“Is Mark here, too?”
Mark Fingerman had been Bubba’s best friend and sidekick. Together, they’d gotten into all kinds of crap. Amusing, insane crap.
Sadness clouded those deep blue eyes. “Mark died long ago. He was human.”
“And you?”
Bubba held his arms out. The moment he did, a huge span of wings came out. “Necrodemian.”
Nick gaped at the revelation. Necrodemians chased after certain classes of demons and returned them to their respective planes of existence. They were also part of the same group that had brought Kody back from the dead.
He would be more shocked, except for one thing …
“You took your father’s place?”
Bubba winced as his wings vanished. “After he was killed in a battle. Yeah.”
Dang. That made Nick’s stomach ache. He’d loved Dr. Bruce. Like Bubba, he’d been a good man with a good heart. And Nick had found out the hard way that Dr. Bruce was a Necrodemian. The old man had actually gone after him, until Nick had proven that he wasn’t an evil Malachai.
He chose peace over war
“I’m sorry, Bubba.”
“It’s okay. You tried to save him, and that I’ll never forget.” A smile returned to Bubba’s face as he saw the others. “Been a while, Caleb. Xev.”
One by one, he shook everyone’s hands.
Until he got to Kody. “What happened to you, Neria? You look like you’re aging backward.”
It took Nick a second to realize that Bubba had known Kody in a different body. Before she’d been sent back to kill Nick, Bubba would have met Neria as Nick’s girlfriend in this time period.
Yeah, this was screwing with his head again. “SheisKody.”
Bubba scowled. “No. Kody looked different.”
“I’m KodyandNeria.”
His scowl deepened. “I don’t understand. You both died.”
Lifting her hands, she turned a small circle and smiled. “Like a Dark-Hunter. Can’t keep a good woman down.”
“Apparently not, and I’m grateful for that fact.” He pulled her in for a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You too.” She stepped back to smile up at him. “I’ve missed all of you so much.”
“Yeah.” Bubba rubbed her arm, then looked toward Nick. “Why are all of you here?”
“I’d say bad luck, but …” Nick turned back to Kody. “You want to explain?”
“We’re looking for Cyprian’s lair.”
Well, straight to the point. He’d expected a little finesse. He should have known better.
Bubba stiffened. “Why?”
Nick shrugged with feigned nonchalance. “We’re profoundly stupid. Why else?”
Laughing, Bubba nodded. “To gothere, I’d have to agree. Whatareyou thinking?”
