Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

couldn't even imagine not having to count pennies to eat at McDonald's.
    Gathering his courage, he got out of the car, grabbed his backpack, and headed up the stairs to the front door. Made of mahogany and etched glass that reminded him of cut crystal goblets, it looked like something out of a movie. He lifted his hand to ring the bell, but the door opened to show him a tiny Hispanic woman who eyed him like a warden greeting a new inmate. Dressed in a coral shirt and jeans, she had her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun.
    "Nick?" It sounded more like "Neek," which was a much prettier version than the normal drawl he was used to.
    "Yes, ma'am."
    She stepped back to let him enter. "Mr. Kyrian is waiting for you upstairs in his office." She reached for his backpack.
    Nick shied away from her.
    "You no trust me?" Her tone was offended.
    "No disrespect meant to you, ma'am, but I don't even know your name."
    Her face went completely stoic. "I am Rosa and I keep Mr.
    Kyrian's house for him. Nowwould you like me to put your bag away while you're here?"
    He felt foolish for not letting her have it. It just wasn't in him to let anyone take anything from him without a fight no matter how worthless it was. It was the same reason he hadn't wanted Brynna touching it earlier. "I guess." He shrugged it off.
    She umphed as he surrendered the full weight of it. "Goodness, you're much stronger than you appear. How you carry this without being hunchback?"
    Nick shrugged. "It's what I have to have for school."
    She gestured at the mahogany staircase that curved up to the second floor. "Third door on the right. No need to knock. He will hear you coming."
    Yeah, okay, that was creepy too.
    Nick headed up, taking his time to scan every inch of the impeccable palace. The banister had what he was pretty sure were gold medallions in the center of the black iron railing and the polished floors were some kind of something really expensive--like marble or tile or... whatever. Part of him wanted to run back to the street.
    / so don t belong here.
    He felt like a fraud or unworthy. Until he realized what really made him so uncomfortable. There was no daylight....
    Every window in the house was covered with shutters and heavy drapes. Every single one. Not so much as a tendril of sunlight came in. How weird was that? His mother was always yelling at him for burning electricity in the daytime.
    Stop shaming the daylight, boy. Turn out the lights. Have you any idea howmuch money you're wasting?
    Pushing it out of his mind, he reached the door Rosa had mentioned and opened it.
    Kyrian satin front of a computer with a headset covering one ear. "Talon, I hear what you're saying. I'm just not listening to it. Look, the kid's here. I'll talk to you later." He hung up the phone and pulled the headset off before placing it on his desk.
    "Talon?" Nick asked.
    Kyrian smiled without showing his teeth--another peculiar habit Nick had noticed about him even back when he'd come to the hospital. "A friend I'm sure you'll eventually meet." He inclined his head toward Nick's sling. "How are you feeling?"
    "Cranky. Pain meds wore off and it hurts like a mother."
    Kyrian ignored his curt tone and semi-profanity. "Heard you had some problems at your school today."
    "I didn't have no problems at school 'cause they wouldn't let me on campus. Makes it a great day if you ask me."
    Kyrian rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on Nick's irritable tone. "Have you called your mom?"
    "No. Why?"
    "Don't you think she might have heard about the attacks at school and been worried?" "I don't see how."
    "Nick ... She's your mother. She's going to be worried. Honestly, you have no idea how much your parents love you until something happens to you--then it's too late." There was a note in Kyrian's voice that Nick couldn't quite define. Something like buried pain from a bitter memory that still bothered him....
    But that didn't matter. Nick wasn't being stupid or disrespectful. "I know she'd be