Her breath caught, and she dropped her hand from his shoulder. “It’s been a year,” she said, quickly. “God knows you’ve moved on.”
He didn’t break her gaze. “God knows nothing.”
Kristen shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. You’re not looking to rehash a fling, she chastised herself. She took a breath to calm her nerves and then let out a disgusted sigh. “Bored without the blonde? Libby. That’s her name, right?” She cocked her head, her tone venomous as she covered her mouth lightly with her hand. “Oops! I guess I should say that was her name.”
The twinkle slid from Luke’s eyes. He went eerily still. “That was business, Kristen. You of all people know sometimes we have to play nice to get what we want.” He lunged forward and Kristen winced. She heard his coat hit the floor and then his body pressed against hers, an inferno. His hands slid down through her hair. His mouth grazed her neck before rising to her ear. “Aren’t we here to play nice?”
“Business.” Her voice shook. Inside the safety of her pocket, her fingernails cut into her palm. Don’t let him play you. You know how to work him, she reminded herself. “We’re here for business.”
“Hmm.” His lips hummed again her pulse. “You honestly don’t miss us?”
She couldn’t move. “It was a lapse in judgment.”
“A bad dream you found it safer to forget,” he mocked. “You and I? We had a good thing.”
“It was a lapse,” she repeated carefully, “in judgment.”
From her left, she heard a pop, a crackling like a firework on half volume. She opened her eyes and turned toward the sound, confused. Somewhere near the back of her skull a dull noise started. A flutter of words she couldn’t quite make out. The room flexed almost imperceptibly.
“Stop,” she whispered.
Luke’s hands stilled instantly. The thrill of whatever game they’d been playing, the back and forth, fell away. “Kristen?”
The whispers intensified, a white wall of sound suddenly rushing to take over. Her eyelids fluttered, heat rushing to her cheeks in a panicked flush. She couldn’t catch her breath.
“Look at you!” Luke squeezed the sides of her face. “They left you doomed and clueless and I’m the enemy?”
“What are you talking about, ‘doomed’?” She tried to focus on Luke, but a dozen thoughts cascaded through her mind. He had to know she was in a tiff with Gabriel, because of her state, but that didn’t qualify as doomed. Death couldn’t touch her. Neither the Fallen nor the Bound could kill Siders. The Bound didn’t even know about them. Unless they found out, a voice whispered.
He released her, strode across the room and sat on the bed as a terrible thought struck her. What if Gabriel wasn’t ignoring her calls because he was angry?
“Clueless about what, Luke?” If the Bound knew Gabriel kept the Siders’ secrets over his commitment to them, they’d have him punished. Confined. “Damn it, answer me!”
He patted the space on the quilt beside him. “Sit.”
Her unease shifted to dread as she did.
Luke toyed with her rings, twirling them along her fingers, before he pulled them off one by one. The rubies on her middle finger stuck on her knuckle as they always did. She lifted her finger to her mouth, wetting the ring enough to slip it free. She added it to the pile in Luke’s palm. He stripped the bands from her other hand.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve played,” he said quietly. “You remember?”
She nodded. Each ring worth a question and an honest answer. A game. She glanced at the pile of metal and jewels in his hand. Five questions, five answers. Luke met her eyes.
“Ask.”
She hesitated. He would answer the questions, but he’d be getting his own information from what she asked.
“Do the Bound know about the Siders?”
He took her hand and carefully slid the gaudy emerald ring onto her finger. “Yes.”
She gasped, struggling to tug her hand away and stand. Luke held on. If the Bound knew about the Siders, they’d be trying to find a way to eradicate them. And Gabriel? Kristen thought, her horror turning to shame. He hadn’t called her back because he was in trouble. She covered her face with her free hand. She’d thought he was angry and petty and he was probably worried sick about her. “Let me go.”
“No.” Luke’s tone stopped her dead. His dark eyes glittered like the gems. “We’re not done.”
