Infamous

CHAPTER 17

Nick opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in the Nether Realm again.

Instead, he was inside a temple with a golden roof that had forest scenes of deer and other animals on it. Sunlight poured in through the white columns.

Am I dead?

“No, you’re not dead.” The heavily accented voice was thick with an accent he knew extremely well. Greek.

Nick turned his head to see a vision in a long white dress that left her right shoulder bare. Her vivid red hair fell all the way down her back in thick, fat curls. Her skin was flawless as a goddess’s should be.

“Artemis? What am I doing here?”

“We made a bargain, did we not?”

“We did.”

“Well then, I can’t have you being fought over by Thorn and Noir, can I?”

He supposed not. “Why am I so sluggish?”

“It’s the drugs they’re giving you. They affect you even in this realm.”

Who knew? Nick tried to sit up, but it was useless.

“Just relax. Rest until you awaken in the human realm.”

Nick nodded and closed his eyes. He saw himself again, summoning Artemis to heal Kody. At the time, he hadn’t been sure it would work. But in addition to being goddess of the hunt, Artemis was also a healer, and a protector of children and women. At least that was what Kyrian had told him.

As a precaution should one of the Daimons or something else try to eat him while Kyrian couldn’t help, he’d given Nick his ring that held Artemis’s symbol. And then Kyrian had told Nick how to use the ring to summon the goddess.

In the beginning of their relationship, Nick had thought Kyrian crazy. But over the last year, he’d learned crazy wasn’t what it used to be. And instead of selling Kyrian’s ring, he’d kept it just in case.

Nick had been willing to give Artemis his soul. Instead, she had only taken some of his blood. But she’d sworn him to absolute secrecy. He couldn’t tell anyone that he’d seen her.

“Why did you agree to help Kody?” he asked.

Artemis shrugged. “She’s a warrior. A huntress of her own. I have a soft knot for such women.”

Nick started to correct her mixed-up idiom, then caught himself. It was never wise to correct a god. “I still don’t understand.”

“It’s not for you to understand. Now rest. Soon you will have a battle to fight and you will need all of your strength.”

He tried to ask her what battle, but he was too weak to even do that. Against his will, he went back to sleep.

When Nick finally came to, he found himself in the ER again. At this point, they should just keep a room reserved for him—or a frequent patient card or something. What the heck? Name the hall after him since he was now on a first-name basis with half the staff.

Kyrian and his mother were there, along with Acheron and Kody.

His mother glared at him. “You are trying to put me in an early grave, aren’t you?”

“Really not.”

“You’re lucky, Nick” Kyrian said. “You have a broken arm, but the rest of it is superficial.”

“Thank the gods you have a hard head,” Acheron added. “I honestly didn’t think you’d make it given what I saw. That man was definitely after your life.”

Even so, Nick felt bad for the man. While he didn’t appreciate the beating, he well understood the man’s motivation. “What about Mr. Quattlebaum?”

Kyrian sighed. “He was arrested for battery.”

“He’s lucky I didn’t get ahold of him,” his mother growled.

“Yeah,” Kyrian agreed. “Come to find out, he’s been stalking you for the last few days, waiting until he could get you alone and attack.”

So Nick hadn’t been imagining that. Someone was watching him. Here Nick had been looking for something paranormal when it’d been a human …

Nick froze as his memory drifted to what he’d seen just before he’d passed out. Quattlebaum hadn’t been alone. He turned his head to meet Kody’s gaze. There’s a Trexian on the loose, he projected his thoughts to her.

She widened her eyes. Are you sure?

He nodded. I think it might be behind all of this.

Trexians were very similar to Ash’s Atlantean goddesses. They thrived on causing turmoil.

It all made sense.

And the only one who could find a Trexian was one of its victims. The earlier the victim, the easier to track it. And Nick had a pretty good idea who the first victim had been.

Hah, Caleb! I do read. And all that he remembered from the last time he’d consulted his grimore.

He turned his attention back to Kody. I need you to get Brynna for me.

One of Kody’s brows shot northward as a little green monster flared in her eyes. “Excuse me?”

Everyone turned to look at her expectantly.

Kody’s face flushed bright red. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

As soon as they stopped looking at her, she glared at him. Brynna?

I’m going to lay a bet that she was the original target, and even though I was one of his targets, because I’m not fully human, I’m not sure if my confronting the demon will work.

Okay, that makes sense. You’re out of the doghouse. For now.

