Illusion

CHAPTER 3

“Houston, we got us a serious problem. All our thrusters are blown and we’re about to combust into a fiery mess.”

Unamused by Caleb’s dire tone, Kody paused in her dressing to switch the phone to her other ear. “What demon inhalant have you discovered now? And who you got crying in the background? Is that Nick? Caleb, what have you done now?”

“Yeah, that be the very problem I’m calling about, and yes, that be your boy you’re hearing. Only the crybaby is not our Nick.”

She held her breath at Caleb’s words. “My patience is out. Speak a language I understand.”

“Fine. Nick ain’t Nick. The Nick you hear woke up this morning, screaming for his mom and—get this—his father, and saying that he’s not in the right place or time. He doesn’t know me. Or Zavid. He’s never seen Nick’s room before, and you don’t want to know what he did when he saw himself in the mirror and saw a face that is not the one he’s used to seeing. Just be glad you were at home, though to be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t hear his supersonic schoolgirl scream all the way over there.”

Cold terror gripped her. Without hanging up, she teleported from her house to Nick’s bedroom, where she found him curled into a ball on his bed. Shirtless, he wore only a pair of dark blue flannel boxers.

Kody knew that long, ripped body that jutted out from under the dark blue comforter where he’d buried his head. But the whiny tone was one she’d never heard from Nick before.

With hair as dark as his alternate raven form, Caleb hung up the phone at her appearance. He gestured toward the bed, where Nick had his arms wrapped firmly around his head while he sobbed in agony. “Want to take it from here? He don’t know me and he don’t want to see or talk to me.”

Then he definitely wouldn’t know her. Still, she felt compelled to try. “Nick?”

Still whimpering, he lowered the comforter from his face. His lips quivered. “Do you know me?”

No, she didn’t. She saw a stranger in those bright blue eyes. Horrified over this discovery, she narrowed her gaze on Zavid, who sat shirtless and barefoot in a corner on the floor. The newest member of their crew, he was a demon Nick had saved last night from a brutal death sentence. His hair was as black as Caleb’s, and like Caleb and Nick, he was incredibly handsome with the unearthly beauty that always clung to preternatural creatures. “What did you do?”

Zavid curled his lips at her. “Sure, blame the Hel Hound. Like I did this. What is it with you two?”

She glared at Zavid and dared him to lie. “I didn’t do this. I know Caleb didn’t do it. Only other creature in this room with those kind of powers happens to be you, buster. What did you do?”

Zavid pointed to Caleb with his middle finger. “Ask your other boyfriend. That daeve demon troll bound my powers last night while I slept. There’s no way I could have done anything to anyone. I’m so weak right now, I can’t even shapeshift.”

Caleb snorted. “Don’t cut your eyes at me, punkin. The daeve didn’t do this.” Folding his arms over his chest, he met Kody’s gaze. “Whatever happened in this room while I was asleep on the couch outside, swapped out Nick’s soul and drained Z. Had nothing to do with me.”

“Are you drained?” she asked Caleb.

He shook his head. “For some reason, probably self-preservation, fear, and intelligence on their part, whoever did this left me alone.”

Scowling, Kody tried to make sense of their situation. But nothing added up. It wasn’t possible for something to have gotten in here and done this. The Egyptian goddess Ma’at had sealed this house with sacred emblems that kept it safe from any preternatural attack.

No one could get near Nick inside his home. Not without an express invitation that none of them were dumb enough to issue.

It baffled Kody. “And nothing set off Ma’at’s alarms?”

Caleb shook his head slowly. “Any ideas what could break in here, under the noses of three demons, the protection of a goddess, and do this?”

No. She had no idea. Kneeling on the bed, she cupped Nick’s terrified face in her hands. “Look at me.”

He obeyed, even though he continued to tremble and sob in a way their Nick never would.

It broke her heart to see the handsome face she knew so well, and not see recognition in those beautiful blue eyes. Her Nick was powerful and defiant in everything he did. Cocksure and sweet. The boy on this bed held none of the charisma or courage of her boyfriend and enemy.

