She opened her mouth, but stopped as a tall body crossed our path. I knew before looking up that it was Roth. That sweet, musky scent could belong to no one else.
“Hey there,” Stacey said, recovering. “We thought you’d died or something.”
I lifted my head, feeling off-kilter when our eyes met. His gaze traveled over me. I looked pretty frumpy today, wearing loose jeans and a hoodie that had seen better days. A slight frown appeared on his full lips.
“You two missed my face that much?” Roth teased, his eyes fixed on me.
“Where have you been?” The words came out before I could stop them and, God, did I feel like a tool.
Roth shrugged. “I had some things to take care of. Speaking of which—” he turned to Stacey “—I’d like to steal her away from you if you don’t mind.”
“I try to tell my mom all the time I have stuff to do, but I still have to go to school.” Stacey slid her arm from mine, pursing her lips. “I wish I had your parents. Just let me come to school when I feel like it. But anyway, you’re not planning on showing for bio?”
“No.” He winked as he lowered his voice. “I’m going to be a rebel and skip class again.”
“Ooh,” Stacey cooed. “And you want to corrupt my wholesome, pure friend?”
Arms dangling at my sides, I sighed.
His golden gaze heated. “Corruption is my middle name.”
“Well, you can only steal and corrupt my friend if she wants to be stolen and corrupted.”
Enough was enough. “Hey, guys, I’m right here, remember? Shouldn’t I get a say in this decision?”
He arched a brow at me. “Do you want to be stolen and corrupted?”
I had a feeling I was already corrupted just by his mere presence. “Why not.”
“Great!” Stacey chirped, backing off and gesturing wildly behind Roth. She was doing something with her hand and mouth that I knew Roth would be oh so down for. I tried to ignore her. “But promise to return her, okay?”
“I don’t know.” Roth stepped around, dropping his arm over my shoulders. “I may steal her away from you permanently.”
I couldn’t stop the shiver that went through me. The way Roth’s hand tightened on my shoulders told me he hadn’t missed it, either.
“Whatever.” Stacey gave us a short wave and flounced off toward bio.
Roth’s hand slid off my shoulder, grasping my hand. “You look terrible.”
I couldn’t tell if my cheeks were burning. I already felt unnaturally hot for a whole slew of wrong reasons. “Thanks. Everyone keeps telling me that.”
He tugged on my messy ponytail with his free hand. “Did you even shower this morning?”
“Yes. Jeez. Where have you been, Roth?”
“Why are you sick?” he asked instead. “You look like you haven’t slept since I last saw you. You couldn’t have missed me that much.”
“Man, you’re self-centered. It has nothing to do with you. I get like this after...”
“After what?” He leaned in, waiting.
I looked away, lowering my voice. “If I taste a soul, it makes me sick afterward. Only for like a day or so, but taking a soul seems to last longer.”
Roth let go of my hand. “Why?”
“It’s like withdrawal or something,” I said. Roth was unnaturally quiet as he watched me, expression pensive. “What?”
He blinked. “Nothing. I’m really not planning on going to bio.”
“I figured as much.” Taking a breath, I decided to corrupt myself. “Where are you planning on going?”
He flashed a quick grin, which made me think he was about to say something perverted, but he surprised me. “Come find out. What I’ve been doing the last couple of days has to do with you.”
“Lovely.”
Roth took my hand, his skin pleasantly warm against mine, and I didn’t pitch a fit about the hand-holding thing. He led me into a nearby stairwell and then down a flight of steps, into the old part of the school where there were a couple of empty offices and a decrepit gymnasium that smelled like mold. Thankfully the boiler rooms were on the other side of the school. With all the cubbyholes in the bottom part of the school, it was a notorious hangout spot for the stoners.
It didn’t surprise me that Roth knew where to go in the school if you didn’t want to be found.
He stopped in the bottom stairwell. Torn orange safety tape hung from the gym’s double doors, hanging against the dull gray metal. One of the windows was covered with so much muck it looked tinted. The walls of the stairwell hadn’t fared much better. Entire sections were missing paint, exposing the cement walls.
Roth stopped and took both of my hands in his. “I’ve missed you.”
My heart did a weird little jump. Stupid heart. I needed to focus. With all the lying in bed I’d done the past three days, it gave me time to think about what he’d revealed. “Roth, we need to talk about what you told me.”
“We’re talking.” He dipped his head, brushing his cheek against mine.
“This is not talking.” Not that I didn’t enjoy it. “And I really do have questions.”
