Intelligent and beautiful human beings.

Forever yours,

The Anti-Bully Brigade

Frowning, Nick looked up to see her eager expression as she waited for his response. “You wrote this?”

Her face fell instantly. “You don’t have to sound so surprised, you know?”

Nick sputtered. He wasn’t surprised. Rather, he was highly impressed. “I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just so…”

“Honest? Blunt? That’s because I wrote it right after you left my house. Your words and kindness in my darkest hour touched a place deep inside my heart. I know how far away I live from you, and yet you dropped everything and ran over to make sure I was all right. There aren’t many boys in this world who would do what you did for a friend. So thank you for being you, Nick. It meant everything to me that day.”

He was too stunned to speak as she kissed his cheek.

She took the pages back from him and then handed him an ABB button with their logo on it. “You’re our first official member.” Her hand lingered on his as she passed it over. She squeezed his fingers, then let go.

How very odd. She’d drained every bit of his anger out of him. He was so calm now. So at peace. Only his mother and Kody had ever had this effect on him.

“Whatever you do, Nick, don’t ever change.” She started away.

“Hey, Bryn?” he called.

She paused to look back at him.

“I wasn’t surprised. I was very impressed. You’re a great writer.”

Her face turned bright pink before she mumbled a low “Thank you,” and darted off.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

He scowled as Caleb moved in behind him. “What is?”

“The impact a single person can have on another. What might be a passing pleasantry to you could be a lifeline to someone else.… You saved her life, you know?”

Nick shook his head. “I just went to her house to make sure she was all right.”

Caleb leaned in closer to him to speak in a low tone. “And that’s what gives me hope that you won’t become Adarian. You have no idea how rare a gift it is to put others before yourself. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

He scoffed. “You put my safety above yours all the time.”

“Only because my continued health depends on yours.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Caleb shrugged nonchalantly. “You don’t have to. I believe me, and in this, I’m the one who counts.” He grabbed Nick by the jersey and pulled him toward the doors. “C’mon, slick, we’ve got to go before we’re late to practice. I’m not running laps because you dragged your butt, and, thanks to you, Stone’s not here to coldcock the coach today, and get us out early.”

* * *

Kody hesitated as she approached Sanctuary on Ursulines. Not because the famed bar and grill housed a menagerie of lethal shapeshifters and was owned by a family of bears, but because Nick’s mom worked there. In the past, Cherise had always been friendly to her. But she had no idea what Nick had told his mother or how Cherise would greet her today.

Still, this had to be done, and she was not a coward.

Summoning her courage, she headed for the doors that were guarded by a massive blond werebear named Dev. He had his long, curly blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and he smiled at her approach.

“Afternoon, Miss Kody. How you doing?”

“Pretty good. You?”

Flashing her a dazzling smile, he brushed his hand over the double bow-and-arrow tattoo on his biceps. “I can’t complain, but I always do.”

Kody laughed. One thing about Dev, aside from the fact that he was extremely gorgeous, he had a wicked sense of humor. “Is Cherise working?”

“She is. But her evil spawn isn’t with her.”

If Dev only knew how close to the truth those words were. “I know. I was hoping to catch her here without him.”

“Then you’re in luck. She’s on kitchen duty today. If Remi gives you any lip for being back there, let me know and I’ll reorient his attitude for you.” Remi and Dev made up half of a set of identical quadruplets. And while the four of them might look alike, Dev, Remi, Cherif, and Quinn had very different personalities. Remi was the grump of the bunch. Quinn the bashful one. Cherif Mr. Serious, and Dev the eternal charmer.

“Thanks, Dev.”

“Any time, sweetie.”

Kody walked inside and scanned the tables that were clustered around the entrance. A smile curved her lips at the coffin in the far left corner that had a sign draped over it. Written in what appeared to be blood were the words Aimee’s last boyfriend.

Aimee Peltier was the only daughter of the bear family, and she was a knockout with a body Kody would have to pay a surgeon to get. As such, Aimee’s eleven brothers and giant father tended to be a little overprotective of her.

Kody winced as that thought reminded her of her own family. Her brothers had made her every bit as crazy with their incessant interference and overprotective lunacy. Back in the day, they’d line up to inspect any guy she was interested in. Then they’d threaten him with horrific images of what they’d do if her would-be guy even so much as made her frown.

And they were angels compared to her father, who couldn’t stand anything male, other than him, his brother, and her brothers, coming near her.

Gods, how she missed them all. What she wouldn’t give to have them make her crazy one more time.…

Trying not to think about it, she headed for the bar in back. The door to the kitchen was beside it.

She nodded at Cherif, who was drying glasses and putting them away as she pushed the kitchen door open. This time of day, it wasn’t too busy. Cherise was standing at one of the steel tables, pressing out handmade biscuits.

Kody didn’t see Remi and she was more than grateful for it. The only person in the back with Cherise was the other cook, Jose, who was busy chopping vegetables.

Jose smiled at her. “Hola, Kody.”

“Hi, Jose.”

Cherise paused as she caught sight of her. A veil came down over her face, hiding her emotions and thoughts. “What are you doing here?” They could use that tone to ice down sodas.