Kody bit her lip as she used her powers to scan him.

To her horror, he was completely human. Not a drop of Malachai power or Nick’s true soul remained inside his body. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, except for the fact that he still had Malachai blood running through those veins. Even without the powers, the blood carried its own special properties that made Nick a very attractive trophy for those who wanted to use his blood for nefarious activities.

For that matter, his heart, eyes, or any Malachai organ, bones, and skull were even more prized by those who practiced the darkest magick.

A Malachai was the rarest and strongest of all demonkyn. Alive, they were lethal and hunted. Dead, they were priceless. It was one of the reasons a Malachai usually used the last of his powers to combust himself as he died. That ensured that no other creature could use any part of the Malachai to go after his son. To make sure nothing could ever enslave him once he was dead.

The Malachai was the most loathed and pursued creature in existence. He lived a life fraught with enemies, danger, and battle.

And this boy in front of her was in no way a fighter or a survivor.

He was Kibble. And Nick’s enemies would tear this kid apart.

Scared for them all, she met Caleb’s furious glower. “Could this have been done by whomever or whatever kidnapped his parents last night?”

Nick gasped. “My parents were kidnapped?”

She patted his cheeks. “No, Nick. Not your parents.”

“I don’t understand.” He panicked even more. As soon as he pulled away from her and cringed against the wall, a blast shot past her, into him. One that sent Nick sprawling unconscious, onto the floor.

Gaping, she arched a brow at Zavid as he lowered his hand.

With a loud snort, he rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, like you didn’t want to knock him unconscious. He’s been whining like a brat for the last hour. I couldn’t take it anymore. Instead of looking offended, you should be glad I didn’t kill him for the headache he’s given me.”

Kody scoffed at the idle threat. Because of the laws that governed demons, Zavid couldn’t harm his master. Not without causing himself an unbelievable level of agony for the rest of eternity. “You can’t kill him.”

“You seriously underestimate my threshold for pain.”

She felt a heavy desire to strangle him and test that boast. “I thought you said your powers were drained.”

“They’re slowly coming back. Shall we see if I have enough yet for another blast?”

“Stop,” Caleb growled. “Both of you. We don’t have time to fight among ourselves. We have to figure out why someone separated Nick’s body from his soul and who that creature is. Because, let’s face it, they didn’t do this for us. Or to make our lives easier.”

He’d barely finished that sentence before the room went completely dark, as if someone had flipped the switch on the sun and washed the earth in night shadows.

Kody cursed as a new fear wrapped itself around her heart. “Please, someone tell me that’s not an eclipse.”

Caleb was the first one to the window. “I’m not saying it’s an eclipse. But this round moonlike object is completely covering the sun. And it’s really windy outside.”

Of course it was. Kody groaned in agony of the portents.

Still sitting on the floor, Zavid rubbed his hand against his chin. “Does this have any significance?”

Sighing, she gave him a pained glare. “Not to anyone other than all sentient life forms on this planet … Never thought I’d envy a cockroach.”

Zavid rose slowly to his feet and went into a predator’s crouch. He turned a small circle in the room. “Do you feel that?”

Both she and Caleb nodded. There was no mistaking it. The very air grew heavy, thick. Like the hottest summer on the sun. Thunder clapped so hard, it shook the building and rattled the windows an instant before a heavy blood rain poured down outside, drenching the sidewalks with red water that ran like blood through the street. The winds outside howled with the sound of a dragon’s cry.

“Well,” Caleb said slowly. “We can look on the bright side.”

She couldn’t wait to hear this. “And that is?”

“Modern man will think it’s from a meteorite or some other natural phenomenon. At least no one will be screaming and running for the mountains.”

“Yeah, but they should.”

Zavid scowled at them. “What do you two know that I don’t?”

Kody glanced to the unconscious Nick before she answered. “Ever heard the term ‘ušumgallu’?”

“The great snake? Yeah? What about it?”

