Sherrilyn Kenyon - Invincible

He arched a brow at that. “Were you raised in a barn? You don’t just walk into someone’s house.”

Ash laughed. “I have an open invitation to enter whenever I’m here.”

“Yeah, but what if he’s naked or something?”

Ash led him into the foyer. “I’ve known Kyrian for over two thousand years, and I can honestly say that I have never once caught him naked in his living room.” The door closed behind them without Ash or Nick touching it—something that always unnerved Nick when Ash did it. “Besides, Rosa’s still here. I know he’s not walking around bare-assed with her on duty.”

“Oh yeah.” There was that.

As if she’d heard them come in, Rosa entered the hall from the direction of the kitchen. “Ah, Acheron, good to see you again.”

“ Hola, Rosa. Is Kyrian upstairs still?”

“Sí.”

While Ash headed up, Nick went toward Rosa with a hopeful look on his face. “Do I smell something … sweet?”

She laughed. “You live on your stomach, mi’jo. Go, there are cookies waiting for you.”

Nick gave her a Roman salute. “Rosa, I am your eternal servant. So long as you feed me cookies, you may ask and I will do without any complaint.”

“Good. I have a list of your chores on the counter beside the plate.”

Ah, man … Nick bit back a whine. This was his job, and he wouldn’t complain. At least not to Rosa, maker of great food.

Kyrian was another matter. He was subject to the full whiny teenager moodiness.

Nick headed into the kitchen and grabbed a cookie before he glanced over his list. Chewing the cookie, he scratched at his chin.

1. Replace upstairs hall bathroom lightbulb.

2. Get online and research Ferragamo shoes, then e-mail someone named Kell to see if he could convert Ferragamos into weapons.

3. Order a replacement coat for the one that was torn. (See closet for coat.) Make sure it matches exactly.

4. Wash cars.

5. Take out trash for Rosa.

6. Most important, don’t bitch.

Hmmm …

“Rosa?”

She arched a brow as she came into the kitchen. “Sí?”

“How many cars does Kyrian own?”

She paused to consider it. “I believe there are six of them, but I don’t know for sure. I don’t go into the garage.”

Six. Kyrian wanted him to wash six? Was he out of his friggin’ mind? No way. That was too much. It’d take him all night.

Grumbling under his breath, Nick headed for the garage to see just how big these things were. In spite of what Kyrian thought, he wasn’t a slave. He had …

His thoughts scattered as he opened the door.

“You’re sure they’re not Daimon attacks?” Kyrian asked Acheron as he shrugged on his coat.

“Oh yeah. What I really hate is that one of the kids was killed on our watch. I don’t want that to happen again. So keep your eyes open tonight for predators other than Daimons.”

“Definitely. Speaking of demon spawn … where’s Nick?”

Ash shrugged. “He came in with me, and that was the last I paid attention to him.”

“Yeah, and I was fully expecting him to object to his list of assignments.” Kyrian paused to listen with his psychic hearing. He furrowed his brow as he heard nothing. “It’s too quiet. I better go make sure he’s not harassing Rosa. My luck, she’s put a choke hold on him and I’ll have to explain the bruising to his overly protective, paranoid mother.”

Acheron laughed. “Don’t worry, General. I’ll bail you out before dawn.”

“Thanks.” Leaving Acheron, Kyrian headed straight downstairs and searched for his pain, who never ceased to irritate him.

There was no sign of him.

Not even in Nick’s office. Where could he be?

Kyrian grimaced as he entered the kitchen. “Where’s Nick?” he asked Rosa, who was putting away dishes.

She wiped her hands on a white dishcloth before she answered. “He went out to the garage, and I’ve not seen him since.”

Strange. There was no sound of running water or any sign of the kid out there that he could hear.

A surge of panic seized him. Had the preternatural killer found the kid? Could Nick be lying dead out there, right now?

He rushed to the door and yanked it open, then froze at the last thing he expected to find.

Nick sat on the stairs, completely comatose. He stared straight ahead as if he’d been frozen in place.

“Nick? You all right?”

He didn’t respond.

Kyrian moved around him until he stood in front of him. He snapped his fingers in front of Nick’s face. “Kid?”

Nick blinked before he met Kyrian’s gaze. “I’m not worthy,” he said in a breathless tone.

Baffled by his comment, Kyrian stared at him. “What?”

Nick gestured toward his cars. “Dude, that’s a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, and Bentley. And I’m not talking the cheap models. Those are the top of the top of the top of the line, fully loaded. I swear, that’s real gold trim in the Bugatti. There’s more money in metal in here than my brain can even tabulate. Oh my God! I shouldn’t even be breathing the same air.”

Kyrian laughed at his awed tone. “It’s all right, Nick. I need you to clean them.”

“Are you out of your ever-loving mind? What if I scratch them?”

“You won’t.”

“Nah, I might. Those aren’t cars, Kyrian. Those are works of art. I’m talking serious modes of transportation.”

“I know, and I drive them all the time.”

“No, no, no, no, no. I can’t touch something so fine. I can’t.”

Kyrian cuffed him on the shoulder. “Yes, you can. They don’t bite, and they need to be washed.”

Nick let out a sound of appreciation. “I ought to be paying you for this.”

Kyrian snorted. “Then I’ll dock your pay.” He held his hand out to help Nick stand. “C’mon.”

Nick allowed him to pull him to his feet, but he was still intimidated by the cars around him. He’d never even thought to see one in real life, never mind touch it. These were sweet. “How much money you make, anyway?”

“Obviously a lot.”

“Dude, make me a Dark-Hunter.”

Something cold and painful flickered through Kyrian’s eyes. “Don’t even joke about that, Nick. You don’t ever want to become what I am. It all looks great from the outside, but two thousand years gets hard. All my family is long gone, and while I have my Dark-Hunter brethren and Acheron, it’s not the same. I’d give everything I have and then some if I could just see my parents one more time. Tell my dad that I’m sorry for things I said to him. Never, ever leave your mother after a fight. Whatever you do, don’t let the last words you say to her be hurtful.”

“You fought with your father?”

He nodded. “Acheron has a saying, and it’s so true. There are some things sorry can’t fix. Life is all about regrets. Don’t let those regrets be that you’ve hurt someone who really loves you. Keep those to a minimum. It’s bad enough when you have to carry them through a single lifetime. When you have to carry them through thousands, it’s brutal.”

He’d never thought of it that way. Still, he’d give anything to have an eternal life with this kind of wealth. Heck, he’d settle for having it for ten minutes.

“Don’t worry about getting to all the cars tonight. You can do the Lamborghini and then save the others for tomorrow. Just make sure you get the rest of the list done.”

“Will do.”

Kyrian inclined his head to him before he went back inside.

Nick walked down the three steps to get a closer look at the Bugatti. Yeah … that was a car. “I would hug you, but I don’t want to get my skin oils on your paint.”