White Hot Kiss

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “Yeah, like Abbot.” He brushed my hair back, his fingers lingering on my cheek. “But I think Abbot actually cares about you.”

  I frowned against his chest. “If he loved me, he wouldn’t have lied to me.”

  “He lies to protect you.” A soft sigh shuddered through him. “That’s different.”

  Part of me wanted to question why all of a sudden he was Team Abbot, but I let it slide. “What is she like?”

  Roth tipped my head up, his thumb trailing over my lower lip. “She’s...something.”

  We were quiet for a few minutes. “I have to head back soon.”

  “Stony picking you up from school?”

  “It’s not safe for Morris to pick me up anymore.” I don’t know why, but I felt like I needed to give a reason—a valid reason. “So, yeah, Zayne’s picking me up.”

  His arm tightened around my waist. “Maybe I should introduce myself.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He smirked. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

  Disentangling myself, I sat up and straightened my shirt. A split second later, Roth’s hand was curved around my cheek. I hadn’t even seen him move. “You’re beautiful like this—your cheeks flushed and eyes wide.”

  My heart did a dumb little dance. “Sweet-talking me into a meet and greet with Zayne isn’t going to work.”

  He dropped his hand and pulled back. “Damn. I need a new plan.”

  I pushed off the bed and backed up. “We really do need to head back.”

  Roth gave a deep, heaving sigh and then stood, stretching his arms above his head. His pants hung low, revealing more of the dragon’s tail and the finger-width indentations beside his hips.

  He caught me staring. “See something you like?”

  I shot him a bland look, and then we, well, we stared at each other awkwardly. Everything had changed between us, even though I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when or be sure what it really meant. But later on, when I was pretending to come out of school and was heading toward Zayne’s Impala, I realized two things.

  The weird spasming in my chest that happened whenever I thought of Roth was probably not going to go away anytime soon. And the whole reason for going to Roth’s loft had been lost to me the moment his lips had so carefully touched mine. If we continued this way, we were so screwed.

  * * *

  Things were sort of normal over the next week. If normal now meant having a demon in class and spending whatever free time I did have trying to figure out where a demonic book was kept. Both Roth and I were either overlooking the obvious or we weren’t the brightest stars in the sky, because we were coming up empty-handed.

  Other than the whole demonic problem, it was a good thing Zayne was chauffeuring me back and forth to school. No one had found or heard from Elijah and his clan members. They hadn’t returned to their district, and Zayne believed they were still somewhere near the city. Deep down I knew we hadn’t seen the last of Elijah, but he wasn’t the biggest problem. With each passing day, I felt like we were running out of time. It wouldn’t be long before another demon showed up. I was constantly looking over my shoulder.

  At lunch on Thursday, Sam flipped over a newspaper in front of me. The headline read “WARDENS? SHOULD THEY STAY OR SHOULD THEY GO? Church of God’s Children weighs in.”

  I picked up the newspaper with a disgusted sigh and scanned the page. Every so often the Church of God’s Children held a rally against the Wardens and then made headlines. They’d been doing it ever since the public had found out about the Wardens’ existence.

  Roth practically radiated glee as he peered over my shoulder. He’d been eating lunch with us when we didn’t skip to do some digging on what the seer had meant or who the demon was.

  “They need to start doing interviews,” Sam said. “Or idiots like these are going to have them burned on the cross.”

  “What’s wrong with a good bonfire?” Roth asked, nudging me with his knee under the table.

  I punched him in the leg.

  Reaching across the table, Sam grabbed a handful of my chips. “Did you read this crap?”

  “I really didn’t pay that close attention.” I placed the paper on the table.

  Stacey leaned in, glancing down at the paper between us. “What the Hell? It says, and I quote, ‘The Wardens resemble the very creatures that have been banished from Heaven and sent into Hell. They are sinners cloaking themselves as saints.’ Okay. What drugs are these people on, and where can I get some?”

  “Look.” Roth pointed at the third paragraph as he slipped an arm around my waist. Because of all the touching, half the school thought Roth and I were together. I wasn’t sure what we were. No labels had been dealt out. “The Church says the Wardens are a sign of the apocalypse. Neat.”

  Sam snorted. “I’m going to be pissed if there’s an apocalypse and there isn’t one single zombie.”

  Roth opened his mouth as he removed his arm from around my waist, but I cut him off. “Fanatics are insane.”

  Sam glanced at Stacey. “You going to eat those chips?”

