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“Oh, okay,” Nick said sarcastically “Let’s just all be happy and shiny then No sweat that” He beat his fist against his chest in an ancient salute then barked out his orders “I in this for you, Father”
His father raked hilower “I am not one of your putrid humans to suffer your backtalk, boy”
Nick snorted “You’re dead, right? What can you do? Shake the chandelier Ooo, I’m so terrified Please don’t rock the chair in the corner or slam a door in ht send me into therapy for the rest of ain Yeah, okay, that did hurt “Don’t testhis teeth, Nick tried to extricate hi quality frohed and released hiuerre is working with our enemy They are the ones who divided you”
“That’s all well and good Nice to know I have yet another ancient, oizzard with onions, but what I really need is info on unification Put ain No do I do that?”
“Unlock your powers”
“Give ravated tone “Or at least a friggin’ clue Hey, Pat Can I buy a flippin’ vowel? Please?”
His father clenched his teeth so hard, Nick could hear the Not the first time he’d reduced an elder to that Probably wouldn’t be the last Though he should score sohost to do so and he wasn’t even really trying to annoy him
Give me your name…
Nick flinched at the intrusion of that voice inside his skull again Someone needed to turn the decibel level down a few hundred notches “Is that you?”
His father turned around slowly “Don’t answer the back toward Nick “Do you kno to command and own a demon?”
“Tell it I’ when I do that Really nuclear devastation for o, I have to say”
His father h to make Nick take two steps away from him “No, imbecile You tell it your true demonic name that is written in the Damonicon the moardless of our wills And with it, we can all be enslaved … even the Malachai It’s e never use our Su”
But that didn’t make sense Everyone knew Nick’s full name He’d never kept it a secret And even if he’d ever tried, all anyone had to do was be within an eighty-asket and shouted out the whole thing to get his attention for God and all His saints to hear Nick was quite sure a number of people in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida knew his name better than most of his teachers
“I don’t follow”
His father —before he spoke up “Whenever we’re asked, our kind uses ‘Malachai’ It’s our classification or basic significator It’s a nation that can’t harot it finally “So you wouldn’t tell anyone you’re Adarian”
“No, fool Adarian Malachai is my common name to differentiate me from my father and from you” Man, that was an impressive lip curl and told Nick just hownaiven it”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“What does it matter at this point, if I’m summoned or not? I’ I had, I handed over to you” Bitterness echoed in his tone “And since you’ve inherited Malphas, you should know his real name in case he ever refuses to coh Yeah, that power could co Nick kneho rand sarcaser had an attitude that knew no limits or boundaries
“Well, I know it’s not Caleb ’cause I shout that nanores ave the i eyes at him “Cabal”
Nick’s jaent slack “Cabal?”
His father nodded “Speak that name out loud three times and he can be su”
Awesoht until it dawned on hi names were eerily sied at the implication and likelihood of what that would mean for him Yeah, his luck was never kind “Please, Lord, please Tell me that mine isn’t Dickless Nicholas”
His father screwed his face up “What?”
“It’s what the troglodytes at school callthe to an ape, I swear,” his father mumbled Then louder and sharper, he barked at Nick “Would you be serious?”
Nick pressed his lips together “Sorry Serious-face time … but that is a major concern” He cleared his throat and braced himself so that he didn’t upset his father any h his mind and sped out of his mouth before he could stop it “It’s not Nick the Dick, either, right?”
His father reached for his throat, but he dodged and twirled to a distance of relative safety Soer had telekinesis
“Hey! Not ht to be banned from children for eternity You would be amazed at the cruel creativity of people when it co so to “Then again, you were probably the ringleader of said torht settle you down”
“Yeah … no Besides, pink isn’t my color Clashes with ravated sigh at that insistent demand in his head An expulsion that lasted for three seconds until he realized what his su name had to be Oh No wonder his older self was so cranky “It’s—”