After al , he was his father's son.

As they approached Madaug's house, the police were everywhere. Lights flashed through the darkness as spotlights lit the entire street. Yel ow tape cordoned off the yard, along with police barricades that had been set up to keep people back while they investigated the mess.

Caleb let out a low whistle as they left the SUV. "Anyone else getting tired of seeing the cops camped out?" Nick didn't comment, but he couldn't agree more. "Simi?

Would you mind staying in the car and keeping an eye on my mom?"

"Sure."

Tabitha came forward to meet them as they stayed back behind the police line. Her face grim, she pul ed Madaug to her. "I'm so sorry, little guy."

"Where's Eric?" Madaug asked.

"He's inside with your dad."

Madaug left her to go to them.

Bubba looked at Tabitha. "What happened?" She raked a hand through her hair as she glanced around the yard of police conducting interviews. "There was a real y bad fight in the house. Madaug's room was ransacked and the kitchen's al b.l.o.o.d.y. The police think that someone broke in and kil ed their mom and Ian. They've cal ed in cadaver dogs to start searching for them."

Nick winced at what she described as a wave of sympathetic pain flooded him. For a moment, he thought he might be sick.

"How's Eric doing?" Bubba asked.

Tabitha swal owed. "He's real y messed up over it. He keeps saying that he should have been here to protect them." She sighed again. "What about Madaug?"

Mark shook his head. "He's been real y quiet. Freaky, scary quiet. Like Eric, he's blaming himself. He keeps saying that if he hadn't created the game, none of this would have happened."

Nick met Caleb's gaze. "You feel as bad as I do for them?" Caleb nodded. "I just can't figure this out. Where are al these living zombies coming from? If Madaug only had the one game ... surely they're not al coming from that." Nick scratched at the back of his neck. "Like Bubba said earlier, someone must have made a copy of it."

"Yeah, but doesn't it seem like it spread a little too fast?"

"What do you mean?"

Caleb narrowed his eyes on the cops. "I think there's something else at play here. Something just doesn't feel right about any of this."

Nick gave him a drol stare. "You mean other than the dead zombies who tried to eat us a few minutes ago?"

"That's my point, Nick. This isn't just a game gone awry. I smel the hand of evil. Real evil."

Nick started to make a snarky comment at the hokiness of his tone and words, but thought better of it. While he stil believed Caleb was a head case, in this he might, G.o.d forbid, be right.

There was something terribly wrong here. Even he could feel it.

Wishing he could help Madaug and Eric, he glanced over to the crowd of gawkers who'd come to see what was happening. A tal man in black who stood apart from them caught his eye.

He knew him in an instant and that recognition slammed into him like a fist in his gul et.

Ambrose.

Nick watched as the flashing light from the police car highlighted his sinister face. It cast shadows across the planes of his cheeks, making his eyes look inhuman. And I thought my father looked evil. . . .

Adarian had nothing on Ambrose.

With that thought came a bad feeling that Ambrose might be behind this. Wanting to get to the bottom of it, Nick started toward him.

Ambrose turned and his gaze locked with Nick's. In that single heartbeat, Nick swore the man's eyes turned a deep b.l.o.o.d.y red that glowed in the darkness. One second Ambrose was staring at him like he could kil him and in the next ...

He was gone.

Nick came to a halt as he looked around the yard. No one seemed to have noticed the man who was now missing.

"What the heck?"

Caleb came up behind him. "What's wrong?"

"Did you see ..." What was he supposed to say? Did you see my crazy uncle, Jason Voorhees? Do you think he could kil someone's mom and brother?

"Did I see what?"

Nick shook his head. "Never mind. It must have been a shadow."

Caleb scowled at him. "You al right? You look kind of pale." Nick wasn't sure anymore. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and weird. For a second, he thought he might be sick until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Nekoda behind him. Her pale face was gorgeous and she was the best thing he'd seen al day.

"What are you doing here, Nick?"

He'd never been happier to see anyone in his life. Before he could think better of it, he turned and hugged her close.

Nekoda froze at the unexpected contact. Never in her life had anyone held her like this. Never had they greeted her as if they were thril ed to see her. A wave of foreign emotion ripped through her entire body.

What was it?

And it wasn't just the emotion, it was the sensation of his arm around her. Of his breath fal ing against her cheek and the warm smel of his hair. It made her entire body hum and gave her an insane desire to bury her hand in his soft hair. Most of al , it sent a wave of chil s over her. "Nick?" Nick couldn't answer as he let the heat of her body comfort his ragged emotions. How strange that in a night of chaos, she seemed to ground him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, before he let go and stepped back. "I didn't mean to a.s.sault you. It's just been a real y, real y bad night and I'm glad to see a friendly face." Nekoda trembled as he put his hand on her cheek. He's my enemy. A creature she was sworn to kil . But looking into those blue eyes, she didn't see a monster.

She saw ...

Something that scared and shocked her to her core. Don't let him charm you. It's not real. It's his powers. Nothing more.