Kody reached into her pocket and pulled out the box that held the necklace Nick had given her. Closing the distance between them, she set it on a clean area of stainless steel table next to Cherise. “I wanted Nick to have that back. I’m hoping he can get a refund for it.”

Cherise scowled. “That’s very decent of you, Nekoda. Thank you. There aren’t many girls who would be so considerate, especially not with something that cost as much as that did.”

Kody reluctantly let go of the box. Not because the necklace was valuable—she couldn’t care less about that—but because it signified the broken trust with Nick. And that she hated with every part of her. “My parents raised me better. You don’t use people, and you don’t take from them.”

She saw the sympathetic pain in Cherise’s eyes.… And the respect. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you two.”

“Me, too. But it is what it is.” She turned to leave.

“Kody?”

She looked back at Cherise with an arched brow.

“Nick is very hot-tempered … like me. It’s that spicy Cajun blood that flows thick in our veins. Give him a few days and—”

“He won’t change his mind, Mrs. Gautier. You and I both know he’s too stubborn for that. Once he makes his mind up…”

“Another thing he comes by honestly. I’d so hoped he wouldn’t inherit some of my less than desirable traits.”

Kody smiled. “Obstinance has its place, and there’s nothing wrong with being passionate about things.”

“Passionate,” his mom said wistfully. “I like that.” She went back to rolling out her biscuits. “You take care, honey. If you need anything, I’m still here for you. Nick or no Nick.”

Those words touched her deeply. And they made her ache for her own mother.

Cherise Gautier had the biggest heart that Kody had ever seen. She was an easy woman to love.

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” As Kody reached the swinging door that led back into the public area, she looked back at Cherise.

She had flour smeared across one cheek and her blond hair was pulled up into a bun. Even so, she was incredibly beautiful. In the back of her mind, Kody saw Cherise’s alternate life. Had his mother put Nick up for adoption as her parents had wanted, she would have gone on to Tulane University and would have been married to a lawyer now, living the life of a rich socialite. Instead of an only son, she would have had three daughters who looked just like her. Cherise would have never known the degradations and poverty she’d faced with an infant and no place to call home.

But to Cherise, Nick was so worth every bit of it and then some. You could see it in her eyes every time she looked at her son. She loved him completely, and there were no regrets inside her at all.

And if I kill him, it will destroy her.

Cherise wouldn’t be able to function without her son. Not after she’d suffered so much to keep and raise him.

Kody looked up at the ceiling and pushed her thoughts from this realm, into Sraosha’s so that her Guide could hear her words. We are never to harm or cause the harming of innocents. My orders contradict each other.

Sraosha’s response was cold and brittle. His life or yours. It’s that simple.

Simple? Please. It was the most complicated thing she’d ever had to contend with.

But there was no need to keep postponing the inevitable. No matter what, Adarian had to die. He was too dangerous to live with the powers he’d amassed. No Malachai was ever to have grown this strong.

And once he was gone, she’d have to deal with his son. Nick could never turn into the monster who’d fathered him. She couldn’t allow that. Not if she was to save her own family.

One way or another, Nick would have to be stopped. And she was the only one who could do it.

CHAPTER 8

Sitting on a locker room bench, Nick tied his regular shoes and moaned in utter agony. After tackling him with a vicious blow, Mason had discreetly stomped him hard in the ribs—done in retaliation for Stone’s detention that had kept him off the field today and out of the upcoming game. And with every minute that passed, it ached more.

At its current rate of expansion, he should be fully incapacitated within an hour.

Maybe ten minutes.

“You going to live?” Caleb asked as he stopped by Nick’s side.

Nick glared at the bulging black backpack on the floor at Caleb’s feet that he really didn’t want to pick up. “Probably not.”

Caleb snorted. “Well, if you plan to die, give me a little heads-up so I can either save you or go into hiding to save my skin.”

Oh, that just warmed the cockles of his heart. “Yeah … Roger that.” Nick’s phone started ringing again. Sighing, he glanced down to see who it was.… As if there was any doubt in his mind.

“Casey?” Caleb asked.

He cut the sound. “Who else?”

Caleb flung his towel over his shoulder and shut his locker door. “Dang, Nick, she’s like some crazed celebrity stalker.”

“Yeah, well, I said I wanted a normal girlfriend who had no real problems.”

“Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”

A chill went down his spine. He snapped his head up to meet Caleb’s gaze. “What’d you say?”

“Be careful—”

“Yeah, no, I heard you. It was just … eerie. I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”

Caleb pitched his towel into the laundry basket. “Well, you know what they say … Echriana verti yana.”

Nick scowled as he gingerly rubbed his injured side. “Um, yeah. I hear that one all the time.… What crack are you on, buddy?”

Laughing, Caleb picked the backpack up with an ease Nick envied and set it on the bench beside him. “It’s my language. It means, when the universe speaks, listen. It’s common in demonkyn lore to believe that the gods send us omens and signs all the time. Once you learn to recognize them, it can save your butt a lot of agony.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Honestly? I think they just like screwing with our heads. But there is something to be said for monitoring anything in your world that’s redundant.”

His phone rang again.

“Ugh!” Nick silenced it.

So she texted him.

He actually whimpered. “Do all girls do this?”

Caleb shrugged. “How would I know? I don’t hook up with girls.”