Illusion: Chronicles of Nick

by Kenyon, Sherrilyn

He gathered his grandkids to him and held them against his side while he narrowed his gaze on Nick. The anger inside it was searing. “Do you know how rare Arelim are?”

  Nick shifted nervously. “Since I’ve never heard the term before, I’ll go with very. Why?”

  “Why is my question for you. Why would they be after a mere human boy?”

  Nick shrugged. “My sexy wardrobe tips?”

  Acheron growled, exposing his fangs, as he tightened his hold on his grandkids. “I’ve had it with your smart mouth.” Before Nick could comment, he shouted. “Xirena!”

  Ash had barely finished the name before a huge Charonte demon appeared in front of them.

  Nick’s jaw went slack. How was this possible? Savitar had told him that there weren’t any Charonte in this realm. He started to say something about that then decided to wait. This probably wasn’t a good time to go into it. And this Charonte appeared even more surly than the Simi Nick was used to whenever Simi ran out of barbecue sauce, early in her meal.

  Taller than Acheron, Xirena had blond hair and red eyes. And while Nick’s Simi was always cute and a little scary, this one was beautiful and terrifying.

  If that was what a full-grown Charonte looked like, Nick would take Simi’s adorable Gothness any day.

  Xirena’s sudden appearance made him wonder if Acheron was going to hand her a bottle of barbecue sauce, point to Nick, and say, “Bon appétit.”

  “You summoned me, my lord?”

  Scary Acheron released his grandkids and nudged them toward her. “Protect them with your life. Call me if anything comes near them.”

  She inclined her head to him.

  “Grandpa—” Simi vanished with her brother and Xirena before she could utter another sound.

  Acheron turned his full attention to Nick, who suddenly felt like a mosquito in a science lab jar. “Now, you and I are going to chat.”

  “I thought that was what we’d been doing.”

  “No … and if you don’t tell me everything about yourself, I’m going to feed you to my Aamon. But not before I rip out your guts just enough to leave you living in utter agony. Understood?”

  Nick wasn’t afraid of that threat, just very apprehensive. Mostly because he knew the ancient being could definitely carry it out. “Got it. But first, you have to promise that you won’t hand me over to my enemies or cause anyone I care about to be harmed.”

  Acheron scoffed. “Are you out of your mind to try and make a deal with me?”

  “No.” Nick kept his emotions under control and a lid on his sarcasm. “If I’m going to die, it’s on my own terms and alone. It won’t be after I’ve told you something that could get a lot of people I love hurt. Do you understand?”

  The ancient immortal considered it before he finally acquiesced. “Very well.”

  Screwing his face up, Nick hesitated. “You didn’t say the magic words.”

  “Please?”

  “No. That you promise not to hand me over to my enemies or see the people I love get hurt.”

  The expression on Acheron’s face telegraphed his anger and irritation. But luckily, he didn’t act on either. “Fine,” he said at last. “I promise not to hand you over to your enemies or allow the ones you love to be harmed because of what you say. Now tell me everything.”

  “That still binds you in this realm, right? You once told me that you can’t go back on a promise without dying.”

  Acheron stiffened. “I didn’t tell you any such thing.”

  Nick held his hands up to calm the rising anger that caused Acheron’s eyes to turn as red as Xirena’s. “True or false. You can’t break a promise?”

  Again, Acheron hesitated before he answered. “True.”

  “Okay.” Nick took a deep breath and braced himself for the worst, because he didn’t think Ash would handle this news well. “I really am the Malachai.”

  Bingo. Acheron mind-gripped him and shoved him against the wall with enough force to make it count.

  “It’s the truth!” Nick ground out from his constricted throat.

  “Don’t lie! You’re human!”

  “Separated from my body.”

  “Yes, you’re about to be.”

  Nick shook his head. “Seriously, dude? I tell you the truth and this is how you do me?”

  The grip left his neck so fast that he almost fell.

  Acheron’s eyes returned to silver as he paced a small area in front of Nick. “Very well. Explain.”

  Rubbing his neck, Nick put some distance between them. Not that it really mattered, but it made him feel a little more in control. “Somehow, someone separated me from my body and sent me here, into your realm.”

