Page 1 of Nico

1

ISAAC

The first thing Logan packed was a gaming console. The second thing he grabbed was a portable espresso machine, and the third thing he added was a framed photograph of himself.

I stared at the photo sitting on top of an open suitcase. Then I looked at my younger brother, then I glanced at the photo again.

"You packed a picture of yourself,” I said, keeping my tone even.

Logan glanced up from where he was folding clothes across the bed of his apartment.

"It's signed,” Logan pointed out, as if it mattered.

"It's signed by you,” I said.

"Exactly."

I closed my eyes. My brother was twenty-eight years old, a famous actor who had millions of followers, and was still somehow the most exhausting person I knew.

The apartment was a disaster zone of half-packed luggage, garment bags, filming materials, and boxes of promotional merchandise from Shadowfall: Requiem.

Posters leaned against walls. Scripts covered every available surface. Someone from the studio had apparently dropped off another shipment of marketing materials this morning.

I had already tripped over a life-sized cardboard cutout of Logan twice.

"You don't need that,” I told him.

"The fans love it,” Logan answered.

"The fans aren't coming to Pecan Pines."

Logan pointed toward a box.

"Those fans are,” Logan said smugly.

I followed his finger. Several dozen fan letters sat neatly bundled together. I frowned. The studio screened most of the mail before it reached him, but not everything.

Some people took celebrity admiration too far. Most were harmless, but some weren't. I'd learned that lesson years ago.

"I'll look through those later,” I told Logan.

"They already screened them,” Logan pointed out.

"I'll look through them anyway,” I said firmly.

Logan rolled his eyes.

"See? This is why people think you're scary.”

"Good,” I said with a nod.

"No, not good."

“I disagree.”

He snorted. I zipped shut one of the suitcases and moved it beside the door. The truth was that somebody had to be cautious. Logan certainly wasn't.

He'd been famous for nearly a decade now. He’d done movies, television, and voice acting. Heck, he’d also done commercials, conventions appearances, and magazine covers.