The Nines (The Nines #1) by Sierra Avalon, Dakota Madison Page B

weren’t right. He started hanging out with a bad crowd. He didn’t spend much time at home and when he did he was locked in his room. My parents thought he was going through a phase. They assumed when school started in the fall that he’d go back to being Mr. Popular. That he’d get involved in his classes and school activities again. But school didn’t start again. At least not for him. He bombed the school on the first day back. I’m sure it’s because he knew it was the day when the most people would be there.”
    She wants me to hate her. She wants me to blame her for what her brother did. Part of me wants to blame her too. To exact some of my revenge on those close to him. But would hurting his sister truly hurt Timur?
    I take her in. Every beautiful, perfect inch of her. And I realize that I could never hate her no matter how much I may want to because I like her too much.
    “Do you want me to leave?” There’s so much uncertainty in her voice it squeezes my heart.
    “I want you to help me.” As I say the words I realize there’s more to them than I may have initially intended.
    She furrows her brow. Maybe she realizes there’s more to my request than what is on the surface.
    “How can I help you?”
    I want to tell her that her just being here with me, letting me touch her and hold her, is making me human again. It’s making me feel things that I thought I’d never feel again.
    “Just don’t run away again, okay?”
    “I won’t. I promise.”
    “Now let’s see if we can find your roommate.”
    When she nods I grab her hand. I’m glad when she doesn’t pull away. My hand is a quilt of various skin grafts taken from different parts of my body. It’s functional, but not the least bit aesthetically pleasing. Not that the rest of my body is any nicer to look at. I’m a mass of burn scars and mismatched replacement skin. 
    I lead her into my study and she gasps when we enter. She’s not the only one with secrets and I’m about to reveal mine to her.
    “What is all this?” She’s wide-eyed as she looks around the room.
    This is the only area of my aunt’s house where I made significant changes, but out of necessity more than anything else. Nearly every inch of the space is filled with computer equipment: keyboards, monitors and storage capacity. I’m sure to someone who doesn’t do what I do the sight of all the equipment could look a little overwhelming.
    “This is how we’re going to find your roommate. But first I want to show you something.”
    I pull up one of several desk chairs I have in the room and motion for her to sit down then I sit in another chair right next to her. I flip a switch and all of my computers come to life. I do a bit of quick typing. Retrieve the photos that Julio emailed to me and then plug them into a few facial recognition databases to see if we can get any hits.
    “This is unbelievable. I know you’re a computer major, but do you really need this much equipment?”
    I shake my head. “I use my laptop in the living room for school. These computers are for something else.”
    “What else?” Her question gets caught in her throat.
    “Remember you promised not to run away.”
    She frowns. “You really are a hacker?”
    I nod.
    “Do you do stuff that’s illegal?”
    “I do.” I don’t want it to sound like I’m justifying my behavior by saying that I usually only hack other criminals.
    Just like when we first met and I thought she might bolt she seems more curious about me than disturbed by my admission.
    “Do you get paid to do this?”
    I nod again.
    “A lot?”
    “Enough that I don’t really have to worry about earning my degree or going out into the world to get a legitimate job.”
    She studies me. “It probably wouldn’t be easy. Getting a job, I mean.” She looks down at her black ballet flats as if she’s uncomfortable with stating the obvious. That no one would ever hire someone who looks the way I do.
    “And I don’t really have