Illusion

CHAPTER 13

Kody dodged Ameretat’s arms. She tried to teleport out, but couldn’t. With no other course of action, she ran for the doors. They threw fireballs to stop her retreat, some of which came so close, they singed her arm. She dodged them as best she could and summoned her armor for protection. Thankfully, that part of her powers still worked.

If only the power to teleport out would operate, too. That would be just tasty perfect. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape here.

Twisting and dodging, she made it across the room and headed for the main doors. With no clear-cut plan or destination, she’d almost reached them when someone grabbed her from behind, threw her through them, and held her in his muscular arms as he dragged her into a small hidden alcove in the marble foyer.

Her scream and squirms were cut short as the one holding her put his hand over her mouth and whispered in her ear while Sraosha and Ameretat continued to hunt her.

“Sh!” It was Suriyel. “Stop struggling. I’m here to help. I swear.” He loosened his hold.

Still, her heart pounded so hard that she was surprised it remained in her chest. Relaxing a small bit, she allowed him to carry her away from the ones who searched for her.

She expected him to take her to one of their modest-sized homes that had been placed on the hill, around the hall. Instead, he took her to a dark underground shelter where Adidiron and a small handful of others waited. Everyone was dressed for battle and some of them were bleeding from fresh wounds. That explained the damage in the room she’d just left. They must have fought each other mercilessly.

Suriyel released her and stepped back to give her a little space.

Turning around to scan each Arel there, Kody frowned at the group. Ragged defeat and daunted determination burned in their eyes as they watched her warily—as if she’d turn on them, too.

“What is this?” she asked.

His gaze even more troubled than the others’, Suriyel sighed. “Sadly, the small number of Arelim who oppose tyranny and stupidity.”

That made no sense to her whatsoever. “What?”

With his blond hair braided down his back—something he only did for battle—Adidiron stepped forward, out of the shadows. His beautiful face now had a fresh, healing scar running down the left side, from hairline to chin. “After the senior Malachai was killed last night and his powers drained, Ameretat and Sraosha took it upon themselves to stop the Malachai bloodline. Forever.”

Suriyel gave a solemn nod in accordance. “They think that if they kill the younger Malachai, they can reset Order and bring about the Sada.”

Kody’s frown deepened at his words. The Sada was said to be the time of innocence and purity. A utopian world where all evil was vanquished and only good survived.

In theory, it was a great thought.

But in reality …

“It’s a myth,” she said. “Sada upsets the necessary balance. If you do that, it will destroy the entire universe.” A universe that hinged on an ever-shifting balance and harmony with all things.

Even good and evil.

Adidiron snorted. “You know that and we know that, but they don’t believe it. Or worse, some of them do, but since they know the world will end by the fledgling Malachai’s hand, they’re willing to cut the deadline short and let it perish under their kinder, gentler destruction now.”

But that made no sense. Her jaw went slack. “You’re kidding me…” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew she was being rhetorical. She’d seen the madness in Sraosha’s eyes herself. For whatever reason, he wanted Nick’s throat and he wasn’t going to let anything, even world destruction, stop him from getting it. “Why have they done this?”

A ferocious tic started in Suriyel’s sculpted jaw. “Simple. When you bound Nick’s powers, you provided them the perfect opportunity to kill him while he’s too weak to stop them. Or protect himself. Right now, they don’t need you to do it. They’re more than capable and willing to end him.”

Sick to her stomach, she struggled to breathe. “What have I done?”

By trying to save Nick, she’d handed his head to his enemies on a platter.

Adidiron put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Your job.” He tightened his grip. “You’ve done nothing wrong, little sister. This sin is on their heads. They are the ones seeking salvation through destruction.”

As so many do … Kody squeezed her eyes shut as the horror of it all racked her and she tried to come to terms with her own part in this wretched play. “We can’t let them destroy everything. What do we do now? This is awful.”

Adidiron patted her shoulder before he stepped away to pace among their small group. “No, Nekoda. It’s prophecy. We’ve always known this day would come. We just didn’t know when or how.”

She arched a brow at something no one had told her. “How do you mean?”

Suriyel picked up the explanation. “In the Mashuan, it was written that the last Malachai would bring about the downfall of the Arelim.”

Adidiron inclined his head to Suriyel. “We always assumed the Malachai would defeat us in battle at the End Time.”

“Now we know better.” Suriyel folded his hands behind his back as he paced in an opposite direction. “For the first time since the Primus Bellum, we’re divided against ourselves. Our order is split and in chaos. Our brethren have become our enemies.”

“Because of the Mashuani,” Kody breathed as she finally understood what they were telling her.

