Forget You (Demon Underground Series) Read Free Page B

had a good reason for keeping his secrets. All of a sudden, he wished he could time travel back to the events of this morning, back to when he was ignorant of all this, back to when his life hadn’t been turned upside-down.
    His stomach churned so much he wanted to throw up. Why had he pushed Dad so hard? Why hadn’t he left well enough alone, damn it? Instead, he’d just turned everyone’s lives into pure and utter crap.
    DIESEL DIDN’T give them time to pack much, saying the Underground would send someone back to get their belongings. They took just enough to last for a few days and headed toward Albuquerque in a van with heavily tinted windows. Sharra cuddled up next to Dad the whole way, pointedly ignoring her brother, as Shawn marinated in guilt.
    IT’S NOT REALLY YOUR FAULT, YOU KNOW, Max said.
    Shawn knew that intellectually, but it didn’t feel that way, especially since Sharra was so pissed at him. Tell Sharra that.
    I DID. SHE’S NOT LISTENING TO REASON RIGHT NOW.
    Stubborn as always. But Shawn couldn’t blame her. Whose fault is it, then? Diesel’s? he asked the hellhound. After all, if the Paladin hadn’t arrived, they wouldn’t be on the way to his father’s trial. Maybe Dad was right to hate Paladins.
    YOU CAN’T BLAME DIESEL FOR DOING HIS JOB, Max said. IF ANYONE IS TO BLAME, IT’S YOUR FATHER, OR MAYBE YOUR MOTHER.
    No way. They’d all been doing just fine until Diesel showed up. The Paladin was the one who’d ruined their lives. He brooded all the way to Albuquerque, worrying about what might happen to Dad, to him and his sister, praying with all his might that everything would turn out fine, that Dad would be found innocent of wrongdoing. After all, he hadn’t done anything bad on purpose. That had to count for something, right?
    They arrived at a bar in Albuquerque, where the Demon Underground had its headquarters, and were rushed down to the spacious basement where a bunch of people sat around in a circle. All conversation died as they came into the room and everyone gawked. Guess they’d never seen a shadow demon before, let alone three.
    They practically had to pry Sharra from Dad’s side as they seated her and Shawn outside the circle. Max settled himself between them, saying in what sounded like a gruff mental whisper, TOUCH ME AND SHOW THEM YOU’RE MOSTLY HUMAN. THAT MIGHT HELP.
    Yeah, he had a point. Though Shawn didn’t really want anyone to see how terrified he was right now, he didn’t want them to be scared of him, either. He and Sharra grounded themselves by touching Max, and people stared even more at their human faces. He shifted uneasily under the scrutiny. Sheesh, what did it mean if other freaks thought they were weird?
    A gray-haired woman came over and took his father’s hand so everyone could see him, and led him to the center of the circle. “I’m Kathryn, Albuquerque’s Underground leader. We have a quorum here today to form a judgment circle. Would you like to have the ritual now, or wait a few days?”
    Please say you’ll wait , Shawn begged silently. He had a feeling this was going to go horribly wrong, and he wanted to put it off as long as possible.
    “I want it over with,” his father said, his face set in hard lines. “I’d like to have the judgment now.”
    Crap. It was all moving too fast. He needed everything to slow down long enough for him to get a real grip on what was going on, find his options, fix this.
    “Very well,” the woman said. “Please, have a seat.”
    She led him to a chair at one end of the circle, then sat next to him, keeping her hand on his so everyone could see his face. The Paladin stood behind them, ready to take action in case Dad tried anything.
    It wasn’t like any trial Shawn had seen on television. Kathryn asked a bunch of questions about what happened, and Dad answered them honestly and completely, telling them the same story Shawn had heard earlier. He didn’t even try to defend himself. And, when asked, Max