And his mom said al those Jackie Chan movies were a waste. Apparently, he'd learned by osmosis- 'cause there was no way he knew this otherwise.

He felt like he could take on the world.

Someone toss me some nunchucks.

Kicking her back, he caught another of the creatures and slammed him into the first. Within a matter of seconds, they were on the ground and he was standing over them without even breathing hard in a perfect sotobiraki jigo hontai dachi stance.

Take that, Chuck Norris!

The bird cawed as if in approval before it flew off into the night.

Nick straightened up. His shoulder didn't hurt at al . More than that, he had total control of it, which was something his doctor and physical therapist had said would take months to have again.

What is going on? He would think this a dream, but for the fact he knew he was awake.

The creatures evaporated into a fine mist that scattered into the shadows while the temperature returned to normal.

Al of a sudden, there was a man in front of him. One who bore a striking resemblance to his father except this one had a strange double bow-and-arrow mark on his face. Dressed in black, he had on a long leather coat that fel to his ankles. With hair the same color as Nick's, only longer, he stood six feet four and had a wel -trimmed goatee. And whereas Nick's eyes were blue, his were as black as his clothes.

Nick braced himself to fight. "Who are you?"

"Relax, Nicky. I'm just a friend who's here to help you."

"How so?"

The man held his hand up and a bal of light appeared in his palm where it danced and flickered in the darkness. His face grim, he closed his hand and the light vanished. "You have no idea how important you are. How many powers and creatures wil be fighting over you. But trust me, kid, the only one who real y cares about you, besides your mother, is me." Nick wasn't so sure about that. "And you are?"

"Your uncle Ambrose."

Yeah, right. "I don't have an uncle."

"Of course you do, Nick. You're even named after me." He shook his head. He was named after his father and grandfather-at least that's what he'd always been told. "My mom never mentioned you."

"Because I'm from your father's side and she doesn't real y know about me. But that doesn't matter. My goal is to keep you from making some real y bad mistakes."

"Such as what? Talking to you?"

Ambrose laughed. "The world is not what you see, kid.

There's a veil over everything and it's blinding you the way it blinds most people." He brushed the hair back from Nick's eyes, and the moment he did, a jolt went through him. "That is perspicacity. The ability to see what's hidden. My gift to you even though you've already had a taste of it. Now it's more honed and reliable. I don't want anyone fooling you again." Nick staggered back as he saw Ambrose not as a man, but as ...

Something else.

His skin was mottled black and red. His eyes bright yel ow.

Ambrose wasn't human and that terrified him.

"What are you?"

"Your friend. Always. I'm the only being you'l ever be able to trust."

Bul c.r.a.p. The only person he could ful y trust was himself.

Words were easy and actions often lethal. Nick wasn't dumb enough to think for one minute that this guy was on the level.

"Dude, I don't know you and I'm not about to trust you."

"You know me much better than you think. Look inside yourself and you'l know I'm tel ing you the truth." Nick looked and what he saw there made his blood run cold. He refused to believe it.

Unable to stand it, he started to run, but couldn't. It was like an unseen power held him prisoner.

"I know you don't trust me. I don't blame you. But you wil learn to listen in time. I've unlocked your powers early this time around-for your protection."

Ambrose was whacked. There was no other explanation.

"What powers? Are you high?" Nick asked him.

A wicked smile curled his lips, showing him a set of fangs.

"No. But you must keep what I'm going to teach you quiet. Let no one, especial y not Acheron, know."

"How do you know about Acheron?"

"Oh ... it's not time for you to understand that yet. But my tampering isn't without problems. Those mortents who attacked you a moment ago are just a few such byproducts.

Don't worry though. You'l have the ability to battle them and you'l grow stronger every time they attack you. I haven't left you defenseless in this."

"Look," Nick interrupted him. "I don't know what you've been sniffing ..." He tried to move past, but Ambrose stopped him.

"I'm on your side, Nick. You don't have many friends, and even fewer you can trust."

"Like Nekoda?" He didn't know why her name popped into his head. But it did. Along with an image of her smiling face.

Bonus round was the look of shock on Ambrose's face.

"Nekoda?"

Yeah, he wasn't as smart as he thought, and that gave Nick a new confidence that Ambrose might stil be lying. "You don't know her?"

Ambrose tilted his head as if he was trying to listen to the cosmos. "How can you know someone I don't?"

"Probably easy since I don't know you at al ." He shook his head. "Something's not right. ... This isn't possible." He vanished into nothing.

Nick looked around, turning in a smal circle. There was no sign of anything.

I've lost my mind.

Perhaps, but his arm was stil working and he felt no pain.

Then as easy as it'd come over him, the power vaporized. It flooded out of him and left every part of his body aching. The pain of his shoulder drove him to his knees. Wave after wave of agony cascaded over him until it dul ed his vision.

One minute he was standing. The next, the street rose up to knock him down. And the last thing he heard was a deep female voice.

"You belong to us, Nick Gautier. And you will learn your place or we will see you dead. . . ."

CHAPTER 11.

The raven left Nick and flew up to the sky, then vanished as it was summoned away from New Orleans. When it reappeared, it wasn't in the Quarter where it preferred to feed.

It was miles away, flying over a razor-wire fence.

And because he was summoned here so often, the bird was as familiar with Angola prison as any of the inmates.

