The Kiss of Death

by Auryn Hadley

  That got me another of those amazing smiles. Damn, I loved this guy's mouth. Then again, I had been obsessing over it for a few years now.

  "Because they've probably been tracking the peak. While there's always a demon around its location, it isn't always the same demon. However, one thing is constant with it. You. Granted, I'm only guessing here, and I sure don't want to prove it to them. I just want you to be extra careful."

  "Ok. But what good am I? You said Muses inspire people. How would that help them any?"

  "Most Muses are inspiration," he clarified. "It's a minor form of influencing the aether inside a person's mind. Similar to what they do but with fewer repercussions. Harnessing that ability, they can get more out of the resources they already have. You, however, aren't most Muses. Your art comes off the page. That means you can take inert matter and jump-start the vibrations."

  "Vibrations?" I was doing ok up until that point.

  Nick waved that away. "Sorry. In layman's terms, you're a very beautiful little battery. Almost all of our technology runs on aether, and your talent basically multiplies whatever is already there. You can't make something from nothing, but you can make a single seed into a forest." Then he leaned into my ear. "With the right training, of course."

  "Of course," I mumbled, but my mind was struggling to accept what he'd just said. "So what do they want with me?"

  "To make the angelic version of a nuclear weapon, most likely." His eyes flicked over my shoulder, checking the people around us. "Sia, they need aether. The things you can do with it? If they can get their hands on you, they'll force you to create until you use everything you have. Then they'll make you drain the aether from every other world we know of. A nuclear holocaust is nothing in comparison to a world without the basic building blocks of life, and they want them all."

  "And y'all?" I asked. "What do your people want from me?"

  His eyes flicked between mine, searching my face. "Most of my kind are so worried about surviving they don't have time to worry about anything else. Those of us on the front lines? We'd love for you to make a shield. A defense against intrusion. Me?" He carefully trailed a finger over my ear, pushing back a lock of my orangey-red hair. "I'm hoping you can come up with a way to stop all of this. Whether that's by inspiring us all to make peace, creating something that will fix our problems, or whatever other thing your brain can devise, I don't care. I just think that you might very well be the one person who can change everything."

  My breath fell out in a rush. That wasn't at all what I'd expected. Nope, I'd braced for him to say something about keeping me safe or some other fancy words that basically meant nothing. That? He wanted me to make miracles? No pressure or anything!

  "Nick, I'm just a college student."

  "For now," he agreed. "But you won't always be, and I'm not planning to go anywhere. Right now, we're all just watching you – because doing anything else isn't as easy as just snapping our fingers. There's a little bit of magic that has to be worked first. Just don't let them touch you. Not now, and not ever."

  Chapter 21

  When Art History let out, Nick followed me up the stairs to the room for Drawing. I was worried it would make him late to his own class, but he told me not to worry about it. When that wasn't enough, he reminded me he could travel the fast way, meaning through the corridor. Then, he pointed out that he already had a few dozen degrees so wasn't all that worried about this one. Yep, it was the more mundane aspects of this strange new reality that I was having the biggest problem acclimating to.

  But Sam was waiting for us in the hall. The guys clasped hands and shared a look, then Nick bent to give me a quick kiss. Not a word was said. With a smile, he turned and trotted right back down the stairs we'd just walked up. I felt like the baton in a relay race. They'd completed the handoff and now we were on the next stretch.

  "You must've said nice things," Sam teased as he escorted me into the classroom.

  "Oh? How can you be so sure?" I tried to make that sound as menacing as possible – which wasn't much.

  He flashed one of those impish grins. "He didn't threaten me once. Means I'm out of shit."

  I was giggling as we claimed our usual easels and started setting up for class. Pulling out my large sketch pad, I found a blank page and clipped it in place. When I bent over to get the tin of pencils from my backpack, I noticed bare feet and legs at the back of the class. The cluster of students and easels blocked most of my view, but there was only one reason for an art class to have a partially dressed guy waiting in it. It seemed we had a model for the day.

