“Don’t know. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you hit the ground pretty hard. You okay?”
Nick rubbed at the large bruise that was forming on the base of his skull. “Major concussion would definitely explain the rodier I just went on.”
“Rodier?”
“You know … wander about aimlessly? Drag the streets? Make a pass through … Never mind. I’ve gone Cajun and y’all looking at me like Kody did the first time I asked her if she was playingrat de boiswith me or if she wanted to go make groceries.”
Takeshi scowled. “Do what?”
Nashira shook her head. “Rat de boismeans opossum. The other means he’s going to the market for food.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Hanging out in his pocket has been quite the education.”
“I can imagine.”
Nick snorted. “Hey now, don’t you even slap on me given the random acts of violence against the entire English language that comes out of the mouths of Aeron, Vawn and Kaziel. I only get about one-fifth of everythingtheysay. Some days, not even that much.”
Laughing, Takeshi brushed his thumb against his bottom lip. “So what happened?”
“I don’t know. I got snatched into the aether by … something. The other Malachai, maybe? At least I think that’s what happened.” Nick pressed the heel of his hand against his eye to ease the ache there. “How can he be here? And who the heck is he? Who’s his mother?”
Nashira and Takeshi passed a look between themselves that said they knew the answer, but had no intention of sharing it.
“C’mon, guys! Really? You can’t sit on this one! You have to tell me something. Especially if you know who he is.”
Takeshi shook his head. “Nick, you know the law and how this works. The more you know, the worse it gets.”
“Then why do I have Clairvoyance at all?”
“Do you?”
He had a point and Nick hated him for it. From what he understood about the power, even when it worked, it wasn’t foolproof. “Why doyouhave it?”
“Because I don’t use or abuse the power. I know how dangerous it is to tamper with things best left undisturbed.”
Nick was about to snark at him when he felt a peculiar sensation go through him. One that was unmistakable and left him sick to his stomach.
Eyes wide, he met Simi’s gaze. “Kody’s under attack!”
Without waiting for anyone, he teleported to her house. To his horror, he found her there, surrounded by more than a dozen mortent demons. True to her breeding, she was holding her own. But she’d broken a good sweat and was definitely outnumbered.
“Need a little hand,cher?”
She passed him a disgruntled grimace. “Nah, sugar, I got this. Go have some lunch.”
Laughing at her sarcasm, he manifested his Malachai sword and moved in to protect her back. Still the demons kept coming. It was like a bad dream.
“How are they getting in?”
Kody shook her head as she parried another assault. “No idea. I had everything locked down. Nothing should have been able to breachmyshields.”
Nick hissed as the demon he was fighting caught him with his fangs. Punching the wretched beast knocked him away. “Well, this isn’t fun!”
Simi, Takeshi and Nashira finally joined them.
“Did y’all get lost?”