The Mashuan was the tablet of fated destiny while the Mashuani was the tablet of prophecy. Twin documents that had been written by the original gods, aeons ago when the world was brand new.

The Mashuan told what was destined to happen, the other foretold ways to accomplish or divert the Mashuan. It was the tablet of what-could-be.

And it had been written on the Mashuani tablet that a Malachai would be born who could turn against his dark nature and become an instrument for good. One who could restore balance and make sure that the world didn’t end. That he held it in tandem with his brother. And so long as they stood united, nothing could destroy the world or universe.

Because Nick’s father, Adarian, had seemed more vulnerable and human than any Malachai before him, Kody had thought he was the one it’d spoken of. It was part of the reason she hadn’t killed him when she’d had the chance. Why she’d hesitated.

But one look in Adarian’s eyes as he mercilessly stabbed her while she’d been helpless before him, and she’d known better. Even though he could cleverly mimic compassion, Adarian had lacked all humanity. All decency.

It wasn’t until after that, she’d learned Adarian Malachai had been the same soulless monster who had betrayed her uncle Seth and had left him in the hands of their enemy to be brutally tortured for centuries. Even though Seth had risked his life to free Adarian from their master, Adarian had gleefully sacrificed Seth for his own selfish gain.

For that reason alone, she’d held no hope for Nick’s humanity. Surely, the son would be even worse than the father.

Yet Nick had surprised her in every way. He was the one the tablet had predicted. She was even more sure of that now. No Malachai before him had been born of a human mother. None had known love. None had been capable of love.

Not until Nick. He was nothing like the others.

He, alone, could save them.…

If he didn’t kill them first.

Terrified to think about the fact that Nick would most likely stab and kill her in the future, she faced Suriyel. In the past, he had adamantly refused to hear anything good about Nick. Like Sraosha, he’d wanted the boy slaughtered before he ascended to his Malachai role. “So you believe me now?”

Biting his lip, he glanced away. “I never would have had I not seen it with my own eyes.”

“Seen what?”

“Adarian Malachai sacrifice himself to save Cherise Gautier and their son. Against everything, that rabid animal did love her. Right to the end. Even more than himself.”

Yes, but he hadn’t known how to show it. Adarian had single-handedly ruined Cherise’s life and traumatized her. Instead of cherishing what he’d loved, he’d been abusive and mean. And that was no way to have a relationship with anyone. Marriage and friendship were built on trust and loyalty. Not deceit and lies.

Love could only be given. It could never be demanded.

But in the end, Adarian had given every bit of his power to his son so that Nick could protect his mother at all costs. As Suriyel had said, Adarian had loved Cherise completely. No Malachai before Adarian had ever placed the needs or welfare of anyone above himself. They were creatures of ultimate hatred and violence.

Of betrayal.

Yet something in Adarian had changed when he met Cherise. And while Cherise hadn’t been able to completely alter or tame the demonic beast that was Adarian, she had nurtured their son from Nick’s very beginning. Her love and kindness, her personal sacrifice for him, kept Nick anchored to her. It overrode the innate congenital need in him to be cruel and violent. To lash out in hatred and destroy everyone near him.

Including himself.

So long as Cherise remained alive, there was hope for Nick. He would do nothing to shame or harm his mother.

But when she died …

That would be the first step toward Nick’s devolution into the Malachai. It was a path Kody intended to change, no matter the cost. Given Nick’s heart and compassion, surely it could be done.

No destiny is set by any birth, no matter how lowly or how high. All creatures have the right and ability to choose who and what they become.…

Be it good or evil.

She met Suriyel’s gaze. “So you finally accept that Nick is the one the prophecy speaks of?”

He nodded. “No.”

She scowled at his contradiction.

Laughing, he let out a tired breath. “I want to believe it. I do. But you yourself faced him centuries from now. You have seen firsthand what Nick will do if he’s not stopped.”

“And I have seen a boy who is more than capable of defending himself, who had the powers of a Malachai at his command, allow a mere human to beat him to the brink of death because he made a promise to his mother to never fight again. What Malachai would ever do such?”

He glanced toward Adidiron.

Kody looked at the others. Her lips trembled from the weight of her painful emotions and memories. “I know what it is that I’m asking of you. I do. And all of you know what I have lost in this battle already.” And that included her sanity, most days. “What I stand to lose in the future if he’s not stopped.” Tears of grief filled her eyes as she relived the deaths of her family and friends at the hands of the Malachai and his demonic army. She had seen too many ripped apart and murdered. Too many brutally slaughtered.

“It is not easy for me to find anything other than sheer hatred and contempt for the monster who will one day rob me of all I hold dear. There’s not a being here who hates the Ambrose Malachai more than I do. Believe me, it’s not possible. Yet…” She broke off as her agony overwhelmed her.

