But he wasn’t responding at all.
She shook him more vigorously. And still he didn’t move.
Caleb? She tried to reach him again.
He didn’t answer, either. Panic consumed her. What was going on?
Was she too late? Had Noir already captured them?
No, it couldn’t happen. It didn’t bear thinking on.
Her heart racing, she kept trying. She was the only hope they had.
I won’t let you guys down. I promise.
Nick was quickly learning that on the paranormal food chain, he was kibble. And everyone else above him on that chain wanted a bite out of his hide.
That being said, Bane, Caleb, and Thorn were taking the brunt of the fight so that they could keep him from being dragged off by one of the others.
If only I’d brought my sword with me.
He knew better than to let that out of his sight. It was one of the few things he’d been given that never let him down. The sword always worked the way it was supposed to. Pointy end went into his enemies and made them bleed.
Simplicity of design and dependability were beautiful things.
Oh, wait a second …
A weird thought occurred to him as he bashed one of the demons over the head with the book in his hands.
Could he summon his sword into this realm? It was infused with part of his DNA. Supposedly it was in tune with him, and he’d been working for months on the ability to summon his sword when he needed it. It was supposed to come to him on his command.
Nothing else worked the way it was supposed to, why should the sword obey him? Especially since he was in another dimension.
Still, it was worth a try. An effort wouldn’t cost him anything.
Not trying was a guaranteed failure.
Closing his eyes, Nick did his best to imagine the sword in his hand, its ornate hilt filling his palm. Just as he started feeling the heft of it in his hand, he was struck in the chest.
Nick staggered back as something else hit him and pain exploded through his entire body. He opened his eyes to see mortent demons right on top of him. Ah now, that was just rude. And he was tired of dealing with mortents. They smelled and they were just plain old obnoxious.
Other demons had Thorn on the ground. Caleb was bleeding profusely and Bane was pinned into a corner.
Man or mouse …
Time to be judged and he better not be lacking.
Nick opened himself up to the ether and let it whisper to him, at the same time he called for his sword. Light exploded all around them. Half the demons hissed, shrinking back from it.
Holding his hand up, Nick continued to whisper even as he was forced to avert his eyes from the light to keep from going blind.
The other half of the demons renewed their fight to reach him. And as they drew so close that he could feel their fetid breath on his skin, a clap of thunder rang out in his head. One second, they were nipping at his heels, in the next, he drove them back with a booming blast that sent all of them tumbling.
Nick started to laugh, until he realized that he couldn’t turn whatever it was off. Worse, it was building up, faster and faster, trying to take control of him. He cried out as pain rushed through his veins. It felt like he was burning from the inside out.
Caleb shouted something at him, but he couldn’t hear it.
I’m dying.
And there was nothing they could do to stop it.
CHAPTER 10
Nick felt his life force draining out of him. Then, just before the darkness took him under completely, he fell back into nothing. Desperate, he tried to grab on to something to stop his rapid descent. Anything.
Still, he fell.
Until he hit a sharp object that stabbed him so deeply, he was surprised it wasn’t protruding through his chest. He waited for …
He didn’t know. Disoriented and sick, he only wanted to wake up at home and have everything back to normal.
But that was easier said than done.
I have to face whatever it is.
Opening his eyes, he went rigid, unable to believe his sight. For once, it wasn’t something from a horror movie. Instead, he stared into the face of heaven and it was smiling brightly at him. “Kody?”
She clutched his hand. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“So did I.” He tried to move, then groaned as absolute misery pierced him. “Did you beat me?”
“I didn’t, but someone did.”
Bristol.
How could he have forgotten? The worm had jumped him on his way to Liza’s.
All of a sudden, Caleb appeared in human form on the opposite side of the bed. Thank goodness, he lived, but the peeved light in his eyes said he wanted to finish what Bristol had started.
Then, he glared at Kody. “Could you have cut that any closer?”
She gestured to Nick. “Talk to your friend here. He was the one who wouldn’t wake up.”
“Yeah,” Caleb breathed, turning his vicious glare back to Nick. “What was that you did?”
He scowled. “What do you mean?”
“Do you recall the Nether Realm?”
Duh. Not exactly something you’d forget without massive amounts of electroshock therapy. “Of course I do, and I never want to go there again.”
“That makes two of us.”
Kody glanced back and forth between them. “So what happened?”
Caleb jerked his chin toward Nick. “Your boyfriend turned into a human torch and annihilated a number of demons before you yanked him out of there.”
She appeared impressed by his description. “A torch? Really?”
Caleb nodded. “So what happened, Gautier? What’d you do?”
Shrugging, he tried to remember. “What always seems to happen when I’m under attack. I was trying to summon my sword and then something from deep inside me grabbed ahold of me. Next thing I know, you’re yelling at me to not use those powers. I kill a bunch of stuff and then you yell at me again for not listening to you.”
Caleb didn’t appear nearly as amused by his explanation as Kody did. “You need someone to yell at you.”
Nick snorted. “Got plenty of volunteers for that job. Really don’t need any more.”
Caleb made a sound of supreme annoyance.
“Is he awake?”
Kody stepped back so that his mother could run to the bed and throw herself over him.
Nick grunted as his mother struck one of his sore ribs. “Ma, you’re killing me.”
She lifted her head to glare at him. “Good, I want to kill you. I swear, Nick, you’re going to be the death of me.”
A stab of pain lacerated his heart at her words. It was a bad reminder of why Ambrose was doing this.
To keep his mother alive from whatever he’d done that had gotten her killed.
Guilt gnawed at him. Not just over what he’d done in the past to hurt her, but over whatever future stupidity he was going to commit. He’d put her through enough. He didn’t want to do anything else to make her cry. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“No, baby. I’m the one who’s sorry. When I told you not to fight, I didn’t mean for you to not protect yourself. I never, ever meant for that.”
Her words confused him even more. “But Mom, all my fights are me defending myself. I never throw the first punch.”
She grimaced at him. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”
His indignant anger begged him to lash out at her for that comment. But he held it back. “I’ve tried, repeatedly, and all you do is ‘don’t but Mom, me, Nick’ and then you refuse to hear anything I say.”
Sniffing, she swallowed hard. “I’m sorry about that, Boo. I’m going to try and do better. I promise. And you can fight anytime you want, okay? Just don’t let them hurt you like this ever again. I’d much rather bail you out of jail than put you in a cemetery.”