Invincible Chronicles of Nick - By Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 0,58
pulled him into the room, farther away from the student crowd that was quickly growing as people came in the back door of the school. “Okay, listen. I have a thought. How about I help you?”
His brain automatically snapped to his previous thought. Nah, I ain’t that lucky. She had no idea why he feared dying so young. He must be misconstruing her intentions. “Help me do what?”
“Take what you need.”
Oh, yeah right … “Are you out of your mind?” he snapped at her. “You can’t do that, Casey.”
“Of course I can. I don’t want to see you killed. It’s not right.”
He couldn’t agree more. However, he didn’t want her to die for doing a good deed either. No need in both of them haunting the gym. “Maybe we can go to the principal. I know he won’t believe me, but with you there, he—”
“I have no proof. Why would he listen to me?”
Nick shrugged. “You come from a good family. Why would you lie?”
“I don’t know. The coach could tell him we’re sleeping together or some other lie. You know how adults are. They never believe kids our age, and they’re always expecting us to be on drugs or in trouble. Anytime something happens, they immediately blame it on the video games we play, cartoons we watch, music we listen to, or some occult thing that’s as ludicrous as blaming D&D and RPG.”
She was right. Most adults did do that, but he knew Kyrian and Ash would believe him.
And his mom might.…
Bubba and Mark would definitely, but since they also believed in Bigfoot, little green men, and the tooth fairy, no one would ever believe them. In fact, having them on board could be a liability.
Still, there was nothing any of them could do without proof. It all came back to that one word. The only way to bring the coach down would be to catch him in the act and to show the principal and everyone else just what a demented nut job he was.
“We’ve got to find other students he’s blackmailed.”
Casey scowled. “How?”
“I have no idea. But you know everyone at this school. Can’t you find out something? How did you find out about Barry and Dave?”
“Same way I did you. On accident. They were talking, and I was walking by.”
That wasn’t helpful. They didn’t have time for her to “accidentally” discover all the students Devus was harassing. She’d have to walk the hallway like a brainless automaton, which they’d then write up and put in detention.
The clock was ticking like the tell-tale heart, and he had to steal items and get them to the coach before school let out, or literally his head would be on the chopping block. He could already feel the guillotine falling.
In the end, as much as he hated it, he had to agree with Casey’s stupid idea. He couldn’t do this alone and survive it.
I’m going to burn for this.…
“All right, Casey. We’re not stealing anything, okay? We’re borrowing it, and I will make sure to give it all back once we’re done. You got it?”
“If you say so.” She glanced over the list and selected her items. “I can grab Shannon’s hairbrush and Stone’s ring without a problem.”
Not that he doubted her, but … “Really?”
She nodded. “Me and Stone are supposed to be dating. I smile at the oaf, and he’ll let me have it back. For all the money his parents paid, he couldn’t care less. To him it’s only something that sits in a box or marks me as his property. I hate that whole territorial thing he does. I’m lucky he’s not marking me in a more personal way.”
Ew. There was a thought he didn’t even want to contemplate. Where is the mental eye bleach when you need it?
Not close enough. Obviously. “What else?”
“I can borrow Shannon’s brush without a problem, too.”
Good. That just left Nick to pick up his side of the partnership. “I can ask Mason if he’ll loan me his notes from history.” His handwriting was one of the things the coach needed for some reason. Made no sense to Nick, but far be it from him to try to educate a man with a college degree.
“What else?” she asked.
Nick glanced back and saw another easy target to procure. “Michael’s always leaving one of his scarves in the cafeteria. I’m betting I can nab one of his out of lost and found.”
Why a scarf? No clue. Maybe it was the big hulking man’s security