And he would have been truly immortal. That was what made a Malachai so dangerous.
Since they were first cursed, there had only been one male child who could inherit Malachai powers. They knew that they really, truly were immortal. Nothing could touch them. Because there always had to be a living Malachai.
Always.
Kody moved to stand next to Nick. “Are you sure? How do we know Nick wouldn’t have come back regardless?”
Madoc shrugged. “You’re right. It could have swung either way. I still might not have inherited the powers, and Nick might have come back to life on his own. Guess we’ll never know the truth of that moment.”
Ambrose sighed heavily. “We screwed up a lot, little brother.”
“Because we were never told the truth.” Anger ran through Nick as he realized how much damage had been done by those who’d bound his powers to keep him from exploding.
Like Acheron.
Had they just left him alone …
Madoc placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Think of it this way, Nick—when you died, someone, most likely Azura or Noir, was trying to put me in power. I’m not you, and I don’t have any memories of a happy childhood or a loving mother. As a Malachai, I would have nothing to rein me in or make me sane. You and your mother made a sacrifice that saved everyone. Malachai blood or not. Because I promise you, had that title come to me at that time … I would have made Adarian look like an angry toddler.”
In a weird way, that did make him feel better.
No, it didn’t.
Stop it! You’re being selfish.It was comforting to know that if his mother had to die, she’d saved the world in the process. It would have made Cherise Gautier proud, and she would volunteered her life to do so.
Still, it hurt him to know that she was gone. Even if the reason was a good one.
I’m sorry, Mom.
He blinked back tears as he met Madoc’s cold stare. “I can’t save her.”
“If you do, you have to figure out someway to keep me from going Skoti and Malachai at the same time. Trust me, little brother, you wouldn’t have survived fighting me. While your powers wouldn’t have been diminished in the confrontation, mine wouldn’t have been weakened either.”
That was scary to think about.
In fact, it reminded Nick of Godzilla going up against Mothra.
Still, he was trying to make sense of it all. “I’m so confused. We know what happens. How we all came to be here. And now that we know, can’t we stop it?”
“This isn’t a train schedule, Nick.” Madoc held his hand up, and the room shimmered with a million images of fate playing out. It was eerily similar to the Eye, only not as confusing. “It’s not the past you have to change … It’s the future.”
3
Scowling, Nick stared at Madoc. “What?”
“You can’t change the past, Nick. No matter how hard you try. No matter how much you crave it or how many times you think back and run scenarios through your mind. It always stays the same. Nothing changes.Would have. Should have … If only.You have to let it go before it drives you insane. There’s nothing you can do about where you’ve been.”
Madoc turned his attention to Ambrose. “You should have known that, too. By going into the past, you created the future. Time plays on an intersecting loop, because you can’t really change anything major without catastrophic events. One thing is changed, and it has a resounding effect. You might make subtle changes, such as when two people meet. But if they are going to be significant in someone’s life, they will meet regardless of anything you do, or how many times you attempt to change it.”
“Chaos theory.”
Madoc inclined his head to Ambrose. “Exactly. There’s no way you can undo the tangled mess that brought the two of you together in this time and place, any more than Ambrose going to the past stopped any of this from happening. It’s going to be. You might change when or how, but you won’t change the event or the outcome.”
Nick felt sick at those words. “So we can’t stop Cyprian.”
One corner of Madoc’s lips turned up. Not into a smirk, but a knowing kind of cocky grin. “You’re not here to stop him.”
“What?”