Good, ’cause he didn’t like the scenery there. It was a cold, arctic place. While he could get into the doghouse with ninja speed, getting out of it wasn’t usually this easy. Let’s hear it for near-death experiences.

And once Kody left, he spent the next half hour arguing with his mother on why he didn’t need to stay the night for observation. It was Acheron who finally convinced her.

“We’ll keep an eye on him, Cherise, I’m sure he’ll be much more comfortable at home.”

Once she agreed with Ash, it seemed to take him forever to get out of the hospital and headed back home.

His mom ranted the whole way. Wow … too bad nagging wasn’t an Olympic sport. His mom would easily take the gold. “I can’t believe you were attacked again. He better be glad the police have him. If I ever lay eyes on him…”

“Mom, breathe. He only did what you’re threatening to. He thinks I raped his daughter. We’re both lucky he doesn’t have your temper or a gun, otherwise, I’d be dead.”

She reached over and squeezed the hand on his broken arm.

Nick yelped. “Now? Now you want to hold my hand? I swear, Ma, you’re twisted.”

She rolled her eyes at him, then parallel parked in a space in front of their apartment.

Nick got out and waited for her. “Are you going back to work?” Please, please go back to work.…

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

Of course not. That would make his life too easy. C’mon, please, go to work. I’ll be fine.

“But you know, Nicky, you’re looking fine to me. I think I’ll go on.”

Was that his powers? Could it be one of them was actually working?

She handed him her keys. “You can let yourself in, right?”

“Yeah. Are you walking to work?”

“I normally do.”

Then he decided to test his powers to see if it was him or just weird luck. Take the car. You might need it.

His mother paused mid-step, then turned around. “But you know, I might need it, and given what happened to you … Yeah, I better take it to work.”

Nick gaped at the fact that he finally had a working power. And it was a good one too!

“Let me let you in.”

He waited until she’d unlocked the door and left before he summoned Kody and Caleb. Luckily, after Kody had talked to Brynna about Nick’s plan, Kody had then explained everything to Caleb.

“And you’re sure you saw a Trexian?” Caleb asked. “You were in the middle of another near-death experience. The chemicals in the brain can kick up all kinds of weirdness with that type of stress.”

“I’m sure, Caleb. Since I’ve been on house arrest, I’ve taken your advice and have overcome my bibliophobia. I’ve been doing a ton of research.”

Caleb appeared shocked, then impressed. “Really?”

“Yeah, you know they have all kinds of information online.”

Caleb passed an irritated smirk at Kody. “He can find more ways to navigate out of something he doesn’t want to do than anyone I’ve ever met. Impressive. Irritating, but impressive.”

“So what’s the plan?” Kody asked.

“I’m going to pick up Brynna and then we’re going to pay the Trexian a visit.”

Or Nick was going to jail for a really, really long time.…

Brynna was still protesting as they stood outside of Dina Quattlebaum’s house. “Nick, I’ve known her most of my life. You’re absolutely wrong about her. She didn’t do this.”

He refused to listen to her. “Then we can apologize. But I don’t think I’m wrong. I know I’m right. Think about some of the things written on the site. The feelings of being invisible.”

Brynna scoffed. “Everyone feels invisible at times. Dina’s no different than anyone else. Believe me, she wouldn’t hurt a flea. Never mind me, or anyone else.”

“Bryn, if I’m wrong, we apologize and go home. But if I’m right…”

All of this would stop.

“Fine. Go on, then. Embarrass yourself. I’m right behind you.”

Kody stopped them. “That might not be a good idea, since we don’t know if she lied about her rape, or not. If she really was attacked, and she’s not lying about that part, seeing Nick might unhinge her.—For all we know, her attacker really looked like him.”

She had a point. A very good one.

“Nick, stay in the bushes and I’ll check it out.” Brynna went up the walkway.

Hoping for the best, Nick came in from the side of Dina’s yard. He’d just ducked into the hedges that surrounded the ornate front porch, when Brynna knocked on the door.

No one answered.

Brynna glanced at him. “Maybe she’s not home.”

Nick knew better. He could sense people inside the house. Most of all, he could feel the deep sadness and hatred that fed the demon part of him. “Try again.”

She did.

After a few seconds, the door opened slowly. Dina stood there in a pair of dingy sweats and an oversized gray sweatshirt. Her hair was in pigtails, and it was obvious she’d been crying. Her eyes were swollen and her nose red. Sniffing, she frowned at Brynna. “What are you doing here?” Could there be anymore hatred in that one single word?

