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Laughing, Kody pulled back and ruffled Nick’s hair “How did you get away fro like a cheerleader in a horror filhed at her joke “Are you really a ghost?”

“We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

Nodding, he took her hand and allowed her to pull him toward the back of the church where a side door let them out onto Pirate’s Alley Savitar pulled up the rear and herded them down the Cabildo Alley to St Peter

As soon as they reached the curb, Nick slowed to a stop Bubba aiting for the, Savitar literally picked Nick up and threw him into the backseat Kody cliun

“Buckle up, Nick, or Mom will kill me” Bubba didn’t wait as he pulled away from the curb “Did you have any trouble?” he asked Savitar

“No They had no idea ere there”

“Good”

Coled to catch up to this newest and most bizarre turn of events “Pardon, but I think I left et it”

Bubba laughed “He looks and sounds just like ht about him?”

“I’m positive” Kody took Nick’s hand and squeezed it “And we stupidly informed the Malachai’s šakkan in this realm what Nick really is”

Now there was a term Nick had never heard before “My what?”

“Šakkan,” she repeated “He’s the head general who leads your strongest forces in battle And he’s going to come for you, full force, so that he can take your powers and use the else to fight”

Kody expelled a heavy sigh “I know Sorry”

“So who is this šakkan?” Nick asked, wanting to make sure he cut the beast a wide berth

“In our world, he’s someone you haven’t met yet He was imprisoned until your father died Here in this realm, the šakkan who leads their dark forces is Thorn”

Nick frowned at the naht was friendly … ish “The scary dude who helped me out when I was i, I really liked him, too” He shook his head “I don’t understand why he’d be our ally at hoainst us here”

“Free will”

Nick cocked his head at Savitar’s words “Say what?”

Savitar ran his hand over a vicious scar on his forearood or bad, sht until they’re in our face” Savitar turned his gaze to the road “In every universe, we play out different decisions we’ve made for whatever reason What breaks one person at one ti at another And one s is everything, kid”

Kody nodded “In our world, your mother was attacked by the Malachai and you were born In this one, there is no Malachai so she was able to live out her life under more normal circumstances”

“But she still had me”

“And Bubba’s still your father”

Nick fell silent as he considered that Into a dad Nick had ever known And though they weren’t blood related in his world, they were still family “But what about Kyrian?” He was as much of athat he’s dead in this world”

“Nick Burdette didn’t need to ht path, away fro to claiht He doesn’t need Acheron to watch over hih to fight yet”

He was struggling toshe said was valid, but … “What about Aood in our world and not in this one?”

Kody sighed “In both worlds, they, like you, were born to walk the line of shadows One foot in the light and one in the dark A few are scared enough of both that they stay in the h to choose the light and stay firmly planted there, even while the darkness tries to claiht the lure of darkness It overwhelms them with false promises and before they knohat’s happened, it owns them Sometimes, like the Thorn you know in our world, they can battle their way back to the light and put the darkness behind theh it continues to try and reclaim them But those people are very rare I don’t knohat kept our Tabby and Aht side in our world nor do I knohat corrupted them here As Savitar said, it’s a ht tiht reasons”

Nick picked her hand up froh she was a veteran warrior, her hands were soft and tiny Delicate And yet they held a strength that was unfathomable to him “How old are you, Kody? Really?”

“I had just turned nineteen when you killed me”

He sucked his breath in sharply as her words slapped hi nineteen hi the Malachai at that age? Why?”

She snorted “By the time my father was nineteen, he was an experienced war veteran and a feared general”

“And he was okay with you following in his footsteps at that age?”

“Not really, but he had no say in it I became a soldier after you killed him”

He winced and wondered how she could stand to be in the saht now Why she didn’t try to claw his eyes out every tiers as if she knehat he was thinking “As an infant, my oldest brother was taken from my parents and they weren’t allowed to raise hiht him dead while my mother … well, both of theods When they were finally reunited, long after ht away” A bittersweet smile curled her lips “They were so overprotective of hiest time, they were afraid to have another child They just wanted to protect the two they had andbad happened to the to ease the grief in her eyes

She wrinkled her nose at hihter in her voice “Many centuries later, after Ari was grown and married, my parents decided that they were finally ready to have another baby to viciously overprotect”

The light faded as sadness darkened her eyes again “I was only then so happened to you I don’t knohat But it unleashed the Malachai and you went crazy on the world I was sent into hiding and trained to battle your forces while my family rallied their allies and did what they could to keep your arround his teeth at the horrors of her life Horrors he’d caused for her and all the people they loved He’d never hated hiht now “I’m so sorry I hurt you”