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Silence.

Then Gibby started chuckling. Jazz followed, and though she tried to cover it up, she failed spectacularly. That, of course, set off Nick, a wheezing laugh that sounded like he was screaming. Even Seth snorted, shaking his head as if disappointed.

That seemed to piss Owen off. His face twisted, andtherewas Shadow Star, lurking just underneath. For a moment, Nick’s breath caught in his throat as he thought the shadows from the tree above them began to lengthen. Before he could warn the others, Owen relaxed, flexing his hands on his legs, fingers splayed over his kneecaps.

“What are youtalkingabout?” Nick said, wiping his eyes. He was still furious, but he knew they could take Owen, if it came down to it. “What are you saying? That we’re related?” Then, “Oh my god, please don’t tell me we’re related. Holy shit, I’ve made out with you! Oh, god, ohgod.I made out with my halfbrother? I’m the bad fic tag! Why,why?”

“There’s the Nick I know and tolerated,” Owen said, sounding amused. “Good to know he still exists under all that misplaced bravado.”

Nick gagged. “Incest isbad.Incest is so, sobad.”

Seth rubbed his back, glaring at Owen. “Speak. Now.”

“Ooh,” Owen said, shivering. “I remember that voice.”

“Hey, Owen?” Jazz asked. “Do you know what the uvula is?”

Owen blinked. “The little dangly thing that hangs at the back of the throat?”

“Yes,” Jazz said sweetly. “If you don’t tell us why you’re here in the next five seconds, I’ll show you yours.”

“Okay, okay,” Owen said, raising his hands as if to ward her off. “I get it. You’re mad. Fair. But if I wanted to hurt any of you, I could’ve done it by now. I’ve found all of you alone at one point or another over the past few months. I didn’t kill you then, and I’m not going to kill you now. Give mesomecredit.”

Jazz lunged toward him again, and Owen blurted, “Jennifer Bell has been dead for over four years.”

They all froze. Nick felt as if he were floating above his own body.Before,he thought.After.

When he saw Jazz wasn’t going to shove her hand down his throat, Owen relaxed, though still wary. “The woman in your house, the Extraordinary known as TK, isn’t Nick’s mother. She’s mine.” He paused. Then, “Well, my stepmom.”

“You really expect us to believe that?” Gibby asked. “We’ve seen your stepmother. They look nothing alike.”

Gibby was right. Nick had vague memories of seeing her at the Burke home when he’d dated Owen. She was a severe woman with dark hair and an angular face. When he’d been introduced to her, he’d fumbled through it, disliking the way her knowing eyes had tracked his every movement, making his skin crawl for reasons he could never quite explain. And then after Owen, the only time Nick had seen her were the few times she’d stood at Burke’s side in front of the cameras.

“Of course they don’t,” Owen said. He sighed, rubbing at the wound on his thigh. “We don’t have a lot of time, so I’m just going to get right down to it. Patricia is an Extraordinary, but one unlike any other in the world. She can… alter her appearance. Anyone she’s come into contact with, anyone one shetouches,she can… well. Shift. To look like them.”

“That’s not possible,” Seth said faintly. “We’d know if an Extraordinary could…”

A faint tug in the back of Nick’s mind, insistent, pulling. Hadn’t he read about an Extraordinary who could alter theirappearance? But still, that couldn’t be right. Owen was lying. His mother had always been there. She’d always…

The bank,he thought dully.She went to the bank.

“Would you?” Owen asked. “Because if she didn’t want you to, believe me when I say you wouldn’t.” He glanced at Gibby curiously. “Most of you, anyway.” He shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up a little because it’s more complicated than just that. Not only can she change how she looks, she has an ability that I’m extremely jealous of. Think of it as an illusion, though perhaps a little more involved than that. She can create a… not reality, but anunreality. It’s tenuous, and the more people she has to control, the harder it gets.” He looked thoughtful when he added, “Which might explain why Gibby remembers something she shouldn’t.”

Gibby scowled at him, still holding on to Jazz’s arm.

“She can make you believe anything she wants,” Owen continued. “Plant memories in your head that aren’t real.”

“Yeah, no,” Jazz said. “You really expect us to believe that? If Nick’s mother died and Patricia took her place, don’t you think everyone would question that? You say that it’s hard for her. Then how would she be able to controleveryone?”

“She can’t,” Owen said.

Hope rose in Nick, slight, but there all the same. “Then you’re lying.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Nope. That’s where another nifty little trick of hers comes into play. She has control over you and your immediate families, everyone Jennifer was close with before she died. Your parents. Seth’s aunt and uncle. And even those who weren’t, because that dumb cop and the drag queen are involved, too.”

Nick laughed bitterly. “What about when she goes out in public, then? What happens when someone recognizes her?”