  “The body you’re in now? Are you telling me it’s not yours?”

  Nick held his arms out. “Definitely not mine. Trust me. I’m much goofier in my real body. This belongs to some human kid I never knew existed until I woke up as him. I think he was sent into the past to live in my body and I was yanked here to this realm to be inside his. But he does have the better wardrobe. Props to his mom.”

  Acheron cursed. “And the Arelim are after you and have attacked me to get to you. Care to tell me why?”

  “I’m the Malachai?”

  The red returned to Acheron’s eyes.

  “Dude, look, I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know what they are so I can’t even begin to guess why they’re here for me. The most common answer whenever something wants to eat or capture me is that I’m my father’s son. If you have another suggestion, I’m all ears. Personally, I’d like to be wanted for something else, like my sexy, studly appeal, once in a while.”

  Acheron began pacing again. “That does explain Thorn’s interest.”

  “He’s into my nerdy, sexy, studly appeal?”

  Ash completely ignored his comment. “As the Malachai, you have the ability to command him in this dimension.”

  “Really? ’Cause I told him to leave me alone and he definitely played Beethoven.”

  Pausing, Ash had an expression on his face of confusion mixed with severe intestinal woe. “The composer? Why would he play his music?”

  Wow, for an ancient beast who’d probably had dinner with the man, Acheron could be remarkably obtuse. “No. Thorn played deaf. Like Beethoven.”

  Snorting, Acheron shook his head. “Where are your powers?”

  “Wish I knew. Wish I had them. They were bound up tight when my father died.”

  Acheron curled his lip as if he was standing knee-deep in a sewer. “Why?”

  “For my safety. I was having a hard enough time learning my own powers and not killing someone while I did so. Last thing any of us wanted was for me to have even more psychic crap I couldn’t control. I could’ve put my eye out or lost another body part or something … Maybe even added one or two.”

  That only seemed to confuse Ash more. “You haven’t had your powers from birth?”

  “No. I had no idea I was a Malachai’s son until a few months back, really.”

  “Fascinating.” Ash paused to scowl at him. “And what demon class is your mother?”

  “Not. She’s human.”

  Ash gaped at the news. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why would a Malachai procreate with a human?”

  Nick shrugged. “Pretty sure he didn’t mean to. He definitely didn’t think much of me. Other than the male fruit of his loins was a keen disappointment.”

  His scowl deepening, Ash renewed his pacing. “In your realm, you were raised alone? An orphan?”

  “No. I live with my mother.”

  “Who hates you.”

  Nick sneered at the assumption. Which actually wasn’t that farfetched. The Malachai was supposed to be hated by his maternal unit. But it ticked him off that anyone would assume anything bad about his saintly mother. “Hardly. I’m all she’s got and she loves me more than anything.”

  Acheron shook his head. “You are a total freak of nature.”

  “Excusez,
pischouette! Have you looked in a mirror lately? You wouldn’t exactly win any normal awards yourself. Rather, you look like you done got dragged through the whole freak forest, and went back in for a second row.”

  Incredulous, Acheron arched his brow. “Did you just call me a little girl?”

  “That’s all you got out of what I just said?”

  “No. I heard every word, I’m only stunned you dared insult me so.”

  “Yeah, well, in case you haven’t noticed, fear ain’t exactly my friend. I don’t invite it into my house or sit with it at lunch, so it leaves me alone.”

  Ash rubbed at his brow. “And yet you’re half human.…”

  “Meaning?”

  “You should never have survived with Malachai blood. Humans are weak. I’ve never even heard of a Malachai touching one before.”

  “If you met my mother, you’d understand. She’s beautiful and loving. An angel in human form. There’s no one else like her.”

  “She’d have to be someone special to love a child conceived like you had to have been.”

  That would have stung more had it not been the truth. It was a guilt that hung heavy in Nick’s heart. “She never even told me. I knew she had no love of my father, but I assumed it was because he was a felon. She’s never once given any indication that I was different from any other wanted baby born to parents who dated each other.” Tears choked him as he thought back to all the times his mother had sacrificed her life and dignity to give him things so that he wouldn’t know how poor they really were.

