Sherrilyn Kenyon - Invincible

Nick didn’t mean to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. And to think, his biggest complaint was his mom drying her bras on a string over the bathtub. He was sure he’d be in therapy for years dealing with that one.

Mark clapped his hands together to get their attention. “All right, guys. Focus. We have to come up with some way to stop Devus for good. Let’s get our heads in the game and stop this psycho.”

Walter Devus stood in front of his mirror, staring at a face that hadn’t changed in more decades than he could count.

What’d happened?

But then he knew. Greed. Vanity. Pride. Take your pick. They’d combined into a toxic mixture that had led him into making the worst mistake of his life.

And for what?

Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame?

Only it wasn’t supposed to be that short. It was supposed to have lasted a lifetime.

Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.

Especially when dealing with things that were best left alone. If only he could go back in time, he’d have grabbed himself and stopped him.

But it was too late for that. The die was cast. The roll made. He would spend eternity in servitude, gathering souls for his master. Unknown. Uncelebrated. Obscure. The very things he’d wanted so desperately to avoid.

Funny how your fears always manifested and took over your life.

He’d been hopeless of ever discovering a way out of his slavery.

Until he came here. New Orleans. Land of Dark Magick and the birthplace of paranormal. He could feel the undercurrent of it that ran through the city like a living, breathing thing.

And here in its heart was the darkest of all.

The Malachai. If he could find the young one in time, his master would release him.

He would be free.

Walter savored that word. To be human once more. To be able to stay in one place and grow roots. Something that had been anathema to him as a young man.

Now it was paradise.

Holding that hope close, he continued to run his experiments on the items his “boys” had gathered. While the Fringe Guard looked for the escaped demon, he was after the Malachai they didn’t know existed.

He was sure the Malachai was in his school masquerading as a student. It was a feeling he’d had from the moment he stepped inside the building.

But who?

He’d carefully searched files until he narrowed down the most likely suspects. So far, they’d all been wrong.

His timer went off, notifying him it was done.

His heart racing, he went to check on the latest batch. Biting his lip in trepidation, he pulled Stone’s class ring out of the bowl.

Still intact. Still perfect.

Stone wasn’t the Malachai. He’d been so sure of it, what with his cruelty and arrogance. But, no. He was wrong again.

Thoroughly agitated, he moved on to the next bowl. He wasn’t expecting anything at all. Yanking the string, he froze.

It didn’t come straight up.

Could it be?

Hope returned furiously as he pulled harder. He’d put in a piece of towel, but in its place …

Brimstone.

“I’ve found you now. You’re mine!” And he was about to unleash a legion of doom on the boy.

I should have recognized the name. I should have known. How stupid was he not to see it? But then, he’d lived long enough to know how deceitful such things were.

The Malachai had been living in plain sight of everyone. Flaunting his presence with careless abandon.

But no longer.

At last, Walter Devus would be human again.

And the Malachai would be no more.

“You want me to do what? What part of stupid crawled up your sphincter and died?”

Angry and offended, Nick folded his arms over his chest as he faced Caleb in his run-down condo. While it was just the two of them in here, he’d had enough of the demon’s attitude for one day.

What was wrong with him? Ever since Nick had been attacked in school, Caleb had been different toward him. It felt like the demon hated the very air he breathed.

Nick wasn’t the one with a problem. Caleb was.

“We need to know what we’re dealing with, Caleb. Otherwise, I wouldn’t ask you to do this.”

Caleb snarled at him. “What you’re dealing with is one seriously pissed-off demon who keeps wondering why he’s sticking his neck out for an idiot like you. I’m tired, Nick. Did you not get that from our earlier discussion?”

“I thought that was a fight we had.”

“No, this is hell,” he sneered, “and I’m trapped in it. And I’m sick of you. You hear me? Why don’t you fight your own battles? You want information, get off your lazy butt and go get it.”

Wishing he had the strength to lay into him and not get eviscerated, Nick gaped at his so-called protector, who had suddenly become a bad cross between a heckler and an abusive parent. “And you think something has crawled up my —”

“Get away from him, Nick.”

Nick’s eyes widened as Caleb manifested next to …

Caleb.

The two of them stood side by side in front of his makeshift bedroom. Same height. Same hair. Same eyes. Same black clothes and curled lips. The only difference was that the newcomer seemed to be in pain.

And bleeding at the corner of his mouth.

Ah yeah, this was just like that moment in Terminator 2 when the evil chrome cyborg takes over the body of the nice security guard.

Except the real Caleb wasn’t usually all that warm and fluffy either. Something that made them even harder to tell apart.

“Which of you’s real?” Nick asked.

“The one limping, silly.” Simi flashed in beside Nick and leaned against his shoulder. “Can’t you tell the difference between the cute Malphas and the fugly fake one?”

Not really. If Caleb wasn’t limping and bleeding, he’d have no clue.

Nick frowned at her. “What’s going on?”

With her bright purple hair, which matched the color of her lipstick, pulled into pigtails, Simi let out an adorable sound that defied description. “Them nasty demons done found you. Kind of. See, there’s a big bounty on your head—” She brushed her hand over his hair to emphasize her words. “—and if some mean nasty can find you and bring you in to have your brains eaten by their overlord, they get freed. So win–win. Well, not for you ’cause it would probably hurt to have your brains eaten. Though the Simi is pretty sure they’d kill you first.” She paused to think about that with a strangely cute expression. “Then again, some don’t, ’cause they like the sound of screams on the way down. I wonder if brains scream on their own.… Hmm. The Simi sees an expulsion coming on. Not ex…”

“Periment?”

“That’s the word.” Smiling, she touched him on the tip of his nose. “Experiment. Thank you, akri-Nicky. Good of you to use your brains while you still have some. The Simi’s so proud for you.”

“You’re not helping my panic, Simi.”

“Oh.” She grinned at him. “Sorry. The Simi will be silent. Until it’s not time to be silent anymore. Silent. I likes that word. Ever notice some words are just pretty to say?” She beamed like a beautiful doll. “Silent Simi.” Her face fell as she touched her forefinger to her lower lip and pouted. “Oh, wait, no. The Simi don’t like the way that sounds at all. Blah! A silent Simi is not a good thing.”

“Sim?” Caleb grunted. “A hand, please?” Good Caleb was trapped in a headlock by the other Caleb.

Nick started forward.

Good Caleb threw his hand out and stopped him. “Don’t get hurt.”

“I feel like a yo-yo.”

“Better than what I feel like, buddy. Trust me.”