“You haven’t been in school for the last few days and you haven’t returned my calls. I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine. Just leave me alone, okay?” She started to close the door.

Brynna stopped her. “Why have you been crying?”

“I haven’t been crying.”

Yeah, right.

“Then that’s one bad allergy you have. Have you been to a doctor about it?”

If looks could disintegrate people, Brynna would be porch dust. “Why don’t you just go back to your perfect little life and leave me alone. I’m not your pet project, you know?”

Brynna scowled. “What are you talking about?”

Dina sneered at her. “You’re such a bitch, Brynna. Go.”

Brynna refused. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re friends. And I don’t understand where all of this animosity is coming from. What has happened to you?”

“You want to know? You really want to know?”

Brynna was aghast. “Of course.”

Dina sniffed. “Who did you ask to be on your stupid committee? Huh?”

Brynna appeared stumped as she tried to remember.

“You’re so pathetic,” Dina snarled. “Okay, let me help you. Who did you not ask that you should have?”

Brynna’s scowl deepened. “Well … Casey had cheerleading practice so I didn’t ask her.”

Screwing her face up, Dina grimaced at her, then tried to slam the door in Brynna’s face.

Brynna caught it again. In that instant her eyes lit up as she finally understood what Dina was talking about. “You? You’re mad at me because I didn’t ask you?”

“Of course I’m mad at you. You slapped me in my face, in front of everyone.”

“How?”

“We’re supposed to be friends, remember? Everyone knows that except you. I waited and waited for you to ask me, but you didn’t, did you? No. I’m not good enough to be part of the Brynna Addams posse. You didn’t even bother to get the license plate number of the bus you threw me under, did you? No. Because you don’t care. It’s all about you, all the time. You couldn’t care less about anyone else.”

Brynna snapped her jaw shut and looked straight through Dina. “Have you lost every shred of sanity? Really? What are you thinking? I didn’t ask you because you hate dances with a passion. You’re always ranting and ranting about them and how lame you think they are. How you’d rather be set on fire than look like an idiot in public. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, your exact words … ‘It’s just an excuse for horny teenage boys to publicly grope girls and get away with it.’ The last thing I want is to feel one of those”—she made air quotes with her hands—“disgusting things rub up against me while I’m dressed nice. Nor do I want to bump and grind on a girl. If I want to pay homage to Sappho, I’ll write her a poem. Is that not verbatim your constant tirade?”

Now it was Dina’s turn to sputter.

But Brynna gave her no reprieve. Not while she was on a roll. “That is why I didn’t invite you. I didn’t think you’d enjoy it, and given your most voiced negative feelings about dances, I thought it would make you mad if I asked. I figured you’d think that was an insult. Excuse me for trying to save your feelings. But no, it’s not me, is it? You were looking for a reason to be angry at me, because I guarantee if I had asked, you would have been offended and you would have accused me of not paying attention to you or caring enough to really listen to your rants. Of not being a real friend because a real friend wouldn’t have asked, knowing how you felt about dances.”

As Dina became more flustered, her skin began to mottle. Her eyes turned glassy.

This wasn’t good.

Terrified for Brynna, Nick jumped up on the porch. Just as he reached her, Dina lunged for Brynna and slammed into his broken arm. The pain from it was staggering. He clenched his fist against the cast, but not even that helped. For ten seconds, he feared he might pass out from it.

But after that, something peculiar happened. He felt a charge in his powers similar to what he’d experienced in jail. It was like they went into overdrive.

Dina’s teeth elongated. Her eyes turned solid white as she snarled and hissed, trying to kill them.

From someplace deep inside, Nick tapped his inherited memories that came from his father and all the Malachai before him.

He caught Dina with his good arm and hauled her back from Brynna. When he spoke, it was in the Malachai’s voice and in his native tongue. “You have no right to possess this girl. Let her go.”

The demon protested its orders. “She invited me in. She wanted me.”

“And you have used her against me. Have you any idea what I do to demons who come against me?”

The demon sniveled obsequiously. “Forgive me, Master. But remember, I have helped you grow stronger. You have learned from me.”

Nick tightened his grip. “And there are much better ways to teach.” With his powers and the words Xenon had taught him when they’d gone up against his coach, Nick forced the beast out of Dina.

