“Did you see why?”
“I was mad at Acheron.”
Ambrose shook his head. “Acheron felt the Malachai in us. He knew exactly who and what we were, and what we were capable of, especially given our unreasoning anger at that time. We were sent to Savitar to calm us down and delay the explosion of our powers. Savitar was supposed to help us channel our hatred and control the rage.”
That made sense, given the serene environment Savitar lived in—a breathtaking vanishing isle that popped up on Earth wherever there was good surfing. But Sav and Ash had greatly underestimated the rage in Nick’s heart.
For years, Nick/Ambrose hadn’t understood why Savitar had taken him in, especially since Savitar hated intruders or any semblance of the “modern” world. The surly Chthonian much preferred complete and utter isolation away from everything and everyone.
Yet for reasons he’d refused to explain, Savitar had made an exception to help out Acheron.
No one understood why.
“Hey, boyo?”
Nick glanced to Aeron as he joined them. “Yeah?”
“Wanted to let you know, them demons aren’t just hitting the wall. They’re breaking through it, man.”
“What!” Ambrose shot to his feet, then teleported from the room.
Confused, Nick had no idea where Ambrose had gone. He looked to Aeron. “Where are they?”
Motioning for Nick to follow, Aeron walked backward for two steps, then turned to rush down a posh hallway.
Nick followed fast until he came to one section of the house he recognized from the future events he’d glimpsed in the Eye.
The room where he’d found his mother murdered. Ambrose had never changed it from the days when their mother had decorated it. All his mother’s favorite romance novels were still lined up in the cozy reading nook where she used to sit and read for hours on end. Even now, he could see her there, reading while she snacked on chips or crackers and sipped her Diet Coke.
It’d been the one future memory that he kept returning to. A moment where his mother had seemed so happy and content.
So beautiful.
“Nick?” Kody touched his arm. “You okay, Boo?”
Tears choked him as he nodded. But it was a lie. He wasn’t okay with any part of his future. Especially the part where he lost his mom.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
All his life, he’d been told about karma.What you sow, you shall reap.
Yet it was far more oftensow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.Utter chaos.
His mother had never sown the discord and nightmares of her life. She’d been a good and decent woman who had struggled and worked hard in spite of all the agony and obstacles life had hurled at her.
Instead of giving him up, she’d raised him right. No one deserved the misery of her life, and they damn sure didn’t deserve the end.
Same for him. He’d done his best to be a good son. A good man. To do honor to his mother and what she’d taught him.
How had they been rewarded? His mother had died a horrible death. Alone. Crying for help that never came.
Because of him.
The injustice burned inside him until he was sure every fiber of his being was screaming out for Artemis to come, take his soul, and help him claim vengeance on the ones who’d taken her life.
Screw karma. It was a sick lie peddled by those who wanted to make sense of a world that had none whatsoever. This wasn’t justice.
Bad things just happened. For no reason whatsoever, and to good people as well as bad.He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
