Instinct (3 page)

Nick forced himself not to react to the sarcastic words only he could hear. If not for the fact that he knew the truth behind Caleb's feelings where he was concerned, he'd be hurt by that animosity. But while he'd been trapped out of his body in another dimension, he'd seen and heard firsthand what Caleb really thought about him.

They were family.

Brothers in arms.

Yes, they fought and sniped. Yet at the end of the day, they would kill or die for each other. It was something each of them had proven. Of that, he had no doubt.

So he took the acerbic demon in stride and tried to keep in mind how hard life had to be for Caleb. He'd lost everyone he cared about. Had seen his wife brutally slain by his enemies and had spent centuries enslaved to a cruel, demonic master who'd hated his guts. One who hadn't hesitated to abuse and mock him every chance he could. Yeah, Nick's father had been a rank dog to everyone around him. Caleb had every reason in the universe to hate Nick, and instead, he was the best friend Nick had ever known.

Hey, bud,
Nick mentally projected to Caleb.
Thanks.

Caleb scowled. “For?”

Nick smiled as Caleb spoke out loud.
Not letting me die. Fighting by my side whenever I need you to, and for getting up this morning when I know you'd rather sleep till noon or later.

His frown deepened.
You're so weird.

Given the fact that Nick was the hated son of a demon whose sole purpose was to one day end the world—and had been born the lead rider of the Apocalypse, Conquest, to be specific, and he was currently dating the ghost of a warrior he would kill in their future—
weird
was a massive understatement.

For that matter, if there was a primer for normality, Nick would be the first in line to buy it. His life was ever a case study of Murphy's Law to the utter extremes.

Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. And in the worst way possible, at the worst possible time.

Yeah, that summed up his average day. Sad thing was, he was getting really used to that.

Just as the bell rang, Caleb sneezed.

Then sneezed again. And once more.

Nick froze at the startling sound he'd never heard before. Ever. Especially given the fact that Caleb's features instantly paled.

“You all right, buddy?”

Caleb brushed his hand against his brow in a way that said it was not a good day to be Malphas. “I don't feel well all of a sudden.”

“You don't look so good either.”

“Sheez, Nick! You're so blunt!” Kody chided as she stepped around him to check on Caleb. She placed her hand on Caleb's forehead. “Gracious, hon. You're burning with a fever.”

Caleb shook his head. “No. Can't be. I don't get sick.” He started coughing. Hard.

Wide-eyed, Nick stepped back. “While I'm no medic or nurse, that sounds pretty sick to me. And not the good kind of sick. The sick kind of sick. Like call-my-mama-I-need-soup-and-Kleenex sick.”

Kody patted Caleb on the back. “You okay, sweetie?”

Nodding, he drew a ragged breath. Then he started coughing again.

Richardson came over to them with an irritated sneer. “Is there a problem?”

Nick exchanged a worried glance with Kody before he answered. “I think Caleb's illin'.”

Scoffing, Richardson curled her lip. “He looks fine to—”

Her words broke off as Caleb hurled at her feet. Shrieking, she jumped back, but not before he scored on her ugly brown ortho shoes.

Nick wrinkled his nose. “Dude, that's so gross!” But awesome as all get-out! Nice to know Caleb had great aim in all things. “Man, what'd you eat for breakfast? That don't look right. Is that small kitten bits or something?”

Turning bright green herself and retching, Richardson cursed them in a way that would have them suspended if the principal overheard one of them say that. “Take him to the office. Now!”

“Yes, ma'am.” Nick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing over the nasty retribution as he pulled Caleb's arm around his shoulders and led him toward the front of school. Kody followed behind them.

As soon as they were clear of the room, Nick paused to whisper. “You want me to take you to the bathroom so you can teleport home?”

Caleb wheezed. “I-I-I can't teleport.”

Nick went cold with dread. “What?”

Stark cold terror filled Caleb's dark eyes. “My powers are gone, Nick. I'm human.”

 

CHAPTER 2

Nick opened his mouth to tell Caleb he wasn't funny, but before he could, Caleb dashed into the bathroom and to a stall to be sick again. Thankfully, he didn't score on Nick before he left.

