Invincible Read Free Page A

to show an irritated Kyrian. Dressed in a pair of black pajama bottoms and no shirt, he glowered at them. His hair was tousled and he had a good shadow on his face. More than that, he had a build Nick would kill for. Dang, no one at school would ever pick on him again if he was ripped like that.
    Kyrian pinned them both with an angry scowl. “People, I really need to sleep. Can you go downstairs to shout at each other? Or better yet, outside in the yard?”
    His mother immediately calmed down. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hunter. We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
    Kyrian raked his hand through his blond hair, which made it stand straight up. Nick would laugh or mock it, but Kyrian wasn’t as attached to him as his mom was. His boss might actually kill him. “No problem. Now, if it’ll help stop this fighting and save Nick’s life before he can pay me back, put a call in to Sanctuary on Ursuline. Ask for Nicolette Peltier. She’s the owner and I’ve already spoken to her about you. She said to call her anytime and they’d be more than happy to add you to payroll.”
    “But—”
    He held his hand up in an imperious gesture that actually silenced Nick’s mom. Wow, to have those evil Jedi tricks. Had Nick done it, his mom really would have spanked him. Hard.
    “No but s. Give her a call. I assure you, you’ll love working for them.” And with that, he vanished back into his pitch-black room and shut the door.
    Nick let out a relieved breath. He might survive the morning yet.
    “Oh, don’t even.” His mom turned her nasty gorgon face back at him. “You’re still not off the hook. Get your butt dressed. You have five minutes.”
    “For what?”
    “Don’t back-talk me or argue. Not if you want to live to see noon. Get in there and shower. Now!”
    Fetch. Heel. Bark, Fido, bark. He really hated when she talked to him like he was nothing but a dog with no other purpose than to obey her every whim. “You know, I don’t ride the short bus, Ma. I can understand you.”
    “Apparently you can’t, because you now have only four minutes and thirty seconds before they start playing your dirge.”
    With a juvenile desire to stick his tongue out at her, he walked back into the room and into the adjacent bathroom so that he could obey and not stay grounded any longer than was necessary.
    Though at this rate, it seemed like she was looking for reasons to ground him.
    Empty-nest syndrome. She was afraid of him leaving home, so she clung to him all the tighter. Okay, that’s probably not what it was called, but that’s what he was calling it.
    Sighing, he stripped his clothes off and started the shower.
    Of course, it took him longer than five minutes to finish and dress. And when he opened the door that led back to the bedroom, he found his mother on the bed, staring furiously at him.
    “What? I hurried.”
    “Sure you did.” She slid off the bed. “You didn’t even shave.”
    “You told me to hurry, so I didn’t bother looking for a razor. Besides, I have only three hairs. Not like anyone can see them except you.” He kept hoping they’d grow longer and multiply, but so far …
    They were just enough to be emasculating and aggravating. Something else for his mom to nag at him to do.
    She made an annoyed sound that always reminded him of a tea kettle letting out steam. “C’mon. We have to catch a streetcar.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “You heard Mr. Hunter. We need to go to Sanctuary.”
    “He said to call.”
    She rolled her eyes—something that would also have got him grounded if he’d done it to her. “You don’t apply for a job that way, Nick.”
    “But—”
    “Go!”
    He didn’t want to go across town for no reason. Why did he have to watch her apply for a job, anyway? He’d rather have his eyes gouged out than sit there bored and watching the fluorescent lights flicker. “Can’t I stay here?”
    “No. We don’t take charity, and you know that. Mr. Hunter was nice enough to put us up for the