  “Since when do you ask before you take?” I grabbed Roth’s hand, which was sneaking up my leg. “You just help yourself to my plate.”

  Pink crept across Sam’s cheeks. “Do you know that the average adult burns two hundred calories during thirty minutes of sex?” The pink increased to red as his eyes widened behind his glasses. “I don’t know why I just said that.”

  I tried to smother my giggles with my hand, but failed.

  Stacey’s jaw hit the floor.

  Roth’s brows rose. “Sex on the brain, bud?”

  Sam mumbled something and cleared his throat. “Anyway, did you know bananas are radioactive?”

  “Wow.” Stacey shook her head, but she was grinning. “You are just full of random stuff.”

  “Yeah, the banana thing is really...” I jerked up straight, spine rigid. Roth sent me a weird look, but I ignored it. Sam really was a fountain of random knowledge. How had I not thought of this before? Excitement shot through me like an arrow. “Hey, I heard this riddle on the radio the other morning and it’s been bothering me ever since.”

  Interest gleamed in Sam’s eyes. “Hit me.”

  “Okay. I think it’s referencing somewhere in the city, a place where a monolith is cast back.” I was practically bouncing in my seat once Roth caught on. “Any idea what it could be?”

  Sam stared at me for a moment, and then he laughed, smacking his hands off the white table. “Are you serious?”

  I didn’t get what was so funny. “Yeah, I’m serious.”

  Roth picked up a plastic fork. “I’m assuming you know where this place is?”

  “Of course! How can you not know? It’s so obvious. Only a...” Sam trailed off when it looked like Roth was going to turn the fork into a projectile. “All right, maybe it’s not that obvious.”

  “Sam,” I said, growing impatient.

  He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Look, the riddle is worded obliquely to throw you off track. So clearly the key lies in deciphering more common meanings for some of its clues. For example, what’s another word for a monolith? A monument. And a synonym for cast back? Reflected. So what you’re really being asked is to find a place where a monument is reflected. And we all know where that is.”

  “Dude.” Stacey eyed him peevishly. “Not all of us.”

  Sam sighed. “Do I have to spell everything out? It’s the Washington Monument. And its reflection is in the...reflecting pool. See? Kind of obvious, right?”

  Roth muttered, “Obviously not.”

  I wanted to hug Sam. “You’re awesome! Thank you so much.”

  “I am awesome.” Sam grinned. “I know.”

  Glancing at Roth, I grabbed my tray. “Hey, guys, see you in English?”

  “Sure,” Stacey murmured, still staring at Sam.

  I’d bet twenty dollars she was back to thinking about burning two hundred calories
. Roth and I dumped our food and sneaked off to our stairwell by the old gymnasium. Flecks of paint peeled around the rusted handrails.

  “I’m so hoping you’re wanting to test out that two-hundred-calorie thing.”

  I shot him a bland look. “No, Roth. Good try.”

  “Ah, a demon can hope, can’t he?”

  “We know where the Lesser Key is now.” I tucked my hair back. “God, I can’t believe we didn’t figure that out. Hello! This is good news.”

  “I know.” He caught the piece of hair I was messing with and wrapped it around his finger. “But I’m really stuck on the two-hundred-calorie idea.”

  I slapped his hand away. “Roth!”

  “Fine. Fine.” Roth caught the wild strand of hair again. “Who knew all that useless information Sam has up in his head would actually be...useful.”

  “I know.” I laughed. “Now we just need a full moon.”

  “We’re in luck. There’s one on Saturday night.”

  My lips turned down. “How in the world do you know that off the top of your head?”

  Roth tugged me forward. “Demons and full moons go together like peas and carrots.”

  I placed my hands on his chest to keep some space between us. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  He grinned. “Want to hear the best thing?”

  God only knows what was going to come out of his mouth. My eyes flicked up, meeting his. “What?”

  “Hmm?” He pressed forward and I inched away. “Remember what you were trying to convince me of that day at my place?”

  My back hit the old cement wall. “About you not being just another Roth?”

  Roth dropped my hair only to place the tips of his fingers on my chin. A spark of electricity made its way down to my toes. Tilting my head back, he stared down at me with a mischievous grin. “When I said I wasn’t a real boy?”

  “Yes.”

  He smirked as he leaned forward. I tried to clamp my legs shut, but his thigh slid between mine. “I think I’m definitely becoming a real boy.”

  Oh, sweet Jesus...

  The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. It sounded so far away. “Roth...”