  I barely finished setting up when the instructor moved to the center of the class, drawing all of our eyes. "Due to a scheduling conflict, we're going to start on nudes today." She turned slowly, looking at all of us. "Remember, our models are people too, and not paid enough to be teased or harassed. Any rude remarks, directed to the model or not, will have you dismissed."

  I tuned her out. Of course, there'd always be one person who turned into a juvenile at the sight of a naked body. I hoped it would be different in college, but I wouldn't bet on it. Looking at the faces behind the easels, I could already see a pair of girls with immature grins. What would they think when they saw the type of person who typically posed for the freshman level courses? I'd been hearing the horror stories since I was in high school.

  "Now, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Raphael Daniels." The teacher gestured to a collection of blocks in the middle of the room, her eyes locked on the man at the back of the class.

  Sam tensed and sat up straight, drawing my eye. His jaw was clenched, and he stared toward the model. I wondered if he was revolted or turned on by the idea of some guy stripping for our artistic needs. He did claim he'd try anything, and now I finally knew why. It was his demonic nature.

  I'd seen nothing but feet and the lower portion of the model's robe, so when he moved into the center of our circle of easels, the stupid smiles finally made sense. I sucked in a breath, just like every other woman in the room, but not for the same reason. Mr. Daniels was lovely. Eerily so. With a haunting smile, he dropped the robe and draped it over two of the blocks, then reclined across it as if waiting to be handed grapes. He'd situated himself so that he was facing me and the door behind me, baring himself for anyone who happened to pass in the hall outside.

  From the instant my eyes landed on him, I knew he was an angel. This guy was damned near as good looking as Nick, but his eerie green eyes made me want to avoid him at all costs. His beauty looked poisonous, like some rainforest frog, toxic to the touch. The problem was I couldn't let on that I knew what he was. Sam said to play stupid, so that's what I would do.

  Biting at my lip, I let my eyes roam over his body then turned to the teacher. "Any specific media?"

  "Your choice." She was too busy looking at the naked man to focus on my question.

  I could feel my cheeks burning as I grabbed a graphite pencil and sharpened the tip, hoping Sam didn't notice. Mr. Daniels' body was sculpted to perfection. I could count every muscle in his abs and the trail of hair from his navel to genitals was the same rose-gold color as his hair. He didn't say a word, but his eyes watched me. Not the class, just me.

  Even knowing what he was, I couldn't put my finger on why he – and the other angels – made me so uneasy. Maybe it was the intensity of his gaze? The unearthly beauty of him? But why didn't Nick or Sam bother me? They were both very easy on the eyes, and I'd liked them immediately. It seemed angels always made me feel paranoid. Even more so now that I knew what they were. I couldn't even blame religion since I hadn't been raised with any. It was nothing more than an instinctual reaction to their metallic appearance so far as I could tell.

  Now, I just had to act like any normal girl who had no idea that angels and demons existed. Unfortunately, I'd never really been a normal girl. I gently traced a few shapes on my paper, trying to size out the finished portrait while my mind wandered. In school, I'd been the dork, always too absorbed in art a
nd reading to care about making friends or impressing boys. After I graduated, I'd done nothing but work. The handful of relationships I'd had were always short and dramatic, most commonly ending in a misunderstanding. Aaron had been a perfect example of the kind of guys I ended up with.

  Then again, I probably wouldn't get another chance to draw an angel so I should make the most of this. Glancing at Mr. Daniels again, I shifted my supplies so I could see him easier, daring to meet his eyes quickly before looking back to the page. I knew I was blushing but hoped he'd think of it as nothing unusual. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile slightly as I looked at his body, letting my gaze linger between his legs longer than was polite. He'd clearly put a little effort into building that skin to impress!

  What the poor guy didn't know was that I'd always preferred brunettes to blondes, and Mr. Daniels didn't look nearly as good undressed as Nick. That didn't mean I had a problem with looking. My pencil scratched at the page, building the man from rough shapes into a Babylonian god. Every arc of his body drew the eye up to the scowl I couldn't help but inscribe on his mouth. I tried to capture the desire to touch him and the dangerous game of seduction in the shape of his face. Line by line, smudge by smudge, and glance by glance, the minutes ticked by.

