Caleb turned to face her. “I’ll be happy to show you. I’m Caleb, by the way.”
“Mr. Malphas?” Richardson snapped irritably. “Do you have something to share with the class?”
Caleb grinned at the condescending shrew. “No, Ms. Richardson. I was merely offering to help our new student not get lost or be late to her next class.”
“While that is nice of you, you need to listen for your name.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Gah, that had to irritate Caleb. Thousands of years old, he was more powerful than anyone Nick had ever met, except for Acheron. He had no doubt the demon could fry Richardson in her seat.
And to think, he’d once been jealous of Caleb’s Hollywood-slick good looks, perfect body, great wardrobe, and money. Until he’d learned the truth about him. Now Nick knew there wasn’t enough money in the universe to compensate Caleb for what he’d been through, and for having to put up with Nick’s cranky butt all the time. While the demon wasn’t big on sharing anything about himself or his past, there was no missing the haunted shadows that darkened Caleb’s eyes whenever he thought no one was looking.
It made Nick wonder if his own scars were that visible whenever he let his guard slip.
Not soon enough, the bell rang, liberating them from Richardson’s whiny drone. Thank goodness he didn’t have her for English anymore. Last year had been the longest of his life.
Nick had just slung his backpack over his shoulder when Jill planted herself firmly in front of him. He passed a nervous glance to Caleb, then to Kody, who seemed less than pleased by the attention Jill was giving him.
“My first period is in room 214. Can you help me find it?”
Nick stepped back so that Caleb could slide in.
“I’d be more than thrilled to show you,” Caleb said in his deepest drawl.
Jill frowned. “I’d rather Nick guide me, if you don’t mind.”
The expression on Caleb’s face was priceless. With his fashionably cut, black hair and dark good looks, he wasn’t used to taking second to anyone when it came to a female’s attention.
Kody wrapped her arm around Nick’s and brushed her hand through his dark brown hair. “I’m sure Caleb doesn’t mind in the least. However, I do have a bit of a problem with it. I’m Kody. Nick’s girlfriend. Nice meeting you.” She all but hauled him out of the room.
Because of her tight grip on his arm and his unwillingness to hurt her, Nick was still stumbling in the hallway as they made their way to first period. “Easy, Kody. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
She loosened her hold. “I know you weren’t. While you are absolutely gorgeous, in spite of what you think, it’s that demon glamour you have that attracts every female you meet.”
Further proof Richardson wasn’t female.
“The older you get and the more you access your powers, the stronger it becomes. I wish we could find something to turn it off.”
“Yeah, but doesn’t Caleb have it, too?”
“Unfortunately, no. He’s a different type of beastie. His kind were bred to fight, not serve.”
“Serve” was a polite term for demon slavery. Something his father had been bound by for thousands of years until he’d either convinced or tricked, or probably both, his master’s servant into freeing him. No one was sure how Adarian had broken free of the Nether Realm, since everyone who’d made the mistake of asking him that had been gutted.
As for Caleb, even though he wasn’t a “servant” class demon, he was now enslaved to Nick, but again, Nick had no idea how or why. Caleb wasn’t into sharing any more than his father was.
Nick paused in the hallway next to Kody’s locker so that she could drop off her sweater. “You still haven’t told me how it is you know so much about me and my powers.”
“I know.” She bent down to unlock the door.
Yeah … after a year, he should be used to her dodging his questions about her, her powers and her ability to know him so well.
Nick jerked to attention as he saw a shadow run across the wall, then vanish into a crack above the bathroom door. “Did you see that?”
Kody stood up immediately. “What?”
Nick turned his head and used his powers to try and sense whatever had been there. But he didn’t pick up on anything. “Must have been my imagination.”
Spinning her lock, Kody narrowed her eyes. “Last time you said that, we almost got slaughtered by a mortent.”
True, and he still had that tight feeling in his gut that usually signaled some form of demon species was nearby.
His gaze went to a flash of pink approaching them. It was Brynna Addams—one of the first friends Nick had made at St. Richards and an all-around sweetheart.
