Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 21

Harry shook his head in amusement as Sweet Home Alabama began playing as soon as they walked in the door. Despite Sanctuary being neutral ground, the Daimons and even most Apollites still ran when Ash entered, and Harry had noticed they'd begun doing the same even when he came alone. They settled at the bar, seeing Cherise serving a human customer further down. Harry gently set about checking for anything other than human within her, had Nick inherited whatever it was from his Mother? To his shock, he found something rather easily, but it felt very different from Nick. He reached for the bond between them, letting Ash feel what he did from her and behind his sunglasses, silver eyes went wide. "Ash?"

"I've felt that before…from the sole survivor of a race. But he has been imprisoned for millennia."

"Well either he escaped, at least for a time, someone decided he should have some 'comfort', or they went for IVF, magical or otherwise," Harry mused, and Ash nodded. "So, who or what is he?"

"He is the last of the Sephirii. They were the guardians and consorts of the first order of gods, soldiers who enforced the original laws of the universe."

"Interesting," and then Harry grinned as she moved over to them. "Having a good night Cherise?" he asked, and she smiled, setting their usual orders in front of them.

"So far," she told him. "Need anything else?"

"Not at the moment, thank you," Acheron told her, and she moved on since they were busy tonight.

"If he's the last, I'm guessing this story doesn't have a happy ending?"

"Hardly." He glanced at Harry who nodded, no one could hear what they were talking about. "Before the dawn of time, there were six gods who sprang from the primal Source. Three who clung to good and three who craved evil. Three gods of creation and three gods of utter destruction. The two sides battled each other in the first war and nearly destroyed the earth and all of humanity. The Sephirii fought for those of creation. The three for evil, called the Mavromino, created their own army, the Malachai in order to destroy the Sephirii. The Sephirii would have won, but they were betrayed by their own leader and wiped out. In the end, one of each species remained alive as balance was needed and the Sephirii was condemned to eternal punishment."

"Well this is nothing like what I sensed in Nick, whatever power he has…it isn't good," he admitted.

"Which means he likely inherited it from his Father, or perhaps was cursed with whatever it is, without knowing about it, or the memory was removed."

"Where is his Dad?"

"Dead," Ash answered, and Harry sighed.

"Of course he is, because it's never that easy," he grumbled, and Ash laughed at his response before sobering.

"He was a career felon and was killed in a prison riot." He hesitated and then sighed. "We should go back and see." If this was something that could endanger Nick…or any of them, then they needed to know. He hated the fear that the Nick they knew wasn't the real person, just a mask to get close to them. If it was true, would trying to help him, kill the Nick he called friend?

Harry nodded and they waved to Cherise before slipping out of the bar and into an empty alley. Ash held out his hand and Harry took it, wrapping magic around them to keep them unseen even as Ash focused his own powers, sending them back in time to 1993, six months before the prison riot. They appeared inside the prison and Harry went to the office to look through the files to find the right cell. Since neither of them had ever met the man they couldn't just go to him. There was something in the air…it didn't feel good. "Got it," he headed into the prison, Ash on his heels. They found the right cell quickly enough and looked inside to see a man, dark haired, like Nick, taller than his son though. He was also more heavily built, body thick with muscle. There was one very big difference between father and son though…this man radiated violence and evil.

Ash stared at the Father of his best friend, the two looked strikingly alike, although Nick seemed to favour his Mother's slimmer build although with his Father's height and colouring. Nick hadn't spoken much about his family, not even to him or Kyrian and Cherise never spoke of Adarian. How could a man this evil have ever appealed to Cherise? She was strangely blind to the supernatural world all around her but even so…no…he had the horrible feeling he knew how Nick had been conceived and it sickened him. It was strange though….the whole family was blank to him, he was not close to this man and yet he could see nothing.

"He has the same feeling as Nick but in him it's not hidden. Whatever he is, it isn't human," Harry whispered. Which meant Nick wasn't either, not fully. Part Sephirii part something else but still part human.

Acheron moved closer, studying him and he felt it…what the man was, thanks to Harry, and he felt a burst of sheer terror for Nick. Malachai…a heritage passed from father to son. If it ever woke in Nick, he would lose his friend. He'd never met a Malachai, but he knew the history, knew what they were.

"Ash?"

"We've got what we need," he answered tightly, hands in fists.

