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CHAPTER 1 N ickaboo Hurry child You re about to be late for school Nick Gautier dropped the towel from the damp hair he was drying as he glanced to the clock on his nightstand to confirm the fact that his mother was still the most vigilant and accurate timekeeper in the history of all mankind At least when it came to his home school and work schedules But how odd he d had almost forty minutes just a heartbeat ago when he d left the bathroom How long did it take to pull on a pair of jeans and one really foully ugly Hawaiian shirt anyway Apparently thirty five minutes Dang I do move slow in the morning Good thing his mortal enemies didn t know that He d be Cajun hashbrowns Tossing the towel into the bathroom he rushed to the kitchen and almost tripped over their newest furry addition Xevikan who let out a nasty hiss in protest before he scurried to the corner to arch his back against the wall Nick started to return the cat s growl but since his mom didn t know their new pet was actually a shapeshifting ancient Nick and his friends had freed from a hell dimension and taken in he refrained His luck she d think he had distemper or

something and take him in for shots Sorry Mr Fuzzy Boots Xev glared at him before he mentally projected his ire at him I really hate that name you gave my feline incarnation Gautier Nick flashed a grin at the large white Egyptian Mau staring up at him indignantly Why you think I use it Xev spread his claws for cleaning but Nick caught the one he aimed directly at him Laughing good naturedly at the single finger insult Xev had picked up from Caleb Nick started to reach for the bacon only to realize his furry house guest had beat him to it Again Yeah it was a good thing he felt sorry for Xev And he did For thousands of years the ancient being had been imprisoned in a realm without friend or family Now Xev was extremely gun shy of a world he didn t understand nor did he play well with others which was why they d decided the best thing was to leave him here in Nick s house to sleep while Nick went to school and work All of them were much happier that way And since Xev had severe PTSD mixed with extremely frightening powers and not a lot of patience or tolerance the world was a lot less likely to end violently if Xev stayed out of events that elevated his stress levels and tempted him to mass homicide

Really Nick Really He turned to find his petite blond mother glaring up at him Man he d never understand how a woman as tiny as Cherise Gautier could be so terrifying when riled But then his girlfriend Nekoda Kennedy had those same testosteronesucking powers too And all Kody had to do to wield hers was pout in his general direction What Closing the fridge door his mom wiggled the milk container at him First why did you drink all the milk last night after I went to bed Second why did you put the empty container back in the fridge He clamped his jaw shut and slid his gaze to the real culprit who d probably drunk out of the container without a glass on top of it all But his mom would think him nuts if he blamed the empty milk jug on the cat lacking opposable thumbs So he manned up and took the fall for his friend Blatant stupidity I find it to be responsible for the vast majority of evil I unintentionally do She rolled her eyes and tossed the milk carton into the garbage Go on before you get another tardy Love you even when you make me crazy You too He grabbed his backpack from the floor

kissed her cheek and glared at the cat Later Fuzzy Boots And don t defile my bedsheets It was too late Xev was already beelining to Nick s room to take his shift in the bed Sighing at the uselessness of warning Xev off anything Nick glanced back at his mom I ll grab more milk on my way home from work Thank you Boo Have a good day You too Don t work too hard Nick headed out the back door and crossed the condo parking lot to the brick wall that separated it from the school yard Even though there were storm clouds gathering in the distance and headed in from over the river he took a moment to appreciate the day Zipping his jacket he inhaled the familiar smell of beignets and coffee that wafted on the breeze coming in from the Market and restaurants Honestly he was grateful to be home in the French Quarter and among his friends and family To be standing here in the most beautiful city in all the world Yeah it was a good day to be alive His friend Acheron who was an ancient Atlantean was right every day should be met with purpose and lived with gratitude Having been forced against his will to live as someone else for a brief time Nick had decided that as screwed up and dangerous as his real

life was he much preferred it to anyone else s This existence and world might not be perfect But they were perfectly his The only thing he d change at this point was the number of paranormal creatures who wanted him dead Or enslaved Yeah it would be nice to be off a few hit lists for a while That he wouldn t complain about Eh ca c est bon That was life Some days you ate the rougarou Some days the rougarou devoured you And in this city and in his particularly screwed up life that phrase seriously had significance Sprinting up the steps of St Richard s High School he entered the two story redbrick building and headed for his locker to change out his books so he could start his day right and with as little drama as possible Which would be a really nice change of pace What are you smiling about Gautier Nick grinned even wider as he shut his locker and turned to face his recalcitrant demon bodyguard It s almost 8 a m and nothing s tried to kill or eat me yet Dang good day if you ask me Rolling his eyes Caleb stepped around him to open his own locker I really hate chipper morning people Thinking I should have hand fed you to your enemies last night