Smiling, she touched Kody on the arm. “Hey hon, I was wondering if I could borrow you after school? LaShonda and I got drafted to do the decorations for the Fall Out Dance, and I could really use some help.” She turned her pitiful begging look to Nick. “You, too, Gautier. Want to help a sister out?”
“I would love to, but I have to work today. Kyrian has some returns I have to make, and a pickup from Liza’s.”
Brynna pouted before she turned back to Nekoda. “Please, Kody?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Sure.”
Squealing, Brynna hugged her. “You’re the best!” She dashed off, vanishing into the crowd.
Nick laughed. “Thank goodness she grabbed
you
. I don’t want to be in the dog house anymore.”
“You’re still not in the clear, buddy.”
Nick sighed. “Story of my life.”
The warning bell sounded.
“You better go,” Kody said. “I don’t want to see you get another detention.”
“
You
? At this rate, I should just make a bed on the floor of Richardson’s room. Tell me again why
she
couldn’t have gotten eaten by a zombie?” Nick fell silent as he contemplated a way to facilitate that happening. It wasn’t too late. “I wonder if Madaug has any more copies of that game laying around.”
Kody paled. “Don’t even joke about that. Now go.”
Saluting her, he turned and headed toward his first period, where Caleb was waiting at their computer lab table.
Either Caleb or Kody was with him in every class—something they’d both insisted on. After what had happened last year with the coach who’d sold his soul for victory—literally—and who had then blackmailed Nick into helping him get items he could use to kill students, the two of them were paranoid something would grab Nick in the middle of the day if one of them wasn’t nearby.
Nick’s home was considered a safe zone since they’d set up protection symbols and sealed the apartment. However, the school was a public building with hundreds of people in it—including some known preternaturals who were supposed to be there, and who posed no threat to him. There was no way to make it completely safe without banning those students, too.
Nick sat down at the same time Caleb shot to his feet. “Something wrong?”
Caleb narrowed his eyes as he made a slow circle around his stool, scanning every corner of the room. “There’s something here. Can you feel it?”
“I thought I saw a shadow in the hallway a few minutes ago.”
Caleb’s eyes flashed orange.
Nick glanced around to make sure no one else had seen him do that. “Yo, D, the freak eye thing? Dead giveaway, man. Sit down before the wings pop out, and we both end up in a real science lab, under the microscope.”
“Malphas?” their teacher snapped. “You have trouble finding your seat?”
Caleb turned at Mr. Tendyk’s question. “No, sir.” He sat down beside Nick.
The bell rang.
After closing the door and dimming the classroom lights, Tendyk turned on the overhead projector that displayed his desktop for everyone in the class to see. Nick sucked his breath in sharply while the rest of the room erupted into chaos.
Instead of the boring icons they were used to staring at on a vomit green background, Tendyk’s desktop wallpaper was a montage of Brynna Addams naked, doing extremely lewd things.
Tendyk almost broke his computer as he fumbled to turn it off. “Who’s responsible for this?” he demanded angrily.
Utter silence rang out.
Until Stone laughed again. “From the looks of it, I’d say Brynna Addams. Who knew
that
was hidden underneath all those high buttoned shirts and sweaters?”
Laughing, Mason high-fived him.
Pandemonium returned as everyone had a foul or gross comment to make. Everyone except Nick and Caleb. Nick was too horrified by how Brynna would react once she found out about it. And he was sure some snotwit would beeline right to her with the news. There was nothing the goobs in his school loved more than to be the bearer of really bad news, especially to the person it related to. It was like they enjoyed seeing the misery it caused, firsthand.
He turned to Caleb. “That wasn’t Brynna, was it?”
Caleb shook his head. “That was someone’s idea of a sick joke.”
Speaking of sick, Nick felt ill over it. His stomach heaved in sympathetic agony for her. “Can you tell who?”
He did that weird head cock move as if he were listening to a song only he could hear. “No idea. But it was done for sheer malice.”
“Brynna will die when she finds out.”
“I know.” A tic started in Caleb’s jaw. “Can you feel the hatred behind it?”
“Now that you mention it … is that what the icky tickling is down my spine?”
Caleb nodded.
Nick sighed heavily. Well at least he knew what was causing
that
symptom. “Is it demonic?”
“No. This is human evil. Demon hatred comes with a distinctive odor to it.”
