Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon

born an orphan.” With that, Caleb unfurled his wings and took flight, leaving his father behind to wince in pain.
    Nick wanted desperately to know what his father had done to harm him, but his powers wouldn’t cooperate. All he had was that tiny snippet of Caleb’s past.
    And if he understood anything, it was paternal conflict. His relationship with his own father made Caleb’s appear normal.
    But in the end, one thing was clear. He hated hurting his friend in any way. And nothing hurt worse than bad memories.
    “I’m sorry, Caleb. I won’t go there again, okay? Whatever is between you and yours is between you and yours. It’s none of my business.”
    Caleb drew a ragged breath. “You’ve only just discovered what it’s like to be born hybrid. To feel torn between two cultures and two warring parts of yourself. That’s a battle I’ve had my entire existence, and honestly, it sucks. It’s exactly like being torn between two women. The best thing to do, kid … decide which one you want to be and ignore the other.”
    “And if I can’t?”
    “Then you really are screwed and you will never know any kind of peace. Split loyalties work for no one.”
    As Nick opened his mouth to respond, another image flashed through his mind. It was one of Caleb and six other men who stood as a formidable wall against their enemies. Ferocious power emanated from them as they waited to confront whatever was coming for them. He didn’t know who those other men were—if they were demons, gods, or some other group—but it was obvious they had been brothers, if not by blood, then by bond.
    “Who were your allies when you fought against my father in the First War?”
    Caleb snorted. “I never fought against your father, Nick. I led my army against the first Malachai.”
    That stunned him. “But I thought—”
    “You are a direct descendent of the firstborn, but there have been several Malachais before your father. Adarian has lived the longest out of them all. Several only lasted a handful of years … long enough to spawn a replacement and then they were gone.”
    And the one thing that made those Malachais so different from Nick was that each had known who and what they were from the moment of birth. Nick was the only Malachai who’d been born thinking himself human.
    It was hard to wake up one day and learn that everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie. That nothing in your past was what it seemed or what you’d been told. That your parents weren’t who and what you’d believed them to be.
    He was still fighting hard to wrap his mind around it most days.
    Gah, but it was impossible at times. Everything was changing so fast that it made his head spin even more than what it’d done inside Bubba’s store.
    Yesterday, he’d been a dirt-poor kid whose biggest concern was keeping his grades up and getting to school on time—walking his mom home whenever she worked late. Now he was two years from graduation with a job that carried a buttload of responsibility and secrets. And while he’d thought he was the man of the house when he was a kid, he now fully understood what taking care of his mother really entailed. How her safety hinged on every decision he made. One wrong move and her life would end … because of him.
    Not to mention, his body was changing and growing faster than he could keep up with, and if that wasn’t enough …
    He was a dang demon half the universe wanted to hunt down and kill.
    Including his girlfriend.
    And the one thing on his side … stupid powers that were more of a detriment than help.
    Thanks for that, universe. Glad you have me to pick on.
    Closing his eyes, Nick sighed. “I’m too young to deal with all this.”
    Caleb snorted. “I know the feeling.”
    Yeah, right. “You’re thousands of years old.”
    “I wasn’t born this old, Nick, and because of my parents, I had a bounty on my head, too, when I was a kid. So I do know what you’re feeling. And it’s a