A Holiday Present from Sarah Rees Brennan

For those of you who loved The Demon's Lexicon, Sarah Rees Brennan has a holiday present just for you. A short story entitled Nick's First Word. How awesome is that?
Oh, and isn't the UK and Ireland cover for the sequel, The Demon's Covenant, fabulous?

Nick’s First Word

Light was caught and held for a gleaming moment, reflecting the whole room in a small bright oval. Then the drop of water slid down to the end of the mirror, and Nick started watching another drop.

The door opened and Alan rushed in, dropping to his knees and testing the bath water with his elbow. It was cold. It had been cold for quite a while, since Mum had started screaming and Dad had left Nick to go to her. Nick had been watching drops slide down the mirror since then.

Alan started talking very quickly as he bundled Nick out and wrapped him in a towel. He threw another towel over Nick's head, enveloping him in blackness that shifted into dim colour as Alan began vigorously drying his hair.

"That bath was icy, you must have been there for hours, you must be frozen," he said. "Were you unhappy? Were you bored?"

Nick was obviously not frozen.

He did not understand half of what Alan said to him. He did not know what Alan meant by bored, or unhappy. The words did not mean cold, because Alan used them sometimes when Nick was quite warm.

For more (and how could you stop here?), click here to get to Sarah's live journal.