“That’s right! I’m the head demon. Bow before me. I don’t need a shoe to throw at you, Scooby!” Nick pounded his chest, then turned to see Kody staring at him with an arched brow.
“Feeling proud, are you?”
Nick postured. “C’mon. Admit it. I make this look sexy.”
She shook her head. “While I admit you are one of the best-looking guys I’ve ever known, no one can make your Malachai form look good. Kind of the way Caleb loses a lot of appeal when he goes Nemo.”
“Hey!”
“Sorry. It’s true. Your demon forms leave a lot to be desired.”
“I’ll give her that,” Vawn agreed. “The red and orange do clash, Malphas.”
Nick felt his form fading. “Y’all so mean. Why you want to hurt me like that,cher?”
She gave him a quick kiss. “You’re still my hero.”
That helped. A little, at least. Nick put his arm around her as he looked to Itzal. “So, what’s going to try to eat us next?”
“No telling. Keep your eyes open and your tones low.”
“My tone?”
“Voice!”
Oh. That made sense. And once again, Nick felt like an idiot.
Kody laced her fingers with his as they returned to following after Itzal. But as they walked, Nick couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.
And followed.
The sensation crawled over his skin and made the hair at the nape of his neck rise. Worse was the feeling that the dogs were still on their heels.
His Malachai senses were buzzing.
He had no idea why until they topped the next hill. The clouds overhead began rolling in like a living being. It brought with it a heavy fog.
“What’s going on?”
Itzal held his hand up to silence them, which made Nick’s hackles rise even higher.
“They know we’re here.”
5
Itzal sliced at the shadows all around them.
Nick scowled. Did he have some form of demon Parvo? Would make sense, given his frenetic attacks. “What’s he doing?”
“Shadow demons.” Bubba began slashing at the shadows, too.
Shadow demons? They kept using that term, and it took Nick a minute to figure out what they were actually facing, and why they were attacking them so viciously.
“You mean a shadow walker?”
Itzal nodded.
Nick’s heart stopped. They were one of the worst class of demons that straddled two worlds. With no loyalty whatsoever to anyone or anything. Morally ambiguous and capricious in the purest sense of those words, they were as likely to kill someone as to help them.
