Inferno
lot of the latter.”
    Caleb laughed. “We have a lot in common, Nick. Stubborn and stupid to the core of our souls.”
    Yeah, but was what they called a friendship enough for Nick to be able to always trust Caleb at his back? Or would Caleb one day try to kill him, too?
    Only time would tell.
    Time …
    Ah, crap!
    Nick checked his watch and winced as he realized how late it’d gotten. “Can I catch a ride over to Kyrian’s?”
    “Sure.” Caleb led him back toward their school, where his black Porsche 911 Turbo cabriolet was parked. It hadn’t been all that long ago that Nick had been so intimidated by a car this expensive that he was scared to touch it.
    Funny how fast things changed. Now, he was around expensive cars so much that he’d started thinking of them as normal. Who would have ever imagined that? Definitely not him.
    Nick opened the car door to get in and paused as he caught sight of several classmates leaving the building. Two of them called out a greeting to Caleb, who ignored them completely, like he always did. Caleb hated having to play his role of Mr. Jock Popularity. Everyone at school thought he was a rich kid whose parents were always out of town.
    If they only knew the truth.…
    They’d probably burst into flames, or have a stroke and die from disbelief.
    Pushing that thought aside, Nick got in and fastened his seat belt. “Try to keep it under ninety, okay?”
    Caleb laughed as he started the engine, then floored it. Nick held his breath as they took a corner so fast, he was pretty sure two wheels came off the pavement.
    “Thinking I should have grabbed a streetcar,” he mumbled under his breath.
    Caleb downshifted. “You fight armies of the damned out to slay you, and my driving is what scares you? Really?”
    “Have to say that’s a big affirmative.”
    Caleb shook his head and laughed. “Don’t worry, Nick. You’re safe as a babe in my presence. I can’t afford to let anything happen to you.”
    That would be more comforting if they weren’t careening in and out of traffic in warp drive. What was it with immortals that they loved to speed and weave? Come to think of it, none of them had ever taken or passed a real driver’s license test.…
    Help me.
    The good news was that it didn’t take all that long to get to Kyrian’s. Especially since they were traveling at the speed of sound.
    Nick let out a relieved breath at his safe arrival. “FYI, I think I might have stained your seat. You’ll probably want to clean that later.”
    Caleb stopped the car barely a millimeter from Kyrian’s locked wrought-iron gate. “It’s all right. I’ll just buy a new one.”
    “All right, then. Hasta mañana .” Nick rolled out of the car and grabbed his backpack from the floorboard. He’d barely closed the door before Caleb peeled out.
    He didn’t know for sure what Caleb did when he wasn’t around. Caleb refused to elaborate on his free time. Then again, he refused to elaborate on most things.
    Just like Nick’s boss Kyrian and his friend Acheron. Another thing immortals had in common, apparently.
    You don’t talk much about yourself either.
    True. He didn’t like people getting all that close to him. That way, it didn’t hurt so much when they left.
    Maybe that was their problem, too. It made sense. An average human life was nothing when you lived forever. Kind of like owning a Great Dane. No sooner did you get good and attached, than old age claimed them and they were gone, and you were all alone again.
    Yeah, that would be hard to deal with. Heaven knew Nick had a major death phobia anyway. He couldn’t stand the thought of it.
    Trying to put it out of his mind, Nick punched the code into the gate and waited for it to open.
    As soon as it was wide enough, he headed up the curved driveway that led to the sprawling white antebellum mansion Kyrian called home. It was an impressive place with wraparound porches, up and down. The kind of house that reminded you of a wedding

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