“Yeah, well, this stinks, too.” Nick was repulsed by whoever had done something so vicious to someone so kind. Why would anyone hurt Brynna so? In all the years he’d known her, he’d never heard Brynna say a mean thing about anyone.
Not even him.
“All of you!” Tendyk snapped. “Line up in the hallway and be silent. Stone, I want you to go to the office and tell Mr. Head that I need him down here, pronto.”
Laughing, Stone went to obey.
Nick reached for his backpack.
“Leave it, Gautier,” Tendyk snapped. “No one is to take anything out of here.”
Nick hesitated. His grimoire and pendulum were in his backpack, along with his Malachai dagger. If his bag was searched and they happened upon those …
It would get ugly, especially since his grimoire was written in blood. Granted, it was
his
blood. But adults didn’t seem discriminating when it came to kids bleeding on things during school hours.
I’ve got it covered,
Caleb said in his mind.
Releasing a relieved breath, Nick headed outside with everyone else.
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest as they lined up against the wall of bright red steel lockers. “You know what the only thing worse than an evil demon is?”
“My mother when she’s really ticked off at me, especially when it’s justified.”
Caleb snorted. “No, Nick. Human cruelty. All the centuries I’ve lived, I’ve never understood it. Instead of banding together, your kind seems ever determined to tear each other down. And for what? Jealousy? I just don’t get it.”
And coming from a demon, that pretty much said it all. “You’re not seriously telling me that demons are never cruel?”
“Some are. But you know who they are, and you see them coming. You can smell them from days away. Humans, on the other hand, are insidious. You don’t see it coming until they’ve stabbed you in the back and through the heart.”
Nick scowled at his implication. “What are you saying, Cay?”
“I can’t tell who did this, but I can tell why they did it. This was meant to shame Brynna and hurt her to the deepest level.”
And as those words left Caleb’s lips, Nick became aware of the conversations around him.
“I told you Brynna was a slut. My mother said her mama was one, too.”
“I always knew her goody-two-shoes persona was an act.”
“Man, I wish I’d known she’d do that. You think she’s busy Saturday night?”
Nick cringed at their ugliness. “It wasn’t Brynna,” he said defensively.
Mason scoffed at him. “You’re an idiot, Gautier.”
“Yeah,” another student concurred, “didn’t you see
that
in there?”
“With farm animals, too! Oh my God, I’m so disturbed.”
“You are? Imagine how that horse felt.”
They all burst out laughing.
Nick started to respond, but Caleb stopped him.
“Let it go.”
That was easier said than done. “Brynna’s my friend.”
Before Caleb could comment, the principal stalked past them and into the room. Nick stood on his tiptoes so that he could see Tendyk show the principal the horrific montage through the window in the classroom door.
His pocket started vibrating. Nick pulled out his Nokia 9000 and flipped it open to see he had a new e-mail. As he tried to access it, his phone blew up with texts about Brynna and the photographs. Apparently, their classroom wasn’t the only one spammed with that filth.
An instant later, a door down the hallway opened. Brynna ran out, sobbing hysterically. Laughter from her classroom rang in the hall and mixed with the laughter of the jerks around him. Laughter that was only drowned out by a few dickweeds making offers to her.
His heart aching, Nick started to go after her and calm her down.
Caleb caught his arm in a tight grip. “I can’t stress enough to you that you need to stay out of this.”
“Why?”
“Use your powers, Nick. Look at what’s about to happen.”
Nick glanced around until he found something shiny enough to use for scrying … the silver on the water fountain. It wasn’t very big, but it was enough that he could focus his powers with it.
And there in that small, two-inch strip, he glimpsed the horror that was about to become Brynna’s life over this single act of cruelty.
In that moment, he completely disagreed with Caleb. “She needs a friend.”
“Yes, she does. But right now, the administration is looking for someone to blame for this. You walk in there too soon and this will be hung around
your
neck. Trust me.”
That would be his luck, too.
Even so, Nick would deny it if not for the fact that Caleb had a lot more life experience to draw from. You didn’t argue colors with Picasso. Car facts with Richard Petty. And you definitely didn’t question human behavior with Caleb.