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“You hurt my dad.”

“It wasn’t—it wasn’t me. I was trying to—” He paused, shaking his head. “We don’t have time. We have to get Owen out of here before he wakes up… What? I don’t—would you listen to me?”

Nick scowled. “What? Iamlistening to you—”

“I’m not talking to you.” Seth turned his head so Nick could see his right ear. Inside, there appeared to be an earpiece of some kind. “I’m talking to my aunt.”

“Yourauntknows? How long has she— Oh my god, your house isn’t haunted. She is such a liar. She distracted me with cookies and lies! It was you all along!”

“She says she’s sorry about that. She’ll make you a new batch to make it up to you.”

“Oh. Well. That’s nice of her. She doesn’t have to—Wait a minute.”

“Didn’t work,” Seth muttered. Then, “Ugh, fine. That’s—don’t yell at me, Gibby!”

“Gibbyknows too?” Nick cried. “Is everyone in my life a vile betrayer?”

“That wasn’t my idea,” Seth said with a glare. “She figured it out on her own. Followed me one day and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Nosey little—now she’s yelling at me again.”

“Does Jazz know?”

“No.” Seth sat back against the wall, using it to push himself up. Nick held on to his arm, the material under his hands warm to the touch. “She’s not part of this.”

“Oh, butGibbyis.I’msupposed to be your best friend. I gave you Skwinkles Salsagheti. We went on a date.” He frowned. “I think? I’m still kind of fuzzy on the details, but it could have been!”

Seth rolled his eyes as he huffed out a breath. “Consider it retribution for every single time you’ve mentioned Shadow Star’s name with that dreamy look on your face.”

“That doesn’tevenbegin to compare—”

“You wrotefanfictionabout him and—”

“How wasIto know that—”

“And I gave you Skwinkles Salsaghetiback,so don’t talk to me about—”

Nick was furious. “You’re a goddamn Extraordinary. Do you know what that makes me? That makes me the clueless comedic relief! I never wanted to be the clueless comedic relief. I’m supposed to be the hero!” He grabbed Seth’s head, turning it to the side so he could have access to the earpiece. “And, Gibby, you’re in so much trouble. Martha, you too. You’re going to rue the day you tried to pull a fast one on me. Do you hear me?Rue.”

Seth shoved him away. Nick would have gone sprawling had Seth not grabbed his arm at the last moment, pulling him back upright as if Nick weighed nothing at all. “Oh, right,” he said weakly. “I forgot you were all buff and crap now.”

“Buff and crap,” Seth muttered. “That’s just great.”

“I liked you the way you were before.” And for some reason, this thought struck Nick harder than almost everything else. He took a step back. “You lied to me. All this time. It’s been years. Shadow Star and Pyro Storm, you’ve kept this from me. I talked about Shadow Star incessantly. And you let me. Did you laugh behind my back? Both of you?”

Seth’s eyes widened. “No. Nick, it was never like that. I swear to you. I never—”

Nick didn’t believe him. “It’s like I don’t even know who you are. And even if I thought I did, you’re still… Pyro Storm. You were always the villain.”

Seth looked tormented. “I’m still me, Nicky. I swear. This is a mask. It’snothing.It’s only the smallest part of me. I never wanted—I just needed to keep you—”

“Safe?” Nick retorted. “I’m sick of people telling me that. I’m not fragile. I can handle myself. I distracted Owen long enough to get you to explode all the glass, didn’t I?”

Seth shook his head. “I didn’t—Nick, we’ll talk about this later, okay? I need to get you out of here.”

“Oh, we’ll talk about this later, all right, Seth Gray. You’re in so much trouble. It’s going to take the rest of our lives for me to be able to forgive you. I hope you’re prepared for some epic groveling. I wrote a two-hundred-thousand-word masturbatory ode toOwenof all people. Do you know how that makes me feel? Unclean is how it makes me feel!”

“Oh,god,” Owen moaned behind them. “Spare me, please. I really don’t want to have to listen to you two fawn all over each other. It’s really harshing my buzz. Though, Seth, you should probably remember that I taught Nicky here everything he knows. No matter what happens, I had him first.”

Nick glowered at him. “First?Listen here, you motherf—”