Angrily, she brushed away her tears and forced herself to continue. Her voice shook with the weight of her grim determination. “Nick is not that beast. He is not a monster. Not yet. The boy he is deserves a chance to be saved.”

“And if you can’t save him?” Vahista asked.

“No one will suffer more than I, I assure you.” Kody held her breath as they exchanged looks with each other and she waited for them to decide Nick’s fate. “Nick Gautier is worth it. I promise.”

After a long, nerve-racking minute, Suriyel stepped forward to face the other Arelim. “We all know what is at stake. If we allow the others to kill Nick now, the Sada will definitely destroy the balance and end the universe for all creatures. There is nothing to stop that from happening. The balance can shift from one side to the other, but one side can never be fully destroyed. All of us have sworn to maintain the Order and to observe that balance, in all its incarnations. If there is a single chance of saving the universe, we have to fight for it. United. That is the oath we’re sworn to, and we will die upholding it.”

Kody swallowed hard. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“So do we,” Adidiron said under his breath.

Suriyel ignored him. “Are we in accord?”

One by one, they inclined their heads to him and reswore their oaths of loyalty.

Relieved that she wouldn’t have to fight alone after all, Kody relaxed.

Adidiron crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell us what you need, little sister.”

A miracle. But she didn’t say that out loud. They knew that one as much as she did. So she focused on the more immediate concern. “I need Nick returned to his own body and his own time period.”

Each of them looked away, shame-faced.

That was not a comforting reaction and it most definitely wasn’t one she wanted to see. Dread hugged her close to its heart. “What?”

Suriyel cleared his throat. “We’ll need the Magus Stone to do that.”

She’d never heard of such before. “What is the Magus Stone?”

“A very special piece of Libyan desert glass. It was formed when the first primal gods were at war. While fighting, Rezar hurled a piece of the sun at Braith. She deflected it and it landed in the desert and made a stone that was as bright a yellow as the sun itself. Perfectly smooth and round, it radiated the sun’s brilliance. When the war was finally over, Rezar retrieved it from the desert—his domain—and had it set into a sun medallion that he gave to Braith as a peace offering.”

Kody’s jaw went slack as she realized something that had never occurred to her before. “Is that why her symbol is a yellow sun and he’s considered its protector?”

He nodded. “And while Rezar fashioned the necklace for her, he cut himself and bled into the stone. That imbued it with some of Rezar’s powers, including his ability to create chaos and split the dimensions … and remove the soul from a body.”

Kody winced. While she loved and adored her grandfather, she could choke him for that gift to his own enemy. Little had he known then that when he gave that power to Apollymi, she would one day use it against the human race to create the Daimons who preyed on them. “Where is it now?”

They all looked to Adidiron. She turned to face him.

He shrugged helplessly. “The last person who had it was your mother. The goddess Apollymi gave it to her to celebrate your birth.”

Scowling, Kody searched her memory for such a piece. Her mother had worn very little jewelry. Only the necklace that bore her father’s emblem and the sapphire wedding ring he’d given her in ancient Greece. “I’ve never seen it. Are you sure about that?”

“Positive. I saw it on her myself, on several occasions.”

How weird that she had no recollection of this particular necklace at all. Especially since it had passed through the hands of three people she knew extremely well.

Suriyel growled angrily. “Sraosha or one of the others must have found it somehow or stolen it, and used it on the weakened Malachai. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

A weird chill skipped down her back as a thought struck her. “Would it have worked had Nick been at full strength?”

Adidiron laughed aloud. “Uh, no. At full strength, it would have been like throwing a grenade into a gas plant. As a descendant of Apollymi, the Malachai would have absorbed her powers and Rezar’s out of it. But because his powers were bound to the point he was human…”

“It allowed them to pull him apart,” she finished for him.

“Exactly.”

She really wanted to beat herself for the stupidity of her actions. It’d seemed so logical to bind Nick’s powers so that those hunting him wouldn’t be able to use his powers to locate him. To keep him from using them and accidentally harming himself or others.

But in the end, it’d been the worst solution.

Let it go. It was useless to continue reliving the event and beating herself up over it. There was no way to change what had already been done. She needed her full attention on finding another solution. One that might actually work.

“How do I locate the stone?” she asked them.

Adidiron shook his head. “No idea.”

Sighing, she patted Adidiron’s cheek. “You really don’t believe in making my job easy, do you?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

She laughed bitterly. “Can I ask one favor?”

“Feel free to ask, but the answer might be no.”

