In his opinion, their brother looked nothing like them. Whereas Ambrose was muscular, Madoc was lean, with long black hair and eyes so blue, they appeared to glow. While Nick still had his blue eyes, they were nowhere near the same shade.
Ambrose had the black eyes of a Dark-Hunter.
Madoc’s stern expression softened as he saw Ambrose enter behind them, and he stepped forward. “Is this Nick? As in you as a boy, Nick?” he asked Ambrose.
Ambrose nodded. “He just showed up in my home.”
“How?”
“Takeshi.”
Madoc frowned at the answer. “I should have said, why?”
“I’m sure you know.” Ambrose rolled his eyes in Nick’s direction. “He tends to know everything. It’s his most annoying habit.”
Madoc’s stare turned irritated before a strange, faraway light filled his eyes. His frown turned darker, more pronounced. “It’s odd how fate works, isn’t it? I should have been you instead of you, but the Malachai never rose within me.”
Ambrose snorted. “Be glad. It’s what saved your life.”
“No. The fact that Adarian had no idea I existed is what saved my life.” Madoc glanced to Nick. “When a Malachai son is born, the Malachai father always knows. You can’t keep it from them.”
“You sure about that?” Ambrose asked. “Dad didn’t seem to know about you.”
“Because I was on another plane of existence with my emotions completely bound, and my goddess mother shielding me and my abilities out of fear of what he might do to her if he found out. There was no way for him to know about me.”
That made sense. “Your being a god saved you.”
“It might have saved me, but my fear is that it’s most likely what caused your mother to die.”
Nick’s stomach sank. “Pardon?”
Madoc’s gaze turned dark, his features strained. “At the time your mother was killed, the curse against my kind was breaking.”
“A major crossroad,” Ambrose breathed. “The two Malachai bloodlines converged.”
Madoc nodded. “Had you died at that time, and it’s the one and only time youcouldhave died, I would have become the Malachai.”
Ambrose sucked his breath in sharply. “What are you saying?”
“With my god powers, the uncontrollable rage I had then, and the army of Dream-Hunters I commanded … That would have been enough. But when you combine all that with the demons and furious Skoti wanting revenge …”
“We’d all be dead,” Kody finished.
“Yes, you would.”
Kody bit her lip. “Could you become a Malachai now?”
“In theory, maybe, but I really don’t have the hate and anger for it anymore. That righteous fury came and went rather quickly.”
Kody glanced at Nick, then Ambrose. “So what would happen if Nick or Ambrose died and there was no one to replace them?”
An evil dimple appeared in Ambrose’s cheek. “We can’t. There always has to be one Malachai. It’s part of our punishment.”
Madoc nodded. “That’s why Nick died when he did. At that time, I could have emerged as another Malachai.”
“But I went to Artemis.” Ambrose winced.
“Yes, and you saved the world by going to Artemis. Again, had I inherited the powers, I would have been unstoppable, and I would not have had a child to curtail my powers—or anyone else who could have contained me.”