  Sam sat silently beside me. I could hear the scratches on his paper, but I didn't dare look over. All I needed to do was make art, and that was the one thing I'd always been good at. Before I knew it, the teacher was talking again, explaining that if we hadn't finished, we'd have another chance next week. In other words, the angel would be back. She tried not to look at Mr. Daniels, but her eyes strayed as much as the rest of ours. I got the feeling the angel enjoyed every second of it.

  I started packing my things, putting the tin of art supplies back in my bag before grabbing a can of cheap hairspray from the shelf and spraying the page to prevent smudging. When I reached up to close the sketch pad, a pair of arms closed around my waist. I tensed expecting the worst.

  Just as I was about to pull at his aether, Sam whispered in my ear, "Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep my hands off you that long?" Then he made a production of nibbling at the side of my neck.

  Holy crap, he was good at that - but we'd just talked about this. The problem was that he was really good at that. I sucked in a breath and turned, making no attempt to push him away. I should, but a thought trickled into the back of my mind. I was supposed to run to him when angels were around, and right now I had no problems with that at all.

  Our eyes met. The look in his wasn't the playful demon I'd gotten used to. It was intense and pointed. Slowly, he reached up and cupped the side of my face. For a split second, I wondered what he was doing, then I remembered he was the demon of seduction.

  That's when he leaned in and claimed my mouth. Not sweetly like Nick. This was Sam. He sucked at my lower lip, pulling it between his teeth, then released it to truly kiss me. I knew what he was doing. I did – but damn! When his tongue sought the secrets of my mouth, I grabbed at his neck, trying to remind my knees that this was just theater.

  Until I moaned.

  Sam noticed. Oh, that sound hadn't been subtle at all. Hell, the angel in the room must have heard – which was probably the point.

  Sam chuckled and pulled back. "I promised you a coffee. Get your things, sweetie, and let me seduce you." His eyes flicked toward the door before coming right back.

  I decided to just go with it. "Coffee's a good start. The rest you can finish later." I grabbed my things and turned from the room, but a man's voice stopped me.

  "How'd it turn out?" The angel had moved closer, standing beside the teacher only a few paces from the door. He looked right at me, his green eyes trying to capture mine.

  I bit my lip and glanced down, feigning the shyness that I should have had. Now I knew why Nick had let Luke make a deal with me. It was so I'd know what it felt like and how to avoid it.

  "Good," I mumbled to my feet. "I had a little problem with the proportions, but I think I'll get it next time. Thanks again, Mr. Daniels."

  "No problem." He smiled at me, but when he reached out, Sam shifted between us. The angel snatched his hand back, unable to hide his look of distaste. "So you're an artist, too?" he asked Sam.

  "Oh yeah. Always wanted to try it." Sam tossed his arm over my shoulders and turned me to the door, walking easily out of the class.

  And that was it. The monster didn't try to stop us. He didn't call out. We just walked through the building like we had so many times before. Well, mostly. After kissing Sam like that, being tucked under his arm was an entirely new experience. One that made my mind dwell on muscles for some reason. Lean, ripped biceps specifically.

  Neither of us said anything important until we were outside the building. Only then did he tilt his head closer and whisper, "There's a line of windows overlooking the street from that room. Just go with this, ok?"

  "Yep, going."

  And secretly taking complete advantage of the situation. Dear god, even his hands were nice. Why did Sam have to have sexy hands?

  He steered me back to the coffee shop, which wasn't the same direction I'd use to go home, but I wasn't foolish enough to complain. Once we passed through the door, Sam sighed and removed his arm. "Grab a couch, I'll get drinks."

  "I have work in an hour."

  He shook his head. "Not if Raphael's taken an interest in you. I sent Luke a text when we were in class, and he's supposed to tell Nick and meet us here. You might be late, but you will not be alone, ok?"