As soon as she was free of the demon, she passed out in his arms. Nick laid her down on the porch at Brynna’s feet.

“Watch her.”

Eyes wide, Brynna nodded.

Nick went after the Trexian to keep it from jumping into someone else’s body. But instead of fleeing, it went into attack mode. With a resounding cry, it spun on him.

Kody froze as she saw the Trexian tackle Nick. She took a step forward to help him, but Caleb caught her. “What are you doing? He has to learn to protect himself. We can’t keep jumping in and helping him.”

Kody didn’t want to hear that. “But—”

“No, buts, Kody. If you want him to live and to thrive, he has to do this himself.”

Easier said than done. “He’s hurt.”

“And it’s strengthening him. Look.”

She did, and he was right. Since the Malachai was born of the darkness, it was those negative emotions that fueled him.

Still, she cringed every time the demon got a punch in. It went low and swept Nick’s feet out from under him. But instead of falling to the porch, Nick twisted his body and even with his arm in a sling, flipped to land on his feet.

The Trexian tried to bite him. He caught it in one hand and drove it back.

Nick felt his grip weakening. While he’d had the demon under control, he was fast losing it and he wasn’t sure why.

“You are not the Malachai,” it sneered, mocking him. “You don’t have your full powers. You are nothing. Worthless spittle on the sidewalk. Trash.”

That last word, instead of kicking him in the gut and making him feel less than human as it had in the past, fortified and angered him. For the first time in his life, he realized it wasn’t true.

Nick Gautier was not trash. And he fully understood Grim’s warning about how silkspeech and influence could backfire.

He smiled at the Trexian. “Baby, I ain’t trash. Trash is something you throw away. My people keep me.”

And with that, he felt his powers rise up and shoot out.

The Trexian screamed as Nick finally banished it back to the darkness that had birthed it.

Unfortunately, as it went, so did Nick’s anger. And it left so fast that it zapped every bit of his strength. One moment, he was standing. The next …

Ow …

He hit the boards on the front porch face-first. Oh yeah, they definitely had to work on this. It was not dignified to kick butt and then hit dirt like a deflated balloon.

Kody came running to his side. “Nick? Nick?”

“I’m all right … well, all right is a stretch. I should say I’m breathing. Kind of.”’Cause breathing was really hurting right now. “And I’m really wishing I’d taken something for the pain.” But unfortunately, he could never do that again. Bad things happened to him whenever he lost control of himself, and the last thing he needed was a painkiller knocking him out.

Gently, Kody rolled him over and held his head in her lap. “My poor baby, but you looked totally K-A!”

And she looked totally beautiful.

By the time Caleb double-checked that the demon was gone and made it up to the porch, Dina groaned from where she still lay at Brynna’s feet. Pressing her hand to her head, she blinked open her eyes.

“Brynna?” she asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

Brynna scowled. “Don’t you remember?”

Dina’s brow furrowed. Then she gasped. “The locket!” She snatched it off her neck and threw it into the bushes.”

They all stared at her as if she’d been possessed again.

“What was that?” Brynna asked.

“Evil! I bought it in a store on St. Anne because I was feeling really bad. The man told me it would make me feel better about myself.”

Caleb licked his lips. “When did you buy it?”

Dina blinked. “Yesterday, after school. Bryn and Shon were talking about what they were going to do for the dance and who they wanted for the committee.” She sat up and glared at Brynna. “I kept waiting for one of you to invite me and you didn’t! Instead you invited that geek and the trash and…” Her voice trailed off as she realized the trash was also on her front porch.

“W-w-what are you doing here?” Dina gasped.

Nick wanted to stand and do his tough guy strut. Unfortunately for his ego, his body was through listening to him. “Saving your butt, but now I’m thinking I should have fed you to it.”

“Dina,” Brynna said, her voice dropping an octave. “That wasn’t yesterday. That was weeks ago.”

“No, it was yesterday.”

Brynna shook her head.

Nick’s phone rang. And of course, it was in the pocket under his broken arm. He tried to reach it and couldn’t. “Um, help, somebody.”

Caleb backed up. “Ah, heck no, I ain’t even groping in another guy’s pants pocket. Forget it. That’s your girlfriend’s job.”

Laughing, Kody reached in for it. For a full minute, Nick felt no pain whatsoever. All he felt was her hand sliding against his thigh. Yeah, he liked that. Definitely worth getting beaten with a bat to have her do that.

