Sticks and stones continued to rise up from the ground and twist into more armored soldiers. Which would have been cool when he was a kid, playing toy war. But these sticks and stones fully intended to break every bone in his Malachai body and not stop until he was fully dead.

Fine. What do I have in my arsenal?

Lethal sarcasm. A sword. Malfunctioning powers.

And one trapped demonic spirit …

Nick laughed at a ridiculous idea. A real Hail Mary move.

You are Catholic. Those tend to be your specialties.

True. But there was no guarantee it would work.

You have a full guarantee that it won’t work if you don’t try it.

Nick ducked as the ugly and very-skilled-with-a-sword giant in front of him swung for his head. He caught the blow with his own sword and parried, then narrowly missed the next attack from another creature moving in at his back. Man, he could use Kody and Caleb, and their wicked sword skills right now. These guys were going to win just by their sheer numbers against him. One person, even a Malachai, couldn’t stand for long against this onslaught.

Not alone. Not with his ill-training. Between work and school, he just didn’t have the time to focus on martial skills that he needed. If I live, I swear I’m going to pay more attention to Kyrian, Caleb, and Acheron when they try to teach me this stuff. No more gaming until he mastered real fighting.

He meant that this time!

“Liv!”

“What?” she snapped irritably. Like she had a reason to be snotty when he was the one getting the crap beat out of him? His arm was so bruised right now, he could barely lift it. His back ached. His head hurt. And he wasn’t too sure he still had a working spinal cord.

“Help!”

“Can’t. They don’t have blood for me to drain. That’s how I fight.”

Well, fan-freaking-tastic. Nick blasted another stone soldier with a bolt of fire and twisted from the grasp of another.

I’m so getting my butt kicked. He couldn’t even get to his grimoire to attempt his Hail Mary play.

How had Xev survived it here?

For one thing, he was a god. And a trained soldier, with real battle experience.

And you’re the Malachai. You have the power of ancient gods and the Source, too. You can tap the primal powers of the entire universe and blast them to oblivion.

Use the Force, Luke!

All of a sudden, he felt the warmth of his powers building inside him. The fire of it rushed through his blood, faster and faster. His vision darkened. His back burned as his wings began to push through the surface of his skin.

Don’t! He heard Nekoda’s voice in his head telling him not to morph. You can’t control it!