Nick laughed But you didn t he teased against all common sense in a singsongy voice he d learned from a very special Charonte demon named Simi while Caleb pulled books out and shoved them into his expensive designer backpack Which means you think I m all cute and fluffy Besides you d miss me if I were gone With a rude snort Caleb zipped his bag shut Careful Cajun I wouldn t test that theory were I you Nick leaned up against the locker bank and tried not to envy Caleb his dark perfect Hollywood good looks that made every female in their school pass a longing gaze at him as she walked by Student and teacher That would hold more weight if you weren t here Meaning You said if my demonic overlord of a father were dead you wouldn t be in high school anymore to guard me Now he s gone and yet here you remain ever my faithful handsome protector He batted his eyelashes playfully Ignoring Nick s feigned flirtations Caleb shut the locker and brushed his hand through his stylishly coiffed jetblack hair His dark eyes flashing orange he gave Nick a harsh unamused stare Yeah well myself preservation and common sense kicked in If something eats you they inherit my servitude and soul As annoying as you are most days I d

rather deal with you than one of my other possible choices Cause let s face it my luck and past experiences say it would never be a sexy succubus who spends her days working as a supermodel in a bikini but rather some scaly elderly male exhibitionist who likes to pull the wings off daeves and stick us in jars or nail us to walls He shoved a chemistry book at Nick Been there Done that Reloop s a bitch and whoever designed it should be relegated to the lowest level of Thorn s special pit Nick tsked at him Poor Caleb Thousands of years old and still in high school Dude you seriously need to speak to a guidance counselor about your transcript Don t push it Gautier My maternal instincts don t kick in till noon Laughing Nick stepped away from the lockers so that LaShonda could open hers Dressed in a J pop style navy suit she had her newly done sisterlocks pulled back into a matching bow Morning Miss Sunshine LaShonda scowled at him as she pulled books for her first period Someone s in a good mood this morning Nick winked at her What can I say The sight of your beautiful face can cheer my most soured mood Better not let her boyfriend or your Kody hear you

speaking to her like that Gautier or they ll be having a pair of fried Cajun nuggets for lunch Smiling Nick stepped aside for Brynna Addams LaShonda s best friend and one of the few people he knew he could count on whenever it mattered Unlike LaShonda with her daring style Brynna was much more sedate in her wardrobe choice with tan pants and a white shirt Morning my other Miss Sunshine Ever a pleasure to see you You are in a good mood Brynna started to scowl until her gaze went past him By the shift in the air his instincts told him someone with the highest level of super natural abilities approached him from behind Someone who was lethal and could kill him in a heartbeat And without looking he knew exactly who it was A gifted celestial being whose qualities he was more than well acquainted with His heart even lighter he turned and blatantly ignoring the PDA laws of his school wrapped his arms around Nekoda so that he could breathe in the light vanilla scent that was uniquely hers Her brown hair was twisted up into a messy braid that framed a beautiful face A face that held a pair of bright green eyes that never failed to set his blood on fire Even though she d originally been sent here to assassinate him before he fulfilled his prophecy of doom and Caleb still had

his doubts about trusting her loyalty to them Nick couldn t help his feelings for her She was his first love Honestly he couldn t imagine ever feeling like this about anyone else And if he had to die he d rather it be by her hand than that of an enemy His heart would always be hers and no one else s He gave her a tight squeeze And here s the brightest part of any day Good morning cher With a fierce frown Nekoda brushed the dark hair back from his face You okay Brynna smirked as she opened her locker Girl he s in a strange strange mood I m wondering if Madaug s been programming games again Nekoda laughed nervously at the reminder of the Zombie Hunter game Madaug St James had created that had accidentally turned half their football team into mindless zombies and caused their former coach to eat their previous principal He hasn t has he No Definitely not He hasn t even played Solitaire on his PC since that night Nick took Kody s backpack from her hand so that he could carry it for her I m alive In New Orleans where I m supposed to be Here with you the most beautiful girl in the entire universe He kissed her cheek