She pulled his phone out and answered it. “It’s Madaug.” She handed it to him.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“Me and Mark finally cracked the site. It was weird. At first the code was like some living entity. Everything we tried, it deflected. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then a couple of minutes ago, bam. It opened right up. Go figure.”

Because a few minutes ago was when Nick had banished the demon. “Let me guess, the site is owned by Dina Quattlebaum?”

“Close.” Madaug sounded impressed. “Her father. How did you know that?”

Nick glanced over to her. “Really lucky guess. Tell Mark I said thanks, and Madaug…”

“Yeah?”

“Good job, buddy. You’re the best.”

“No problem. Talk to you later.”

Nick hung up and sadly slid his phone into a pocket he could reach. “That was Madaug.”

Caleb crossed his arms over his chest. “We heard.”

Nick sat up slowly to meet Brynna’s gaze. “We found out who posted those photos of you, and who’s been running the trash site about our classmates.”

Dina’s face went white. “How do you know about my domain?”

“That was you!” Brynna shrieked. “You made photos of me … of me…”

The all-out panic on Dina’s face said that part of the cruelty had been spawned purely out of her own jealousy and anger, not the demon’s.

“Why would you do something like that?” Brynna yelled.

“It was a joke.”

Brynna curled her lip. “No one laughed.”

“Oh please … you and all your rich friends with your perfect Norman Rockwell lives … you all deserve to be knocked off your high horses.”

Brynna screwed her face up. “My life isn’t perfect, Dina. Good grief, my parents are divorced and they split us kids up like we’re silverware. The one person in this world I love, loves someone else. I’m flunking math. I’ve flunked my learner’s test four times now. I have a little brother who’s a monster and my parents won’t correct him. And I’m the only Addams in nine generations who can’t cook. Believe me, there is nothing perfect about my life. And you don’t see me maliciously attacking other people over it. I’ve read your aweful hate-filled postings. You’re the one who thinks you’re superior to us. And at the end of the day, what makes you angry isn’t the money or the clothes or popularity. It’s because you’re jealous over the fact that even though our lives aren’t perfect, even though life is doing its best to bring us to our knees, too, we still manage to be happy. In spite of everything, we don’t attack other people and we laugh at things that are funny. And sister, no one worth a damn laughs at cruelty. That’s what you’re really jealous over. And that is what makes us better than you. We’re compassionate human beings, not conniving, self-serving, bitter harpies spreading misery everywhere we go.”

“You’re an idiot. You don’t know anything.”

Brynna went to slap her, but Kody caught her hand.

“She’s not worth it.”

“Oh, trust me, she so is.”

Nick shook his head. “Let her live, Bryn. The best revenge in the world? Let her face the people she’s attacked at school. People like her think they’re safe at home, making masked attacks on a glowing computer screen against people who’ve never harmed them. And while the anonymity seems to keep them safe, the Internet is the one place where you can be identified absolutely. Every IP is unique to the user and dedicated logs are kept. You can be found. And even if the person you attack doesn’t retaliate, it doesn’t matter. Karma will get you, and she’s a nasty bugger once you rile her. Absolutely no one escapes her wrath.” He looked at Dina. “I’m truly sorry for what you’ve brought on yourself. Right now, I’m so glad I’m not you.”

Brynna lifted her chin with dignity as she stared Dina down. “I can’t believe I almost let someone as petty as you drive me to suicide. What was I thinking? But you know what? I’ve learned who my friends are.” Her gaze went to Nick, Kody, and Caleb. “And I’ve learned who they’re not. As my mama used to say, sometimes you just have to run the snakes out of your garden. Have a nice life, Dina. But the saddest thing is I know you won’t until you learn that when someone has something you don’t it doesn’t take anything away from you. Ever.” And with those words spoken, she headed off the porch.

Nick made a Yoda gesture at Dina. “May the Force be with you.”

They left Dina on her porch and made their way back to the sidewalk. Nick draped his arm around Kody’s shoulders.

“So, how are you going to get her to apologize to everyone?” Kody asked.

Nick quirked a lopsided grin. “Trust me. Now, please,” he whimpered, “get me home before I fall over. I am in pain. Lots and lots of pain. Giant, Malachai-sized pain.”

Kody bit her bottom lip as she scanned him. “We’ll get you there. And when we do, I’ll kiss your boo-boos.”

Yeah, she definitely had more power than he did. Because those last four words erased every bit of pain in his body.