Harry nodded, seeing his turmoil, he quickly took them back to the Alley. "Ash, I need you to take us home, I've never tried time travel before," he whispered, leaning into Ash, letting him know he was there. What had Ash realised in the prison? The alley flickered around them and then Harry moved them home, right into the bedroom. He stripped them both and got them into a hot shower, gently washing Ash, letting the hot water soak in to ward off what almost looked like shock. He eventually moved them to the bed and curled up with him, content to wait until he was ready to speak. It still amazed him just how much Ash trusted him, to show this level of vulnerability, something no one else ever got to see. He would never betray that trust, he would die first.

"He's a Malachai, the creatures created to fight the Sephirii," Ash finally said, and Harry grimaced.

"Is that possible if his Mother's pat Sephirii?"

"Someone's meddling," Ash growled, angry. Cherise was such a wonderful woman, despite everything life had thrown at her and Nick was her whole world, just as she was Nick's. There was one Malachai and one Sephirii, there had to be to keep the balance. There was nothing about a half Sephirii, or the child of a half-Sephirii and a Malachai. How had that affected the delicate balance of the universe? Would Cherise or Nick have to die to restore the balance? Though if Nick solely took after his Father than the rule of one Malachai was still intact since his Father was dead and he had yet to come into his powers. Unless his Mother's heritage is what had kept that from happening so far? He closed his eyes as warm hands gently massaged tense muscles.

"We'll work it out Ash," Harry promised. What was in Nick, wasn't just magic which meant he couldn't just ease it out of him. "Is there a certain age that he should come into his heritage?"

"I don't know…I'll have to see if Savitar is interested in answering questions." Hopefully he was in a good mood and would actually give straight answers. "Want to meet him?"

Harry shifted to look at Ash's face, he knew how important Savitar was to Ash. He had been the one to teach Ash after he had been revived. "You want me to meet him?" Ash nodded and Harry grinned. "Okay. It can wait till morning, you need some sleep." He kissed him softly, a hand gently stroking his side and Ash closed his eyes, relaxing, wanting the escape of sleep. Harry stayed awake until sure that Ash was actually asleep before he settled down himself.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ash woke slowly, feeling warm and content, feeling Harry tucked against his back. It took him a split second to remember what they'd found the night before but after a night's sleep he could deal with it far better, put some distance between his emotions and the information. And he realised why he'd had so much trouble, he was hungry. He hadn't even noticed between dealing with their men, helping Nick because he'd been freaked over a paper, getting to know Katra...he'd lost track. He felt Harry shift and turned to find he was awake, and he bent his head to nuzzle his throat, making him chuckle.

"Hungry?" he murmured, voice husky from sleep.

"Hmmm," he lapped at the warm skin and Harry groaned, body reacting. Harry's hands began caressing Ash's body as Ash shifted to lie between his legs.

Harry shivered as he felt sharp fangs scrape the skin of his throat. "Love you," he whispered as they pierced his skin and he felt the gentle pull of Ash sucking his blood.

An hour later they were up and showered and of course Ash's phone began to ring. "Go see Savitar, I'll deal with the kids," Harry offered teasingly. Their men weren't kids but sometimes…

"Harry," Ash wanted them to meet, but Blade was in genuine trouble.

"Go, there's plenty of time for us to meet," Harry pointed out as he grabbed the phone to answer it. He hadn't spoken personally with every Dark Hunter yet, but the news of his position had been spread to them via various means and they'd been told he would answer Ash's phone when he was unavailable.

Ash nodded, kissed him, and then vanished for Savitar's island.

Harry answered the phone, listened and then vanished himself to help the man.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ash wasn't back when Harry returned so he decided to pop in on Nick, finding him in the university library so he slipped into the chair opposite him.

Nick looked up and jumped, heart racing. "You're getting as bad as Ash," he grumbled, and Harry shrugged.

"Sorry. What are you working on?"

"A paper…are you bored?" Nick asked and Harry grinned.

"Maybe. Ash is off with Savitar and I was helping a Dark Hunter, but I got home first, so I thought I'd see what you're doing."

Nick shook his head put closed his laptop and put his books away. "Come on, let's find you something to do," he teased, and they headed out to Nick's car. "Any idea what you want to do?"

"You're the native, surprise me," Harry rested his head back as Nick pulled out of the carpark. He let his magic roam freely, checking on Nick and thankfully finding no change. Were they working with a time limit? He hoped not, for Nick's sake, then again he did some of his best work when working against a clock.

TBC….

I know, short, sorry.