Free Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

make her eyes snap blue fire at him. “Sit your butt down, boy. You’re on restriction.”
    “I know. But—”
    “No buts,” she snapped. “Sit down and do your homework. Now!”
    He shook his head. “You’re going to have to ground me again. I’ve got to go check on Brynna. I got a really bad feeling, and she’s not answering her phone. I have to make sure she’s okay.”
    She took a step back and eyed him suspiciously. “Is that really what you’re doing?”
    “Cross my heart, Mom.” He made a small cross in the center of his chest. Something he only did when he meant it.
    “All right. Go on and check on her, then. I won’t hold that against you. You want to take the burger with you?”
    Nick grabbed it from her tray, then kissed her cheek. “Can I leave my books here? I’ll be back as soon as I make sure she’s not doing something stupid.”
    “Sure.”
    Taking a bite of his burger, he headed for the door.
    “Hey, Nick?”
    He paused to look back at his mother and swallowed his food. “Yes, ma’am?”
    “You’re a great kid. Much better than I deserve. I just wanted you to know that while I’m hard on you, I do see how wonderful you are. You do me real proud and I mean that.”
    Her words warmed him. “Thanks, Ma. I love you, too.” Smiling at her, he rushed out to get to the streetcar so that he could bust tail to make it to Brynna’s house as fast as possible. This would be so much easier if I had a car.…
    Or if Ambrose or Death would teach him how to teleport. Now there was a power he’d love to have. Of course with his luck, he’d teleport someplace bad like the Arctic Circle while in his underwear.
    Or buck naked into his school’s gym during a pep rally. Yeah, that’d be a lot worse than freezing his nether regions on an iceberg. He’d much rather have penguins point and laugh at him than the girls in his class.
    He came around the corner of the French Market at a dead run. For once luck was with him. The streetcar came in right as he reached the platform.
    And he made the best time ever getting to Brynna’s house. A huge, dark gray antebellum mansion, it dwarfed his entire apartment building. Even though it made him uncomfortable to be around a place this nice and elegant, he’d always liked coming here. Whenever Brynna’s mom was in town, she usually had fresh cookies or cupcakes sitting in a glass case on their kitchen island. And her dad had never once looked at him as if he was trash or made a comment over the fact that Nick didn’t belong around his daughter. All of the Addamses were as nice as they could be. Something he deeply appreciated.
    Nick opened the wrought-iron gate and sprinted across the small front yard and up the steps to the front door. He rang the bell.
    A few seconds later, Brynna’s little brother, Jack, opened the door and stared up at him. “Yeah?”
    “Is Brynna home?”
    Jack shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
    I am so glad I’m an only child.… Nick sighed and tried again. “Is your dad around?”
    “He’s running errands. Be back later.”
    “Can I come in and see if Brynna’s in her room?”
    Jack narrowed his gaze on Nick. “Ain’t no boy not related to us supposed to be up in her room. Ever.”
    “I won’t go in it. You can come with me and make sure I stay in the hallway. Please? I won’t be here long. I just want to make sure she’s all right.”
    “Yeah, okay. I heard her crying earlier. Figured it was something stupid. She cries all the time, anyway. When she’s happy. When she’s mad. When she’s sad. Whenever she breaks a nail or has to take medicine. Girls are so weird. I try not to pay attention to them.” Jack stepped back so that Nick could enter the house.
    Nick headed for the stairs. “Where’s her room?”
    “First one on the left.” But Jack didn’t follow him up. Instead, he drifted past the stairs, toward their kitchen.
    Taking the stairs two at a time, Nick didn’t pause until he got to her