Nick laughed at more proof Mark wasn't completely insane. Never go back for the fallen unless you want to be captured or killed. Unless the fallen was Bubba, who usually had a larger calibre of weapons.
Mark sighed. "By the time I realized they weren't behind me, they were gone and I was sick over it. I really thought they'd gotten eaten. But luckily I saw your girlfriend under attack and, with Simi's help, was able to get her to safety."
Nick nodded as he ran all of that through his mind. He only had one question left. "So how'd they get Stone?"
"Stone was here?" Tabitha asked.
"Yeah, the coward ran out and left us the first chance he got.
Alex curled his lip. "You know, he's what gives werewolves a bad name."
Madaug's mom let out a deep sigh. "You know, guys, I've had enough excitement for one night. Bubba, can you take me home? Ian needs to be in bed. Madaug and Eric need to be grounded, and I just want to forget that I ever heard of anything preternatural. At least until I have to get up in the morning and deal with the Dark-Hunters." "Sure."
Alex grinned at her. "So does this mean you're surrendering your Squire status, Mrs. S.?"
"Not on your life. It just means I need to rest." She lifted Ian up into the truck, then climbed in behind him. "Eric and Madaug ... get your butts in here."
Eric gave Tabitha a quick kiss. "I'll call you later."
Bubba opened the door to climb in while Tabitha and Mark got in on the other side. "Let me run them home, then I'll be back to grab the rest of you."
Nick nodded as Nekoda took his hand into hers and held it tight.
He, Caleb, Simi, Alex, and Nekoda stayed behind.
Nick went over to the game and sighed. "You know, it was a fun game. But for the whole zombie conversion thing, he'd have made millions on it."
They all froze as they heard something rustling in the shadows. Nick pulled Nekoda behind him as Alex flashed himself from their group to the source of the sound.
A few seconds later, he threw Stone into the light.
Nick glared at him. "You loser dork."
"Ah, shut up, Gautier. You're nothing but trash anyway."
Nick grinned. "Yeah, but I'm trash with a seriously modified cattle prod." He stuck the tip of it against Stone's hip and sent him flying.
But it had an additional effect that Nick hadn't expected. Not only did it shock him, it turned him from human to wolf to human and back again.
"What the—?"
Alex backed up as Nick looked at him. "That's the bad thing about being a shapeshifter. You hit us with electricity and we lose control of our forms."
Gaping, he looked back at Stone, who would try to curse him during the few seconds he was a human as he flashed between forms. "How long's he going to do that?"
"You gave him a pretty good jolt. Probably an hour."
Nick laughed. "Bonus round."
Alex shook his head. "And on that note, I should get home too. I don't want to get grounded either. See you guys tomorrow at school." He disappeared into thin air.
Nick looked at Nekoda. "You're taking all of this weirdness in stride. Should I be afraid?"
"I almost got eaten by zombies tonight, Nick, and I rode in a truck with Bubba's driving. Some guy flashing out of the room and another one turning into a dog isn't exactly the scariest thing I've seen in the last few hours."
Simi came up to lean against Kod/s shoulder. "Oh, the Simi thinks you've seen things much, much scarier than that."
Nekoda paled a bit, but didn't elaborate.
Nick pulled her away from the others so that he could speak to her with a little bit of privacy. Gah, this was awkward. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but deep inside he was still afraid, even after everything they'd been through, that she'd shoot him down.
"Urn, Kody... I was wondering ..." He let his voice trail off as his fear mounted.
Just ask her out already.
Good grief, Nick, she kissed you.
Yeah, but she'd thought they were going to die. Now that they weren't dead she might be regretting that kiss. Wishing she'd saved it for someone who was better looking. Smarter.
Someone not dressed in a goober shirt.
"What?" she asked.
Man up, boy. You faced dowi demons tonight. Howcan you shirk now?
Then again, fighting demons was a lot easier than asking out a girl he really liked. They couldn't hurt his feelings.
With one word, she could crush him.
Just do it!
Taking a deep breath, he glanced away and spoke before he chickened out. "Would you like to go to the Cafe Du Monde with me tomorrow after school and grab some beignets? That is, if my mom doesn't ground me for life for letting Bubba tranq her?"
Time seemed to hang on forever before she spoke. "Sure. I'd like that a lot. But no more zombies, okay?"
In that instant, Nick felt like he could fly. "Yeah, all right. No zombies."
But in his head was the voice of Ambrose. You only learned part of lesson one tonight, kid. You have nine more to go. Do you really think making time w'th a girl is the thing you should be focusing on?
