Kody turned toward Xev. “Nick is still in charge, right? He can stop all this from getting worse?”

“Yes and no. You have to remember, he’s not the only creature who can call out Armageddon.… He’s only one of them.” Xev grimaced. “Granted, he’s a very scary one, but he’s not the only threat the world has. And we don’t know who or what started this. It might be someone after him, or another entity entirely. Someone or something we haven’t even thought about yet.”

Nick was so beginning to hate this day. “Look, I don’t want to be a threat to anyone, except who or whatever took my mom and hurt Mark and Caleb. I’m an easygoing Cajun. Live and let live. Laissez les bon temps rouler. That’s my motto. I just want to live my life in peace.” He paused. “After I kill whoever took my mama.”

Xev snorted. “Unfortunately, with your parentage, it doesn’t work that way. But I agree. We need to speak to your strange homicidal duck urine friend about what happened.”

“Can we teleport past the Memitim?” Kody asked Xev.

“We should be able to. The worst thing is they might follow the scent, thinking we’re Malphas.”

“Then buckle up, buttercup. Let’s see how bad I screw this up this time.” Nick took Xev’s arm so that he could flash the two of them to the hospital, since Xev wasn’t familiar with the layout of the building. Sad to say, Nick had been there enough over the last couple of years that he was rather intimate with it.

Even so, teleporting was still a risky move, but given the weather and the crows, he didn’t want to chance driving there while being dive-bombed by piranha birds.

As soon as they were clear and had materialized at the hospital, Kody appeared right behind them, inside a small broom closet. “Nice choice.”

“Yeah, I was aiming for a bathroom and missed. Oh, well. At least it wasn’t the lobby and no one’s needing therapy from having seen us appear out of thin air. Remind me, I really need to get one of those flashy things they have in Men in Black. That could really come in handy for embarrassing mistakes.” Nick glanced down and smiled. “And look! I’m fully clothed this time! Awesome! I can be taught!”

Sobering from his rampant sarcasm, he opened the door and checked the hallway to make sure it was clear before he stepped out and motioned for them to follow. So far, it wasn’t too bad. They might survive to make it to dinner.

Nick hoped for the best, but prepared himself for the worst. Just in case. Pulling out his phone, he called Bubba, who answered immediately.

“Boy, where the devil are you?”

He looked about on the drab walls for their location. “Floor three. Where you at?”

“ER, looking for your sorry hide. I swear. You done worried me to death. Taken at least ten years off my life.”