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Biting his lip, he glanced away “I never would have had I not seen it with my own eyes”
“Seen what?”
“Adarian Malachai sacrifice hiainst everything, that rabid aniht to the end Even more than himself”
Yes, but he hadn’t kno to show it Adarian had single-handedly ruined Cherise’s life and trau what he’d loved, he’d been abusive and mean And that was no way to have a relationship with anyone Marriage and friendship were built on trust and loyalty Not deceit and lies
Love could only be given It could never be deiven every bit of his power to his son so that Nick could protect his mother at all costs As Suriyel had said, Adarian had loved Cherise completely No Malachai before Adarian had ever placed the needs or welfare of anyone above himself They were creatures of ulti in Adarian had changed when he met Cherise And while Cherise hadn’t been able to completely alter or tame the demonic beast that was Adarian, she had nurtured their son fro Her love and kindness, her personal sacrifice for hienital need in him to be cruel and violent To lash out in hatred and destroy everyone near hi himself
So long as Cherise re to shame or harm his mother
But when she died …
That would be the first step toward Nick’s devolution into the Malachai It was a path Kody intended to change, no matter the cost Given Nick’s heart and compassion, surely it could be done
No destiny is set by any birth, no ht and ability to choose who and what they becoaze “So you finally accept that Nick is the one the prophecy speaks of?”
He nodded “No”
She scowled at his contradiction
Laughing, he let out a tired breath “I want to believe it I do But you yourself faced him centuries from now You have seen firsthand what Nick will do if he’s not stopped”
“And I have seen a boy who ishimself, who had the powers of a Malachai at his command, allow a mere human to beat him to the brink of death because he ain What Malachai would ever do such?”
He glanced toward Adidiron
Kody looked at the others Her lips treht of her painful e of you I do And all of you knohat I have lost in this battle already” And that included her sanity, most days “What I stand to lose in the future if he’s not stopped” Tears of grief filled her eyes as she relived the deaths of her family and friends at the hands of the Malachai and his demonic army She had seen too htered
“It is not easy forother than sheer hatred and contempt for the monster ill one day robhere who hates the Ambrose Malachai more than I do Believe ony overwhelrily, she brushed away her tears and forced herself to continue Her voice shook with the weight of her grim determination “Nick is not that beast He is not a monster Not yet The boy he is deserves a chance to be saved”
“And if you can’t save him?” Vahista asked
“No one will suffer more than I, I assure you” Kody held her breath as they exchanged looks with each other and she waited for them to decide Nick’s fate “Nick Gautier is worth it I pro minute, Suriyel stepped forward to face the other Arelim “We all knohat is at stake If we allow the others to kill Nick now, the Sada will definitely destroy the balance and end the universe for all creatures There is nothing to stop that fro The balance can shift from one side to the other, but one side can never be fully destroyed All of us have sworn to maintain the Order and to observe that balance, in all its incarnations If there is a single chance of saving the universe, we have to fight for it United That is the oath we’re sworn to, and ill die upholding it”
Kody sed hard “I hope it doesn’t come to that”
“So do we,” Adidiron said under his breath
Suriyel ignored him “Are we in accord?”
One by one, they inclined their heads to him and reswore their oaths of loyalty
Relieved that she wouldn’t have to fight alone after all, Kody relaxed
Adidiron crossed his arms over his chest “Tell us what you need, little sister”
A miracle But she didn’t say that out loud They knew that one as much as she did So she focused on the more immediate concern “I need Nick returned to his own body and his own time period”
Each of the reaction and it ed her close to its heart “What?”
Suriyel cleared his throat “We’ll need the Magus Stone to do that”
She’d never heard of such before “What is the Magus Stone?”
“A very special piece of Libyan desert glass It was for, Rezar hurled a piece of the sun at Braith She deflected it and it landed in the desert and ht a yellow as the sun itself Perfectly smooth and round, it radiated the sun’s brilliance When the as finally over, Rezar retrieved it from the desert—his doave to Braith as a peace offering”
Kody’s jaent slack as she realized so that had never occurred to her before “Is that why her symbol is a yellow sun and he’s considered its protector?”
He nodded “And while Rezar fashioned the necklace for her, he cut himself and bled into the stone That i his ability to create chaos and split the dimensions … and remove the soul frorandfather, she could choke hiift to his own eneave that power to Apollyainst the human race to create the Daimons who preyed on them “Where is it now?”
They all looked to Adidiron She turned to face hied helplessly “The last person who had it was your ave it to her to celebrate your birth”
Scowling, Kody searched her memory for such a piece Her mother had worn very little jewelry Only the necklace that bore her father’s eiven her in ancient Greece “I’ve never seen it Are you sure about that?”
“Positive I saw it on her myself, on several occasions”
Hoeird that she had no recollection of this particular necklace at all Especially since it had passed through the hands of three people she knew extrerily “Sraosha or one of the others must have found it somehow or stolen it, and used it on the weakened Malachai It’s the only thing that ht struck her “Would it have worked had Nick been at full strength?”