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He blew out a stream of smoke and pushed the hood of his sweatshirt back He had on a black knit hat thatabout him made him look that way The bruise on his cheek, the black pants and heavy boots, the small tattoo of a cartoon Road Runner on the back of his hand by his thumb, the thick, dark eyebrows over emotionless eyes, and the downturn of a mouth that was too soft and pretty to be on such a hard face With the obvious power harnessed in his big frauy I wanted to be in a tiny place with on a good day, and I hated—absolutely hated—that he didn’t say anything tobehind that curtain of black in his gaze

“He never went to school?”

That see I had just laid on hi

“No He used his tuition money to support us for a few years He also pulled me out of public school and put me in private school for my last two years”

“Altruistic bastard”

I bristled automatically “The school I was at had metal detectors, the students and the teachers were arot raped in the locker rooet ho better, and since Lord Hart about it, he took it upon himself to”

“He couldn’t save , ht up his incarcerated best friend A guy who looked that tough shouldn’t be so sharp He should be all muscle and no brains His perceptiveness erous in my mind

“I don’t knohat his reasons were and I didn’t care I had someone who loved me and cared more about me than a hit He offered me a chance at a normal and stable life; he showed me what family could be He went to battle with the lord and lady of the —to keep him safe”

Race wasbrother He wasin the entire world I couldn’t live without Money, objects, security—none of it mattered; it was all an illusion The sacrifices Race had made for me, the way he had swooped in and showed a lonely sixteen-year-old fro side of the tracks that there wasbyI could never repay hi I had to keep arette on the heavy tread of his boot and pushed away from theHe pulled his hood back up around his face and walked past where I was still on the couch When he got a few steps away, he looked down at me Those eyes of his were just an endless dark void in a face I was sure I would never forget

“Keep your head down If Benny or anyone shady co around, call this number” He rattled off a bunch of numbers I would never remember but I nodded anyway “If Race makes contact, any kind of contact, tell him I’m out Tell him to find me, that Novak is my problem, not his Tell him the slate is and alas clean until I say differently You got all that, Copper-Top?”

I hated that nickna red hair that everyone wanted to make fun of on top of it was another However, he was not the type of guy I was going to quibble with over a stupid nicknauy that took to quibbling, no matter what it was over He moved toward the door and I jumped to my feet

“That’s it?”

He looked over his shoulder at me and pulled the rickety door open

“Unless you know anything that lared at him “I meant, what happens now? What do we do to find Race?”