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“No, you should never apologize for such, Mrs Gautier I’m the one who couldn’t translate it correctly It was ain at his colloquialish his heavy accent “It’s always nice to meet one of Nick’s friends” She took his hand and patted it kindly
The moment she touched him, an unexpected tear slid down his cheek Eive ht, sweetie?”
Nick wouldn’t have believed it, but the ancient being was as cowed by his tiny , Xevikan looked about nervously “I never had a mother so I don’t knohat’s appropriate Nick failed to warn entle”
“Oh, you poor Boo!” His ht about the waist
Eyes wide, Xevikan appeared terrified as he held his arms out, away froht of his tiny mother who barely reached mid-chest level on the fierce Šarru-Dara She had absolutely no clue “Just go with it, Xev MyShe can’t help herself And whatever you do, don’t take her to a pet store, especially not on adoption days”
Making a sound of irritation, hisfor dinner? I have chicken jambalaya almost ready and there’s more than plenty”
“About that, Ma…”
She turned toward Nick “What?”
“Xev’s place got flooded during the storhts until it’s habitable again?” Or more to the point, until they found hiether into a puzzled expression “Where’s your family?”
“I-I don’t have any”
“Then how are you here?”
Nick jumped in with an answer before Xevikan accidentally outed them “He’s on a student visa Don’t worry, Mom, he’s not a serial killer If he was, I wouldn’t have him near you I promise I’ll keep him locked in my room You won’t even know he’s here, and he’s not nearly as messy as I am” At least, he hoped that was true
She shook her head at him “Of course, it’s fine for him to stay You know I can’t stand to see anyone on hard tio check on our dinner before it burns Y’all get cleaned up and I’ll see you in a sec”
Xevikan watched her leave with a longing in his eyes that wrenched Nick’s gut
“You all right, buddy?”
Blinking, he nodded “I now understand”
“What?”
“Why you are who and what you are” He locked gazes with Nick And there in his eyes was a quiet longing Nick didn’t understand until he spoke a single question “What is it like to be loved?”
“Don’t you know?”
He shook his head slowly
Nick laughed, until he realized it wasn’t a joke “C’mon, seriously Brother? Father? Pet? You had to have faht?”
“Yes, but we didn’t have love We had honor, obligation, and responsibility Nothing ? Is that why you betrayed them?”
His eyes turned as red as his hair “I did not betray theround out between clenched teeth “I was the one as betrayed … by all of them”
Nick held his hands up in surrender and to cal “Okay, sorry I heard a different version of the events I’ you I wasn’t there Consider me Switzerland”
“Switzerland?”
Nick patted hio with your education” He jerked his chin toward the hallway “C’mon, I’ll show you tofor soe for his throat
Or bury a dagger in his back
After all, Caleb had welcomed Zavid and Livia in to stay in his home, but he’d mercilessly thrown Xevikan out of his house and told theain
Though to be honest, everything considered, it was a iven hi nearly as badly this time
Inside or out
“And this is the bathrooaze over the roo inside there was “I assume you bathe in here?”
“Urihed heavily “We don’t have a pool You bathe in the bathtub or shower” He showed him how to use it “You do your business in the toilet, use some TP and then flush it or my mom will kill us both Understood?”
“Understood”
“And you wash your hands here” Nick illustrated how the sink worked and where the soap was kept
“Got it now Thank you”
“No problem” Nick headed back to his room across the hallway
Xevikan took a hts He had a lot to learn about this human world He hadn’t been free in ed… But for his powers, he’d have no way of understanding their language or anything else Yet for all his abilities, he had a lot of gaps in his knowledge, as Nick was proving repeatedly
I will make do He always had Still, he felt lost Unsure Hatred and anger, he was used to
Kindness …
That was scary stuff
Turning the light off, Xevikan headed back to Nick’s room, to find him on the phone
“Caleb, there has to be so her back I don’t care what it takes We can’t leave her stranded I want irl I miss her”
“Nick!” his mother shouted suddenly
He covered the phone with his hand “Co at Xevikan, he returned to his call “I have to go But we have to find soirl?” Xevikan asked as Nick slid the phone into his pocket
Nick let out a sad sigh that was nothing compared to the pain in his blue eyes “Kody was left stranded on the other side when I returned to this realm She helped me reach home and now there’s no one to free her”
He related to that a lotto be inorant of its rules and custohost”