  All the times she’d held him as if he was the most valuable thing in the world to her.

  “You really do love your mother,” Acheron breathed in disbelief.

  “I told you that.”

  Ash continued to stare at him as if he smelled like Mark in his “special” ghillie suit. “A Malachai capable of love…”

  “Yeah, nobody’s perfect.”

  Acheron laughed. “You’ve no idea.”

  “Actually, I do.”

  The Atlantean fell silent as he continued to pace. Awkward with the sudden intensity of Ash’s thinking, Nick debated the sanity of interrupting him. He really wanted to, but there was an air about Ash that said he needed a few minutes to get a handle on everything. And that was something Nick understood better than anyone. There was nothing about his life that was simple or easy, and especially normal. Many days, he had a hard time wrapping his own head around his reality.

  Finally, Acheron spoke again. “Why did you save Simi after what I did to you?”

  “It was the right thing to do. She never hurt me. Not her fault her granddad’s a jerk.”

  “And my Aamon? You held him off you, but you never fought him.”

  Nick shrugged. “He didn’t insult my mama. I had no real discord with him.” He glanced down at the wounds on his forearm. “A few bites ain’t nothing witch hazel won’t fix. Didn’t feel like kicking Lassie for his idiocy. Figured you probably do that enough for the both of us. No need to add to his misery. But, dude, really, you should buy him a toothbrush or Altoids, ’cause, man, his breath is nasty.”

  “And you’re the Malachai.” His tone said that Ash couldn’t reconcile any kind of compassion with Nick’s DNA. Made sense. As a Malachai, he wasn’t supposed to have any whatsoever.

  For anyone.

  But that had never been him. Nick Gautier was a different kind of beast. Unique to himself.

  Nick grinned at the confused Atlantean. “That’s what everything that has attacked me has told me. I assume they can’t all be lying.”

  Hands on hips, Acheron let out a tired breath. “I’m going to be honest. My first inclination is to murder you where you stand.”

  “Option B?”

  Ash snorted at his sarcasm. “You helped my granddaughter. For that alone, I grant you a reprieve.”

  “Gracias.”

  “Da nada.” Ash paused before he spoke again. “Actually, it is something. You are a threat to my family, therefore I only have one choice.”

  The deadly tone of his voice sent a chill down Nick’s spine. “And that is?”

  “I have to get rid of you immediately.” And by the severe tone of his voice, Nick knew Acheron didn’t mean he’d take him home.

  Ash was most likely going to kill him.

  CHAPTER 12

  One second, they were in Ash’s study, and in the next, they were in the middle of a massive and impressive war zone. Beautiful winged soldiers battled Aamons in wolf form and hell-monkeys. Axes and fire blasts mixed with snarls, hisses, and curses.

  But as soon as the winged soldiers saw Nick, they pulled back from the fighting to stare at him. Everything came to a sudden stop.

  Yeah, that was disturbing. It felt the same as standing naked in the gym in the middle of a pep rally.

  A tall winged soldier who was dressed in reddish-gold armor approached them slowly. His pale blond hair fell from under his helm to his shoulders. More than that, the soldier was pretty enough to make even the hottest swimsuit model turn green with envy. “So, Acheron, you’ve come to your senses.” He stopped abruptly, just like Kody had done when they’d tried to leave Karma’s house. Touching the invisible forcefield, he glared at Ash. “What is this?”

  Ash answered his question with one of his own. “Why do you want this boy?”

  “That is not your concern, Atlantean. Now hand him over or we’ll tear this house down.”

  With a grim gleam in his eyes, Ash held his ground. “You’re willing to go to war over a human?”

  A slow smile spread across the soldier’s face. “Are you?”

  Nick held his breath as his life hung in the balance of this conversation. He had no idea why the winged soldiers wanted him, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t to send him home with puppies, roses, and rainbows.

  The soldier glanced over his shoulder to the rest of his army and said something Nick couldn’t translate. All of a sudden, they threw their arms out in unison and sent a sonic blast toward Ash and Nick.