Or his shoes.

Bonus for that. Though, to be honest, if Caleb had taken out the hideous shirt, Nick wouldn't have complained too much.

Cringing at the sounds of gastro-misery coming out of his friend, Nick waited by the sinks until Caleb was through. Pale and shaking, Caleb stumbled out a few minutes later. Man, he felt bad for the demon.

Nick turned the water on for him and stood aside while Caleb washed up. “You gonna make it?”

Before Caleb could answer, his knees buckled.

Seriously concerned, Nick caught him up against his side. “Caleb?” Kody was right. He was burning with a fever so severe, it radiated through his clothes. “Can you hear me?”

He started babbling in demonkyn. Something about fields and planting? It was so off and made no sense whatsoever. Why would a daeve warrior demon care about planting a field?

“Caleb!” Nick barked. “Dude! I need you to hang with me. C'mon. Don't do this. I need you lucid.”

It was useless. Caleb had checked out and taken the bill with him.

Had the ghost rider in the hallway caused this? It didn't seem possible, but what else could have done it? He'd been fine earlier.

Biting his lip, Nick debated what to do. Who to go to for help.

One thing was clear. No one else in their school needed to know about this. Nor did they need to witness Caleb speaking in tongues. They might start asking awkward questions about what language it was. Why Caleb knew it.

Or worse, they could discover Caleb's
and
Nick's less-than-human origins. While most of their private parochial school was human, there were enough preternaturals here to make it real uncomfortable for Nick's small group. Especially when it came to the staff clergy, who might want them exorcized.

Or worse …

Expelled.

For that matter, while there were humans here who knew about and protected the other preters at the school, none of them were aware that they had a small demon population, and they really wanted to keep it that way.

The fewer who knew about Nick and Caleb, the better. Since most people assumed every species of demon was evil and all they wanted was to throw holy water on them and banish them straight to hell, no good could come of anyone knowing about them. The last thing Nick wanted was that kind of negative attention and stereotyping. He had a hard enough time with puberty and dating. No need to toss
this
into the mix, too, and have Sister Katherine following them around with her rosary and thurible.

As with humanity, demons came in all breeds and kinds, and they chose which side of the fight they wanted to be on. For now, he and Caleb were firmly rooted on the right side, and they both planned to stay here no matter what.

But because people had a nasty tendency to attack without question, they wouldn't believe that about them. He accepted and respected the fact that demons had a bad rep. Most had earned it, yet Nick didn't want to be judged by those who'd come before him.

He was here to make his own way in this world. And he would be saved or condemned by the choices he, alone, made. Not for the deeds of others.

Yet that was neither here nor there. Right now, his main concern was what to do for Caleb. How best to protect and help his friend.

Nick glanced around to make sure no one else was in the bathroom with them before he flashed them to Caleb's house. It was the only safe place he could take Caleb to heal where neither his nor Caleb's enemies could get to him.

“Zavid!”

The Aamon demon who lived with Caleb, Zavid, appeared at his side immediately, then stepped back as soon as he saw Caleb's weakened condition, and heard his babbling. Like Caleb, Zavid had dark hair and the kind of build and good looks that left Nick feeling without. “What did you do to him, Malachai?”

“Nothing. He got sick.”

That didn't help Zavid's attitude toward Nick. If anything, he only became more suspicious. “We don't get sick.”

Caleb began coughing up blood, maybe even a kidney from the sounds of it, as he staggered away. He only made it as far as the stairs before he sat down and leaned against the wall.

Nick cringed at how awful his friend looked. Those were deep, bronchial coughs like Nick used to get when he was a kid. He had no idea what to do for him. He seriously doubted an inhaler would help. “I feel like I ought to make you chicken soup or something.”

His breathing labored, Caleb stared at him. “How does anyone stand this?”

“Usually? With a great deal of whining and begging for my mom to come baby me.”

Zavid scowled. “This isn't a joke? He really is sick?”

“Yeah.”

Zavid glanced from Nick to Caleb and back again. “Not injured? Sick?”

