Stone Cold Touch

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “You don’t have reason to believe that and I...I’ve lied to you before.” I swallowed hard when he looked away. A muscle thrummed along his jaw. “And I am sorry for that, but I thought...”

  “You thought what you were doing was right by not telling us about him and looking for the Lesser Key,” he said quietly, not saying his name. “And I get that. I’m trying not to hold it against you.”

  Pulling my legs up, I tucked them against my chest. “I know.”

  He glanced over at me, expression softening after a few moments. “Okay. So nothing else happened? Right.” He blew out a deep breath as he shook his head. “I don’t know. There really isn’t anyone to ask. There’s no other...”

  “Demon?”

  “Yeah, that. There are no other demons around that can do what you can, so that leaves us very little to work on.”

  My mother could see souls, or at least that was what Roth had said. Wasn’t as if I could ask her, though, since she was currently chained in Hell.

  “Maybe this is just temporary,” he said, reaching over and brushing back a lock of blond hair so light it was practically as white as my face. “So let’s not freak out until we know for sure. Okay?”

  I found myself nodding, but I was already starting to freak out. “I won’t be able to tag.”

  Zayne tilted his head to the side. “You haven’t really been tagging recently, so that’s the last thing to worry about, Layla-bug.”

  “You won’t tell Abbot, right?”

  “Not if you don’t want me to.” He paused. “But why don’t you want him to know?”

  I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about his father. Zayne loved and trusted him.

  Zayne watched me for a few moments and then stretched out on his side. Offering his hand, he smiled up at me. “Want to skip practice?”

  Training was important. It kept me from getting my butt handed to me when I did run into demons, but I nodded. Taking his hand, I let him tug me down beside him. We lay there for a few moments, me on my back and Zayne on his side.

  He held on to my hand, careful not to push against the torn skin. “How have the cravings been lately?”

  I sighed. “The same.”

  There was a pause. “Have you been eating normally?”

  Brows furrowing, I tilted my head back to see him. “Why are you asking that?”

  He didn’t answer immediately. “You’ve lost weight, Layla.”

  I shrugged. “That’s probably a good thing.”

  “You didn’t need to lose any weight.” A small smile appeared on his lips but didn’t reach his eyes. “I know these past two weeks have been hard on you.”

  Pressure clamped down on my chest and a ball of emotion formed in my throat. The past two weeks had seconds of warmth and light, but endless hours of darkness and loss. I’d never lost someone I’d been close to before or remembered. I didn’t know how to grieve or move on. Missing Roth was like watching a door to a life you hadn’t dared dream of slam shut in your face.

  What was happening to him right now? Was he being tortured? Was he in any way okay? I’d thought those questions so many times they were a constant echo in my mind.

  “I know you cared about him,” Zayne said, threading his fingers through mine. “But don’t forget about me. I’m here for you. I always will be.”

  My breath caught around a sob.

  He lowered his head and, after a second, his lips brushed my cheek. Only Zayne, who knew what I could do to anyone with a soul, would dare to get that close. “Okay?”

  “Okay,” I whispered, closing my eyes against the familiar burn. “I won’t.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  By lunch the following day, I still wasn’t seeing any souls, but an idea occurred to me as I pretended to pay attention in English class while the teacher lectured on the consequences of reckless love in Romeo and Juliet.

  I hadn’t seen a demon in days and maybe something would be different about them, too. Made sense. Sort of. If humans were suddenly absent their souls, maybe I’d also see some difference in demons, who didn’t have souls to begin with.

  While Stacey organized her broccoli into a demented smiley face, I sent Nicolai a quick text letting him know to pick me up at Dupont Circle. He’d get it when he woke up and since he wasn’t aware of what was going on with me, it wouldn’t seem strange to him. To Zayne, it would be a different story, but I’d fill him in when I got home.

  “No excitement in bio class today?” Sam asked, spearing his broccoli with his plastic fork.

  Stacey shook her head. “Nope, but Mrs. Cleo wasn’t there.”

  “The poor woman probably had a stroke.” I pushed my veggies around the slop of mystery meat. “We had a sub today—a Mr. Tucker.”

  She grinned at me. “And he was hot and young.”

  “Really?” Sam asked. Before she could respond, he leaned across the table, smoothing his thumb along the top of her cheek.

  Stacey stilled.

  I froze.

  Sam grinned as he brushed his finger along her cheekbone again. “Got it.” He sat back.

  “Got it?” Stacey murmured.

  I started to smile.

  “Eyelash,” he explained, his gaze fixed on her. “Did you know lashes keep dust out of your eyes?”

  “Uh-huh.” Stacey nodded.

