It was the strangest disoriented feeling.
Had he broken some time-travel law? He had no idea at this point—just about anything seemed possible. This had been the oddest day of his life. And given the weirdness he’d been coping with, that said a lot.
“You okay?”
Blinking, he turned his head to find Xev in the corner of his room, staring at him. Dressed all in black, he was holding a small pad and appeared to be drawing—Xev’s newest hobby he’d developed lately to pass a good time and stay sane.
“Um … not sure.” Nick felt at his face and hair, which were dry and seemed to be normal. “I was under attack.”
Xev arched a brow. “By?”
“Demons. The other Malachai. At least I think that’s what happened, but anymore … who the heck knows. Just once I’d like for it to be a supermodel out to find some teen for an experiment, you know?”
Xev set his pad aside and scooted closer. “Where’s Caleb?”
“Don’t know. He abandoned me.” Nick grimaced.“Youabandoned me.”
“You didn’t call.”
“Yeah, I did. No one answered.”
Xev drew his brows together into a stern frown. “I would never have ignored you. You know that.”
He was right. Even more overprotective than his mom, Xev would never ignore a cry of help. If Nick so much as burped, Xev tried to perform the Heimlich on him.
Still confused and disoriented, Nick sat down on his bed and tried to get a handle on everything. “This day … it’s been one of the more peculiar ones. That I definitely gotta say. Everyone’s been under attack.”
“How so?”
Another bad feeling went through Nick at the way Xev said that. He wasn’t acting like his hypersensitive great-granddad. While this dude might have Xev’s black hair and hazel brown and green eyes, this wasn’t right. He was a little too chill for how the ancient being normally took such news.
“You look a little glum. Been missing Inari?”
Xev nodded.
Nick shot off the bed and bolted for the door as he realized this wasn’t Xev, but rather the other Malachai—or some other imposter. Inari was the demon who’d suckled Xev—the stepmother demon he hated.
Myone had been his wife he pined for. And while Cyprian might have known their names, he wouldn’t have known the difference between them unless he spent time around Xevikan.
Then no one would mistake the two women and what they meant to the surly god who was devoted to one, and disgusted by the other.
A light flashed in Cyprian’s eyes as he realized his mistake. “You’re a quick one.”
“That I am. And you are not.” Nick struggled against the door that wouldn’t open and his powers that refused to let him teleport out of here. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I need you to forget!”
“Why?”
“You’re screwing up everything!”
“Me? You’re the one killing innocent people!”
“I’m cleaning upyourmess!”
“I’m not the one who started this!” Nick attacked him. The two of them went at it with everything they had. Never had Nick wanted to kill anyone so badly. He was sick of it all. Sick of Cyprian copying all of his friends, and pretending to be them at every turn.
This was crap and they both knew it.
