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Nick ducked and ra hiround, Thorn shot to his feet, then sent a fireball straight at Nick that Nick blocked with his powers

He sent it straight back into Thorn, who barely dodged it And it succeeded in wiping the smirk off his face Nick followed it with a blast of his own that caught Thorn’s shoulder Yelping, Thorn ed forward

With his powers, Nick created a staff and deflected it, then parried with a blow that caught Thorn across his spine

Kody gaped as she watched Nick and Thorn spar She met Caleb’s equally stunned expression “When did he learn to do all that?”

“Not one hundred percent sure But re snarky that he’s co ith his battle skills”

Yes, he had In the past, Nick could always take a punch Now, he was able to give theht like a boss

Until Thorn turned it on him Kody started forward, but Caleb stopped her “He has to defeat Thorn on his own Without help Otherwise, he won’t be able to subjugate the ušulanced around the yard where Simi had already routed the other demons Selena and A for Nick and Thorn I ht not be able to help with Thorn, but … She could definitely take that witch down No one was going after Nick while she was around

Kody headed for her

Nick saw Kody from the corner of his eye That distraction cost hinificant blow to his jaw that sent his head spinning He staggered back Thorn kicked hi darkened And for a second, he honestly thought he was going to black out Until he saw the darkness slithering again It was like a living, breathing creature

I’

What if he wasn’t? Given all the other weirdness in his world that wasn’t crazy, what if …

Nick held his hand out to pet it The dark rose up to caress his ar his hand out and sent the darkness for Thorn With his thoughts, he commanded it

One second Thorn was about to stab him, and in the next, the darkness jerked him out of reach It was only then that Nick saw it for what it really was Not one single creature, but an ao after the others, including Tabitha

Holy crap … it orking He could actually do this and the poasn’ton him At least not yet

Kody froze as Tabitha was pulled back fro

By the eleht

Terror filled her as she realized as happening Nick had e he shouldn’t be able to do for decades yet And for him to do that now boded the worst kind of evil for the her lip, she watched breathless as Nick started to transform from a human into a delowed and snapped like a living fire The Malachai poere alive and they had possession of him Completely

What have we done?

Once tapped, Noir’s poere seductive and all-consuod to locate his property So long as Nick used them, Noir could hone in and attack hiaze and saw the same horror mirrored on his face

“Nick!” he cried

But it was too late Nick was transfor in front of them And he was about to kill Thorn and absorb his powers, too

CHAPTER 17

You command the power of the universe Life, itself, is in the pal that can stop you No rules that apply to you You are the only one who matters in this existence The rest are pawns and tools to be used and destroyed as you see fit

Embrace your fate, Malachai Beco in his ears as he effortlessly pinned Thorn to the laith one hand The demon lord wasn’t so powerful now that he squir paveht He was every bit as pathetic and helpless as those insignificant creatures that crawled up fro more than bait for and by their betters

Kill hier than what you are now You’ll have powers the likes of which you cannot iine

Nick scoffed I don’t know, diseination You’d do well not to underestimate it

In his mind, Nick saw himself as he wanted to be Confident Suave Sophisticated Tough Like Kyrian, Talon, Caleb, and Acheron The epitome of badass respectability Not the pathetic loser dork who banged his ar he passed One who buns or plants

Just once, he wanted to walk into a roo, and not have someone snicker or co

Kill hi you want You will be the very top of the food chain No one will ever dare to htened his hold on Thorn’s throat It was so te All he’d ever wanted in his entire life was respect

And the voice was correct Right now, he saw terror in Thorn’s green eyes as he struggled against Nick’s iron grip that would not be broken Gone was any hint of condescension or conte blue and his eyes bulged

I could kill him and no one would care Who would miss a creature like Thorn?

No one It would be easy…

So very easy

But as Nick felt Thorn’s weakening grip on his hand, he loosened his hold I am the Malachai The baddest beast in the land What would killing Thorn really prove?

A truth he already knew? That he was stronger? Better?

What was the point? He didn’t need blood on his hands to show the world who and what he was Nick already knew, and so did the people who mattered to hi And they weren’t worth his life

Definitely not worth his soul

Nick Gautier had nothing to prove to anyone in this, or any, realm

But he still had people to protect People he cared about and loved