and the same was true of Kody and Caleb.
“What kind of bachelor party are you throwing, Malphas?” Xenon asked as he came out of the study.
“Feel free to join us.” Caleb was trying as hard to break free as Nick and Kody were.
It was useless.
Xenon vanished back into the room before they swarmed him, too.
“We’re dead.” Nick looked at Kody, wanting to memorize the beauty of her face in case they didn’t have women so lovely where he was headed.
Neither of them bothered to contradict his dire prediction. There was no need. The demons sat on his chest, banging his head against the floor so hard, he was amazed it didn’t split open. Same for Kody and Caleb. They fought with everything they had, but it wasn’t enough to even hurt their attackers.
The demons swarmed together and lifted them up as if they were about to fly them somewhere.
Just as Nick was convinced they wouldn’t survive, Xenon came out of the study like the Terminator. He sprinkled something into the air that acted like acid, especially when he shot fireballs out of his hands that ignited it. As soon as it hit their attackers, they shrieked and flew off with their skin melting.
Chasing them out of the house and down the driveway, Xenon spoke in a calm, soothing voice while he attacked them. It was an impressive feat. One Nick would love to learn. But yelling out obscenities and sarcasm was more his style.
Once they were gone, Xenon came in and locked the door. He grimaced at Caleb. “Thought you said this place was safe.”
“Apparently, I was mistaken.”
“Good job, Malphas.”
Caleb flipped him off for the sarcasm. Then he looked over at Nick. “That was an assassination crew. Somehow they knew you were here.”
That news made him sick to his stomach. “Do we need to go protect my mom?”
Xenon shook his head. “They don’t follow like humans. They’re more like basset hounds. We were attacked because they blood-tracked their target here. That would be you, by the way.”
Crap. “What if my scent leads them to my house and my mom’s there alone?”
“Calm down. Again, they don’t work that way. They can track only a current scent, not a lingering one. Unless you’ve bathed in perfume so strong, it leaves a heavy, lasting impression, you’re safe.” He glanced over to Kody.
“I resent that look, and I don’t wear perfume.”
“Just checking.”
Caleb limped over to Xenon. “Now you know why we have to hurry. Can you have us something by tomorrow?”
“I’ll work on it all night. Not like I need sleep anyway with the crap in my head.”
“Thanks.”
Xenon gave a nod to Caleb before he went back to the office.
Caleb let out a weary sigh. “I’m going to bed. If anyone else attacks tonight, feed them Nick and tell them to go away.”
“Hey!”
But Caleb ignored him as he left them alone.
“I think I’m going to turn in, too.” She kissed his cheek. “Don’t stay up too much later. Otherwise, I’ll be worrying about you.”
“I won’t be long behind you.”
“All right.” She headed up the stairs to the guest wing. The fact that Caleb had wings said it all about how sick his house was.
Nick waited until they were gone before he went to the study to spy on their newcomer.
“You might as well come in, Nick. I can’t stand someone at my back.”
Nick pushed the door open wider and walked into the office that had wood paneling from floor to ceiling. Even though it had a desk and chair, it was sparsely decorated and had a lot of space in it.
Xenon had laid out all his supplies and was combining things into a small black iron pot in front of him.
In a strange way, he reminded Nick of a chef. Graceful and sure, as if the recipe was forever etched into his memory.
“So what are you doing?” Nick asked.
“I’m creating an elixir that will protect me when I summon this girl back for you.”
“Do you think my plan will work?”
Xenon shrugged. “Not an expert on that kind of thing. You will either fail or succeed. One or the other is a given.”
Hmmm …
Nick wandered closer. “So how did you get into this line of work, anyway?”
Xenon glanced askance at him as he added a green leafy thing to the pot. “Answered an ad in the paper.”
“Did you?”
Xenon didn’t respond. “Actually, kid, I need you for a second.”
That made him cringe. “Why?”
“I have an ingredient I need from you.”
Nick didn’t like the sound of that