“The door on its prison is now open for business and they’re being summoned together.” Caleb jerked his chin toward the window. “That piercing screech torturing us? That’s the sound of the Šarru-Dara.” That was one of the seven demon generals who made up the ušumgallu. Each one was deadly on his own, but when the seven came together, they were invincible.

Not even the gods could stop them.

“The Blood King?” Zavid laughed nervously. “That’s not possible. Only the Malachai can summon together the ušumgallu and unleash his generals to attack.”

“Yeah, I know,” Caleb said, his voice laden with sarcasm. “But Nick’s father was killed in battle last night. Whenever the elder Malachai dies, his generals are summoned together from their prisons for one task … to end the world.”

“What?” Zavid breathed in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

Kody gave a subtle nod. “After the death of his wife and unborn child, the first Malachai arranged this as the final ‘up yours’ to the gods to ensure that if they broke their word and killed him, he’d take the world with him. Only his son, a full-fledged Malachai, can command the combined forces of the ušumgallu and send them back into their holes.”

Zavid went pale. “And if we don’t have a Malachai to stop them?”

Kody rubbed her hand over her face as she contemplated that nightmare. “The six demon generals will join forces and summon together their armies. Then they will cast down all the orders of this earth and rain hell itself upon all sentient beings for eternity. And no one, not even the gods, will be able to stop them.”

Caleb flashed a taunting grin at the Hel Hound. “Doesn’t it make you all warm and fuzzy? Just think what they’re going to do to us for fun and prizes.”

Zavid cursed under his breath. “We have to find the real Nick and stop this.” He looked at Kody. “How long do we have?”

“Till the new moon … roughly three days. At that time, the ušumgallu will unite and come into their own.”

Caleb let out a sound of disgust. “Even if we unbind Nick’s powers, there’s no way he can learn to control them in seventy-two hours.”

Kody refused to be daunted. She’d faced much worse odds … of course, she hadn’t really survived those, but still … They had no choice except to succeed. “Then we have to stop them before they’re freed and can summon their armies.”

“Where do we start?” Zavid asked.

“Absolutely no clue.” Kody glanced over at the unconscious Nick on the floor before she met Caleb’s gaze. “Did you happen to find out anything useful from our new friend before Cujo blasted him?”

“He’s from 2002 and as near as I could ascertain, he lives here in New Orleans and attends St. Richard’s.”

Her jaw dropped. “2002? Is he the same age as our Nick or older?”

Caleb used his powers to put Nick back into bed, then he buried Nick under the comforter. “He’s sixteen in his year, but apparently his reality is very different from our Nick’s. Unlike our favorite pain in the neck, this one is completely normal. As are his parents.”

Which made sense. While there were multiple dimensions and alternate realities, they were all bound by the laws of the Source. And those laws stipulated that only one Malachai could exist at one time, period, which was what had made her job so hard. Tracking down the one through time wasn’t easily done. Especially when he’d been hidden as carefully as Nick had.

Caleb sighed in disgust. “I don’t know about the two of you, but time travel isn’t one of my powers.” He looked at Zavid, who sank back to the floor.

The Hel Hound leaned his head back against the wall. “Same here. That is a very special and extremely guarded power. Only a tiny handful of species are allowed it. And Aamons aren’t one of them.”

Because the repercussions were dire. One misstep in time and the entire fabric of the universe could unravel. Even the gods tended to avoid time travel, and woe to any who willfully tampered with the time sequence. It was the most forbidden of all actions.

And the most heavily punished.

As with all things, any action taken caused an equal and opposite reaction. It was why she hadn’t killed Nick yet, even though she had every right to and had been ordered to see him dead. Why she was so careful about tampering with the lives around her. Hers was a sacred calling and it wasn’t one she took lightly.

Caleb narrowed his gaze on her. “What about you?”

“What about me, what?”

“Can you time travel?”

She intentionally didn’t answer his question. Instead, she turned her attention to Zavid. “What about your sister? She was working with Grim to bring Nick to him. Could she be behind this?”

