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In a swirl of black and a flash of silver, the uy reminded him more of a rich stockbroker than soers And he wasn’t all that old either Maybe his late twenties

Maybe

Nick could barely draw his breath as the man came forith the walk of a vicious predator He was dressed all in black An expensive leather coat draped around a body that was lethal But it was the flash of silver on a pair of black boots that caught his attention

One of the from the toe A knife that retracted as he came closer The man knelt down, his brow furrowed into a deep frown "They made a mess of you, kid Can you stand?"

Nick slapped at his hand as the man reached out to touch him He didn’t need help froer

He tried to push hi went black

Kyrian Hunter barely caught the skinny kid dressed in a foully orange Hawaiian shirt before he hit the street That hideous thing had saved his life So bright it practically glowed, it’d called out to hiht

Froh little scrapper He’d give hiing for one through what he had without crying

That alone made him respect the kid

He glared at the other punks, ere running down the street as fast as they could The ancient warrior and predator inside him wanted to hunt them down and kill them for what they’d done

But the man in him knew this one, the one who’d put his life on the line to save the elderly couple, wouldn’t live if he did The cowards could unfortunately wait for another butt-whipping

He tilted the kid’s face so that he could see his features The short brown hair was saturated with blood, and a huge cut would ht above his left eyebrow His nose was broken and by the looks of it, his jaw ood Blood poured fro hiet him to the hospital before he bled out and died

Kyrian paced the waiting room, where several dozen other people sat in various states of agitation and illness It’d been aler over to the staff and still no word about the kid he’d found Was he even still alive?

Checking his watch, he growled He really didn’t have the ti

He had important duties to attend to and, with luck,here, General?"

He froze at the deep, thickly accented voice Since Acheron was an eleven-thousand-year-old omnipotent immortal, he was the last person Kyrian had expected to find in a hospital Not like the et sick

He turned around slowly to find Acheron just inside the doorway At six foot eight with dark green hair and dressed in black Goth gear complete with a spiked leather ht that made everyone who saw hiave people pause It was the lethal aura of I’ll-kick-your-butt-so-hard-your-ancestors’-ears-will-ring Anyone who came near him could feel the unearthly power that bled fro

"What are you doing here?" Kyrian asked

His eyes colasses even though it was alrin that antagonized him "I asked you first"

If it’d been anyone other than Acheron her dose of attitude But attitude didn’t work on Acheron It just pissed hi aon the street I don’t knoho he is but I don’t want to leave him here without an adult to watch over hih to be left alone"

Acheron tilted his head as if he was listening to voices only he could hear Kyrian hated whenever he did that It creeped hi Most of all, it creeped him out to think what all the man knew about him that Kyrian had never told him

"Name’s Gautier Nick Gautier He’s a fourteen-year-old student at St Richard’s High School on Chartres who lives in the Lower Ninth on Claiborne Ave"

Kyrian was impressed "You know him?"

There was no hint of emotion from Acheron "Never seen hirin returned to irritate Kyrian "I know lots of things, General" Acheron held his hand up and a piece of paper appeared out of nowhere between his fingers He held it out to him "His mother’s an exotic dancer named Cherise Gautier You can reach her here But be warned She has a sharp tongue where her son’s concerned and if she thinks you’ve hurt hi for blood"

Kyrian took the paper from his hand "I’d ask you about those Jedi mind tricks of yours, but I know you won’t answer"

Acheron tucked his hands into the pockets of his scuffed jacket that had two chains wrapped around the shoulder of it "No coain "Nick isn’t Jason It’s a different time and place, General Don’t let the past ruin your future"

"Meaning what, oh great Yoda?"

Acheron didn’t elaborate "You take care of the kid I’ll take care of your patrol tonight I could use the target practice"

"Thanks for understanding" After all, Acheron was his boss and could have easily rea his duties

Acheron inclined his head before he h the double doors that led to the parking lot And with hie in the air

Yeah, Acheron was one scary SOB But Kyrian wasn’t exactly co himself Acheron had trained him and he’d been a s that shouldn’t be living in the first place