Now it was his turn to strap on his big boy pants and save her and the others. I can do this.

Nick inhaled a deep breath to steady his nerves and released it as he flashed himself outside to face the demon lord, and see what the beast wanted with him.

One who was a heck of a lot larger up close than he’d appeared through the window. What kind of steroids did he take? Dang!

Seriously subdued, Nick paused on the street with a grimace as he glanced around at the demons, who were also bigger up close and personal. Did they just multiply in number, too? He could have sworn there weren’t this many a second ago.

Maybe that was just his nerves learning “new” math. Yeah. Could be.

As soon as they saw him, they moved into attack formation. Okay, that was even scarier than he’d anticipated.

Hold it together, Gautier. You’ve got this.

I don’t got shite … are you blind?

Yeah, so much for his mom’s self-help pep talks. They didn’t work for squat. His gut was still tight enough to form a new diamond mine.

“Malachai!” His title went through their ranks like a hated whisper.

For one tiny, infinitesimal moment Nick thought when they did that, that would settle it. That they might run for cover like frightened rabbits.

Until he realized how right Xev had been. Their fear was more a rallying call than anything else. It made them even more unstable and hostile. More likely to attack him than to bolt.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Scared, feral attack demons. Just what he’d asked for.

Never.

Tall and deadly, the cloaked demon lord approached him with a quirky smile twisting his lips. Scars covered his weathered face. Dressed black on black, he wore a hood over his head. Peculiar tarnished silver vambraces covered both of his forearms. Each one was embellished with an elaborate snake-and-egg design that seemed oddly familiar, though Nick had no idea why. Tendrils of dark hair framed his angular face as he studied Nick with an unamused stare.

“You’re braver than I thought.” More sand appeared in the hourglass he held. “Good. You bought yourself additional time with your courage. For that, I applaud you.”

“Chronus, Chronus, Chronus,” a strangely familiar feminine voice said in a staccato rhythm reminiscent of a clock’s ticking. “You’re being vague and the poor boy has no idea what you’re talking about. And look at the poor thing. He’s about to wet to his pants.”

Tiamat appeared next to Nick’s side with an adorable smile on her face. She brushed a lock of dark brown hair back from his forehead before she propped her arm on his shoulder and leaned against him. “Poor Malachai,” she chided. “It’s been a weird day for you, hasn’t it?”