  He chuckled. “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered.

  Catching Sam’s look, I laughed. I loved that Sam was finally starting to show some confidence when it came to her. It was obvious that he’d been crushing on her hard for the past two years.

  Which gave me another idea. Wonky demon abilities aside, it would be good to get out and do something...normal. “What are you guys doing this weekend?”

  Stacey blinked as she pushed her thick bangs off her forehead. “Baby-brother duty both Saturday and Sunday. Why?”

  “I thought we could catch a movie or something.”

  “I’m free most of Thanksgiving break.” She slid Sam a surprisingly shy smile. “What about you?”

  Sam toyed with the cap to his water. “I’m free whenever.” His dark eyes flicked to me. “Why don’t you invite Roth?”

  My heart dropped into my belly and my mouth opened, but there were no words. Well, that offer of fun times had bitch smacked me right back in the face.

  He glanced at Stacey. “Um, I’m thinking I said something wrong. You guys aren’t hanging out anymore? I just assumed he was going to a new school or something.”

  God, how I wished that was it. “I haven’t...talked to him in a while.”

  Sam cringed. “Oh. Sorry.” He fixed his gaze on his empty plate.

  Stacey quickly reverted conversation back to movie plans and after we left for our next class, she leaned against the locker beside mine, sympathy pinching her lips. “Sam really isn’t that great at social skills, you know?”

  I snorted as I pulled out my history text. “He seems like he’s improving.”

  “Baby steps.” She giggled, but it quickly faded. “I’ve been hoping you’d tell me what’s up, but I’ve waited as long as I can. What happened with you and Roth by the way? You guys were all hot and heavy. You were supposed to spend the night with him, got busted and—”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it,” I said, closing my locker door. All around us, students milled about. It was odd seeing them without their shimmery souls. I smoothed my hands down my black tights. “I don’t mean to be whatever about it, it’s just...”

  “Hard? Too soon? Got it.” She cocked her head to the side and took a deep breath. “So Sam...?”

  On safer ground, I smiled. “Yes?”

  “Okay.” She leaned toward me. A wave of hope crashed into me, coming out of nowhere. It was so strong that I stepped back. The anticipation faded as Stacey’s dark eyes lit up. “Okay. Is it just me or was Sam trying to hit on me?”

  I shook my head, dispelling the weird feeling. “I think so.”

  �
�Smooth call with the movie idea.” She fell in step beside me. “Proud of you on that one.”

  “I don’t know why you don’t just ask him out.” I slowed down as I neared history. “You’ve never had a problem doing that before.”

  “I know.” She kicked her head back and scowled. “But he’s different. He’s Sam. He’s interested in things like computers and books and nerdy stuff.”

  I laughed. Sam was pretty nerdy—cute nerdy. “And you?”

  She sighed and then smiled broadly. “I’m interested in him.”

  “Then that’s all that matters, right?”

  “I think so.” Glancing at herself, she tugged down the red tank top she wore under her long cardigan, exposing the swells of her breasts. “And in art class, he will discover that he’s interested in boobs. Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck.” I eyed her cleavage. “Not that you need it.”

  She winked. “I know.”

  As Stacey bounced away, I turned on my heel to head into the class and stopped. My brows climbed up my forehead. By the bathrooms, a boy and girl were going at it. As in I couldn’t tell who they were or where one began and the other stopped. They were pressed against the wall. The girl had her leg curled around the boy’s waist and his hips were...whoa.

  I think they were about to make a baby.

  They were so going to get in trouble. PDA was totally off-limits. Even holding hands earned an evil eye from the staff.

  But...but Coach Dinkerton, esteemed leader of our winless football team, strolled right past them. Didn’t bat an eye. Not even when the couple slipped into the girls’ bathroom.

  What in the world was going on?

  * * *

  After class, I hunched deeper into my thin turtleneck as I hoofed it down the crowded sidewalks near Dupont Circle. A jacket would’ve been a smart idea. The denim skirt and tights really didn’t block the chill and damp wind, but I hadn’t planned on being out.

  All around me, people meandered to and fro. None of them had visible souls. Two hours into my impromptu experiment and I’d declared it a giant fail. I thought I’d spotted a few Fiends hanging around a telephone pole—Fiends loved to mess with things; electronics, construction sites, fire—but it was tough to tell for sure. They hadn’t caused any active trouble and there was nothing setting them apart from the crowd. They could’ve just been humans waiting to cross the street.

  Night was already creeping into the city, causing the streetlamps to flicker on, casting unfriendly shadows across the mixture of new and old buildings lining the roads.

