Sherrilyn Kenyon - Invincible

“You play D&D, too, huh? Who’s your DM?”

Grim tsk ed at him. “The difference between my group and yours … our toys are real.” All of a sudden, the horse ran out of his pocket and up his arm to rest on his shoulder.

Neat trick. Creepy, but neat.

“So … that’s like your pet monkey?”

The tiny horse snorted flames and whinnied at him.

“Easy, girl.” Grim stroked her mane to calm her down. “You’d do well to show her respect. She can understand you, and she doesn’t take well to insults.”

“Sorry, Flicka. Didn’t mean to rattle your bridle.” Nick started straightening.

Grim dogged his steps. “The key to what I have to teach is that the universe and its beings speak to you constantly. But much like the little book you received last night, they seldom speak overtly. You have to figure it out on your own and hopefully before it’s too late. The power of divination is a way for you to listen to the warnings the universe gives.”

Nick stiffened as a chill went down his spine. “How do you know about my grimoire?”

Grim snapped his fingers, and the book appeared in his hand. Small and black with a funky red symbol on the front that was supposed to be Nick’s personal emblem, it contained riddles that had helped Nick survive the attacks from the night before. All he had to do was ask it a question and release three drops of blood on it—something he still thought was gross, but … His blood would circle and move to form words and pictures on the page and give him clues.

That being said, the book was a snarky little slug. It didn’t like answering questions anymore than Nick did, and it answered them with a venom Nick wished he could get away with and not stay grounded for life.

Narrowing his eyes on the book, Nick slapped at his back pockets to see if the book in Grim’s hand was a duplicate.

It wasn’t.

His pants were empty.…

Well, wait a minute, they weren’t empty, ’cause that would imply something that definitely wasn’t the case, but his pockets were. That was definitely his book, and Death was tainting it. He glared at Grim for the theft.

Normally he’d reclaim it, but snatching something out of Death’s grasp didn’t seem particularly intelligent.

Unless it was your own life.

Oblivious of and impervious to Nick’s anger, Grim tapped the book with his fingertip. “Let me get back to the fact that the universe speaks to us constantly. And this little puppy barks loudly.” He shoved it against Nick’s chest. “Guard this with your life because in the right hands, it is your life and your death. You’ve bled in this book, and it is the most personal of possessions you’ll ever have. A master wizard, witch, upper-level demon, or any number of other entities can use it to control or destroy you. In fact, guard every possession you have. Every stray hair. Every particle of skin and clothing. Let no one near anything you have ever owned or will own. You’re special, kid. In ways you can’t conceive, and you will have to guard your back every second you want to keep breathing.”

He definitely didn’t like the sound of that. “Aren’t you just Mary Sunshine?”

“There’s a reason they call me Grim.”

Yeah, no kidding. Nick returned his book to his back pocket. “So how does this divination junk work, anyway?”

“Think of it as the cold chill you get down your spine whenever someone walks on your grave. That niggling sensation that tells you not to do something, and when you disregard it, you wish you hadn’t.”

“Kind of like getting out of bed this morning.”

Grim rolled his eyes. “Frik. Frak,” he snapped at his two skulking minions. “Get started cleaning this place while Nick and I work.”

Without a word or hesitation, Pain took the mop from Nick. Suffering moved to pick up glass.

“Wow. Where have you two been all my life?”

Pain quirked an eyebrow as he mopped the floor. “Walking hand in hand with you. Haven’t you noticed?”

Nick fell silent as he realized the truth of that statement. He had walked hand in hand with Pain and Suffering since the hour of his birth. Bitter poverty and the worst sort of bullying. Heck, he’d even been shot by one of his best friends, who’d intended to kill him dead in the gutter.

Yeah, they’d definitely been his constant companions.

He looked back at Grim. “Come to think of it, can we leave them behind?”

Grim appeared offended by his question. “No. They’re my best friends.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be in pain, and I definitely don’t want to suffer.”

“Well … The only way to avoid them is to die.” Grim gave him a hopeful smile.

That chilled him all the way to his soul. “Okay, let’s change the topic now.” He pointed to the wall behind Grim. “Oh, look! A chicken.”

Grim made a sound of extreme frustration. “Fine. Let’s begin with something even you can’t screw up.”

“Way to build up my crappy confidence there. You should volunteer for the suicide hotline.”

“What makes you think I don’t?”

Nick screwed his face up. “Ah man, that’s wrong on so many levels.”

“Je suis ce que je suis.”

Nick took a step back. Last night had taught him to be wary of any foreign words. “Is that a spell?”

Grim shook his head. “It’s French, Nick. Means ‘I am what I am.’ Sheez, kid. Get educated. Read a book. I promise you it’s not painful.”

“I would definitely argue that. Have you seen my summer reading list? It’s nothing but girl books about them getting body parts and girl things I don’t want to discuss in class with my female English teacher. Maybe in the boys’ locker room and maybe with a coach, but not with a woman teacher in front of other girls who already won’t go out with me. Or worse, they’re about how bad all of us men reek and how we need to be taken out and shot ’cause we’re an affront to all social and natural orders. Again—thanks, Teach. Give the girls even more reason to kick us down when we talk to one. Not like it’s not hard enough to get up the nerve to ask one out. Can you say inappropriate content? And then they tell me my manga’s bad. Riiight … Is it too much to ask that we have one book, just one, on the required reading list that says, ‘Hey, girls. Guys are fun and we’re okay. Really. We’re not all mean psycho-killing, bloodsucking animals. Most of us are pretty darn decent, and if you’ll just give us a chance, you’ll find out we’re not so bad.”

Grim let out a bored sigh. “Are you through ranting?”

“Maybe.”

Grim slapped him on the back so hard, he stumbled. “Puberty is embarrassing. That’s the point of it. Get used to it. And look on the bright side: Once you survive the teen horrors and degradations, adulthood is easy.”

Great. Just great.

Nick scoffed. “And for the record, I do read. Lots of things, which is how I know it can be painful. Very, very painful.”

Grim rubbed at his forehead like his head was starting to hurt. Then he pulled at the gold chain around his neck to expose a strange hematite pendulum that had a gold skull securing it to the chain. He held it out toward Nick.

Nick hesitated before he took it. He ran his hand down the cold stone, noting that the skull had eyes made of bloodred rubies. The point of the hematite was so sharp, he could probably use it to stake Kyrian should his boss ever get too frisky with him.

Epically cool.

He could also use it to prick his finger if he needed to ask his book a question. Yeah, this thing had a lot of uses.

“What you hold is one of the keys to the universe.” Grim’s voice had dropped an octave. “You can use a pendulum to answer questions, locate things and—”