She sat again, determined to use the questions she had left to gain the most information. “Do the Bound know how to kill us?”
“No.” Her head tilted in surprise as he slid the ring on. “Ask me how I knew you weren’t being helped.” He didn’t bother with the rings, answered anyway. “You didn’t call me in the park. I’ve been keeping an eye on you, waiting.” He didn’t look away as he said it.
“If the Bound know of the Siders, they know Gabriel wasn’t telling them. He’s being punished. And you,” she spat. “You waited for me to get sick so you could play games?”
He shook his head, adding another ring to her hand. “He must have suffered so much to keep his secrets. To stay,” he said as he looked at her. “You can’t believe he’d let the Bound keep him from you.”
She drew a shallow breath, enough air to speak the words. “What have you done to Gabriel?”
“Not a thing. We played the same roles for millennia, he and I, and nothing had ever changed,” he said. The gold band was back on her thumb. “No one can force a Fall.”
“He…No.” She yanked her hands from his, stumbling away. She made it to the chair, clutched the back of it. Get yourself together, a voice said stubbornly. You’re showing him all your weaknesses.
Luke’s leg bounced, energy finding its way out. “He confessed. A murder, at his hands.”
“It’s not possible. There must have been a mistake.” She wanted him to be lying so badly she ached.
It hit her. Sudden terror. Gabriel. Fallen. Kristen couldn’t catch her breath, swayed against the chair, her hands clenching the armrest in a death grip. If she could get Luke to say it, smile and say All a bad joke; I find your gullibility so amusing. “You swear to me, Luke. You swear to me you’re not lying.”
“I swear on all that I am.”
“I want to see him.” She couldn’t bear to move.
“Kristen, that’s not a good idea. He can’t control his impulses. He’s unstable.” It was written all over his face; he’d say no and leave, and she’d never find Gabriel on her own. Not in the city.
An idea blossomed, a desperate, dangerous thought. One that would have broken Gabriel’s heart to know she offered Lucifer. She dropped her eyes to the bed.
On the comforter lay the last ring. She held it up.
“Do you know where he is?”
“Yes,” he said. She held out her hand and Luke pushed the ring on.
The static of voices had gone silent. A tiny bead of sweat rolled down the back of her neck. “How do I find Gabriel?”
“No ring.” Luke’s eyes burned black, hungry. “You don’t get an answer.”
She could almost hear Gabe’s voice in her head screaming at her to stop, not to do it. She licked her lips and blurted out the words before she could let him talk her out of her plan. “If you answer me, I’ll owe you.”
Luke’s irises swirled an oily sheen, a frenzied moan breaking from him. “That’s open ended, Kristen.” His tone was a warning, an out.
One she couldn’t heed.
“You tell me where to find Gabriel and I’ll owe you one favor.”
Luke stared at her for a full minute before he spoke again. “He rides the trains in a pattern. I could teach it to you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“It won’t help, Kristen. You can’t get him back.”
“He made me a promise. I have faith in him.”
Luke’s laugh sent ice down her spine. “You’re better than blind faith. I can help you. Let me take care of you.”
She kept
her head held high and looked him dead in the eye. “Never.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, gathering his boots as he opened the door. He blew her a kiss from the threshold.
“Never,” Kristen whispered to the empty room.
Chapter 14
Judging by the girl scowling on the matching twin bed beside him, Jarrod planned on a long night. He glanced at the cracked clock radio on the nightstand between them. Three hours ago, he’d thumbed the volume all the way down on his phone, turning off even the vibrate. First, he’d fix this, get Sullivan through the dose, and then they’d go to Eden. It’d be better to face her wrath than show up with a mortal on Touch.
It’d been four hours. From what he knew, the Touch should have taken effect by now. The real reason he hadn’t called Eden, he didn’t even want to admit to himself. He wouldn’t screw up again. Not like he had with trusting Libby. If Sullivan was a spy and he brought her to Eden, he’d never forgive himself. He had to be sure.