By the shocked expression on Zavid’s face, she could tell he’d had no idea his sister had taken part in setting Nick up. The pain and grief in his bright lavender eyes seared her and made her ache that she’d caused him such bitter agony. It was a pain she was all too acquainted with.

His breathing ragged, Zavid shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was thick with raw, unshed tears. “My sister’s dead. She died a long time ago.”

Caleb’s eyes shone with his own sympathy for the Hel Hound. Like them, he’d lost everything that mattered to him, and it was hard to make it through the day, knowing you’d never see your loved ones again. “Grim must have resurrected her for some reason.”

His jaw slack, Zavid snapped his attention to Caleb. “You saw her?” There was so much agonized hope in those words that it brought tears to Kody’s eyes.

“I did. She was trying to free you from Hel.”

A single tear slid down his handsome cheek before he angrily wiped it away. “My sister was everything to me.”

Kody had to look away as unwanted memories flooded her with pain. She knew that tone of voice. Had heard it from her own overprotective brothers on more than one occasion. “She was younger?”

He nodded then wrapped his arms around himself as if he had a sudden chill. “I swore to my parents when they were killed that I’d never allow any harm to come to her.” He swallowed hard. “I failed them all.”

Caleb stepped closer to him with a pose that said he wanted blood from the ones who’d harmed a woman. A throwback to the day he’d lost the only woman he’d ever loved to the hands of his enemies. “What happened?”

A furious tic started in Zavid’s sculpted jaw. “She fell in love with an idiot, and when he ran afoul of Hel, she sold herself to the goddess to save him from his stupidity. Needless to say, it didn’t work out for either of them.”

Kody winced as she realized what had happened to the poor Aamon demon on the floor. “You went in her stead?”

He nodded. “I knew what slavery meant for our kind. I couldn’t let my sister do that. I knew she’d never survive it.”

And given the scars on his body, he was right. Nick had told her that the Norse gods had used Zavid for gladiatorial matches where they’d bled him to the brink of death. That they had dehumanized him to the point that he hadn’t even remembered his own name when Nick had met him.

They had called Zavid “Beast,” and a beast was what he’d become. All he’d known. Only Nick had seen through the feral hatred to the heart of the man.

Nick, alone, had saved Zavid when anyone else would have put their head down and kept going, leaving the Hel Hound to die. Especially after the way Zavid had attacked Nick and Caleb.

And her.

“How did your sister die?” Caleb asked quietly.

Zavid swallowed hard before he answered. “Zarelda tried to free me from the goddess.”

In that moment, Kody finally saw the true heart inside Zavid that had called out to Nick. The Malachai was always able to see straight through someone’s façade. To know their weaknesses so that he could destroy them more easily. Up until Nick, every Malachai had used that knowledge to hurt and to wound.

To kill.

Nick used it only for good.

There were so many reasons she didn’t want to kill Nick, even though she had every right to demand his head on a platter. Even though she was under orders to do so …

Trying not to think about that or her past, she met Caleb’s frown. “You think Zarelda might know something about Grim’s plan?”

“No. But she might know something useful.” Caleb shifted his gaze to Zavid. “You’re the only one of us who can summon her.”

He laughed bitterly. “No. I can’t. Hel stripped that power from me as punishment after Zarelda tried to release me. I have no telepathy whatsoever. Haven’t had it for centuries.”

That closed that door effectively. Running out of ideas, Kody turned back to Caleb. “Know any necromancers?”

Caleb gave her a wry grin. “Actually, I do. Talon can commune with the dead.”

“The Dark-Hunter?” Kody asked to make sure they were traveling along the same idea path.

“You know anyone better?”

Yes, but she’d purposely avoided Acheron. For many reasons. “How’s Talon going to react if we show up at his cabin in the middle of the day? As far as he knows, we’re human kids who hang out with Nick.”

“Point taken.” Caleb growled. “I’m out of ideas, then.”

That left her with only one other option and it was the closest thing to Acheron she dared approach with something like this—Acheron’s demon daughter. “Let me see if I can contact Simi.”