before he jerked his chin toward Caleb And we have King Grump scowling at us and plotting my death and dismemberment All is right in this world And I m just really glad to be at this school in this time where I belong with all of you thinking I ve lost my ever loving mind Caleb scoffed For the love of all that s holy would you stop saying that crap he ground out between clenched teeth Personally I wouldn t tempt the Fates kid They have a nasty way of ramming those pleasant thoughts down your throat and making you weep for them Nick considered that for a moment Then closing the distance between him and Caleb he couldn t resist whispering the question that comment most begged for In a fight between the Malachai demon and the Fates who would win Placing a hand on Nick s shoulder Caleb gently shoved him back Beware of arrogance Gautier It s a foul fatal thing I was only postulating a question The look on Caleb s face was intense and chilling Pray you never find out the answer The price of war is always a lot higher in the end than you think it will be when you go in for that first battle Okay then Suddenly a shiver went down Nick s spine Something he

couldn t quite identify For a moment he wasn t in the hallway of his high school Rather Nick stared down at himself as he stood inside the ruins of a Greek temple A temple he remembered visiting one time before when he d saved Nekoda s life after she d almost died in an attack on him Home of the enigmatic Artemis goddess of the hunt Only the Greek goddess wasn t here this time He knew without being told that this was another glimpse of the horrific future to come The post Apocalyptic future where he destroyed everything and everyone Where he and his army of demons laid waste to the entire world All of Olympus was on fire around him and each temple had been leveled Nick in his true demonic form with black and red marbled skin and glowing eyes stood defiant and strong his wings tucked in at his back His army hovered nearby awaiting more orders from him Blood from the ancient gods dripped from their armor And his Time slowed down as he watched himself searching the ruins looking for something he seemed to have lost All sound stopped He only heard his heartbeat Fierce Strong

Defiant Ambrose He flinched at the unfamiliar voice in his head Well crap Unknown voices in his head was never a good sign Especially when they wanted his undivided attention and used a name they weren t supposed to know And as fast as it started it ended Like a sped up video file everything around him caught up to real time He was back at his school in his hallway with Caleb Brynna Kody and LaShonda staring at him Nick He opened his mouth to respond to Kody and couldn t Again he had that frightening surreal feeling as everything in the hallway slowed down to a crawl Suddenly he heard the strange eerie drumming of hooves rushing toward him The sound of a horse screeching It drowned out all other high school noises Against his will Nick turned in the hallway to see a rider in white billowing robes racing down the north hall on the back of a black horse as it passed through students and faculty Snorting fire the horse had blood red eyes searing with their hatred The rider held a set of old fashioned scales in its hands Ambrose The voice was neither male nor female It was strictly demonic and cold Terrifying Without pausing it

came straight at him in a dead run Unable to move Nick was frozen as horse and rider tore through him and left him completely breathless and cold Nick Blinking at Kody he shook his head to clear his vision as the main doors were blown open by the rider only he could see Not even Kody or Caleb had detected it They stared at him with duplicate frowns as teachers rushed to close the doors they thought the wind had caught How was that possible Caleb and Kody always saw things like that when he did Usually before he did He opened his mouth to answer Kody at the same time the bell rang What the Nick blinked as he glanced around at everyone in the hallway now scrambling to get to their rooms He d had fifteen minutes to class a heartbeat ago Hadn t he He glanced to the hall clock that confirmed it was time for school to start That can t be right Gautier Caleb barked from the door of their homeroom How had he gotten there so fast Surely he hadn t teleported in front of the humans You shooting for another tardy A big negatory on that He spent enough of his teenhood

in this building Last thing he wanted was to donate any additional time to it especially when he didn t have to Shrugging off his delusions that he attributed to some kind of weird Nintendo induced flashback Nick headed into the room where Nekoda Brynna and Caleb were taking their seats Still something seemed off Like he was walking through heavy thick foam He leaned over to whisper to Nekoda I m where I m supposed to be right Her scowl matched his Are you my Nick God he hoped so Why else would he be dressed in this fugly orange trout Hawaiian shirt Last time he d been in another dimension and body he d had a much better wardrobe He d also been a lot shorter than his normal gangly sixfoot four bang my knees into everything stature He hesitated Are you my Kody he asked her Yes she dragged the answer out Why are you asking Nick rubbed at his neck Don t know Got a weird feeling all of a sudden It s called detention Mr Gautier Richardson ripped off the paper with times and a room number for said punishment and set it on the desk in front of him See you after school Epically awesome Nick wasn t sure what ticked him off more The detention

or the fact that the troll still couldn t pronounce his name right She always said Gah tee ay when she knew it was Cajun and pronounced Go shay Don t say a word He grimaced at Caleb s voice in his head Normally he wouldn t have listened But for once he was too grateful that this was typical of his luck and decided to heed Caleb s good advice No need to antagonize the establishment Today anyway He just wanted the rest of the day to settle down and return to normal No more freaky ghosts in the hall No more unknown voices in his head Normal Please for the love of God let my day be normal for once What Richardson snarled No smart retort Mr Gautier Cat swallow your tongue Nick gave her a charming grin he didn t really feel No ma am A gator named Sense Formerly Known as Common Sneering at him she tottered her way to her desk so that she could insult someone else and ruin their day Caleb let out an annoyed breath Great he projected to Nick Now I have to get detention too I really hate you Gautier Nick batted his eyelashes at Caleb But I wubs you

