Stone Cold Touch

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  touching? Wow.” Stacey looked at Sam. “We seriously do need to change schools.”

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding his agreement. “Maybe even cities. Possibly countries.”

  It was late by the time we finished talking and her parents were due back any moment. Neither Stacey nor Sam were staring at me as if I was a dangerous freak, but I suspected that it hadn’t really settled in yet. I kept expecting Sam to make some kind of random statement about demons, but he didn’t and that alone told me he was knocked off his game.

  “We probably should be leaving,” Zayne said, standing slowly. “But you guys—”

  “We’re not going to breathe a word of this. Besides, no one would believe us.” She glanced at me, and I knew the friendship between us had changed. Maybe it wasn’t as big a change as I’d feared, but there was a shift. “How can we help?”

  Zayne stared at her.

  A wide smile broke out across my face. “You’re crazy.” She frowned at me, and I immediately apologized. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just that I’ve been petrified that you guys would hate me once you knew the truth and instead you’re asking to help.” Tears burned the back of my throat. “I really don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, if I followed this crazy-pants conversation correctly, if the Lilin continues to um...take souls, the Alphas will get involved and that’s bad news bears for all of you, right? So, why wouldn’t we want to help?”

  “We appreciate the offer, but it’s too dangerous for us to take you up on it.” Zayne held up his hand as she started to protest. “If you really want to help, then be extra vigilant. Be aware of your surroundings, watch for anyone acting strangely. Stay away from them and let us know.”

  “He’s right.” I said. “I couldn’t deal with it if something happened to either of you two.”

  “Nothing will.” Sam shot Stacey a look. “We’ll stay out of it, but if you need our help, we’ll be there for you.”

  “Like the Scooby-Doo gang,” Stacey said with a smile. “But cooler and without the dog.” She paused, wrinkling her nose. “We have a giant demon snake instead.”

  I coughed out a laugh, totally shell-shocked by how well both of them were dealing with this. I just hoped it didn’t change once they had time to really think about everything. When I finally rose to leave, I was exhausted from the drama of today.

  Stacey stopped me at the door and I held my breath as Zayne paused on the stoop, watching us warily. “I wish you would’ve been honest with me a long time ago, but I get why you weren’t. It’s not something you can easily tell someone and not expect them to flip out.”

  “It’s not,” I whispered.

  She took a deep breath, glanced over her shoulder at the dark hallway behind her to where Sam waited for her inside the house. “You’re still my best friend. You’re just not human. And, well, I feel kind of cool that my best friend is part Warden, part demon in denial.”

  I stared at her a moment and felt a laugh burst free. The ropes around my chest snapped and the pressure eased up.

  “Just don’t keep me in the dark again, okay? Promise me.”

  I met her eyes. “I promise.”

  Then she hugged me, and in that moment I knew that the whole world could be on a verge of catastrophe, but Stacey and I would be okay.

  We would be fine.

  * * *

  Abbot was waiting for us as soon as we returned to the compound.

  The moment our feet hit the floor inside the foyer, he appeared before us, as tall and formidable as a great lion about to whip up on a gazelle. He took one look at me, didn’t bother to ask if I’d been sunbathing recently or if I was okay, and then turned to his son.

  “We need to talk,” he said, jaw locked. “In private.”

  Zayne glanced at me and I shrugged, figuring he wanted to talk about the mess at the theater. Giving him a little wave, I darted around Abbot and headed up the stairs. Only a tiny part of me was disappointed that Abbot hadn’t asked about me. I guessed I was getting used to the way he acted now.

  Once inside my bedroom, I quickly changed out of the borrowed clothes and into my own pajamas. It was early in the evening, but I was whipped. After pulling my still damp hair back in a bun, I crawled under the covers and stared at my cell phone, wondering if I should alert Roth to the fact that Stacey and Sam now knew his true identity.

  My fingers hovered over the screen. I needed to tell him. It was only fair and it was also the only reason I was going to contact him. My message was short and to the point.

  Stacey and Sam know what we are.

  Maybe a minute passed and then his message popped up. Do tell.

