Free Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

to undo them. Creatures like the Malachai have a harder time than others keeping their noses clean and not giving in to the darkness that’s forever seducing them.”
    Nick scowled. “You sound like you have personal experience with that.”
    “We all have demons inside us, Nick. The Tsalagi have an old saying—every heart holds two wolves. One is the white wolf, who is made up of love, kindness, respect, decency, compassion, and all the things that are good in life. The black wolf is born of jealousy, hatred, pettiness, prejudice, vindictiveness, and all the poisons of the human personality. The two constantly war with each other for dominance. And one day, one wolf will overtake and devour the other.”
    “Yeah, but which one?”
    “Always the one you feed, kid. You feed good to it and the white one grows. You feed evil and the black wolf devours. But in the end, you alone make the choice of which wolf you nurture. And that’s true of every species and race.”
    Nick nodded. I can overcome.
    No, he would overcome. His father and birth didn’t have to define him, after all. He was the one in control of himself. No one else …
    “Thanks, Ash. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
    “No problem. If you have any other questions, you know how to reach me.” Ash turned to leave.
    “Wait.” Nick stopped him. “I do have one more. Have you ever heard of a harvester?”
    “As in someone who pulls vegetables out of a garden?”
    Nick rolled his eyes. “No, like something that goes after demons?”
    “Not per se. There are all kinds of creatures who hunt demons for different reasons. It really depends on the demon and its country of origin, as well as that of the hunter. And of course, you have the bounty hunters, which are a separate species entirely.”
    Nick didn’t like the sound of that. “How so?”
    “If a demon breaks a law from its pantheon or another, or if someone or something wants to own it or control it, they can offer up a reward for either the demon’s capture or death. At which point the bounty hunters come out in force.”
    Great. Just what he wanted to hear. More creatures out to kill him. Yee-flippin’-haw.
    “Would someone ever hunt a Malachai?”
    “Oh yeah. Everyone hunts the Malachai. He is the grand prize of all time. There’s not a demon in existence that carries a heftier price on its head than he does. Not to mention, if you enslave the Malachai, you have absolute evil at your disposal, and there’s nothing you can’t conquer.”
    Oh great, slavery? And here Nick thought being Kyrian’s Squire was inhibiting and degrading.
    “How do you enslave a Malachai?” he asked, wanting to know what to avoid.
    “With a really big army.”
    “I’m serious, Ash.”
    He flashed a taunting grin. “You’d have to weaken him first.”
    “And you do that, how?”
    Ash scowled. “Why are you so intent on this?”
    Nick didn’t dare tell him the truth. “Scholarly curiosity. You talk about the ultimate evil. I want to know how to defeat it. ’Cause you know how my luck runs. And in case it goes south one night when you’re not around to help me fight, I’d like to know how to hurt it.”
    Ash arched a shocked brow. “Well, since scholarly curiosity is such a novelty for you…”
    Nick ignored his sarcasm.
    “Easiest way is if he has a son destined to inherit his powers, put them together. The younger Malachai starts sucking the power out of him immediately. But the drawback to that is, once the father’s dead, the child will then have his powers and his father’s. So if you’re smart, you’ll kill one and enslave the other before the child develops fully. You might not have as strong a Malachai that way, but you will have one, and not die in the process.”
    Yeah, that definitely wasn’t appealing. So whatever he did, he couldn’t let anyone get him in the same room with his father again. No matter what.
    “And the hardest way?” Nick asked.
    “You go full-on and try