Caleb laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“Don’t scoff, oh ye who has no better idea.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Fine. Call me if she starts to eat you. Maybe I can stop her.”

From anyone else that might sound odd, but since Simi was a Charonte demon with a ferocious appetite, it was a possibility. “I think I’ll be all right. Just don’t let Cherise find out she has two unexpected house guests and that her baby boy isn’t her baby boy.”

Caleb visibly cringed. “On second thought, I’d rather go with you and take my chances with Simi.”

“Sorry, slugger. Cherise at least knows you. We can’t risk her running into the other two on her own.”

“Fine, but the next time something puts you on its menu, I will remember this.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Smiling, Kody flashed herself back to her house.

Her smile died the moment she saw the large recurve bow on her wall, over her bed. It was so hard to be with Simi when Kody knew what would one day become of them all. It was an ending they kept speeding toward, and one way or another, Kody had to derail it.

And while Simi knew Kody wasn’t human, she had yet to guess the truth of who and what she really was.

And why she was here.

Most of all, Simi had yet to realize that they were related. Every time Kody saw the demon, she wanted to hug her. To crawl into Simi’s lap like she used to do when she was little and have Simi rock her and tell her that the Simi wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. That she was the Simi’s precious akra-belle.

But those days were long gone.

And there was much more at stake than just Kody and her family.

“Simi?” Kody called, reaching out with the power she’d been taught as a toddler. Like her uncle, she had the ability to summon any Charonte, from any realm. She could even control them, but she wasn’t into that any more than her uncle had been. She didn’t believe in taking away anyone’s free will. Not for any reason.

Within a few seconds, Simi appeared before her, yawning so wide she exposed her fangs. Her black and red hair was rumpled around her small horns and as she stretched, her wings expanded.

“Were you napping?”

Simi shook herself and rose to tower over Kody. “No, silly semi-human. The Simi was sleeping. I know it daylight here, but in Similand, it the middle of the night and I was barbecuing dream sheep in my sleep.” Simi cocked her head as she took note of her surroundings. “Where’s Akri-Nick?”

Kody bit her lip. “We have a bit of a problem with that.”

“You done broke up again? No, Akra-Kody. Say it ain’t so.”

“It ain’t so.”

Simi formed a small O with her lips as she considered the alternatives. “You lose him? Where was he when he got lost? You know, you gots to be careful with them boy-people. They wander off and do all kinds of strange things. Akri once accidentally wandered off and left the Simi alone in a whole field of moo-moos and forgot to tell the Simi that they weren’t to be eaten. They’s good, but off menu. Made that old Poseidon god very angry.”

Kody laughed. “I didn’t lose him like that, Simi.”

“Oh. Then what’d you do?”

“I left him to sleep, but I think while he was sleeping he was sucked into another dimension and into the future, and someone else is now here, in his body. Can you time travel?”

Simi sucked her breath in sharply. “Akra-Kody, that’s a bad bad idea.”

“But can you do it?”

“The Simi can do lots of things, and as Akri say, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. But in this case … not without Akri, and he won’t never let the Simi do that. He’d sooner give the Simi people to eat.”

Kody sighed as she realized she’d have to go this alone. Not like that was any different than what her existence had been, but still …

She’d hoped to have some form of backup when she went into the unknown. “Then I’ll have to do it myself.”

“Alone? What? Why would you want to go and do that?”

“I have no choice, Simi. It has to be done. Nick can’t stay unprotected.”

“How you find him when you don’t know where it is you lost him?”

“I have a general idea where he is. Kind of.”

Simi quirked an eyebrow at that. “What if he moves? Boys tend to do that. A lot. They not real stationary creatures, especially when they young and virile.”

Kody laughed in spite of her fear. Simi had a valid point. “Without his powers … I don’t know if anyone can find him. We have nothing to use to pinpoint him with. But I have to try.”

Pursing her lips, Simi tapped her forefinger against them. “Why don’t Akra-Kody go ask Menyara? She always knows where Akri-Nick is.”