  Church of God’s Children. Holy Water. Me. Not a good combination. All is cool, tho.

  This time his response was immediate. R u ok?

  I nodded and then realized, like an idiot, he couldn’t see me. Yes. I paused and then typed, So is Bambi.

  Minutes passed after my last text and I realized that Roth wasn’t going to respond. If he was mad that we’d exposed him, I didn’t know, but I had a feeling he probably really didn’t care. Just as I rolled over to put my cell phone on the nightstand, he responded.

  U probably shouldn’t have gone to the movies w/ Stony, huh?

  I stared at the message, half annoyed and half amused that somehow this was Roth’s only takeaway. Like being with Stony—er, Zayne—made a difference. I didn’t respond because I figured the conversation would only go downhill at this point.

  My phone went off again, but this time, it was from Zayne.

  U up for company?

  I laughed at the fact we were in the same house and he was texting me.

  Sure.

  Incoming.

  Turning my gaze to the door, I watched it open no more than a second later. I fought a smile. “Were you waiting out in the hall?”

  “Maybe.” Zayne had changed, wearing black sweats and a white shirt. He sat down on the bed beside me. “Hanging in there?”

  “Yeah. Just tired.”

  He stretched out on his side beside me, resting his cheek on his elbow. “It’s been one Hell of a day.”

  “What did Abbot have to say about it?”

  A cloud passed over his features. “Nothing much.”

  Immediately, I knew there was more. I rose up on my elbow. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Nothing.” Zayne laughed, but something about it was strained. “Relax, Layla-bug. Today has been crazy enough without adding crap to it.”

  “But—”

  “Everything is fine. Chill. I have the rest of the evening off and I want to spend it with you. Salvage the rest of our date,” he said, toying with the edge of my sleeve. “All right?”

  Protests formed on the tip of my tongue, but he was right. We’d had enough crap to last us the rest of the week, which reminded me of tomorrow. “Are we still checking out that house tomorrow night?”

  “Yep.”

  I eased onto my back, watching him. Thick lashes shielded his eyes as he ran his finger along the vein in my wrist. I wasn’t picking up any overpowering emotion from him; then again, my own feelings were all jumbled together.

  In the silence that fell between us, my mind wandered to what the man had shown me at the theater. “Can I ask you a question and you be honest?”

  He arched a brow. “I can try to be honest.”

  I ignored that. “Do you think what I did to that lady is any different than what the Lilin is doing?”

  His lashes swept up and his eyes were a startling cobalt. “It’s completely different, Layla. You were just a kid who had no idea what you were doing. The Lilin is doing this on purpose.”

  “True, but...” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “But I fed off that woman last Thursday night. Yeah, it was a weird circumstance, but I did that.”

  “We don’t even know if what that bastard said was true,” he argued. “Just because he said that was the lady, doesn’t mean it was really her. And even if i
t was her, there’s no proof that you affected her life in that manner. There’s no reason for us to believe that.”

  “You really think so?” I wished I could share his certainty.

  “Yes.” He paused. “Speaking of Thursday night, what kind of weird circumstance are we talking about here?”

  I focused on the ceiling. I couldn’t tell him without revealing what went on under the Palisades and I had made a promise.

  Zayne sighed. “I thought we weren’t keeping secrets anymore.”

  “I know. But if I told you this, you would have to tell your father and...well, what would happen would be my fault. Any blood would be on my hands.”

  “You think I tell him everything?”

  The irritation in his voice drew my attention. “No, but I think there are some things you would want to tell him, and I’m not putting you in that position.”

  He rolled onto his back, the muscle in his jaw working. His fingers remained around my wrist, though. A few minutes passed. “I know what’s going on in your head. You’re comparing yourself to the Lilin.”

  I was, but it was more than that.

  “You’re not like that.” He turned his head toward me, meeting my gaze. “Not a single part of you is.”

  Man, it would be nice to drink the Zayne Kool-Aid, but when I closed my eyes, all I saw was Vanessa Owens’s face and it kept switching out with Dean’s. What if...? I couldn’t even allow myself to finish that thought, to let the idea take root and gain ground.