Buzzing past the guards' tower, he headed to the Reception Center-the building where the death-row inmates were housed. He slowed as he approached the correct window.

I really don't want to do this.

But he had no choice. When he was summoned, he had to obey. Those were the rules and any hesitation would only end badly for him.

One minute he was perched on the sil , the next a hand appeared out of nowhere to grab his throat and haul him inside.

Caleb manifested into human form as he stared at one of the most powerful demons ever sp.a.w.ned. Absolute pure evil, Adarian Malachai was incapable of any kindness or mercy.

Without a word, he drove Caleb headfirst into a wal . Then he pul ed Caleb up and held him by the hair of his head. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled in Caleb's left ear.

Caleb grimaced as he tasted the blood that was seeping from his nose. He knew better than to fight. It would only make Adarian more cruel and worsen his beating. "Training Nick like you ordered."

He tightened his grip in Caleb's hair. "With mortents? Are you out of your mind? He could have been kil ed! Why didn't you stop them from attacking him?"

Those words stunned him on more levels than he could count. Why would Adarian care if some snotnose bought the farm? "I didn't know he'd run into them, but since they showed up, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for him to start learning to fight. I was there the whole time, watching. He was never in any real danger. Besides, if he dies, you live. What's the crime in that?"

"You're so stupid." He released him.

Caleb turned and shoved him back as he took his true form.

He knew he shouldn't, but it wasn't in him to not fight back. At the end of the day, he was a demon and he never swal owed c.r.a.p from others without vomiting venom back up. "Stand down, Malachai. You're not as powerful as you think." Adarian laughed. "And I own you. So don't even try to intimidate me. I've picked my teeth from the bones of demons stronger and older than you."

That was probably true. But it didn't change the fact that Caleb would give anything to have the power to destroy Adarian. How did I become enslaved to this . . . There was no word foul enough to describe him.

Unfortunately, Caleb knew exactly what had led him here and he hated that as much as he hated Adarian. "I've done exactly what you've asked. I've watched over your sniveling sp.a.w.n for these last few years while not interfering with anything he's done."

"You should have befriended him before now." Caleb was stunned by those words. "You told me not to." Adarian seized him by the throat. His eyes glowed a deep, deadly red. "And now I'm tel ing you to guard him with your life.

There's a new power here. One I can't discern, but it's fol owing him and I want you to keep him safe. So help me, if anything happens to my son, I wil come for you, and when I'm through, you'l wish you could crawl back to the slime hole where I found you."

Caleb felt his teeth sharpen and elongate in response to that threat. "I command legions."

"And I command you. Never forget that." If only he could. "One day I'm going to break free of you, Malachai."

"And until you do, you wil do exactly as I order. Now guard my boy and his mother. Let nothing happen to them. Do you understand?"

"I understand. But how am I to train him if I can't have him attacked?"

Adarian's lips curled into a sardonic smile. "You're resourceful. Find a way. And remember, I'm in this jail because I choose to be. I can leave it and come for you anytime I want to."

It was true. Adarian lived here because he fed off the cruelty and evil of others. This prison was like living in an Energizer factory as far as he was concerned. It kept him superstrong and able to deflect anything that came at him.

Except for his son. Nick's presence could weaken him instantly. Little p.r.i.c.k had no idea that by avoiding his father, he was al owing Adarian's powers to remain at ful strength, which put the rest of them at a major disadvantage.

Adarian pul ed him closer. "You better not betray me, Malphas. Not in this."

Caleb would accuse him of loving the boy, but he knew better. This wasn't about love. It was about power. If Adarian could keep Nick alive and away from him, he could rebuild his army through Nick and there would be no power on this earth or beyond that could stop him.

None.

Other than Nick, the only one who was capable of bringing down the Malachai army was now imprisoned and kept as weak as a sick kitten. While Adarian's powers grew, Jared's deteriorated under the care of a vicious guardian who had no idea just how important her prisoner was.

The balance of power was shifting, just as it'd done in the days before recorded history. Then the bloodiest of al battles had raged. One of the fiercest soldiers, Caleb had barely survived it and the memory of it burned inside him. The fight with Adarian's father had cost him everything.

Now he was servant to his son.

Life real y sucked.

"I wil obey you ... master." That t.i.tle stuck deep in his craw.

Adarian smiled. "Good boy. And remember, my son must be evil to the marrow of his bones. You have to turn him. No matter what it takes. Do you hear me?"

"What if the only way I can turn him is to kil the mother?" Adarian seized his throat again. "You touch one hair on her head ... you al ow anyone else to, and I wil make you pay in ways you can't imagine in your wildest nightmares. Cherise is mine and no one else is to ever lay a hand on her." That was the one order Caleb couldn't understand. Again, he would attribute it to love, but there was no way the Malachai could love anything except himself and his quest for power.

Bowing low, he backed away from Adarian.

Caleb had to force himself not to sneer as he retook his raven form and flew through the wal . But once he was out of sight, he used his talons to flip off the demon lord.

Protect the boy, my a.r.s.e.

What irony, real y. The fate of the entire world, of humanity and demonkyn, was in the hands of a fourteenyear-old boy who had no idea of the untapped powers he'd been born with.

A fourteen-year-old boy whose biggest fear was getting grounded by a mother who wouldn't even be a decent snack for Caleb and his kith. What a waste of power.

And I'm the schmuck who has to protect him.