“I’ll be screwed, won’t I?”
“In ways you can’t imagine.”
Nick hesitated. Then he remembered what his mom and Kyrian always told him.The worst mistakes I’ve made in my life were those I made out of fear. Never let fear control your actions. It’s a horrible master.
Granted, that was a paraphrase, as they each had their own take on it. But that was the root of what they’d told him repeatedly.
Those who let fear rule them have fear for a master.
That wasn’t him. It was the middle. He knew it.
Nick made up his mind and headed down that path. Nothing happened.
Good? He wasn’t sure.
But nothing had grabbed him yet, and the voice seemed to have faded. That alone made him feel better.
The path turned sharply right, then left and left again. He felt as if he were being turned in every direction. The lack of sound was really beginning to grate on his nerves.
“Where’d you go?”
No answer.
“Figures. Guess you had to go take a leak.” Which got him to thinking … where would he go if he had to? “Yeah, I’m not liking this at the moment. Is there really no porta-potty? Outhouse. Something?”
Again, no response.
How aggravating.
Trying not to think about it, Nick moved forward. At least nothing was attacking him. But maybe that was a bad thing. If the path was the right one, wouldn’t flying monkeys or something equally as scary be trying to stop him? Seemed reasonable, given his history.
Suddenly, the floor dropped out from under him.
“I knew it!” Nick used his wings to stay in place. He floated over a nasty pit of spikes.
Had he not been in his Malachai form, that would have hurt.
No, that would have killed.
The only time he wanted to be a Nick-ka-bob was for Kody. She could stake out any way she wanted, and he’d oblige her. But he refused to be demon kibble.
Flying away from the hole, he continued on his way.
Something came out of the darkness, headed for him.
“No you don’t!” Nick blasted it with his powers.
Then he used a fireball to light the way. He was a Malachai, after all. And he was making peace with that part of himself.
What choice did he have? He couldn’t get fid of it. He’d seen that life, and it hadn’t really been all that.
Being the Malachai did come with some perks … when people, demons and such weren’t trying to kill, imprison, or control him.
Those days were over.
If you can’t love yourself, who can?
Yeah, his mom was chock-full of great advice.
