In that moment, he fully understood what Aeron had tried to teach him earlier.

The difference between hatred and pain.

This was the pain Aeron had talked about. The anguish Nick had felt all his life of being worthless and despised, and of feeling like nothing. That desire not to lash out and hurt others in his hatred, but to prove them wrong whenever they’d judged him for things he couldn’t help. To show them that he wasn’t poor gutter trash to be thrown away. That he wasn’t invisible. That he was a human being with human feelings.

That he mattered.

This wasn’t hatred in his heart.

It was bitter shame.

And it burned like a hungry fire in his gut. Throwing his head back, he let the fury of it roll out of him in a fierce, deep roar. One that echoed through the forest and caused animals to take flight and flee in stark terror.

His wings shot out as his body instantly transformed to its true Malachai nature. Stronger and deadlier than ever.

The color faded from Livia’s face as she backed away obsequiously. She bowed low before him as she begged and pleaded for his forgiveness.

From the darkness around them, Aeron came forward with an arch stare. He wasn’t afraid of Nick, only cautious. “Are you in control, boyo?”

Nick looked around the forest with his intense sight that not only saw, but felt the very air around him. For the first time ever, he was himself in his Malachai’s body. There was no rage beast wanting to consume and devour everything within reach. No desire to kill or to maim.

He was human and beast.

Only more powerful.

Fully in control. United. A single creature that understood both sides of its furious nature. The brutal and the compassion.

Stunned to silence, Nick allowed the enormity of the moment to wash over him. Could it be? He held his hand up to see the marbled black and red flesh. The clawed hands.

Yeah, he was definitely and fully demoned out.

“Nick?” Aeron tried again. “Can you understand me?”

“Yeah. I feel normal. But weird. Really, really weird.” He sounded even weirder. It was the first time he’d been able to really converse with someone as a demon.

Laughing, Aeron winked at him. “You found it, eh?”

Nick nodded slowly. “I think I get it, though. Why you said it could endanger everyone I loved.” He shifted back to his human body and brushed his hand through his hair. “Yeah, definitely, don’t try this at home, kids. Only with professional drivers, on a closed track.”

A slow, knowing smile spread across Aeron’s face. “But try it again? Just to be sure?”

Nick did.

And again, it worked. For the first time, he had complete control over his body and his powers. “Have I mastered it?”