All that was left intact was St. Louis Cathedral.
Where the last of the humans in the city remained cowering.
No, not cowering. Preparing a last stand. Tabitha. Bethany. Amanda. Kyrian. Their daughter, Marissa. Their son who’d been named after Nick.
And Kody.
With their daughter.
Nick froze as he suddenly knew the faces he hadn’t known before. Even though he was outside the building, he could see them inside it. Feel their panic. And their bravery.
Kody’s mother, Bethany—an Egyptian goddess— grabbed their daughter, Chastity, and placed her in Kody’s arms. “We’ll hold them back. Take her and run.”
Kody hesitated. “That’s not Nick! You know it’s not.”
“There’s only one Malachai.”
“And I know my husband. He would never attack us. It’s not in him.”
Tabitha sneered at her. “Then where is he? Huh? He was supposed to meet us here. HimandCaleb.”
“Nick wouldn’t do this.”
“Ambrose would.” Tabitha wiped the blood from her cheek. “We lost him to the beast.”
Bethany cupped her daughter’s cheek before she kissed her and then her grandbaby. “Stand strong. Be safe.” She nudged her toward a tall, blond man who was the very image of Acheron. And by that, Nick knew he must be Kody’s brother. “You two take care of each other. Protect each other’s back and stay safe, whatever it takes. Love you!”
A tear slid down the man’s face. “Love you, Mom. Dad would be proud, if he were here.”
She choked on a sob as she gave her son and daughter a tumultuous smile. “Yes, he would. Now go! I’ll hold a shield around you as long as I can.”
Kyrian pulled his daughter away from the children she was trying to comfort and protect. “Marissa, go with them.”
“No! I won’t leave you to this!”
Kyrian’s wife, Amanda, joined them so that she could force her daughter to obey. “Yes. No argument. I’m not about to watch you die!”
Marissa began to cry over her parents’ orders before she nodded. She hugged Kyrian, then Amanda and Tabitha. Without a word, she followed Kody to the back door. She paused to look back at them and the longing ache in her eyes made Nick choke on his own sob.
And the moment she left the knave, the front door broke open, spilling demons into the church.
Nick saw himself leading the demons.
Until Caleb, in his own demon form, came flying in for the attack.
The moment Caleb was there, Ambrose caught him by the throat. And in that instant, Nick realized something. Something he’d missed in his previous nightmares and visions.
Caleb met his gaze and froze. “Who are you?”
In all the visions he’d had before, Nick had taken that to mean that his friend hadn’t recognized the Malachai demon that had swallowed Nick whole. That he’d been baffled by Nick’s actions that day.
This time …thistime, Nick saw it for what it really was.
Too late, Caleb realized that he wasn’t Ambrose.
Like Kody, he saw the truth of the beast. That this Malacahi was an imposter, and that was what had caused the Malachai to kill him. Not for the fact that Caleb had failed to follow his orders, or kill Kyrian and the others.
Caleb had known the truth.
