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“If I keep you here, do you both swear to protectCaleb, Zavid, Kody, Si him, Xevikan narrowed his eyes suspiciously “You would trust us, Malachai?”
Nick touched the St Nicholas and St Christopher iven hio on a little faith”
Livia smiled “I knew I liked you better than Adarian I’ainst Nick then kissed hiled himself “No offense, there will be none of that while you’re here I’m spoken for” At least he hoped and prayed he could still say that
“Oh Sorry” She sedately straightened herself
Nick turned his attention to Xevikan, who had yet to commit “What about you?”
He looked at Nick’s outstretched hand as if it offended hi to tell him to stick it in any available orifice, he nodded and shook it
“Until you betray me, Malachai, you have my loyalty”
Caleb cursed then mumbled under his breath “I knew I should have killed you when I had a chance I don’t care what your daddy or your test scores say … moron”
Nick turned to face his irritable compadre “C’mon, Caleb Would you really have done that to theazes with Xevikan “In a heartbeat And in his case, I’d have sealed the case for eternity so that no one could ever open it again”
Xevikan said soe Nick couldn’t translate
Caleb snorted “Pray I don’t take your proverbial hatchet and bury it someplace fatal” He indicated Nick with a tilt of his chin “Can we finish the ritual before any more of your friends show up?”
“Sure What do we need to do?”
Caleb glanced to Simi “Sim? Can you do me a favor and watch this crehile I take Nick to the cemetery?”
“Absolutely, Akri-Caleb We can have an ice-cream and barbecue party while you quality akris take your tiots to”
Caleb still looked constipated as he swept his gaze around to Zavid, Livia, and Xevikan “I weep that I’ret this” And with that, he vanished with Nick in tow
Siry?”
“Me!” Livia said enthusiastically “Can we really have food?”
“Oh, she-demon … Akri-Caleb like his food almost as much as the Simi You come on, child, and let the Simi educate you on the best eats in New Orleans!”
Xevikan hung back as the women left
When Zavid started after them, he pulled him to a stop “What’s the deal with this Malachai?”
“I don’t know I just joined him myself But he seems level Decent, even”
He wasn’t so sure about that He didn’t believe in decency anymore From anyone “He’s with a half-daeve turncoat, a Charonte, and an Aahed “Wait until you irlfriend, lunatic mother, and the two hu about the Malachai ain’t right”
Xevikan screwed his face up as he digested those incomprehensible words “The Malachai has a round she walks on”
That was even more peculiar to him than this house they were in
Without another word, Zavid headed after the wothen the spell shielding Malphas’s hoh why he wasted his oers to protect someone who hated him, he had no idea
But then, they were family
Or at least, they’d been born so
Nick shivered from the cold rain that poured down on them while they stood in the center of the dark cemetery The sharp winds tore at them with an almost hurricane force “So what is it with you and Xevikan?”
Caleb paused to look up while he was anointing the circle with the oils he’d brought “I was one of the judges who had his powers and wings stripped”
Nick’s jaent south “What? Why?”
Caleb returned to sanctifying the circle “He betrayed his oath, his brethren, and his family He should have been put to death It’s what I lobbied for”
Man, that was harsh, and it wasn’t like Caleb to be so heartless Not without a good cause “What exactly did he do?”
Caleb’s eyes turned to a delowed in the darkness “He snuck our enemies inside our walls and allowed the we held dear”
Nick felt sick as he realized what must have happened “Is that how your wife died?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Gautier Suffice it to say, he’s not to be trusted Not for anything And definitely not with anyone you want to keep alive”
Nick knew he should leave this topic alone, but he couldn’t He wanted to understand ouldso horrific “Did he say why he did it?”
Caleb stood up and glared at him in the darkness “Does it matter? Really? Would you put your mother in harm’s way for any reason?”
No He doubted he’d even do that for Kody
“That is what Xevikan did He allowed our innocent fahtered while they slept In cold blood And you,” he sneered the word, turning it into the vilest of insults, “have embraced him as a brother”
“Because you didn’t share any of this earlier”
“Would it have mattered?”
“Probably … Maybe … Yes Yes, it would have Why didn’t you tell rowled “I don’t knohat’s worse Your huet the rest of us slaughtered in the process Would you just listen to ?”