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Dear God, he’d actually laughed while she bled out How could I ever find that funny?

No wonder she wanted to kill him It all made sense now Well, some of it did But he still had a ton of questions for her

“But I’ve seen you bleed in… like you were real”

Unshed tears listen “I have a body, Nick It’s just like yours, but it’s a little different And I can die again There are ely, that made sense to him “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed irl you killed? Nicesmile “You still don’t believe me even now Not quite, anyway” She looked past hiet hiain Take him to St Louis Cathedral as fast as you can It’s the only place he’s safe” She glanced back at Nick and the look in those green eyes seared hiet to you Understand?”

“Yeah,” he breathed

Karet hi for answers”

Nick started to protest, but one look at Tabitha’s expression and he thought better of it She actually liked to punch things With extrelanced back to Karet them”

“Don’t worry I’ll tell you everything she says”

Nick locked gazes with Kody She appeared so real and nor, in all his wild speculations about who and what she was, this had never once entered his host

Not just any ghost—soled right now that he wasn’t sure what he felt Other than lost Confused Yeah, that was definitely the pri

Kody held her hand up to hihtened his chest He should probably hate her That was the natural state of a Malachai It was the emotion that came easiest to his species

Yet he couldn’t They’d been through too ether And while he didn’t completely trust her, he did love her In spite of common sense and even self-preservation

With one last look at her, he got into the car and buckled hi to hurt her, is she?”

Amanda backed out of the drivehile Tabitha stared after her sister and Kody

Nick’s last vieas Kar the house with a determined stride

“You want the truth or a lie?” Tabitha asked

“I always prefer the truth”

“I’host even as we speak”

Nick didn’t like the sound of that “Interrogating how?”

The twins exchanged a look that concerned hi

“What?” Nick asked “What is she going to do to Kody?”

Tabitha turned around in the seat so that she was no longer facing him “If Karma doesn’t like what she hears, she’ll banish her”

“Back to our world?”

“No, Nick Into oblivion”

CHAPTER 6

Kody stepped back as Karress She wasn’t afraid of the worown up with Karma as one of her fiercest protectors But she understood trying to protect what you loved There was truly nothingtheir faht her well So she would give Karht physically, Karma was a spiritual warrior She would know and understand the world Kody came from better than anyone

“You don’t have to be afraid ofto hurt you or your sisters” They, too, were her fa beside Kody’s ainst the Malachai and his army

Ever mistrustful of those she didn’t know, Kar her up as if they were about to battle “How do I know that?”

“Because I’ of Kare of Kody’s species Still, the wo else “You say that like it’s supposed to have hed nervously at Karnorance But she couldn’t bla cautious Karh the many ethers and who routinely talked to creatures like Kody As well as those ere born of darkness Those who lied and deceived Those ould use human naiveté to prey on their victims

Only a master sorceress with finely honed powers and extensive esoteric knowledge could have created the boundary that shielded this house and kept Kody and the others locked inside it

“You knohat it hest order At one tiers for the Malachai and Sephirii Celestial gofers for the ancient gods, and their servants But after the first war of the gods that had ended both the Malachai and Sephirii bloodlines, the Arelim had risen to be the Guardians of Order and Truth They were charged with ensuring that the human world didn’t end

That the Malachai remained forever dorhost They’re born immortal”

“As was I But even iht I wasn’t born an Arel Because of the blood of my parents, I was chosen to be one I’m a nekoda, and all of my kind are selected fronition that they were on the same team sparked in Karma’s eyes “You’re a soldier”

Kody hesitated at the label that didn’t quite fit “More of a guardian I fight when I have to, but that’s not my primary role”

Karma cocked her head as she continued to study Kody and read her aura “I’m still confused You said Nick killed you, and yet you’re here to protect him? Why?”