He snuck a quick once-over of her.
“Like what ya see, Tiger?” she asked, her eyes never straying from the television screen.
He felt himself flush. “You feel anything yet?”
“Yeah,” she said, rolling over toward him on her pillow. “I feel bored as hell.”
He crossed his legs on the bed. Bored wasn’t good. Bored was a first-class ticket to contemplating life and contemplating life, especially from the few hints he’d picked up from Sullivan about her past, would be a one-way ticket out the window. Quite handy since they were on the goddamned fifth floor. He’d already closed the curtains, unplugged the hairdryer in the bathroom and hid it in the closet, and made her give him her half-full bottle of aspirin.
“So, we’ll get unbored. What do you do? Like, for fun?”
She smirked. “I steal Touch from strangers. If it’s a super stellar night, I somehow end up getting babysat by said stranger in my shitty hotel room.” After clicking through a few more fuzzy channels, she bounded off the other bed. “I can’t sit here all night.”
“Where are you going?” he asked as she pulled on her coat.
She reached for his hand like she was going to drag him with her. He had gloves on, not trusting her enough to take them off, but she stopped herself shy and turned away. “Come with me if you want. I’m going for a walk.”
He stared at her. “It’s freezing out. And last I checked it was still snowing.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Never mind. Stay here if you’re going to whine.”
“I’m not whining,” he said. “I’m stating facts.”
“So am I. It is a fact that you asked me what I like to do.” Her tone shifted, drifting further from sarcasm with each word until it was almost a dreamy slur. “I like to walk. I like snow.”
“Sullivan?” Jarrod uncrossed his legs, standing.
She turned to him, the apples of her cheeks blushed pink. Her eyes danced over his, her smile blossoming so bright it seemed infuse her whole body instead of staying on her lips.
“You care what happens to me.” She spun like a ballerina through the center of the room, her gasp full of wonder. “It’s true isn’t it?”
Jarrod stalled with a half-smile, not sure how to answer. Sullivan twirled away the space between them. Her hand curled across the back of his neck.
Jarrod didn’t move.
She mirrored him, holding perfectly still, the grin frozen on her lips—lips close enough to his that he should have been worried, should have been jerking away.
“You.” Her fingers flexed against his skin, the word a single breathy exhale. “I want to see beautiful things with you.”
He didn’t say anything. It was like his brain suddenly decided it wanted to opt out of this one. He barely knew the girl, and she was high on Touch. Plus, it wasn’t safe out there, not with Luke and the Bound both hunting around for Siders now. But...
“Okay,” he said, cautiously. She’d taken the dose good. The worry had melted from her eyes, tension lines between her eyebrows fading. “What kind of beautiful things?” he asked.
She let go of his neck.
“Snow!” she said over her shoulder, grabbing his coat off the bed and handing it to him. “We’ll start with the snow!”
She squealed as she reached the door, breaking into a run. He sped up, tearing down the hall after her to the emergency stairs. Her laugh echoed as she slammed through the door hard enough to bang it against the cement wall behind it. The crash reverberated down the stairwell. Her eyes widened to almost comical proportions, her mouth an ‘o’ of delight. “Think they’ll come yell at us?”
He turned sideways and hopped on the metal railing. “Luckily,” he said conspiratorially, “I’m kickass at escapes.”
He let go, sliding, his legs kicked out for balance. Sullivan bounded past him to the landing and held her arms out like she’d catch him. His hands hit her shoulders, momentum spinning them both in a circle.
This close, he could smell lotion or perfume, her scent summery and wild. Her eyes shot to the exit, back to him. She held her hand out.
“You and me?” she asked.
He looked at her hand and raised his head to meet her eyes. She looked like she really did want him with her. So what if it was the Touch?
The happier she is, the better she’ll get through it. He grabbed her hand, working his gloved fingers between her bare ones. Sullivan smiled, stepped back and pushed the door open.
