Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon

hand down the cold stone, noting that the skull had eyes made of bloodred rubies. The point of the hematite was so sharp, he could probably use it to stake Kyrian should his boss ever get too frisky with him.
    Epically cool.
    He could also use it to prick his finger if he needed to ask his book a question. Yeah, this thing had a lot of uses.
    “What you hold is one of the keys to the universe.” Grim’s voice had dropped an octave. “You can use a pendulum to answer questions, locate things and—”
    “What sort of things? Can it find my mom’s keys when she loses them?”
    “Yes,” Grim said between clenched teeth. “It can also locate people you seek.”
    Okay, now that was handy. Nick swung it back on forth on its chain. “How does it work?”
    Grim captured it in his hand and used the sharp tip to point at him. “It allows you to get in touch with your higher consciousness. In time, you won’t need it to do that. You’ll be able to access that part of yourself anytime you need to. But for now, you’ll require a tool to help you channel all the teenage hormonal ADD that’s bouncing around and through you.” He touched the tip to Nick’s nose. “The best part of this one is that the stone will change to meet your needs.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “For simple questions, it won’t matter what the stone is. You can use any kind of pendulum, made out of any substance. A ring, a stick, even a pen or pencil. But as we progress to other tasks, the material it’s made out of will matter exponentially. This one is currently hematite because that’s the strongest stone of protection. It limits and deflects negativity. Something you need, kid. And it will protect you. Evil and negativity gravitate to the hematite, and if you’re attacked badly enough, the stone will shatter and warn you while it deflects those powers away from you.”
    Yeah, Nick could be pretty negative most days. And that was without trying. Once he put his mind to it, he could be really pissy.
    Grim gave it back to him. “Pull your book out.”
    Since Grim had already bogarted it from his pocket without touching it, he knew better than to delay. Nick grabbed it and handed it over.
    Grim flipped to a blank page.
    Nick frowned as words and letters magically appeared with arrows. In a weird way, it reminded him of a Ouija board. The two arrows intersected, forming a square cross with the words Yes and No highlighted.
    No, wait. They were glowing .
    “What’s it doing?” he asked Grim.
    “This is your pendulum map. It’ll answer any yes or no question you ask. All you have to do is focus your mind on the question and hover the pendulum over the page. In time, you’ll be able to ask more complicated questions and it’ll spell out the answers.”
    “Duly awesome.” Nick did as he suggested and hovered the stone above the words. He carefully kept his hand steady as he focused on the most important question he wanted an answer to. “Will I lose my vir— Hey!”
    Grim snatched it from him. “Stop being stupid and take this seriously.”
    Nick glared. “Can’t work with it if you snatch it out of my hands.”
    He grudgingly gave it back.
    Nick wrapped the chain around his forefinger. “What’s wrong with asking that, anyway?”
    “It’s a stupid concern.”
    Bull crap on that. It was the primary one he’d had for the last year.… Well, that and if he’d ever be able to afford a car. “What are you? Asexual or something?”
    Pain laughed, then stopped abruptly as Death jerked his head in his companion’s direction.
    “My libido is fine, Nick. However, it takes a distant second place to my need to kill people who annoy me.”
    Normally, Nick would have mocked him for that, but he knew better. “Fine.” He returned the pendulum and stated his second-most-often-asked question. “Will I ever be rich?”
    At first, nothing happened. But after a few seconds, it began to swing along the yes line. Something that made his blood