  Clutching my bag close to my hip, I hurried toward the park, keeping close to the storefronts. I hated to admit it, but paranoia was a friend walking beside me. Before, I could always rely on my soul-spotting ability to root out demons and I’d never honed the natural instinct other Wardens had when it came to sniffing them out. Every so often a weird shiver would dance across the nape of my neck, but I didn’t know if that signified the presence of a demon or not. It was more the sensation one got when being watched.

  Everyone I passed could have been a potential Poser or Upper Level for all I knew. Maybe I simply couldn’t sense demons like other Wardens. God, it would suck if that was the case. I needed to figure out if that was an issue, stat, but where could I find a bunch of demons that hopefully wouldn’t try to kill me?

  I tripped as another winner of an idea occurred to me.

  Roth’s apartment building along the Palisades. The whole place was bursting at the seams with demonkind, but could I go back there? Could I face all the emotions being so close to where he’d lived would bring forth? I wasn’t sure, but I’d have to try. Maybe tomorrow after school I could get Zayne to go with me. He wouldn’t be thrilled, but he’d do it...for me.

  Or maybe tomorrow I’d wake up seeing souls again.

  God, how many times had I wished I were normal by Warden standards? And now that I was closer to being so, I was giving myself an ulcer and—

  The form came out of nowhere, nothing more than a thick shadow snaking out from the alley, moving too fast for me even to get a scream out. One second I was walking down the street and the next, I was hauled sideways into a dark, narrow alley. A burst of aggression lit me up from the inside and then faded into stark, icy terror as the strong grip let go. I flew backward several feet. My backpack smacked into a garbage bin as I hit the cold ground on my butt.

  Stunned, I looked up through a sheet of pale blond hair to see two vibrant blue eyes with vertical pupils staring down at me.

  “Demon,” he hissed, raising a jagged knife in one hand. “Prepare to go back to Hell.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Holy mother of God.

  For a moment, I couldn’t move. It was a Warden in human form—barely in human form—one I’d never seen before. I knew where he planned to put that knife. A stab to the heart was how Wardens sent demons back to Hell.

  Knocking off the heads of demons worked, too.

  The moment of paralyzing fear gave way to instinct. All the hours of evasive training kicked into gear. I sprung to my feet, ignoring the ache in my backside. The wicked sharp blade arced through the air as I darted to the side.

  “Wait!” I said, jumping back as he swung at me. “I’m not a demon.”

  The Warden sneered. He seemed young and his face was unfamiliar to me, which meant he wasn’t a part of the D.C. clan. “Do you think I’m stupid? You stink of their kind.”

  I smelled? Resisting the urge to sniff myself, I edged around the green Dumpster, hoping I could reason with him. “I’m part demon. My name’s Layla Shaw. I live with—”

  He shot forward, and I spun around. The knife swooped down, carving through the sweater and slicing open the skin of my upper arm. I cried out as fiery pain burst along my nerve endings.

  It happened so fast there was no stopping it.

  The inherent urge to shift took hold and my skin stretched tight as Bambi unfurled herself from her resting spot on my skin. She spilled into the air, a mass of tiny black dots that hung between the Warden and me.

  Déjà vu smacked me in the face.

  The dots dropped to the alley floor and spun together, forming a thick mass that rose into the air, taking the shape of a snake.

  I’d never seen Bambi so big before.

  Taller than me and as wide as the Warden, Bambi hissed like a steam engine as she drew back, preparing to strike.

  The Warden cursed as he stepped to the side, dropping into a crouch. His body began to shift, splitting the shirt straight up his broad chest. “Part demon? You have a familiar.”

  “Yes, but it’s not what you think.” Blood dripped down my arm as I stumbled toward Bambi. My heart pounded as she opened her mouth, revealing fangs the size of my hands. I glanced at the mouth of the alley. Any second someone could come back here and while the Warden wouldn’t be too hard to explain, the snake the size of a Humvee was another story. “Please. Let me explain. I’m not a bad guy.”

  “This is hardly the first time a demon has said that.” The Warden circled Bambi as his skin darkened to a deep gray.

  Bambi struck, and the Warden narrowly avoided a direct hit. “Bambi! Don’t!” I ordered.

  The snake drew back once more, her powerful body curling and tensing. “Don’t eat the Warden!” I said, breathing heavily through the pain. “We all need—”

  The Warden launched forward and spun out from under Bambi as she shot at him. He popped up, half in his human form and half gargoyle. I saw the knife swinging through the air. I pushed off the ground, lurching toward him. I ducked under his arm as he swung the knife down. I spun around, planting my foot in his back. The Warden went down on one knee.

  “Please stop,” I gasped, still trying to put an end to this hot