Free Forget You (Demon Underground Series) by Parker Blue Page A

bad one, the one who always got into trouble. The Dynamic Duo usually balanced each other out—he made Sharra more bold, and she smoothed his rough edges. But not this time.
    “I did,” Shawn said. “I hate living trapped in this house. How come everyone else can live a normal life, and we have to live like  . . . like  . . . lepers?” It was bad enough dealing with a cracking voice and a changing body. But when puberty hit, life had turned to crap. He and his sister had started looking like Dad, their awareness constantly moving through other dimensions. It was weird, having strange images and feelings flicker through him from other realities. He still hadn’t gotten used to it, though Dad said he would, eventually.
    “Don’t exaggerate,” his father said. “Why don’t you talk to some of your online friends?”
    The computer was their only real link to the outside world. Through it, their father made a living doing research, and they ordered food, clothing, all the necessities of life. Shawn wanted to work with his father on the computer, to help bring in some cash, but his father wouldn’t even let him do that, insisting that he be a kid as long as possible.
    Shawn shook his head. “My friends aren’t home.” Sometimes, when he was online, chatting with friends he’d never be able to meet, Shawn could pretend he was as normal as everyone else. But today, that false sense of normality didn’t hack it.
    In fact, it really hacked him off. “Why can’t we live somewhere else, like Albuquerque?” That’s where his friends were right now, at a gaming convention he couldn’t attend.
    “You know why,” his father said, his tone warning Shawn not to push it.
    Shawn didn’t care. “Yeah, but there’s a Demon Underground there.”
    “I wish I’d never told you about that. As I said before, it’s not for us.”
    “Why not?” Shawn persisted. “At least we’d be around others like us, instead of stuck here in Nowhere, New Mexico.”
    “No one else is like us.” His father’s voice had turned curt.
    “Maybe not exactly like us, but they’re all part demon, right? We could fit in better, maybe have something resembling a real life.”
    “No.” This time, he sounded uncompromising.
    But Shawn couldn’t leave it alone. “No? Just  . . . no ?” he asked incredulously. “How about an explanation for once, Dad?”
    “Don’t, Shawn,” Sharra whispered. “You promised .”
    Shawn had never broken a promise to his sister before, but this time he shrugged her off. Sharra was too nice, always trying to make peace between the two of them. Well, he didn’t want peace.
    “Shadow Boy, you’re—” his father began.
    “Don’t call me that,” Shawn yelled. He wasn’t a baby anymore, to be cajoled by a stupid nickname. Shawn didn’t want to be calmed down. He wanted an explanation. He wanted change.
    Dad turned to Sharra. “Sunshine Girl, maybe you can talk some sense into him.” His words were calm, but his tone of voice showed he was trying not to lose it.
    “Why should she?” Shawn demanded. “She feels the same way I do. She’s just too nice to say it.”
    “Calm down,” Sharra said, shaking his shoulder. “Remember, Dad said it’s not good to get angry. You’re swirling faster.”
    Her attempt to soothe him ticked him off more. Damn it, even without a face, his emotions were on display for everyone to see. He shrugged her off. “I can’t help it. Don’t you hate this as much as I do?”
    “Of course, dummy. But what good does it do to get ticked off? It just makes everything worse.”
    “How can it get worse? It won’t change how we look. It won’t bring Mom back.” Shawn glared at his father, pissed off even more because his father couldn’t see Shawn’s expression and know how much he hated him at this moment. “Why’d you have children anyway when you knew they’d be freaks like you?”
    Sounding like he was trying to rein in his anger, Dad said, “Your