."

  "A twofer. I like that even more." Grim nodded. "All right. Let's do it."

  Nick opened his mouth to protest.

  But it was too late. They already had him caged.

  CHAPTER 10

  "Hi, Miss Kody. It's so good to see you! You're always so pretty and posh. Like a little angel from heaven. So how are you tonight?"

  Kody smiled at the beautiful waitress as she came over to her table and set a glass of water down in front of her. "Fine, Mrs. Gautier. I'm supposed to meet Nick and do some homework. Is he in back, playing pool with Wren again? Or did Remi chase him upstairs to hide out with Alex?"

  Barely past thirty, Nick's mom was a tiny woman. Dressed in the black Sanctuary staff t-shirt and jeans, she had her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. Frowning, she glanced around the sparse Tuesday evening crowd. "Actually, he's not here, sug." She pulled her phone from her apron pocket to check for messages. "He hasn't called either, which isn't like him. What time did he say he'd be here?"

  "Seven."

  Cherise screwed her face up. "It's not like him to be late. Never mind a whole fifteen minutes. Especially not with you. Weird. And I know he's not over at Michael's tonight. Him and Mark are gearing up for another go at their zombie survival apocalypse stew, and Nick's terrified they'll make him taste it for them. He should have gotten off work two hours ago--Kyrian normally calls me if Nick's ever held up for any reason. So I know he didn't run my boy late." She dialed the phone and held it up to her ear.

  Kody didn't say anything as she checked her own phone. There were no missed calls or messages from him.

  Yeah, definitely not like her Cajun OCD Malachai who was maniacal about checking in with them.

  "Hey, Boo. Where are you?" Cherise listened for a few minutes. "Yeah, well, Kody's here at Sanctuary. Said you're supposed to be meeting her?" She listened again before she finally sighed. "Okay. I'll tell her, but you need to make sure you stay on top of your promises. I raised you better than that, Nick. You don't keep a lady waiting. That's all kinds of wrong and you know it. You tell someone you're going to meet them, you're there on time. You hear me ... ? All right. Love you, Boo. See you later."

  Hanging up, she slid the phone in her pocket and offered Kody a sympathetic scowl. "I'm so sorry, Kody. Nick's off with Madaug. Said he forgot all about it. I don't know what's gotten into that boy lately."

  Kody screwed her face up as she considered it herself. "He has been a little distracted the last couple of days."

  Cherise's frown deepened. "Are you two crossed up?"

  "No, ma'am." They hadn't even so much as passed an irritable snark at each other.

  "Is he having trouble at school?"

  No more than his normal run-ins with Stone and Mason. But everyone had trouble getting along with them. Even they got crossed up with themselves at times. "Not really."

  "Fighting with Caleb, then?"

  Kody shook her head. No one fought with Caleb as he tended to disembowel whatever annoyed him.

  "Well, I can't figure it. But something's been weird. I know my boy and he ain't been the same since they questioned him about his friends." She swallowed hard. "Maybe that's it. Maybe their deaths hit him harder than I thought. I wonder if he needs to speak to someone about it?"

  Yeah, that wouldn't go over well. Nick wasn't into sharing his more tender emotions with his closest friends, never mind a stranger. She'd never seen anyone more nimble at dodging questions ... except Caleb and Acheron. Only they could make Nick look like an open book. "I don't really think that's it, either, Mrs. Gautier. Pretty sure Nick would run for a door if you tried."

  "I guess," she whispered under her breath. "It's like he's somebody else. Some days, I swear I feel like there's a stranger living in my little Nicky's body. Like a pod-person took him over and is staring at me as if he's never seen me before. I caught him the other day, at the door, with the weirdest look on his face ... like he couldn't remember where his room was. Must be a teen boy, puberty-thing. He even forgot the words to his prayers at Mass. I can't remember the last time he did that." She patted Kody on the back and smiled. "Oh well. Let's not dwell on bad things. You sit right there and I'll bring you some of Mama Lo's famous bread pudding and an Oreo shake. That'll put a smile on your face and a hug in your belly."

  Kody smiled at Cherise as she hurried off toward the kitchen.

  And as she saw her disappearing through the door, a memory hit her hard. One that had been buried way deep inside her ... or rather a memory someone had restricted from her so much that she'd all but forgotten it.

  Yet now with a burning clarity, she saw this restaurant and bar, not as it was today, but centuries in the future. Very similar and yet very different.

  For one thing, Nicolette Peltier no longer owned it.

  Her daughter Aimee did. Along with a Were-Hunter wolf named Fang Kattalakis who'd married Aimee after he and his brothers had moved their wolf pack to New Orleans.

  At the same time Valerius Magnus had been assigned to town as a Dark-Hunter ...

  Dazed, Kody glanced around as her vision went in and out of the present and future. She saw the Were-Hunters who were currently in the crowded bar ... The Howlers--the house band, only they were a bit older. The Peltier bear family who owned it now and who sat on the Omegrion Council that ruled over Werekind, only they had merged with other fey and preternatural creatures, to make a new family and home.

  Dev, the huge muscled bouncer at the door would one day marry a Dark-Huntress named Sam--an Amazon warrior.

  Max, the quiet dragon who lived in the attic upstairs, would be joined by his dragonswan and their children ... His brothers would leave Morgen's fey Circle where they currently resided behind the Veil and move in here, as well.

  So many changes to come.

  It staggered her mind. The former pirate, Rafael Santiago, would spend time here ...

  Simon and Kassim. Even the Dark-Hunter Kit would become friends with the quiet Were-Hunter tiger named Wren, and both would fight to save the Devereaux sisters from the demons out to slay them.

  And not all that far in the future. It would all start when Julian and Grace reunited with Kyrian.

  They would all play a part in changing Nick's life and setting her own destiny in motion.

  Time swam before her eyes, coalescing into one moment. Nick holding their infant daughter in his arms, sitting only a few feet from where she currently was.

  The dimpled smile on his face stole her breath as he fed her a french fry from his plate. "I wish my mother was here to see our little girl. She'd spoil her rotten."

  Tears filled Kody's eyes as she saw herself dabbing at the drool on her daughter's chin. "I wish I could have met Cherise. I feel like I already know her."

  "She was an incredible woman ... like you." Joining them at the table, Acheron paused by Nick's side to make faces at their daughter. "And how's my little angel, huh?" he asked in a falsetto. "You keeping daddy up at night? I hope so! Make his ears bleed for me!"

  Charity squealed in delighted laughter as if she understood him. Cooing, she reached for Acheron who took her in his arms and held her against his shoulder so that she could fist her hands in his long black hair.

  "So where's Aunt Tory?" Kody looked around for his wife.

  "Shopping with your mother for the baby," he continued to speak in that high-pitched tone that kept Charity laughing while he dodged her attempts to tug at his nose ring.

  Kody smiled at the sight of his obvious care and tenderness. "She loves her uncle Ash."

  "Like her mama did at the same age." Acheron kissed Charity's cheek.

  "Yeah." Kody's father sighed as he came to lean over the back of Nick's seat. "There were times when I thought my baby girl preferred you to me, brother. Made me jealous until it dawned on me that it wasn't so much that, as she couldn't tell us apart." He winked at Kody who laughed at her father's tsking tone.

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