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And the man …

Not what Nick had expected at all He looked like a banker or stock broker or soant navy pinstriped, double-breasted suit, his shirt was crisp and white with a bloodred tie that flashed with so skulls inside the fabric His dark blond hair was slicked back fro Cold Merciless Mean It was like looking at Death, and since Death tutored hireen, his eyes were so clear that they gave the illusion of glowing

Asmodeus was a little ray eyes showed exactly how lanced around the room as if he’d never seen it before

"Who are you?" Nick asked the man in the suit

A wry ss by many people But those ant to live usually refer to me as Thorn And they do so in a reverent tone"

Not a soothing name by any means Ranked up there with the Dark-Hunter named Venom, and Venom was definitely not someone you wanted to mess with, either "What are you?"

Thorn quirked an offbeat, wry grin "That’s easy … and yet so complicated that I have no wish to venture there with you Suffice it to say, I’s that call the shadows home And you, Malachai, are in a place you shouldn’t be"

"And that is?"

"Azmodea"

Nick felt ill with that knowledge How the heck did he get here? Like Aso sorinned "Unfortunately, it’s not named after me Rather, I’m named after it That part kind of blows Got me bullied a lot as a small demon Really hasn’t helped my adulthood all that much either And when it comes to females, I’d really like to find my father and repay him for this hideous name he stuck esture "Deo home or shut up If you continue to annoy me, you’ll be a stain on my floor Understood?"

As to et here?"

Thorn placed his hand on Nick’s shoulder again In the next heartbeat, his eyes flashed silver, then red, and settled on a hazel brown "Nick, your body is lying unconscious on a hospital bed I cannot stress to you enough that you can’t let yourself do that Ever Under any circumstances"

"What do you htarpluhed "That could be entertaining A Malachai with hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation But no Sleep is different You’re still in the world of man when you slumber Half in, half out Any little disturbance ake you, and snatch you back to the conscious realm However, when you’re medically unconscious, you’re beyond the realm of man and are fully on this side of the Nether Realeist, or essence, rather, will auto you here to serve your s or drink alcohol, my friend The minute you lose control of yourself and alter your mental state, you open yourself up for others to manipulate and harm you"

"You could even be possessed," Asmodeus said with a hopeful note in his voice

Thorn cast an evil glare at him and he literally retreated two steps

"Well, he could," Asave Thorn a droll stare "Have no fear about the drinking and drugs, waking up inout from a psychotic episode doesn’t appeal to me in the least Have no plans to do either, and I still don’t knohat you are"

Thorn’s features hardened "Forget Ambrose, I’m the person you don’t want to become If you want some free advice, and I know everyone does," he said sarcastically, "stop caring about anyone but yourself So long as you care more for someone else than you do yourself, you’re screwed You’ll never stand tall and you’ll always have a weakness that will stop you dead in your tracks and bring you to your knees" He leaned forward until their noses almost touched "Always put yourself first, kid With all the regrets I have, and believe est one The dumbest mistakes of your life will all co to protect what you love"

"Wow Thank you, Mr Sunshine," Nick said with feigned enthusiasm That was the complete opposite advice of his mother, who believed you couldn’t live happily unless you cared about so connections Valuing someone else above yourself Without that, Nicky, we’re justto be free of the misery of our lives You’ll never know true happiness until you find that small handful of people you’d die to protect

Nick clapped Thorn on the back "I’hts to cheer h today Thank you, Mr Sun Meister, Meister Sun"

Thorn rolled his eyes "Don’t listen to me Fine Whatever I didn’t listen either, and you see what lush and lovely housing it got estured toward the sinister hole they were in "Talk about sunshine … we don’t get, well, any here And it never fails to aht down to the smallest detail You show them exactly what not to do in order to be happy or successful, and still they don’t do it They don’t listen They co … Disgusting, but fascinating You can lead a de, Thorn glanced around the rooet you out of here before soood friend of yours or mine, senses you" He cut a pointed stare to As on the other side of that ic wall that you were here, either Not unless they want to see the truly ugly side of ulped audibly

Nick was about to speak when soainst the door Hard And froly

"And look, lucky us, they’re here" Thorn said soht have been a curse, but the language he used was so strange that Nick couldn’t be sure

In the flash of a nanosecond, Thorn was covered in scaly ar frolanced at Nick "You’ve no real powers, do you?"

"Oh contraire, rave;re I’m able to annoy all adults in ten syllables or less Sometimes, I don’t even have to speak at all I just walk into the room and it rankles them"

"I can see that," Thorn said drily

Nick tensed as armor appeared on his body, too "What’s this?"

"In the event they get past ht with me or find himself dise you off to soo"

Before Nick could ask him to elaborate, the door burst open