He is evil to the center of his soul.

But her compulsion toward him didn't feel like it was coming from him. It felt like it was coming from deep inside her. As if some part of her just wanted to be closer to him.

How utterly peculiar.

Unable to stand it, she pul ed his hand away from her face and put enough distance between them that she could think straight. "You didn't answer my question." He gestured over his shoulder, toward the house. "We brought Madaug home. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"I live nearby," she lied. She'd been summoned here by a violent wave of magick. It was like Nick's powers on steroids.

If she didn't know better, she'd say it was him at his ful strength, but he was stil weak.

Stil human.

And what she'd sensed had been mature and ready to take lives.

"I saw the police and came to investigate," she said.

"You shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous." She frowned at him. "How do you mean?"

Nick glanced over his shoulder to where Caleb was staring at them with an odd look on his face. "There are things out here ..." Don't say zombie, moron. She'll think you're a loon.

"It's just a bad scene. Ful moon and al . You should go home where it's safe."

"Are you ..."-she narrowed her eyes as if searching for a word-"trying to protect me?"

Oh, he knew that tone. It was dangerous. "I'm not being a male chauvinist. I know a woman is just as capable of taking care of herself as a man, but there are things ... I'm sure your parents are worried about you and-"

"You are trying to protect me." A broad smile curled her lips and did the strangest thing to his stomach. "That's so sweet." Instead of slapping him, she actual y kissed his cheek.

Nick's entire body erupted the moment her lips touched his flesh. Now he felt like the one in danger.

For the first time in his life, he didn't mind being cal ed sweet. Not if it meant he got kissed with it. Of course, on the lips would have been infinitely better than the cheek, but so long as she wasn't slapping him and cal ing him an insult, he wasn't arguing with the location.

When she pul ed back, her eyes sparkled in the low light.

"Thank you for caring."

"My pleasure." Idiot. What a stupid thing to say.

But she didn't seem to notice. "Al right. I better go. You watch yourself."

"You too."

He didn't move as she withdrew, and he took a second to savor her scent that lingered around him. She smel ed al womanly and good. And al he wanted to do was fol ow her home.

Caleb snapped his fingers in front of his nose. "Dude, she's not what you think."

He turned his head toward Caleb. "What are you talking about?"

"You need to stay away from her, Nick. Trust me. Girls ain't nothing but trouble."

Yeah, but it was the only kind of trouble he wanted to launch himself into headfirst and wal ow there until he was pruny from it.

However, he wasn't about to admit any of that to Caleb, lest he revert to kindergarten and start tel ing her that Nick had a crush on her. Oh, the humiliation of that. "She's al right." Caleb's eyes flashed with deep sincerity. "No, she's not.

You need to listen to me, kid. That girl is your death." Nick blew off Caleb's sinister Vincent Price tone. "You're an idiot." He headed back to the car where his mom was.

But as he reached it, an unbidden image went through his head. It was Nekoda ...

Only she wasn't the girl he knew who made him laugh and who kissed him on his cheek. She was something else entirely. Dressed in armor, she looked like an ancient warrior, complete with a helmet and shield.

And a sword she was driving straight through his heart.

CHAPTER 15.

Madaug was alone in his room, picking up some of the mess there and crying as he realized how badly he'd screwed up. It wasn't supposed to be like this. How could trying to protect himself have turned out so badly? How?

He'd accidental y ruined so many lives. ...

I'm so worthless. Brian was going to prison ... cla.s.smates had died, Scott's arm would be permanently disfigured, and now his mom and brother were probably dead too-eaten by the very things he'd created. I should just throw myself under a bus. I'm not even worth the cost of a bullet.

Suddenly, he heard whispering.

At first, he thought it might be the police outside the door with his dad again. But it wasn't.

It seemed to be in his ears-like it was coming from his own brain.

Lifting his head, he tried to locate the source, but he saw nothing except the police lights flashing from outside through the slats of his closed blinds.

Madaug . . . Fil ed with panic, his mother's voice was distinct. Undeniable.

"Mom?"

She didn't answer.

Great. I'm hallucinating. I've now lost even my sanity.

A light mist appeared outside his bedroom window. It dove and then formed a thin string that seeped up from his sil . In slow motion, it crawled along his desk like a creepy caterpil ar until it gathered into a clump. Twirling and dancing, that clump solidified into an old, hideous, smal woman who pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You are kil ing your mother and brother."

An image of them screaming appeared beside the miniature ghost.

Madaug put his hands over his ears. "Shut up! Don't hurt them!"

The old crone stepped closer to him as the image of his mother and brother faded. "Do you want to save them?" What kind of stupid question was that? "Of course I do."

"Then you need to come to me."

He hesitated. "You're in my room. I'm already with you." Was she completely stupid?

"Not here, you imbecile. I need you with me." What was he supposed to do? Guess randomly out of the mil ions of different locations in the greater New Orleans area? "Where are you?"