  “What?” He lowered his head, rubbing his nose against mine. His lips hovered just inches from my mouth. Our bodies were flush, hitting at every point that fried my senses. He lowered his head, brushing his lips across my cheekbone, over my earlobe. He nipped, catching the sensitive skin. I gasped, fingers curling into the front of his shirt.

  Roth let go and stepped back. “Stop distracting me.”

  I gaped. “What? I’m not doing anything. It’s you—”

  “You’re just too irresistible.” His grin went up a notch. “But back to the important stuff.”

  I was so tempted to hit him. I folded my arms. “Yeah, back to the important stuff.”

  “I can go for the Key on Saturday.”

  “I’m going with you,” I threw in.

  Roth sighed. “I knew you were going to say that, but there’s a little problem with you wanting to do that. How are you going to get out of a Warden stronghold in the middle of the night to do this?”

  “I can sneak out.” At his pointed look, I groaned. “Okay. I probably can’t sneak out, but I could try to get them to let me spend the night with Stacey.”

  “And they’re really going to allow that?”

  “I don’t know.” I readjusted the strap of my bag. “But I want to at least try.”

  Roth exhaled loudly. “Okay. Try it. Text me and let me know.” He inclined his head, holding the door open. “Think you can walk to class, or are your knees too weak?”

  I narrowed my eyes, brushing past him. “My knees aren’t weak. And you have a big ego.”

  “That’s not the only thing that’s bi—”

  “Shut up! TMI, Roth, TMI.” I threw up my hand. “I’ll let you know.”

  Roth fell back into the throng of students while I made my way to class. I’d lied. My knees were totally weak.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  I made my tenth pass in front of Abbot’s closed-off study. Getting him to agree to let me stay with Stacey on Saturday would take a small miracle. Even though there hadn’t been any demon attacks since the Rack demons, and the Wardens didn’t even know about that, I seriously doubted he was going to allow this.

  But I had to try.

  Zayne rounded a corner and stopped when he saw me. Back from working out, his gray shirt was damp and clung to his tapered waist. He grinned. “What are you doing, Layla-bug?”

  “Waiting for Abbot to get done talking with Nicolai and Geoff.” I glanced at the oak door, willing it to open. When nothing happened, I plopped down on the bottom step. “It’s taking forever.”

  “How long have they been in there?”

  “Since dinner ended.” I scooted over, making room for his massive body. “Your father has been having a lot of closed-door meetings lately.”

  Zayne sat down, dropping his elbows on his bent knees. “Yeah.”

  “You don’t know anything about it?” I glanced at him.

  “No.” He laughed under his breath. “Father’s up to something, but I don’t know what.”

  A shiver danced all over me. Hopefully, whatever his father was up to had nothing to do with me.

  “You okay?” he asked, nudging my leg with his.

  “Peachy.” Smiling, I tugged my hair back from my face and twisted it over my shoulder. “You?”

  His brows furrowed. “I’m okay.”

  Meeting his eyes for a moment, I nodded and refocused on his father’s door. Ever since Petr’s attack, things had been different between Zayne and me. He seemed to always be watching me, waiting for the inevitable hysterical breakdown...or for me to fall off the wagon and start sucking souls by the truckload. Maybe that wasn’t fair. Zayne was just worried.

  “You’re different.”

  My stomach knotted at the unexpected comment. “Huh?”

  Zayne’s head tilted to the side. “You just seem different...to me.”

  The cold knots tightened and it felt like someone had thrown a rope around my chest. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s hard to explain.” He laughed again, the sound unsure. “And I can’t put my finger on it.” His hand found the bundle of hair resting on my shoulder. He didn’t tug or wrap his fingers around the strands like he normally would. He threaded his fingers through the hair, feeling it, and I grew very still. “Maybe it’s me.”

  Suddenly images of Roth flipped through my head—of the kiss in the park and all those almost kisses that came afterward. Because, besides the secrets I’d been keeping, the only thing different about me was the fact that I’d...I’d been kissed. But it couldn’t be that. There was no way Zayne would know that. It wasn’t like it was written on my forehead.

  Oh, dear God, what if he did somehow know? Zayne did seem to know everything.

  I shook my head, which caused his hand to drop to my shoulder. “I’m the same lame—”

  “You’re not lame.” His hand curved over my shoulder. “You’ve never been lame.”

  I grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, actually I’m sort of lame like a—”

  “Don’t.” Zayne shook his head back and forth. “I hate when you say things like that. And what I hate more is that you actually believe it.”

  I opened my mouth, but my denials withered up like a dead