Just for tonight, he thought fiercely. Only because it’ll help her.
The crisp air stole his breath as they burst into a back parking lot. Giant snowflakes fell all around them, everything covered in white, sparkling under the domed lights.
She wrapped her arm around his, sticking out her tongue to catch a flake as her head dropped to his shoulder, their steps synchronized as they walked. He laughed, blinking melted snowflakes from his lashes.
“I have an idea,” Sullivan said, lifting from his shoulder. She untangled her arm. On the snow-covered asphalt of the empty parking spot, she flopped onto her back. A few scrapes and she’d made a perfect snow angel. She smiled at him, seemed completely unaware of the absurdity of lying in a parking lot, giggling like mad. “Your turn!”
Jarrod cast a glance around them, not quite ready to let down his guard. No one. No angels or Siders or mortals.
Only him and Sullivan.
She laughed as he dropped beside her and then flapped his arms and legs twice in a token effort. He sat up and glanced at the blank spot his head had left. With his gloved hands he scooped up some snow, rolling out two tiny balls. He plunked them where his eyes should have been.
Sullivan clapped. “Look who’s coming around!” she said appreciatively. She added eyes to her own, then pointed at their matching masterpieces. “Our wings are touching!”
Jarrod glanced at Sullivan, only meaning to shoot her a smile, but his eyes wouldn’t leave her. Her happiness changed her, brightened her cheeks and her eyes, bringing out something in her he hadn’t seen before. Suddenly he got it—why she searched out Siders, why nothing mattered more than finding the next hit of Touch. For a perfect second he got it. Being able to say what you wanted, live for the moment… A rush of adrenaline surged through him.
“Sullivan,” he said, his voice wavering. “You’re beautiful.” Before the words even left him, his self-consciousness flared. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
The snow creaked, packing underneath her knees as she moved closer. Her arms moved around him, hugging him tight.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Why would you say such a nice thing and then try to take it away?”
He didn’t answer, wasn’t sure what to say.
“You should kiss me.” She tilted her head up, her lips brushing against his chin.
He closed his eyes, couldn’t risk her seeing the disappointment in them. “I can’t.”
He felt her smile against his skin.
“You can,” she said lightly.
>
“Sullivan, I can’t do this.” He didn’t know what would happen, if it was safe. Eden and Az flashed through his mind. But Az was an angel trying not to Fall and Sullivan was a girl. A mortal girl. A girl whose hands were around his neck, tugging him closer.
And he couldn’t pull away.
Her lips hit his. He moaned, the sound surging from him even as he realized it wasn’t because he’d passed Touch, that there was no numb tingle, that it was because of her alone. He broke out in goosebumps. She giggled and pulled away enough to speak.
“You’re cold,” she said. “We should go in. To the room.”
“I don’t think that’s—” She held a finger to his lips. He tried to say it again and she kissed him into silence, her finger still pressed between their lips.
Maybe there was nothing wrong with giving in. Just once. He helped her up, not paying attention to anything but her.
“Okay,” he said quickly, knowing if he thought about it he’d lose his nerve, lose the moment. “Okay.”
They ran through the lot, to the back entrance. A second passed while she fished in her pocket for the pass key and he almost thought he should pull away right now, but then she pressed him against the wall, her mouth greedy on his, her hand blindly fumbling beside them, slipping the plastic card through the slot.
“Stay with me,” she murmured as she pulled the handle and he wondered if she sensed the battle going on in his head or if she meant for the night and then they were stumbling through the door of the room, stripping off their coats, dropping them as their hands roamed, tugging, frantic unbuttoning.
He focused, his mind catching on every detail, filling itself with Sullivan until there was no room left for anything else. He blinked and they were on the bed. Blinked again and she’d ripped his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Everything sudden snapshots when for so long the days had been one single blur.
The Siders Box Set Page 36
