Free Illusion: Chronicles of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page A

better of it. She actually liked to punch things. With extreme prejudice. He glanced back to Karma. “Just make sure you share those answers after you get them.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything she says.”
    Nick locked gazes with Kody. She appeared so real and normal. So human.
    But she wasn’t.
    And neither was he.
    Dang, in all his wild speculations about who and what she was, this had never once entered his mind. Who would have thought?
    Kody’s a ghost.
    Not just any ghost—someone he would kill in the future.
    His emotions were so tangled right now that he wasn’t sure what he felt. Other than lost. Confused. Yeah, that was definitely the primary feeling.
    Kody held her hand up to him. That and the sorrow and fear in her eyes tightened his chest. He should probably hate her. That was the natural state of a Malachai. It was the emotion that came easiest to his species.
    Yet he couldn’t. They’d been through too much together. And while he didn’t completely trust her, he did love her. In spite of common sense and even self-preservation.
    With one last look at her, he got into the car and buckled himself in. “Karma’s not going to hurt her, is she?”
    Amanda backed out of the driveway while Tabitha stared after her sister and Kody.
    Nick’s last view was Karma entering the house with a determined stride.
    “You want the truth or a lie?” Tabitha asked.
    “I always prefer the truth.”
    “I’m sure she’s interrogating the ghost even as we speak.”
    Nick didn’t like the sound of that. “Interrogating how?”
    The twins exchanged a look that concerned him even more. There was something they weren’t saying.
    “What?” Nick asked. “What is she going to do to Kody?”
    Tabitha turned around in the seat so that she was no longer facing him. “If Karma doesn’t like what she hears, she’ll banish her.”
    “Back to our world?”
    “No, Nick. Into oblivion.”

 
    CHAPTER 6
    Kody stepped back as Karma approached her like a hungry tigress. She wasn’t afraid of the woman. Not even a little—she’d grown up with Karma as one of her fiercest protectors. But she understood trying to protect what you loved. There was truly nothing more dangerous than a person guarding their family on their home territory. It was a lesson Karma had taught her well. So she would give Karma space and relieve her fears. Unlike Tabitha, who fought physically, Karma was a spiritual warrior. She would know and understand the world Kody came from better than anyone.
    “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Karma. I’m not going to hurt you or your sisters.” They, too, were her family. And both Amanda and Tabitha had died fighting beside Kody’s mother against the Malachai and his army.
    Ever mistrustful of those she didn’t know, Karma scoffed as she circled her, sizing her up as if they were about to battle. “How do I know that?”
    “Because I’m an Arel.”
    Only a subtle tensing of Karma’s body betrayed her knowledge of Kody’s species. Still, the woman wasn’t about to give away anything else. “You say that like it’s supposed to have meaning to me.”
    Kody laughed nervously at Karma’s continued insistence on this song and dance of ignorance. But she couldn’t blame her for being cautious. Karma was someone who had mind-traveled through the many ethers and who routinely talked to creatures like Kody. As well as those who were born of darkness. Those who lied and deceived. Those who would use human naiveté to prey on their victims.
    Only a master sorceress with finely honed powers and extensive esoteric knowledge could have created the boundary that shielded this house and kept Kody and the others locked inside it.
    “You know what it means, Karma.” The Arelim were protectors of the highest order. At one time, they had been nothing more than messengers for the Malachai and Sephirii. Celestial gofers for the ancient gods, and their servants. But after the first war of the gods