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Ringed with heavy black eyeliner, her green eyes were the color of deep ehtly on the chin "Close your "

He probably was Any normal heterosexual fifteen-year-old would "My baby is h-a-w-t!" Then he reht?"

She handed hirimoire "Yes, I a those to him, and where he kept them Grateful she knew him so well, she took his weapons, then heard the sound of so loud and fierce in the sky above thee Realm"

She said that like he should know exactly what she was talking about But, he had no clue "I don’t understand Where’s the Fringe Reale Realm?

"Think of it like a protective membrane that keeps the worlds within their respective boundaries"

Nick placed one hand over his ear as the sound beca that?"

Before she could answer, that attacked They were like flying ons Their bodies were on-shaped and their pale tan skin s curled like tusks out of their mouths

Kody flipped around his back to catch the first one that reached them with a sword stroke The others descended on the his sword hilt out, he held it in his palined it the size of a Scottish clayht His heart pounding, he stood at Kody’s back as they fought against the beasts

"Don’t let the thee, and wereto be kibble today

At least that was the intention But intending so able to do it …

Much easier said than done Nick crouched low as one of the dramonks came at him He rose up and stabbed it in the , it twisted around and reached a huge claard hioner, and in the next, Kody pulled hi hier as it snatched her fro her in its claws

In that e he’d never felt before came over him His vision dimmed as words formed themselves in his rowl, in a language he kneithout ever having been taught it

She istouch her save the Ambrosius Malachai

The words rolled out like a sonic booround beneath hied with it

The ether is yours to command Breathe, Ambrosius, breathe Let it eht

Nick felt it seep inside hi entered hishi his head back, he drank his fill And with every s, he becaer…

Death is ht War walks to my left I am their commander and I am the one they serve

And Kody was his chosen one

No one took fro his head, he threw his ars, and launched hier pets came at him He shot a blast of fire at it With one shrill screa as he closed the distance between him and Kody

Kody saw the shadow that darkened the creature clutching her She looked up, expecting another enemy

What she found was so much worse

Nick had converted to the Malachai His skin was black and red swirled together into a beautiful pattern that faded into his ebony wings His eyes were a vibrant reddish yellow And yet, he was still incredibly handsome

In that instant, she saw the real reason why he had to be saved

He was unique His mother’s blood and his father’s He was a creature unto himself

A creature of hatred nurtured by love

One ould fight his own to save her life No other Malachai would ever do such

Flying with incredible speed, he grabbed the gritale by its head and snapped its neck It let go of her Kody fell through the dark sky

Until a hand caught hers Her heart pounding, she stared into the face of ulti eyes of a creature known for its merciless cruelty

The Malachai has no heart It can feel nothing but hatred It thrives on it It seeks to feel it even when it shouldn’t That is itsthe blood of its enemies

For the first tie above the cavern they’d been in And as he rose, jet-black arlistened from the shoulders His hands were now vicious claws From his left shoulder, there were three pendulums that fell down the front of his body One for the past, one for the present, and one for the future The epaulettes came down to the juncture of his biceps, where they formed a sharp point And in the middle rose a deep, bloodred stone A stone that had been naed him and kept his armor invincible

He’s even conjured the suit…

Nick was too young to kno to do that It normally took a Malachai years to master this much power

And when the others came in to attack, Nick exploded therated, Nick turned toward her In the diht, she saw his eyes flash red His features perfectly formed, he didn’t look fifteen She saw the man he would soon be

No, she saw the Malachai Eyes that flashed froain Until they finally settled on their human blue

Ironically, that was more eerie than when they’d been yellow or red

It s the Malachai could never be

He stalked toward her with a hatred blazing in those eyes that left her treht, but just as she would have lifted her sword, it went flying frorasp by an unseen force

"Nick?"

He tilted his head as if he didn’t understand her Flashing his fangs, he seized her by the throat and shoved her back against the rock wall Kody grabbed his wrist, trying to force hith she had

It wasn’t enough

Help me…