  Nick expected it to rebound off the force field.

  It didn’t.

  Rather, it sent both him and Ash reeling. Nick slammed against a wall with enough force to knock the air from his lungs. His back burned as his vision dimmed. Now, that stung.

  The leader stepped over Ash’s body and grabbed Nick by his arm and hauled him to his feet.

  “What are you?” Nick breathed.

  “Death.”

  Nick snorted at the arrogant tone. “No offense, I’ve met the man and he’s a lot more badass than you … prettier, too.”

  Laughing, the soldier grabbed him by the throat and choked him.

  “Ameretat!” Acheron snarled as he rose slowly to his feet. “Let him go!”

  The soldier blasted Ash away while he increased the pressure on Nick’s neck.

  Unable to breathe, Nick did his best to break Ameretat’s hold, but there was nothing he could do. His face turned hot. His ears rang fiercely.

  Just as he started to black out, Ameretat went flying. An instant later, Acheron tossed Nick over his shoulder and teleported them out.

  Coughing and wheezing, Nick tried to focus his gaze as he found himself back in Acheron’s study. Ash set him down on his feet then stepped away. He gave a shaky laugh as he met Acheron’s gaze. “Admit it, Ash. I’m too fluffy and adorable to kill.” He batted his eyelashes.

  For a second, he was sure Ash would take over where Ameretat had left off and choke the rest of the life out of him. Finally, Ash rolled his eyes and scoffed derisively. “When we get you back to your mother, you better hug her close and thank her.”

  “Not that I don’t always do that, but for what in specific?”

  “The fact that I can’t break her heart by doing what I’m sure would be the best thing for everyone. Handing you over to them.”

  Nick drew a ragged breath through his sore throat. “We both thank you for your restraint.”

  Ash ignored the comment. “I’ve never
tried to send someone into an alternate universe before. Never mind send them in and pull someone else out. But—”

  “Wait,” Nick dodged Acheron’s hand.

  “What?”

  “My girlfriend’s here, too.”

  Ash gaped in disbelief. “How do you mean?”

  “When Thorn attacked me, somehow I pulled her here. Kind of like saving Simi. No idea how it happened. It just did.”

  Cursing under his breath, Ash glared at Nick. “Where is she?”

  “She was at the convent where your hell-monkeys found me. Pretty sure she’s not there now. But that’s just a guess.”

  The expression on Ash’s face said that he was about to follow through with his threat and return Nick to his enemies. “Is she human?”

  “Kind of.”

  Ash cursed again. “I know I don’t want to ask this, but the compulsion’s more than I can bear. What’s kind of human?”

  Debating the sanity of answering, Nick decided that he owed some kind of explanation to Acheron for not allowing him to die at Ameretat’s hand. But he had a bad feeling Ash wasn’t going to like it. “She’s a ghost.”

  Acheron scowled at him. “A ghost?”

  He nodded. “Weird, right? But true nonetheless.”

  “Can’t I send you back and then you call her?”

  “I’d rather you not … just in case I can’t. No offense, but the whole girlfriend designation means I’m kind of attached to her and would be very put out if she didn’t make it back and I did.”

  “What kind of idiot dates a ghost?” The expression on Ash’s face said that he was about to send Nick back anyway. Until his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the ID. After hesitating a few more seconds, he made a sound of supreme irritation before he finally answered it. “Savitar … it’s been a while.”

  Grateful for the reprieve, Nick said a quiet prayer of thanks for Savitar’s timing.

  And that new look Ash cast in his direction told him that he was the prime subject of their conversation. A conversation that was worsening whatever intestinal woe had besieged Acheron.

  Nick cupped his hands around his mouth. “Tell Sav I said hi.”

  Acheron narrowed his eyes in warning. “Yeah, I’ll bring him to you.” He turned off the phone and grabbed Nick’s arm. Before Nick could blink, they were back in the Burdette mansion. His mom and Bubba were sitting on the couch not far from Savitar while Kody stood in one corner, chewing her thumbnail. A tall blond man Nick assumed to be Mark was next to her.