Invision - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 0,75
was known and not here to do harm, they slowly faded back to blend in with the paint.
Turning on the lights, he allowed his friends to enter behind him.
“No one’s been here.”
Kody bit her lip. “Why would they attack the shop? It seems like she’d be stronger there than even here.”
Nick picked up an old photo of him with Menyara from his third birthday party where he was sitting on her lap, wrapped in her arms. She’d kept it on her shelves as far back as he could remember. He had one identical to it in his own bedroom. “Maybe because they could get in there. This is personal space. Evil can’t enter here unless invited. The store’s neutral ground where the protection sigils aren’t as strong. They could get in and up close before she’d be alerted to what they really were.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Kody wrapped her arms around herself as they looked about for clues.
That action concerned him. Kody only did that when she was emotionally hurt and needing comfort. Nick set the picture down and drew her into his arms. “You okay, cher?”
She let out a shaky sigh. “Tired of burying loved ones. It’s just stirring bad memories.”
Nick flinched as her words awoke flashes in his own mind. He saw his future home and his mother … He staggered back from the image of her death and shook his head to clear it of an event that he couldn’t bear to think about.
“Whoa, Nick! You okay?”
“Yeah, another vision. I’m starting to wish I’d never touched that Eye. Just reminds me why drugs are a bad idea. I can’t stand this. Who in their right mind would intentionally do this to themselves?”
She rubbed his back, then frowned. “You’re burning up again.” She placed her hand to his cheek. “You feel all right?”
“My hands are cold. Other than that, I’m fine.”
Kody took his hand into hers. “That’s not cold. It’s arctic.… Caleb, feel this.”
Frowning, he stepped over and did as she asked. His jaw dropped. “You’re like a corpse.”
Suddenly, he heard whispering in the aether around him. Subtle and light, it was barely audible. Only his Malachai powers could detect it.
The room and his friends faded. He was no longer in Menyara’s home …
He wasn’t sure where he was. It was somewhere he didn’t know. Some place he couldn’t identify.
Then, he saw Acheron …
No, not Ash. This man had short, curly blond hair and blue eyes, instead of Ash’s swirling silver ones. But other than that, he was identical. Same towering, six-foot-eight height. Same athletic warrior’s build. Dressed in black armor that was a cross between ancient Greek and futuristic Kevlar, he stormed inside a palace Nick had never seen before to face a gorgeous blond woman. Her pale blond hair glistened in the darkness. It was so dark here. As if no light could reach this place.
Her gown was made of an ebony material so lightweight that it floated over her body like a cloud. She was the epitome of a regal queen and yet power and fury emanated from her. When she turned to face him, she held the same swirling silver eyes of Acheron, and features that were the feminine version of both his and Styxx’s.
“What are you doing here?” Her gaze went from him to the army of Charonte he’d brought with him.
“Acheron sent me to evacuate you.”
She laughed. “Where? I can’t leave. He knows this.”
“Ambrose is opening a gate for you. He and Acheron are going to face Cyprian’s forces.”
Her gaze softened as she swept his loyal body with her mercurial gaze. “Where’s your family?”
“By their sides.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I cannot believe we were so deceived. I will go so that they can battle without worrying for me. But before I do…” She pulled at the chain around her neck until it dislodged a vial from between her breasts.
Removing her necklace, she pressed it into Styxx’s hand. “Give this to Ambrose. Should they fail today, should he fall in battle, it will be imperative that he drink it before he dies. Tell him this. If he doesn’t drink of it, we will all be lost.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know. This is a matter of trust. Not understanding. All will be revealed in time. As with all things, it is never the enemy we see who destroys us. It is the one within we fail to notice, the one we trust, who deals us the fatal blow.”
She pulled Styxx into her arms and