Caliboo That succeeded in wringing a groan out of Caleb What was that Mr Malphas Richardson asked Severe intestinal woe caused by an external hemorrhoid that seems to be growing on my right hand side He cast a meaningful glower toward Nick The class erupted into laughter as Richardson shot to her feet Enough She slammed her hands on her desk For that Mr Malphas you can join Mr Gautier in after school detention Caleb let out an irritated sigh More quality time with my hemorrhoid Just what I wanted for Christmas Yippee kiyay Nick forced himself not to react to the sarcastic words only he could hear If not for the fact that he knew the truth behind Caleb s feelings where he was concerned he d be hurt by that animosity But while he d been trapped out of his body in another dimension he d seen and heard firsthand what Caleb really thought about him They were family Brothers in arms Yes they fought and sniped Yet at the end of the day they would kill or die for each other It was something each of them had proven Of that he had no doubt

So he took the acerbic demon in stride and tried to keep in mind how hard life had to be for Caleb He d lost everyone he cared about Had seen his wife brutally slain by his enemies and had spent centuries enslaved to a cruel demonic master who d hated his guts One who hadn t hesitated to abuse and mock him every chance he could Yeah Nick s father had been a rank dog to everyone around him Caleb had every reason in the universe to hate Nick and instead he was the best friend Nick had ever known Hey bud Nick mentally projected to Caleb Thanks Caleb scowled For Nick smiled as Caleb spoke out loud Not letting me die Fighting by my side whenever I need you to and for getting up this morning when I know you d rather sleep till noon or later His frown deepened You re so weird Given the fact that Nick was the hated son of a demon whose sole purpose was to one day end the world and had been born the lead rider of the Apocalypse Conquest to be specific and he was currently dating the ghost of a warrior he would kill in their future weird was a massive understatement For that matter if there was a primer for normality Nick would be the first in line to buy it His life was

ever a case study of Murphy s Law to the utter extremes Whatever can go wrong will go wrong And in the worst way possible at the worst possible time Yeah that summed up his average day Sad thing was he was getting really used to that Just as the bell rang Caleb sneezed Then sneezed again And once more Nick froze at the startling sound he d never heard before Ever Especially given the fact that Caleb s features instantly paled You all right buddy Caleb brushed his hand against his brow in a way that said it was not a good day to be Malphas I don t feel well all of a sudden You don t look so good either Sheez Nick You re so blunt Kody chided as she stepped around him to check on Caleb She placed her hand on Caleb s forehead Gracious hon You re burning with a fever Caleb shook his head No Can t be I don t get sick He started coughing Hard Wide eyed Nick stepped back While I m no medic or nurse that sounds pretty sick to me And not the good kind of sick The sick kind of sick Like call my mama I need soup

and Kleenex sick Kody patted Caleb on the back You okay sweetie Nodding he drew a ragged breath Then he started coughing again Richardson came over to them with an irritated sneer Is there a problem Nick exchanged a worried glance with Kody before he answered I think Caleb s illin Scoffing Richardson curled her lip He looks fine to Her words broke off as Caleb hurled at her feet Shrieking she jumped back but not before he scored on her ugly brown ortho shoes Nick wrinkled his nose Dude that s so gross But awesome as all get out Nice to know Caleb had great aim in all things Man what d you eat for breakfast That don t look right Is that small kitten bits or something Turning bright green herself and retching Richardson cursed them in a way that would have them suspended if the principal overheard one of them say that Take him to the office Now Yes ma am Nick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing over the nasty retribution as he pulled Caleb s arm around his shoulders and led him toward the front of school Kody followed behind them

As soon as they were clear of the room Nick paused to whisper You want me to take you to the bathroom so you can teleport home Caleb wheezed I I I can t teleport Nick went cold with dread What Stark cold terror filled Caleb s dark eyes My powers are gone Nick I m human In Stores Tuesday March 31 For ordering information visit http www sherrilynkenyon com book instinct