  With a sigh, I grabbed the strap of his backpack, pulling it from his arm to swing it over my other shoulder. When that was balanced, I flapped my hand for his portfolio. "Thanks, Sam. Next time it's my turn to buy."

  "Yeah, not gonna happen." He laughed and moved toward the line, shaking his head at me.

  All I could do was turn toward my favorite couch in the corner. It was getting to be my go-to place with these guys. The best part was it was always empty and no one ever hung around close enough to listen in on the weirdness that we seemed to spend so much time talking about.

  It didn't take long for Sam to return, carrying a large paper cup in each hand. He offered me one then dropped into the chair beside my couch. "Talk about bad timing. We just work out our unquenchable attraction, then end up making out all over again." His purple-brown eyes met mine. "Sorry. He was coming over, and I didn't know what else to do."

  I was starting to hate how easily I blushed. If it was going to happen this often, I really needed to learn how to do it attractively. "It's ok. I figured it was something like that."

  "Good." Sam looked relieved. "I mean, it was pretty hot and all, but Raphael will assume you're still clueless –"

  "And you know him?"

  "Uh, yeah. He's one of the bigwigs on their side. One step down from Michael, equal to Gabriel. Basically the guy who took Luke's place when he bailed."

  "Oh shit. That Raphael."

  Slowly, he bobbed his head in agreement. "Exactly. Looks like all the big names are showing up." At that moment, Sam's phone dinged in his pocket. He immediately looked up and let out a relieved sigh. "The cavalry has arrived."

  I turned to the door and saw both Nick and Luke stroll in. Seeing them made me feel a bit less like I was about to get jumped. One big strong protector was good. Three were a whole lot better. Hell, I was even happy to see Luke! They headed right over. Nick claimed the spot beside me; Luke took the cushion on the other end.

  "What's up?" Nick asked.

  Sam grabbed my sketch pad, flipping it to the nude. "How's that for up close and personal?"

  Nick's jaw clenched, but Luke pulled the drawing from his hands. "That's about as blatant as it gets." He grinned. "Sam, you should try doing this the next time we go to college. Could get a few dates."

  "Oh I'm gonna," he agreed. Then he nonchalantly added, "So, the thing is, I basically made it look like Sienna was my latest conquest."

  "Raphael's not going to like that,"
Luke said, but both of them were watching Nick.

  Nick blinked his gaze over to Sam. "What happened?"

  "Raphael was heading over, so I decided to make out with your girl. She didn't seem to mind. Played right into it."

  Nick huffed out a chuckle. "You're good at what you do." Then he looked at me. "You still ok with this?"

  My mouth was hanging open in shock. "I just kissed the shit out of your roommate, and you're asking me if I'm ok?"

  He nodded once. "I am."

  "Trust me," I shot back, "it didn't hurt. I figured Sam had a plan, and I just kinda went with it."

  Sam chuckled. "She moaned. I mean, totally, right there where everyone could hear it."

  Nick waved him off. "She does that. I'm a little more concerned with why Raphael was in your class."

  I spoke up before they could start embarrassing me again. "Our class schedule changed. We weren't supposed to do nudes for a couple of weeks, but a 'conflict' came up, and things got moved around." I shrugged. "He probably did the same thing Luke did to get y'all in my classes?"

  Nick tried to hide it, but I saw his eyes widen slightly. "How'd you know about that?" He looked at Sam.

  "She's not stupid," Sam muttered.

  I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, I would notice a bunch of amazingly hot men in my classes on the first day."

  Nick looked back at me. "You didn't seem to think it was strange that I was there."

  "Yeah, I kinda did. I kept wondering why someone like you would bother talking to a girl like me. But one hot math student in a big class? It could happen. That you had Art History with me? That was really pushing it. Math and Art don't go together, but your excuse was halfway decent." I shook my head. "Halfway. Right up until I realized that Sam's also an artist. Then, having one of your blatantly good-looking roommates in every one of my classes and going out of their way to be nice to me? That's suspicious. Casually ending up at my work and tipping too much? Trust me, I'd been wondering how I'd gotten so lucky since you slammed my ex into the back of your car."