“You quoted Oscar Wilde.” I smiled. Hayden laughed. “Yeah, that was, like, the height of geekdom.” “No. It was kind of cool.”

“Cromwell raised a brow. "You can't even boil an egg, son." He paused. "Or toast bread without burning it."I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Nice."Hayden frowned at me. "I can toast bread.""You tried to shove a fork in the toaster to get your bread out- that was only a few years ago.""Oh. Wow." I grinned at Hayden."Thanks, Dad." Hayden pushed himself off the counter.”

“What are you still doing up?” I twisted around, spotting Hayden in the doorway. “Watching the… uh,” I turned back, frowning at the screen, “the… way tigers mate.” I sighed. Damn you, Discovery Channel. He chuckled deep in his throat. “Didn’t know that kind of thing interested you.”“Oh. Yeah, always wanted to know how they picked their boyfriends.”

“Don’t ever touch her again,” Hayden growled.Kurt looked up, eyes wide. “Are you threatening me— over her? I’m like your brother, Hayden!” “Not anymore.”

“Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts. Cool things.”“Did you just quote Harry Potter?”

“I don’t think we got the chance to introduce ourselves the other night at the diner. My name is Blake Saunders.” He offered his free hand.Daemon glanced at Blake’s hand before returning his gaze to me. “I know who you are.”Oh, geez. I twisted toward Blake. “This is Daemon Black.”His smile faltered. “Yeah, I know who he is, too.”Laughing under his breath, Daemon straightened. At his full height, he was a good head taller than Blake. “It’s always nice to meet another fan.”Yeah, Blake had no idea what to say to that.”

“Is this what you do with your spare time?” he asked me, ignoring his sister.“What—are you deciding to talk to me now?” Smiling tightly, I grabbed a handful of mulch and dumped it. Rinse and repeat. “Yeah, it’s kind of a hobby. What’s yours? Kicking puppies?”