Free Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page A

they’re all watered-down versions of the Malachai.”
    “Really?” That wasn’t what Nick had been told.
    Ash nodded. “The only exception is the original Malachai bloodline. The firstborn alone can father a child even more powerful than he is.”
    All right, that explained Nick’s powers and why they were so dangerous.
    “Do you know why?” Nick asked.
    “Not really. But I suspect it has to do with the fact that he, unlike the others of his kind, was born from a goddess who had an affair with a Sephiroth.”
    “What’s a Sephiroth?” Nick already knew, but if he didn’t ask, Acheron might become suspicious again.
    “They were consorts and soldiers of the primal gods. But they were never supposed to breed with them.”
    “Then why did they?”
    Acheron shrugged. “The goddess wanted a baby and she wanted it to be powerful, but not torn by pantheon politics. So, she conceived a child with her Sephiroth, who was also a demigod.”
    “What made the Malachai evil?”
    Ash paused before he answered. “While he was born from a mother who wielded dark powers, his father was born of light. So he had a fifty-fifty shot as to which side he’d fall on. Some say he was decent enough until the first war of the gods. To end that war and save the world, the original gods forged a truce that required both the light and dark powers to destroy what remained of their armies. Unwilling to kill her own son, the goddess struck a bargain to spare one Sephiroth and one Malachai. So all of them were put to death, except the Sephiroth who had betrayed his people and her son. Then her son became infused with hatred and turned psychotic when he was ordered by the light gods to kill the Malachai female he’d hidden from execution.”
    “He loved her?”
    Acheron nodded.
    That gave Nick hope. “I didn’t think they could love.”
    “You can’t really hate without it. And Monakribos worshiped his beloved Rubati. But when he refused to end her life, the gods tricked him into it. As she lay dying in his arms, she confessed to him that she was pregnant with his child and that by his own actions, he’d killed them both. He begged the gods and, in particular, his mother, to save them, but she couldn’t do it without restarting the war they’d just ended. Instead, she made it so that he could have more children. But if they were born with his Malachai abilities, to keep with the truce she’d agreed to, he would have to die by their tenth birthday or whenever they came into their powers.”
    Man, it sucked to be a Malachai.
    I am never having kids .
    “How did he become a tool for evil?”
    “He was tricked into killing the woman he loved, Nick. And his unborn child. The guilt and grief drove him mad and poisoned his blood with hatred and venom. And that’s how you know a Malachai when you come across one. Unless they’re using their powers to conceal what they are, they don’t bleed red. A full-blown Malachai bleeds black.”
    That was something to remember. So far, he was red-blooded.… Good. There was still hope for him.
    “Does it only turn black when they go evil?”
    Ash nodded.
    Now Nick knew what to look for. That actually helped a great deal. “Next question. Do they have to go evil?”
    “That is the question, isn’t it? Are we pawns to, or masters of, our own destinies? Every being has to make that choice for him or herself.”
    “So it’s possible for a Malachai to be good?”
    “In theory. As with all other species, it depends on his strength of character, and the decisions he makes.”
    For the first time in months, Nick had real hope. Ambrose was right. He could avoid the destiny that awaited him. He didn’t have to become a cold-blooded killer, after all.
    Awesome!
    “But,” Acheron continued, “it’s not easy to go against your nature. Especially when you’re a creature of destruction. One bad temper outburst, and you lose all humanity. You say and do things you don’t mean to and it’s too late