Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon Read Free Book Online Page A

smelling salts.”
    Nick coughed even harder, then cleared his throat. “That’s the nastiest crap on the planet, Mark. Please don’t ever do that again. I’d rather you shock me … or shoot me, even.”
    “Yeah,” Mark said with a twisted laugh, “but it worked, didn’t it?”
    Nick screwed his face up in distaste while Dr. Burdette tilted his head back and passed the light over his eyes.
    “You’re a little clammy. What did you have for lunch?”
    “Same thing Caleb did. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, two bags of corn chips, a fruit roll-up, chocolate ice cream, and a Pop-Tart.”
    He was pretty sure she had the same exact expression that he must have worn when he smelled the duck urine. “I’m not even going to comment … oh yes I am. Boy, are you out of your ever-loving mind? What kind of boneheaded lunch is that? Is there anything even remotely nutritious in that lineup?” She looked at Caleb. “And you joined him with that?”
    “It was good, Dr. Burdette.”
    “It was nutritious,” Nick said quickly. “We had something from each food group.”
    She was aghast. “How you figure?”
    “Meat loaf for protein. Fruit roll-up, the strawberry in the Pop-Tarts, and mashed potatoes for my fruits and veggies. Corn chips for my grains and ice cream for dairy. It’s all good stuff.”
    “I shudder at what they’re teaching the youth of today. I can’t believe the stuff you call food.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s as bad as the time I caught Michael poking holes in all my biscuits and pouring syrup in them for dinner, and drinking a six-pack of Coke while he did it.”
    “Hey, now,” Bubba said defensively. “That was one of the best meals ever.”
    “Only if you want to go into a diabetic coma.”
    Nick laughed, then sobered the moment Dr. Burdette narrowed her gaze on him. “Sorry, ma’am … but I feel a lot better now.”
    She appeared less than convinced. “Are you just saying that so I’ll leave you alone?”
    “No, ma’am. I really do feel normal again.”
    Doubt clouded her eyes. “Let me call your mama to come get you. You don’t need to be walking around right—”
    “I can drive him, Dr. Burdette.”
    She frowned at Caleb. “You sure?”
    He nodded. “I’ll be glad to. That way Mrs. Gautier won’t have to leave work and get upset.”
    “All right.” She turned back toward Nick. “But if you start to feel anything abnormal again, call me immediately. Understand?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Nodding, she patted Nick on the shoulder and stood back so that he could get up.
    Bubba handed him the small bag with Kyrian’s RAM chip in it. “You sure you all right?”
    “Yeah. Golden.”
    “A’ight, then. Be careful.”
    “I will.”
    Caleb led him out of the store and back to the sidewalk. The moment they were alone and the door was firmly closed, he faced Nick. “What didn’t you tell them?”
    Was that a trick question? “You know what I didn’t tell them. It felt like something was clawing inside me, trying to get out and make a Nick-kabob. Kind of like when my powers take hold of me and I can’t control them. But it wasn’t the same as that. Not really … Ah heck, I don’t know. It was just weird. You got any idea about what caused it?”
    Caleb shook his head. “Could be a lot of things. Maybe a shift in the time sequence.”
    A chill went down Nick’s spine as he thought about Ambrose, who occasionally came from the future to help him. “How you mean?”
    “Unlike most of us nonhuman entities, the Malachai can sense whenever someone tampers with time. While we have no clue it’s been altered, Malachais will know.… Or it could be the manifestation of competing powers. Like a warning system to let you know that something’s in town, and it has the ability to bleed you. Think of it like a Spidey sense.”
    Yeah, but he didn’t want to think about that at all. “That’s not comforting.”
    “Not supposed to be.” Caleb started forward.
    Nick caught his