Honestly? Yeah. 'Cause when he looked into Kod/s eyes, he could see into the future. There was something about her that warmed him, and after this night, he really needed that.
Especially given the challenges he would have to face in the future.
Lighten up, old man. This is my life, not yours, and I intend to make the most of it.
Ambrose flinched as he heard Nick's voice in his head with words that sent a cold chill down his spine. But he pulled back and left the kid alone to enjoy his victory.
"Unfortunately, Nick, you are living my life and God help us both, we're making all new mistakes."
He just hoped that this time they didn't kill everyone he loved.
As for Nekoda ...
Ambrose had learned long ago to fear anyone he let near him whose past and future he couldn't see. Anytime he'd made that particular mistake, the person had done their best to destroy him.
And in his gut, he knew Nekoda would be no exception.
A new face. A new chance.
But would it be enough ... That remained to be seen.
EPILOGUE
It was almost dawn before Bubba dropped Nick off at Kyrian's house. They'd had to run back to the store to let Brett and company out of the storeroom before Nick could face the dragon known as his mom.
Caleb stood beside him in the driveway while Nick looked up at Kyrian's mansion with holy terror gnawing on his gut.
"You ever had something you really dreaded doing?" Nick asked him.
"Yeah. It usually starts first thing in the morning when the alarm clock sounds and I know I have to go to school to learn stuff I already know."
Nick could definitely commiserate with that. "How do you stand it?"
Caleb shrugged. "You're my assignment, Nick. You do what you have to do or a bigger demon eats out your liver and uses your spine to pick its teeth."
The sad thing was, Nick wasn't sure he was joking about that. "Yeah, well, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done to keep me safe. I'm really sorry you got swarmed tonight and beat on so badly."
Caleb was completely stunned by the heartfelt words. Not once in all these centuries had anyone ever thanked him. Not even when he'd bled for them.
Nick held his hand out to him.
He started to mouth off, but changed his mind. He wasn't going to slap down someone who was being nice to him. It was too rare. "My pleasure, Nick." He shook his hand and inclined his head to Nick's newly healed arm. "By the way, you might want to keep that thing in the sling for a while yet. Your mom would freak out if you show up healed."
Nick tucked it back into the sling. "Good point." He took a step toward the door, then stopped. "See you tomorrow?"
"Yes, you will. Evil always stalks you, kid." Caleb smiled before he turned into a raven and flew off.
Nick watched him vanish into the darkness.
What a screwed-up daythis'd been. But at least he'd survived it, and he strangely felt better about himself and his future than he'd ever felt before.
/ am so messed up.
Laughing, he went to the door and rang the bell. His fear returned a thousandfold while he waited for the inevitable.
A few seconds later, Kyrian opened the door.
He let out a relieved breath. "Thank the gods you're home. Your mother has made me insane since she woke up. Dang, she can nag with the best of them."
"No kidding, right? If it were an Olympic sport, she'd hold all the world records."
Kyrian let him in, then closed the door and locked it tight. He set the alarm.
His mom came running from the living room to grab Nick into a tight hug. "Oh my God, you're covered in blood! What happened to you? Where have you been? I swear I'm killing Bubba and Mark tomorrow. First thing. And you, Mr. Gautier, are grounded for eternity."
Nick started to ask if he could be exempted from restriction for his meeting with Kody, but decided to hold off until she calmed down. As mad as she was tonight, the answer would be no and then some.
"I'm sorry, Mom. It was just a crazy night and I didn't want you hurt."
"Hurt? Boy, if I'm not fired, it'll be a miracle."
Kyrian crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, if you're fired, Mrs. Gautier, I can get you another job."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Kyrian. "Doing what?"
"Sanctuary is owned by friends of mine and I know they're looking for a cook and waitress. I could get you on there in a heartbeat."
That calmed her down. "Really? I've heard their waiters get the best tips of any place in New Orleans." "Yes, ma'am."
She turned back to Nick and her anger snapped right to where it'd been before her distraction. "But I better not be fired over your shenanigans or else. Now get upstairs to bed."
Nick was stunned by her order. "We're staying here?"
Kyrian nodded. "I've got to go to sleep and your mom can't drive a stick shift so I can't loan her a car. Rosa will be in in a few hours so if you need anything when you get up, just let her know."
"Come on, Nick." His mom headed for the stairs. Nick followed after her.
Halfway up, he stopped and turned back to say thanks to Kyrian, who was in the middle of a yawn.
A yawn that showed him Kyrian had a set of long, sharp fangs.
Oh crap ...
Here we go again.