Instinct Read Free

distance between him and Caleb, he couldn’t resist whispering the question that comment most begged for, “In a fight between the Malachai demon and the Fates, who would win?”
    Placing a hand on Nick’s shoulder, Caleb gently shoved him back. “Beware of arrogance, Gautier. It’s a foul, fatal thing.”
    â€œI was only postulating a question.”
    The look on Caleb’s face was intense and chilling. “Pray you never find out the answer. The price of war is always a lot higher in the end than you think it will be when you go in for that first battle.”
    Okay then …
    Suddenly, a shiver went down Nick’s spine. Something he couldn’t quite identify. For a moment, he wasn’t in the hallway of his high school.
    Rather, Nick stared down at himself as he stood inside the ruins of a Greek temple. A temple he remembered visiting one time before when he’d saved Nekoda’s life after she’d almost died in an attack on him.
    Home of the enigmatic Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
    Only the Greek goddess wasn’t here this time. He knew without being told that this was another glimpse of the horrific future to come.
    The post-Apocalyptic future where he destroyed everything and everyone. Where he and his army laid waste to the entire world.
    All of Olympus was on fire around him, and each temple had been leveled. Nick, in his true demonic form with black and red marbled skin and glowing eyes, stood defiant and strong, his wings tucked in at his back. His army hovered nearby, awaiting more orders from him. Blood from the ancient gods dripped from their armor.
    And his.
    Time slowed down as he watched himself searching the ruins, looking for something he seemed to have lost.
    All sound stopped. He only heard his heartbeat. Fierce. Strong.
    Defiant.
    Ambrose …
    He flinched at the unfamiliar voice in his head.
    Well, crap. Unknown voices in his head was never a good sign. Especially when they wanted his undivided attention and used a name they weren’t supposed to know.
    And as fast as it started, it ended.
    Like a sped-up video file, everything around him caught up to real time. He was back at his school, in his hallway with Caleb, Brynna, Kody, and LaShonda staring at him.
    â€œNick?”
    He opened his mouth to respond to Kody and couldn’t. Again, he had that frightening surreal feeling as everything in the hallway slowed down to a crawl.
    Suddenly, he heard the strange eerie drumming of hooves rushing toward him. The sound of a horse screeching. It drowned out all other high school noises. Against his will, Nick turned in the hallway to see a rider in white billowing robes racing down the north hall on the back of a black horse as it passed through students and faculty. Snorting fire, the horse had blood-red eyes, searing with their hatred.
    The rider held a set of old-fashioned scales in its hands. “Ambrose!” The voice was neither male nor female. It was strictly demonic and cold. Terrifying. Without pausing, it came straight at him in a dead run.
    Unable to move, Nick was frozen as horse and rider tore through him and left him completely breathless and cold.
    â€œNick!”
    Blinking at Kody, he shook his head to clear his vision as the main doors were blown open by the rider only he could see. Not even Kody or Caleb had detected it. They stared at him with duplicate frowns as teachers rushed to close the doors they thought the wind had caught.
    How was that possible? They always saw things like that when he did. Usually before he did.
    He opened his mouth to answer Kody at the same time the bell rang. What the…?
    Nick blinked as he glanced around at everyone in the hallway. They were now all scrambling to get to their rooms. He’d had fifteen minutes until class a heartbeat ago.
    Hadn’t he?
    He glanced to the hall clock that confirmed it was time for school to start. That can’t be right.
    â€œGautier?”