Honestly? Because Menyara was the one being who had the powers to see through Kody’s guise. To recognize her. Even though Kody was shielded, Menyara was also the Egyptian goddess Ma’at. And as such, her powers were infinite.

Since the day she had been sent to stop Nick, Kody had been very careful to fly below Mennie’s radar. To never look her in the eye for fear that her great-aunt would see Kody’s mother in her. Sense the bloodline they shared.

But as she heard the storms outside picking up strength as the darkest powers gathered, she knew Simi was right. They didn’t have time to play around and avoid uncomfortable situations. She had to go see her great-aunt and face the past.

Her vision swam as tears gathered in her throat to choke her.

“Is Akra-Kody okay?”

No. She hadn’t been fine in a long, long time. But she didn’t want to share that. Not even with Simi. Thanks to the Malachai, she was alone in this world, and stronger than any being should ever have to be.

“I’m fine, Simi. I’ll go ask her like you suggested.” As she started to flash away, Simi took her hand and squeezed it so that she could teleport with Kody. As much as she wanted Simi with her, she knew better. What she’d need to say to Menyara, Simi couldn’t overhear. If the demon ever learned who and what Nekoda really was, it could cause unbelievable damage to the time sequence.

Kody patted her hand. “I need to do this alone, Sim. Is that all right?”

Smiling, Simi nodded. “The Simi wait here then.” Without a second thought, Simi headed to Kody’s bed to lie down with her feet running up the wall. Simi’s toes almost reached the bow Kody had received from her mother.

Kody laughed as she remembered being a small child and sleeping the same way. It had driven her parents to distraction.

Are you a Charonte simi, too?

Yes! she’d always answered back, proud to sleep like her favorite aunt. Many times, she’d napped on Simi’s stomach with her legs propped on top of Simi’s, while Simi kept her arms wrapped so tightly around Kody that it had been hard to breathe. Even so, Kody had never complained. Every child should be enveloped in such love. And so long as Simi held her like that, she’d known that nothing and no one could ever harm her.

Not without Simi eating them whole for it.

And both Simi and her husband had died while protecting Kody from the Malachai. Even now, Kody could see the horror of that night in her mind. She’d barely been school age when the Malachai’s army had found their hiding place. Simi and her husband had stayed behind to hold the Malachai back while Kody’s brother had run with her into the night.

Ari had used his own powers to shield her from their demonic pursuers. “I will keep you safe, Belami. Always. Nothing’s going to hurt you so long as I live.”

And just like Simi and her husband, Ari had fallen to the Malachai. Everyone Kody loved had been destroyed by the beast Nick was destined to become.

How can I fight for him?

You have no choice. Only Nick can defeat the ušumgallu. She had to save him. He was the only hope they had.

The time sequence couldn’t stop here. It had to go forward. Too many lives depended on her, as well as the fate of the entire world.

Determined, she flashed herself to the front porch of Menyara’s small duplex condo that Menyara had once shared with Nick and his mother.

Kody took a moment to compose herself. Because Menyara was her blood family, it was always hard for her to be around Menyara and not betray herself. Every time Kody saw the petite primal goddess, she wanted to throw herself into her arms and cry. To tell Menyara who she was and what was to come.

But she couldn’t, not without destroying everything.

With a ragged breath, Kody knocked on the door and braced herself to meet her aunt.

Dressed in a light yellow cotton dress, Menyara opened the door and arched a brow at her. Today, she had her sisterlocks curled about her beautiful face.

Kody ached to bury her hand in them like she’d done as a child. Back then, whenever Menyara visited, she’d rock Kody and sing ancient Egyptian lullabies to her. Kody would twist her fingers in Menyara’s hair and bury her face in the rose-and-hyacinth-scented strands until she fell asleep, nestled in Mennie’s warmth.

How she loved this woman.

Menyara smiled at her. “Miss Kody, to what do I owe this honor?”

Kody opened her mouth to tell her what had happened to Nick, but no sound would come out. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe at all. Her throat tightened as if someone was choking her. Tears gathered in her eyes.

Then everything went dark.