Nick frowned at Bubba's words. "What's that mean?"

"It's something my dad used to say when I was a kid. To infinity, meaning you'd see something through to the end." Nick didn't get it. "Infinity is never-ending."

"That's right, which means you keep going and going no matter what happens or what obstacles you meet. Over, under, around, or through. There's always a way. And if you have to chase something to infinity, strap on your big-boy pants, hiking boots, and go."

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, something slammed into the SUV. One minute, they were fine.

The next, they were spinning out of control.

CHAPTER 17.

Nick's head slammed into the gla.s.s so hard, he saw stars as the SUV rol ed over and over, careening out of control. It felt like it was never going to stop, and it didn't until something catapulted them against the concrete wal of the I-10 overpa.s.s. They hit it so hard, he was amazed it didn't snap the truck in half.

Groaning, Nick saw Bubba lying unconscious, pinned between the steering wheel and seat. His brow was split and blood trickled down his face, dripping onto his shirt. Alex was breathing like a woman in labor as he tried to open his door.

He was covered in blood with a split lip and swel ing eye. But the most shocking was Caleb, who'd lost his human appearance entirely.

Whoa, not only was his skin red, but it glowed in the faint light. And those serpentine eyes with their diamond-shaped pupils were off the creepy weird chart.

Nick tried to move. But raw pain pounded through him, making it hard to breathe while Caleb tried to unbuckle his seat belt. One of his hands looked like it might be broken.

Even so, Caleb didn't let it deter him at al .

"Alex?" Caleb said, his voice reverberating with a deep accent. "We're under attack. Can you get out?" Alex made the sound of an angry grizzly. "Something has my powers locked. I can't do squat, not even undo my seat belt. Are your powers working?"

"No. I can't even hold my human form."

Al of a sudden Nick smel ed the pungent stench of sulphur and death.

Caleb cursed as he started kicking the side window. As soon as the gla.s.s was out, he grabbed Nick and shoved him through the opening he'd made. Nick hissed as agony erupted down his shoulder and arm from the manhandling.

Dang, it hurt.

Caleb climbed out and grabbed his good arm. Dragging him along behind him, Caleb was speaking in a language that Nick couldn't understand.

"Dude, I don't think we're supposed to be moving until the medics get here after a wreck like that. I think I broke something. We could sever our spines or something."

"You're about to break a lot more than your spine." Caleb turned and looked up over their heads. Cursing, he grabbed Nick and shoved him into a drainage pipe. "Don't move, and breathe only if you have to."

What kind of stupid comment was that?

Nick started to argue until he saw what had Caleb so worried. These were ...

Flying monkeys?

You wish. 'Cause instead of being cute little blue things in weird suits and hats, the things after them were huge, ugly creatures that turned his stomach. With bald heads, talons, and Shar-Pei-like skin, they gave foul a whole new meaning.

And they smel ed like rotten eggs. No, they smel ed like four-day-old powdered eggs that had been left to mold in the August sun.

Or Bubba's shoes . . .

Their stench was so pungent, it was al he could do not to heave.

Caleb turned to fight them. They swarmed over him like the birds in the old-timey Hitchc.o.c.k film. Nick couldn't even see the outline of his body as they took him down.

Terrified, he fel back deeper into the drain, out of their sight.

Pul ing the sword out, he whispered a prayer for some serious divine intervention.

The sound of wings beat against the night like a thunderous heartbeat. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he considered his options. He couldn't see much of anything in the darkness.

If he went out there to run, they'd see him and swarm him too.

Gah, what do I do?

"Nick?"

He froze as he heard his mother's voice and what sounded like her sobbing. It's a trick. There was no way she could be here. None.

"They're hurting me, baby. Help me. Please!" It's not her. It's not her.

But what if it was?

What if it's not?

He put his hand on the cel phone, tempted to cal her and see. But if it was a trick, they'd hear him.

What do I do?

He tightened his grip on the sword as he heard something crawling along the ground outside. It sounded like it was coming closer. He looked down at the bright ruby in the hilt and hesitated. This was his only weapon. If he lost it, he'd be completely at their mercy.

No, wait ...

He had something else that might help. At least he hoped it would. Pul ing out the book, he crouched low with it and used his cel phone as a light so that he could see the blank pages.

Repeating what Ambrose had shown him, he p.r.i.c.ked his finger with the dagger and let his blood fal on the page.

"What are these things after me?" he breathed.