“So ask away. I can multitask.” He tugged me forward, circling an arm around my waist. Dipping his head to where my neck sloped, he inhaled deeply. “Can’t you?”
I shivered against him, my fingers curling into the front of his shirt. I didn’t think so, but I was willing to try. “Where have you been?”
“Where have you been?” His hands dropped to my hips, grip tightening deliciously. “You weren’t at school on Tuesday.”
“How do you know?”
“I know a lot of things.”
I sighed. “I stayed home. I figured with being sick and with the...bruises, it was best to take another day off.”
“Good idea.” A slight frown appeared on his lips as he lifted one hand, trailing a finger along my temple. “It’s barely noticeable.” His gaze dropped to my mouth, and I felt my lips part. “And your lip looks...”
“What?”
The frown turned into a slow, seductive grin. “Well, it looks good enough to nibble.”
I sucked in an unsteady breath, trying to calm the wild beating in my chest. “Roth, come on.”
“What?” He gave me an innocent look. “I’m just saying I could do all kinds—”
“Got it. Anyway, back to my question.”
“Hmm...” Roth moved his hands to my waist. Warmth flared from where his fingers pressed in through the hoodie. “How was everything when you returned?”
Distracted once more, I answered his question. “It was...okay, but I forgot to change back into my clothes before I left your place.” At his raised brows, I reminded him of the borrowed clothes and how Abbot had asked about them. “I don’t think he believed what I’d told him, but he hasn’t pushed it.”
Roth didn’t appear too concerned. “I am sure he knows the truth—about everything. But what can he say without exposing all the lies he’s fed you?” His hands slid up an inch, resting just under my rib cage. “And besides, he’s not going to kill you or anything.”
I scrunched up my nose. “I sure hope not.”
He chuckled softly. “I don’t think your fearless leader will do anything to upset Stony. Speaking of which, Stony seemed relieved to see you on Monday.”
“He was...” I shook my head. “I told you. I’ve known Zayne for most of my life. We’re close.”
“He seemed really relieved to see you on Monday.” His thumbs moved in slow, idle circles that made it difficult to concentrate. “I think I’ve only seen a Warden run that fast if it was actually chasing after a demon.”
I felt heat creep back into my face as I gripped his wrists. “Roth, I don’t want to talk about Zayne.”
“Why don’t you want to talk about Stony?”
Irritation flared hotly. “I don’t know, because there are more important things to talk about?”
Roth dipped his head again, and when he spoke, his breath was warm against my ear. “But I want to talk about Stony. Remember when I said he cared for you, Layla?”
My grip on his wrists tightened. “Yes. Like I said—”
“You’ve known him all your life. I get that.” His lips brushed the space below my ear, and I gasped. “But has it ever been...like this?”
Before I could even ask “like what,” Roth’s lips traveled across my cheekbone. Tiny, fiery shivers darted along my nerves. His lips brushed the corner of mine, and my pulse fluttered wildly. I was so far out of my league with him it wasn’t funny. “Is it like this, Layla?”
Like this? Ah, the touching...the almost kissing. “No.” I barely recognized my own voice. “I can’t...”
“Can’t what?” The very edges of his teeth came down on my lower lip. A little nip, like he’d mentioned before, and my entire body arched against his. “Can’t what, Layla?”
“I can’t be this close to him,” I admitted in a breathy voice.
Roth’s lips curved into a smile against mine. “What a shame.”
The lack of sincerity was epic. “I’m sure you really feel that way.”
He laughed, and this time, when he pulled back and bent his head again, his lips were against my pulse. This was ridiculous. We needed to talk about stuff. Important stuff. I wasn’t skipping class to do...well, whatever this was with Roth. But damn, what he was doing was all fresh and new to me.
And it felt so unbelievably good—this wild anticipation he was building, a promise that could actually go somewhere. The fierce yearning was like a tempest inside me, swirling and spinning me up so high that I knew the fall would break something valuable. Because this was different—this wasn’t built on hopeless fantasies. Realizing that was as thrilling as it was terrifying.
With effort I didn’t realize I had, I broke away. Roth quirked an eyebrow as he dropped his hands to his sides. His eyes were a heated tawny, consuming in their intensity and frightening in their ability to draw me in, make me forget all that really freaking important stuff.
Clearing my throat, I looked away. “Okay. Back to my question.”
“What did you want to know?” Amusement clung to his words. “I forgot.”
“I’m sure you did.” I sighed, wondering if I was ever going to get Roth to stay on target. “Where have you been?”
He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “I had to go home.”
“Home as in...?” I lowered my voice even though there was no one else around. “Hell?”
