“But have you ever wondered why?”

Laguerre scowled. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it. First Adarian gives his life for her, and now Nick. What is so special about this one particular human that two Malachais are willing to kill themselves to keep her safe?”

She shrugged. “Love. It’s a useless, pesky emotion to feel. Adarian fell in love with her, and for that pathetic reason, valued her life over his own. Nick, because she’s his mother and he adores her. Even more ridiculous, if you ask me.”

And still that seemed too simple for Grim to accept it. Why would Adarian care? What would make a creature so foully cruel and uncaring, so selfish and cold, take notice of a tiny, frail woman? While Cherise was attractive, there were millions of other women who were more so. Millions of women who would have appealed to a Malachai.

What had been so special about her that Adarian, after so many centuries of being so careful, would claim her as the mother of his heir?

And then to protect her to such an extent, that he’d ultimately died for her? It just didn’t make sense. It never had.

No, there was more to this. There had to be.

More to Cherise Gautier than a simple frail human mother.

Anytime Grim had ever threatened to harm or even approach Cherise, Adarian had gone nuclear. In this game of life and death, of winner-take-the-world, she had been completely off-limits to all of them. The one card no one could play.

The one ace that would make Nick fold.

Now …

Grim finally had her in his hands and it was time he learned why this woman, alone, held the ultimate sway over the two most powerful Malachais who’d ever been born.

She’d already caused the death of one.

And she was about to be the death of the other.

CHAPTER 5

Nick used his powers to shield his presence from the police who had the small parking lot for his condo cordoned off. Dazed and pale, Bubba sat beneath a large black umbrella on the wet back door stoop Nick had sprinted down just a short time ago as he headed off to school. He held a bloodied Georgia Tech baseball cap that Nick knew belonged to Mark while he talked to the police and answered their questions.

Sick to his stomach, Nick listened for details about what had happened.

“I can’t believe this.” Bubba wadded the black cap in his fist as he looked around the parking lot. “Can I go now?” he asked the cop who was interviewing him. “Mark don’t like hospitals, and I don’t want him waking up alone in one. More than that, I don’t want Nick finding out about his mama from a stranger. That boy don’t need no more hurt on him. He just lost his daddy not that long ago. And he thinks the world of his mama. This is the last thing that boy needs to hear when he’s off by himself. He’s just a kid. I don’t want him to think he’s alone in the world when he’s not. He needs somebody at his side right now, helping him make some sense of this.”