His blood drew a picture of them that was even uglier than what he'd glimpsed. Then words appeared underneath the image to explain what they were. Taahiki demons. Third subculture with limited powers. They are fetchers sent in to retrieve objects and creatures for their masters. In this case .

. . you.

"How did they immobilize Caleb and Alex?" Beneath the picture, another image appeared. This one was a smal medal ion that was highly ornate. Once again, words appeared. Star of Ishtaryn. Demon kryptonite. Will weaken and cage any demonkyn who comes into contact with it, which includes half-breeds such as you.

And it's not good for werebeasts either.

The book had some serious att.i.tude.

"So what do I do?" Nick asked it.

The blood crawled to the opposite page.

When all is said and all is done, The best thing for you to do now is to run .

"Run" appeared as a giant, jagged word. Nick slammed the book shut, put it in his pocket, and did exactly what it said. He tore out of the pipe and hesitated as he saw the remnants of Bubba's SUV. Please don't be dead.

He barely had time to finish that thought before the demons saw him and reversed course. With a shriek, they turned like a flock of birds and came for him, wings flapping. He shrank the sword and put it in his pocket. With his head down low, he ran with everything he had.

For several minutes he seemed to be making ground.

Then, just as he was sure he'd escape, they dropped and shoved him hard. The motion propel ed him forward, to the ground. Nick cried out as his shoulder and arm hit the street.

The pain was so severe that for a moment, he thought he'd pa.s.s out from it.

Run! The word screamed through his mind. He pushed himself up, but the demons. .h.i.t him again and again across his back. This time, they stabbed him with their talons repeatedly until the pain overwhelmed him.

Don't pa.s.s out. Don't you dare.

But it was too late. His sight was already dimming. The last thing he saw was Bubba's SUV bursting into flames and exploding.

Then everything went black.

Nick came awake to the worst pain imaginable pounding through his skul . He felt like someone was clawing out his right eye. How anything could hurt this bad and not kil him, he couldn't imagine.

Then he heard the faint sound of a little kid crying. Blinking open his eyes, he realized he was lying facedown on a cold earth floor in a tiny cel . The crying came from a boy around the age of ten who sat in a corner with his legs pul ed tight to his chest. His brown eyes swam with tears as he sobbed against his knees.

"Shhh," Nick breathed. He didn't want the kid to be upset.

But more than that, he didn't want the sound echoing through his head.

The boy looked up as he sniffed back his tears. "Are you going to hurt me?"

Nick started to tel him only if he kept crying, but luckily he caught himself before he traumatized the kid further. "No. Are you Madaug's brother?"

"You know Madaug?"

"Yeah."

"Is he okay?"

Nick grimaced as more pain laced through his skul . "I have no idea. Have you seen him?"

He nodded. "They brought him in here when they took my mama. Then they locked me in here and haven't been back.

I'm so scared."

"It'l be al right." At least Nick hoped he wasn't lying to the kid.

"That's not what they told me. They told me they were going to eat my brains."

"Nah. Only older brothers do that."

The kid actual y laughed. "My name's Ian. Who are you?"

"Nick."

"Can you get us out of here?"

Nick looked around. The room didn't appear to have a door or anything else, which meant no, he couldn't. But he didn't want to tel the kid that. "How did we get in here?" Ian pointed to the wal to his left. "A door appears right there whenever they want in or out."

Nick got up and looked for a switch or trapdoor or something. But al he saw was the wal .

Figures.

He pul ed out his cel phone and tried to cal Kyrian. Big surprise, it didn't work. But at least he stil had his book and the dagger. They weren't completely defenseless.

Yet he felt completely defeated as the magnitude of this situation hit him hard. How could he not? Everything had gone bad tonight. Bubba and Alex were dead. Tabitha, Eric, and Mark were probably dead too. And Simi and Caleb.

No one, including him, knew where he was.

What am I going to do?

He didn't see a way out of this.

"Ambrose?" he cal ed, trying to summon his guardian to him.

There was no answer.

"Dude, c'mon," he cal ed out to Ambrose. "You've popped in al night long. Can't you come the one time I actual y want to see you?"

Of course Ambrose stil didn't answer, 'cause, again, that would just be too easy.

Nick sighed in frustration. This was not how he'd imagined this day playing out. Yet here he was about to be eaten by demons or turned into a zombie.

Who'll take care of my mom now?

That wave of hopelessness washed through him only to be replaced by one of raw determination as he thought about his mom being left defenseless. He would not go down like this.

Whining on the floor like the kid in front of him. He'd survived too much to just lie down and die like some cheap bimbo in a horror movie.