Invincible Chronicles of Nick - By Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 0,26

it?”

Nekoda snorted. “In this town? There’s all kinds of spirits here, and quite a few of them are hostile.”

“True, which is why the Simi likes to come here. I eat the evil, and akri all happy. There’s no ‘no, Simi’ if it’s something that preys on people. The Simi can eat all that she wants to.”

Yeah, the Simi was a unique being.

“Do you think this evil is Nick?”

Simi shook her head. “No. The evil is stalking him.”

CHAPTER 7

Nick paused outside the Mediterranean Greek Café on Decatur to catch his breath. At least the images had finally stopped shifting through his head and he had some clarity of thought.

Not much, but better than it’d been when he’d left the Café Du Monde. At least now the people around him looked normal.

Man, how had the hippies in the sixties ever survived drug binges? What idiot would do this to himself intentionally? It was bad enough when it happened by accident. Who would want to live like this if they could stop it?

Nick rubbed his eyes and took a deep, fortifying breath.

All of a sudden, he heard a bell sound as the door to the restaurant opened and out came a beautiful dream.

For a second, he thought he was still hallucinating as Casey Woods, one of the cheerleaders from his school, stopped in front of him. Up until Nekoda had joined their class, Casey had been the only woman for him. Her long dark hair was always brushed until it shone, and her curves were killer in street clothes, but in her cheerleader uniform they were the stuff of legends. He’d spent more days than he could count trying to imagine how great life would be with her as a girlfriend. Unlike the Neanderthals she went with, he’d actually treat her right and dote on her.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t even noticed he was alive. An impressive feat, since he’d sat right beside and in front of her in several classes over the years. But hey, Casey was Casey, and a girl that popular couldn’t be bothered to notice the poor, awkward scholarship student who’d invaded their ranks. For that matter, almost no one in his school really saw him as anything other than a target to be kicked and bullied. He was used to that.

Dressed in a lacy blue top and a pair of jeans, she smiled as she caught sight of him. “Hey, Nick. You okay?”

Oh yeah, he had to be a coma or something. The last time Casey had been this close to him, she’d argued with her best friend that she had no idea who he was.

“Uh, all good.”

She frowned at him. “You don’t look good. You look kind of green. Are you going to hurl?”

“I hope not.” ’Cause that was all he’d need for this day to be even better. Barf all over their homecoming queen. Yeah, that’d just make it for him and get him relegated to loser status until the day they graduated.

To his complete shock, she reached out and touched his forehead. “You don’t have a fever.” She held her bottle of water out toward him. “Here, sip some of this, and see if it helps.”

Stunned, he straightened. “Are you all right?”

“Of course. Why would you ask that?”

’Cause she had never been this nice to him, ever. Honestly, it was scary. Was the apocalypse coming?

Was this Death in disguise screwing with him? Now that would make sense. There had to be some horrifyingly foul reason why Ms. Hottie-Snotty was talking to him like he mattered.

“You and I don’t normally hang out.”

She smiled. “I know. My bad. But now that you’re hanging with Tad, it’s okay.”

Ah, that explained it. Tad Addams was one of the cool, rich kids. The older brother of Nick’s friend, Brynna, he’d taken him to school with Casey the other day.

Man, she was shallow. Most people didn’t admit that about themselves. He had to give her credit that at least she was honest.

He shrugged the water away. “I’m fine.” He indicated his arm in the sling. “Pain got to me for a minute. But I’m all good now.”

“Oh, okay.” She pulled the water back and cradled it against her breasts—second thought, he should have taken it. “By the way, have you heard the latest gossip?”

“That we have a new coach?”

She blinked at him with a vacuous expression. “We have a new coach?”

Obviously not the gossip she’d heard. “Uh, yeah. Caleb told me about him.”

“Oh, I hadn’t heard that. Good. I know Stone and Rick