Roth nodded. “I needed to check in and I thought it would be a good chance to ask around, see if anyone knows which demon is pulling the strings.”
I switched my bag to my other arm. “Did you find out anything?”
“Everyone is pretty tight-lipped about it. No one is willing to say who it is, which tells me it’s someone with a lot of reach.”
“Obviously an Upper Level demon like you?”
“But definitely not as awesome as me.” He winked, and, God help me, he actually looked good doing it. “But I didn’t come back empty-handed. I was right about the whole Lesser Key thing. The exact incantation to raise the Lilin is in that Key, and a lot of demons are looking for it, on both sides.”
It clicked together. “That’s why there are so many Upper Level demons around here.”
“Do tell?”
I nodded. “That’s what I hear.”
“And where did you hear that?” When I didn’t say anything, Roth pushed off the wall. His slow, precise steps forced me backward, until I was flush with the wall. Tiny flecks of paint floated into the air. “Sharing is caring, Layla.”
Telling Roth what the Wardens knew wasn’t easy. Guilt settled in my stomach like cement blocks, but I trusted him. Besides saving me from Petr and Lord only knows how many other times, he’d never asked me to trust him. Not once. Maybe for that reason alone, I trusted him.
“We’re in this together, right?” I said, glancing up at him. “I mean, we’re going to figure out the demon behind this and stop it?”
Roth’s eyes met mine. “You and me are like peanut butter and jelly when it comes to this.”
My lips twitched. “Okay, because I don’t feel right telling you this, but I...I trust you.” Pausing, I took a big gulp of air. “The Alphas have said there’s been a lot of Upper Level demon movement in the city. The Wardens are trying to capture and detain. I thought...well, anyway, what’s going on is on the Alphas’ radar.”
He turned his head, a lopsided smile playing across his lips. “You thought they caught me? Me?” He let out a loud laugh. “I’m flattered by your concern, but that’s nothing you’d ever have to worry about.”
I was pretty sure my face was burning, so I focused on the pot leaf someone had carved into the wall behind him. “I wasn’t worried about you, you douchebag.”
“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that.”
My patience started to fade. “So it’s obvious that the demons are looking for the Key, right?”
Roth got all up in my personal space once more. Why did he always have to get so damn close? And should I be complaining? “Right,” he murmured. His hand curved around my shoulder, and I inhaled deeply. A heartbeat passed between us, and my body tensed. “That’s not the only thing I’ve learned.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “We need to find the Key before anyone else does. And finding an ancient book that’s probably well protected isn’t going to be easy. But I do have a lead.”
“Okay? What’s the lead?”
Reaching out, he caught an escaped strand of hair and twisted it around his finger. The paleness stood out in stark contrast to the darker tone of his skin. “There is a seer nearby.”
I snatched my hair back. “A psychic?”
Roth snorted. “Not a psychic-hotline kind of psychic. A seer who has a one-way connection upstairs and downstairs. If anyone knows who the demon is or where the Key is located, the seer will.”
I was still doubtful. “Seers are protected by the Alphas. How would a demon know where one is located?”
“I said I got a lead. I didn’t say it was easy.” Roth stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “And before you ask, you don’t want to know what I had to go through to get this lead.”
Dammit. I did want to ask. “So where is the seer?”
“Just outside of Manassas,” he answered.
“So not very far at all.” A bubble of nervous excitement rose. “We can go now.”
“Whoa.” Roth held up his hands. “I’m all about you skipping school and committing acts of general mayhem. I am a demon, after all, but ‘we’ are not doing anything.”
“We aren’t?” I couldn’t believe it. “Why?”
The look on his face said he wanted to pat me atop the head. “Because I’m probably not the only demon who has done unspeakable things to gain the location of the seer. It could be dangerous.”
I folded my arms, digging in. “Everything could be potentially dangerous right now. Going to school? A zombie could show up again and try to take me back to its evil leader. A demon could possess a teacher. I could get demon-napped on the way home from school today.”
A frown appeared. “Well, that brings on the warm fuzzies.”
I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’m not going to stand on the sidelines and let everyone else risk their lives for me and do all the hard work while I sit in history class.”
“Well, if you’re against sitting in school, you could always go to my apartment and keep my bed company until I get back.”
There was a good chance I was going to hit him. “This has to do with me—my life. We’re in this together. That means we’re going to the seer together.”
“Layla—”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not taking no for an answer. I’m going with you. So deal with it.”
Roth stared at me, looking sort of stunned. “I didn’t know you