Of course it might. There were times when they really made her want to throw her hands up and cower in a corner. “Can you get Simi into this dimension to help us?”

“Simi? The Charonte?” He scowled. “Why?”

“Because if the stone belonged to Apollymi, my little horned cousin will know it and she’ll be able to sniff it out like a blood-demon. It’s a sparkly yum-yum, after all.” And there was nothing Simi loved more than sparkly yum-yums.

Suriyel and Adidiron exchanged a look she couldn’t quite discern.

“We will try,” Suriyel said after a pause. “But Simi has to agree to do it. We can’t cross dimensions with her if she fights us.”

That was a major understatement. No one, other than Acheron, made Simi do anything she didn’t want to do.

Well, except for Simi’s husband. For some reason, he’d always had more control over her than Acheron did. Something her father had told her had both irritated and amused Acheron.

Kody had always found it charming, and that made her miss her aunt and uncle all the more.

Please let Simi come here. Simi would make this task much easier. At least for Kody. For the ones sent to ask Simi to join her for the fight …

“Word of advice,” Kody said to the men. “If Simi breaks out her barbecue sauce, run.”

Suriyel snorted. “Thanks.”

“Any time, sport.” Kody bit her lip as she scanned the faces of her coconspirators. By going against Sraosha and saving her from the guillotine, they had all committed treason against their brethren. If she failed, they would pay a steep price for it.

Adidiron gently took her arm. “Remember, Sraosha and the others will be searching for both of you. Every time you use your powers outside of this shelter, they will know it. We do have several spies among his army, but don’t count on them to be able to rescue you if you’re found again.”

“I understand.” She was used to being on her own.

In both lifetimes.

Suriyel inclined his head to her. “Keep Nick alive.”

“I’ll do my best, but we have only two days to finish this before the ušumgallu unites and they march on the world. With or without their general.”

“Yeah, we know. Thorn is already gathering his forces here.”

Kody shivered. “Is Cadegan with him?”

“Who?” Suriyel asked.

“Cadegan. He was once Thorn’s right hand. At least in my world.”

One by one, they all shook their heads. “We don’t know that name.”

Strange, but she would go with it. Though it didn’t happen often, there were a number of supernatural beings she knew that they didn’t. Mostly ones who didn’t interact with the human world any more than they had to.

And that definitely described the two of them. Thorn and Cadegan together had been an invincible team. Honestly, she was more than happy to not face their united strength in a fight here. She and Nick had enough against them already.

“Good luck with Simi,” she breathed to them, then teleported back to Acheron’s house.

Kody had barely appeared in his office before she saw Acheron staring at an old photo with a longing in his eyes that was heart-wrenching. She knew that aching loss firsthand and it reeked.

The woman in the photo was his daughter, Katra, who was holding two children Kody assumed to be the Simi and Ash Nick had spoken about. But the man in that photo was definitely not the same as the Sumerian god Katra had married in Kody’s world. The love Acheron bore for his daughter and grandchildren, though, was every bit as potent.

“Acheron?”

Clearing his throat, he turned slightly toward her and put the photo out of sight. “Did you learn anything helpful?”

“Yes and no. It’s as I suspected. My boss wants Nick dead.”

Acheron snorted. “Having spent time with him, I can well understand his motivation.”

Kody tsked at him, but didn’t comment on that. “They told me about a Magus Stone. Have you ever heard of it?”

He put his hands in his jacket pocket. “Vaguely. It’s a legend about the first war of the gods and one of them threw down a bit of the sun at another one. Or something like that. Honestly, I never paid those stories much attention.”

“Does the stone exist in this realm?”

He shrugged. “If it did, it went missing a long time ago.”

Of course it did. Because nothing could ever go easy for her. It never had. As her father so often said, there were those who were born to be great and those who were determined to be great. And those who were determined were the ones life challenged the hardest.

Rise to the occasion, my daughter. Never let anyone tell you that you lack courage or conviction to see your tasks done. The only opinion that really matters is your own, and you are a creature of absolute beauty and strength, through and through.

Never, ever forget that.

So in the midst of the storm, stand proud against it, lift up your middle finger, and defy the fates with everything you have. If they want to fight, bring it. You have more than enough intelligence and skill to battle them until they beg you for mercy.

Gods, how she missed her father. The fire and spirit in his eyes that nothing could daunt. It was infectious.

Just like Ari’s …

Knowing better than to let her thoughts linger on her family, especially when she stood this close to her father’s identical twin, Kody cleared her throat. “Shall we rejoin the others?”

Before she could answer, something hard slammed against the walls. It reminded her of a battering ram. She covered her ears to shield them from the noise. “What is that?”

Acheron’s face paled. “In short … our deaths.”