“Sick,” Nick repeated.

Arms akimbo, Zavid stood in a state of utter disbelief as Caleb sat on the stairs with his head in his hands. “How is this possible?”

“No idea. Isn't there a demon doctor or something I can take him to? What do you guys do when you get ill?”

“We. Don't. Get. Sick.” Zavid enunciated each word slowly. “Ever. We get injured. We get ticked off. We get dead. We
never
get sick.”

Nick gestured at Caleb. “Obviously, you've been misinformed.”

Zavid rolled his eyes. “Liv!” he barked, which, given the fact he was a Hel hound in his other form, meant something.

Dressed in a white flowing nightgown and with long black hair, Livia appeared instantly by Zavid's side. Unbelievably beautiful, she was also a demon general who was even more bloodthirsty than the guys. It made Nick glad that she was on their side.

Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes. Obviously, she'd been sound asleep when he shouted for her. “What?” she said irritably.

“Ever heard of a demon getting sick?” Zavid asked.

She pursed her lips. “Of humans? All the time. It's what we live for.”

Zavid laughed. “No. Catching a cold.”

“Oh…” Yawning again, she rubbed at her head. “Don't be stupid. Demons are immune from germs.”

“And we're back where we started. Beginning to feel like I'm riding a hamster wheel.” Nick jumped away as Caleb began a gurgling sound like he'd made right before he'd trashed Richardson's shoes. “I should probably mention that C doesn't have his powers, so one of you might want to get him a little closer to a bathroom. Just in case he starts blowing another gasket.”

Zavid turned his attention to Livia.

Livia gaped at Zavid, then Nick. “What? 'Cause I'm female I'm the wet nurse?”

“Well, yeah … you have the anatomy for it we lack,” Zavid said snidely.

Nick shrugged. “Don't look at me for this. As stated, I lack the necessary female equipment for wet nursery. And I once killed a cactus and Bubba's goldfish watching over them. No offense, I don't want to kill Malphas or find a toilet big enough to flush him down. Not even sure how to water him or what to feed him. Come to think of it, I don't recall him eating anything around me. Ever. Last time he went down, he told me he wanted blood to heal, and I only do that for the Red Cross.”

Caleb looked up to curl his lip at Nick, but didn't comment on that. “Can someone please get me to bed? I don't think I can make it up the stairs. And you should be grateful, Gautier. If I had the energy to stand, I'd probably strangle you. Or take an involuntary blood donation from your jugular.”

He vanished instantly.

Zavid walked over to Nick. “I sent him to his bed. But really, what's going on? How can Malphas be sick and without his powers?”

“I don't know. Is there some kind of demon that preys on us?”

“Many,” they said in unison.

Nick groaned. “Great. Good to know.” Caleb had been right. He should have never said the day was going good. Everything had just skidded off the Crap Exit ramp into Hexville.

“But,” Zavid interrupted his mental anguish, “never heard of anything like this.” He glanced to Livia. “You?”

She shook her head. “Not with a demon as powerful and old as Malphas. If they had that kind of ability to strip
his
powers, they'd have attacked the Malachai before him.”

“Yeah, but for once, nothing hit me.”

Caleb let out an eerie, pain-filled howl. Terrified some new enemy was trying to kill or eat his best friend, Nick bolted up the stairs and into the bedroom to find Caleb motionless on the black sheets.

His heart stopped. Caleb looked so dead. His normally dark olive complexion had a bluish-gray cast to it.

Please. Please, don't have died.
He really wasn't ready to say good-bye to his friend.

Not like this.

Nick approached the bed slowly and cautiously. There was no telling what could be going on. Terrified, he reached his hand out to check Caleb's breathing. It was faint, but it was still there.

Overwhelmed with relief, Nick sank to his knees by the bed and whispered a grateful prayer. “Hang in there, buddy. I'm going to find an answer for this. And get you right back on your feet. I promise.”

He had no idea how, but there had to be some way to cure it. Some way to restore Caleb. It had to be a spell or curse or rabid dog hair, or something odd that was causing this. And if it was, then it could be undone.