  He stretched out his arm, beckoning me. “Closer?”

  I bit down on my lip and then I wiggled closer, resting my head on his chest. His heart was a steady beat under my cheek. His arm came around my waist, securing me to his side.

  So many thoughts whirled through my head, and I latched on to one of them—a theory that I needed to look into. “Remember when we were talking about the wraiths with Abbot?” When he nodded, I took a deep breath. “I wasn’t kidding around when I said the same feeling I had at school was what I felt here before those windows blew and Maddox took a swan dive. And I...” God, this was hard. “The night with Petr, I had—”

  “You had to defend yourself,” he cut in quietly, his hand tightening along my waist. “I know what you did, Layla. You don’t have to say it.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “He could be here, you know? He could be a wraith.”

  A moment passed. “I thought of that, but with a house full of Wardens, you’d think we’d have caught on to that by this point.”

  That could be true, but crazier things had happened. “I’m sorry today was ruined,” I said, deciding I really didn’t want to think about Petr while I was here with Zayne.

  “It’s not your fault, so don’t apologize.”

  I wanted to apologize again and keep apologizing, like I was going to turn into one of those people who constantly said they were sorry, but the feel of him cleared away some of the unpleasant thoughts.

  Zayne lowered his chin and swept his lips across my forehead. My heart jumped at the tender contact, and I knew in that moment I couldn’t put him in danger. No matter what he said, what he wanted to believe, we couldn’t ignore reality.

  I stared at the wall, feeling the soothing rise and fall of his chest in every cell in my body. A cold acknowledgment frosted up my insides. If what that man had said was true, then what the Lilin did and what I did were one and the same. We both destroyed lives and all it would take, for me at least, would be one slip up with Zayne. Just a tiny moment and he’d be in danger.

  I couldn’t do that to him. I wouldn’t.

  Even if that meant staying far, far away from him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “You look like a ninja,” Danika said. “Not a particularly skilled ninja, but like an after-school-special ninja.”

  I looked over my shoulder at where she sat on my bed. I honestly did not remember inviting her into my room. “Thanks. A lot.”

  She giggled. “I’m kidding. You look hot, though.”

  “I’m not trying to.” I turned back to slipping my flats on. I got the ninja thing, though. I was wearing black yoga pants and a black thermal. I probably also looked like a ghost. All black did not do good things for my complexion.

  “You never try to.” She rose behind me. “That’s why you’re sexy.”

  Twisting around to face her, I had to think that hearing her say I was sexy was bizarre. Danika’s looks and body rivaled that of the models in the Victoria’s Secret campaigns. Humans and Wardens across the world would fall at her feet given a chance.

  “Your skin looks a lot better,” she said as the silence stretched out between us.

  We’d made this promise to be friends with one another, but it really was a slow go. “I slapped on a ton of moisturizer last night.”

  “Can I tell you something that’s going to sound really weird?”

  Turning back to the small mirror hung near my closet, I tugged my hair up into a bun. “Sure.”

  She sat back down on the edge of the bed again. “I’m jealous of you.”

  One eyebrow climbed up my forehead as I slowly lowered my hands and turned to her.

  Her cheeks flushed. “And not because of Zayne. Well, yeah, I’m kind of jealous over that, but whatever. I’m more jealous that you get to go out and do things—go to school, go tagging if you want to. You’ve fought demons and you’ve gotten hurt.”

  “You’re jealous because I’ve gotten hurt?”

  “I know that doesn’t make sense.” She sighed. “I’m not happy that you were injured, but you’ve been out there. You’ve gotten scratched or bumped up, but you’ve been out there while I’ve been...” She waved her hands around the room. “I’ve been stuck in here.”

  I didn’t know how to respond at first, but I got it. I really did. The females in the clan were so protected it was suffocating. For the most part, they’d probably never suffered a hangnail, and if they had, it was a national crisis.

  Danika and others like her were stuck in pretty cages.

  “I get it,” I said, sitting down next to her. “You know, when I was younger, I was jealous of the other female Wardens, because they were accepted. Everyone cared and paid attention to them. They were wanted and I was...well, I was just here. But I got over that