Invincible Chronicles of Nick - By Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 0,75
he’d been spending time with his enemies and he’d had no clue about it.
Yeah, that was terrifying and sobering.
“So when was the last time I spoke to you?”
Caleb licked the blood from his lips. “When I pulled you out of the locker and unwrapped you.”
“Which really sucked, just so you know. You’re the one who deserved to be tossed…” Nick changed his tone as he saw the deep gashes in Caleb’s body. Wounds he’d taken for him. That put everything in perspective and made him feel both bad and grateful. “Okay, so you didn’t deserve that, but still … I don’t like being tossed inside lockers. For future reference, okay?”
“Duly noted.”
Nervous over everything that had happened, Nick paced around the couch. “So what’s going on with all of this?”
“This is what I was trying to tell you, kid. Fringe Hunters can take any form they want to. It’s what makes them so deadly. For that matter, one shouldn’t even be able to get into this condo, which is supposed to be protecting you from things like them and yet…” His eyes flashed to those freak show snake eyes. “Did you invite him in?”
“I thought I summoned you.”
He leaned back with a groan. “Nick … we have got to get your powers honed. Your perspicacity is not where it needs to be. I swear I’m going to tie Simi to you until your eyes are opened to others. She has the best of anyone I’ve ever met. No one gets anything over on her.”
He’d noticed that like Rémi and the rest of the bears, she hid in plain sight. “Where does she come from?”
“Her people are called Charonte, and they originated in Lemuria then moved to other places I can’t talk about with you.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t, Nick, okay? Now, please give me a second to lie here in silence and bleed.”
That was the least he could do, since he was the whole reason Caleb was hurt. “You want something to drink?”
“Human blood would be fabulous. But since I doubt you’re donating, let me suffer for a minute longer.”
Nick paced back and forth as he tried to understand just how scary his world was now.
“No, Nick,” Caleb whispered from behind him. “The world has always been scary. You’ve just been lucky enough to be shielded from it. It’s the saddest part of childhood, really. When that shimmery veil is ripped away by something horrible and you’re left with the unvarnished truth. When the world no longer becomes safe and you see the ugly side of it. You, like most humans, fear us demons. But we’re not the worst predators out there. You know what we are. It’s the ones who lure you in with kindness or who attack from the back. Those are monsters far worse than us. All this time, you thought you knew. We all do. But now you have seen.”
“And I can’t take that back.”
Caleb shook his head.
Nick paused to look at him. “Were you ever a child?”
“Very few creatures are lucky enough to be born adult. We all suffer through childhood and adolescence.”
“Did you enjoy yours?” Nick asked, wanting to know.
“Parts. But I grew up in a vastly different time and place. You can’t even begin to imagine it.”
No, he guessed he couldn’t.
Caleb’s eyes returned to their human appearance. “But there was one who was kind to me. Someone who wasn’t supposed to have kindness. What I know of it, I learned from him. You should be glad that you’ve met me after he did. I assure you the Shadow Me you dealt with earlier was far kinder than I would have been before.”
“But you don’t want to be my protector.”
“I never said that.”
“Your expressions do.”
Caleb laughed. “You haven’t mastered your lessons, boy. You’re misreading impatience. I have that with all creatures. I want my freedom. I make no bones about that. It’s what I’ve yearned for these countless centuries. But my freedom would be wasted if I allowed you to be swallowed by darkness.”
“You said prophecy couldn’t be fought.”
Caleb pushed himself up from the couch and cleaned the blood away with a swipe of his hand. “Since when do you pay attention in class? And especially Moby Dick?”
Nick shrugged. “Apparently I do. Who knew?” He sobered as he met Caleb’s sinister gaze and the horrible reality of his future sank in with steely hooks. “Do you think I can be saved?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I’d be off building a really deep bunker.”