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"Yeah, but you loved your brother, right?"

Ash didn’t respond as he walked up the stairs that led to the front door Which told Nick everything Whoever his brother had been, theySad, really He’d alondered what it would be like to have a sibling Histo that he’d ever know

Nick took the steps two at a time He’d just stepped onto the porch when Rosa opened the door for theh she was in her forties, she was still incredibly beautiful Her dark hair fell to her shoulders and she was dressed in a pink top and jeans

"Hola, Rosa," Nick said, offering her a smile

She returned his smile with one that was as warm as a mother’s "Hola, racias Y tú?"

"Muy bien" She closed the door behind hier speak English together" Her smile widened at Acheron "And how are you, Aqueron?"

"Bien Is Kyrian up in his office?"

"He is"

Ash headed for the ornate curving staircase

"So, Nick, ¿quieres tú comer?"

He hesitated "Wait, you threw in a neord" Then his memory kicked "Food No, eat! Do I want to eat Absolutely What we got today?"

She laughed at him "I hope you marry a woman who cooks well Otherwise, e"

"That’s what ht a whiff of as cooking "Oh no you din’t! Is that--"

"Si, pollo cacciatore, your favorite"

"Only when youfor a taste No one cooked better than Rosa

"I will make your plate while you take the trash"

"Yes, ood whiff of it Man, he could live on that for days…

Forcing himself away from it, he pulled the trash liner out and headed out the back door to where the cans were located

As he was putting the lid back on the can, he heard so click At first he didn’t pay any attention to it Not until a chill went down his spine, and in hishis head, he’d just convinced hi paranoid when all of a sudden soround

"You little punk!" The man slammed a baseball bat down across his arm

Nick cursed as he felt bones shatter under the blow He moved to roll over and escape But the man hit hi him Nick tried to craard the house, but blow after blow alternated with kick after kick

I’ to die…

He knew it He couldn’t even defend hirabbed the man and hauled him off Nick

Kyrian knelt by his side "Nick? Can you hear hter! I hope he’s dead!"

"Rosa! Call an ambulance! Pronto!" Kyrian pulled his jacket off and draped it over Nick’s body "Stay with me, Nick Please don’t make me have to tell your mother you’re dead She’ll kill me"

Nick couldn’t respond He was so cold that his teeth were chattering Behind hi the attack to the police

Crying and praying, Rosa knelt down next to Kyrian and pressed her rosary into Nick’s hand

"How can you protect scu with you people?"

"He didn’t do it," Acheron growled in the man’s face "You just assaulted an innocent boy"

"You think I don’t know that little punk? I’ve seen hihter for years And I hope they lock him up for the rest of his life"

Nick was finally able to h so that he could see who it was

Mr Quattlebaum Dina’s father His head swah this Dina was one of Brynna’s tight friends He barely knew her Quiet and shy, she seldom spoke to anyone He couldn’t even re closer Don’t pass out… Nick kept that thought foreo back to the Nether Realate for the ambulance and police

Nick tried to return Rosa’s rosary It’d been her First Communion present fro after he’d given it to her She counted it a her most precious possessions

"No, m’ijo You keep it for now so that God atch over you You can return it later"

As the EMTs started working on hi froht he was crazy

Until the police handcuffed Dina’s father The moment they hauled him toward the front of the house, Nick saw a demon shimmer out of Mr Quattlebaum’s body

It was a demon he knew

Where had he seen it? He had to reled to stay conscious, the ether voices screamed louder

He saw his classmates as they read the lies and awful truths that had been posted about each other online For weeks now, Brynna and the other girls had been harassed and accused of all kinds of vice Fights had broken out constantly, even after the school s

Trexian …

That was the deen mask over his face Nick tried to call out to Caleb or Kody with his thoughts to let them knohat he suspected and what had happened But before he could, the EMTs knocked hi placed inside an austed, he set his crystal ball aside to ain, huh?" Bane asked drily

"Of course he did I’ve never seen anything like it He’s worse than a cat"

Bane glanced to the crystal ball "He’s not out of danger yet Could still get a nasty infection in the hospital Maybe so virus?"