Read Illusion: Chronicles of Nick for Free Online

Name!

 
    CHAPTER 3
    “Houston, we got us a serious problem. All our thrusters are blown and we’re about to combust into a fiery mess.”
    Unamused by Caleb’s dire tone, Kody paused in her dressing to switch the phone to her other ear. “What demon inhalant have you discovered now? And who you got crying in the background? Is that Nick? Caleb, what have you done now?”
    “Yeah, that be the very problem I’m calling about, and yes, that be your boy you’re hearing. Only the crybaby is not our Nick.”
    She held her breath at Caleb’s words. “My patience is out. Speak a language I understand.”
    “Fine. Nick ain’t Nick. The Nick you hear woke up this morning, screaming for his mom and—get this—his father, and saying that he’s not in the right place or time. He doesn’t know me. Or Zavid. He’s never seen Nick’s room before, and you don’t want to know what he did when he saw himself in the mirror and saw a face that is not the one he’s used to seeing. Just be glad you were at home, though to be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t hear his supersonic schoolgirl scream all the way over there.”
    Cold terror gripped her. Without hanging up, she teleported from her house to Nick’s bedroom, where she found him curled into a ball on his bed. Shirtless, he wore only a pair of dark blue flannel boxers.
    Kody knew that long, ripped body that jutted out from under the dark blue comforter where he’d buried his head. But the whiny tone was one she’d never heard from Nick before.
    With hair as dark as his alternate raven form, Caleb hung up the phone at her appearance. He gestured toward the bed, where Nick had his arms wrapped firmly around his head while he sobbed in agony. “Want to take it from here? He don’t know me and he don’t want to see or talk to me.”
    Then he definitely wouldn’t know her. Still, she felt compelled to try. “Nick?”
    Still whimpering, he lowered the comforter from his face. His lips quivered. “Do you know me?”
    No, she didn’t. She saw a stranger in those bright blue eyes. Horrified over this discovery, she narrowed her gaze on Zavid, who sat shirtless and barefoot in a corner on the floor. The newest member of their crew, he was a demon Nick had saved last night from a brutal death sentence. His hair was as black as Caleb’s, and like Caleb and Nick, he was incredibly handsome with the unearthly beauty that always clung to preternatural creatures. “What did you do?”
    Zavid curled his lips at her. “Sure, blame the Hel Hound. Like I did this. What is it with you two?”
    She glared at Zavid and dared him to lie. “I didn’t do this. I know Caleb didn’t do it. Only other creature in this room with those kind of powers happens to be you, buster. What did you do?”
    Zavid pointed to Caleb with his middle finger. “Ask your other boyfriend. That daeve demon troll bound my powers last night while I slept. There’s no way I could have done anything to anyone. I’m so weak right now, I can’t even shapeshift.”
    Caleb snorted. “Don’t cut your eyes at me, punkin. The daeve didn’t do this.” Folding his arms over his chest, he met Kody’s gaze. “Whatever happened in this room while I was asleep on the couch outside, swapped out Nick’s soul and drained Z. Had nothing to do with me.”
    “Are you drained?” she asked Caleb.
    He shook his head. “For some reason, probably self-preservation, fear, and intelligence on their part, whoever did this left me alone.”
    Scowling, Kody tried to make sense of their situation. But nothing added up. It wasn’t possible for something to have gotten in here and done this. The Egyptian goddess Ma’at had sealed this house with sacred emblems that kept it safe from any preternatural attack.
    No one could get near Nick inside his home. Not without an express invitation that none of them were dumb enough to issue.
    It baffled Kody. “And nothing set off Ma’at’s alarms?”
    Caleb shook his head slowly.