Jennifer L. Armentrout - Stone Cold Touch

My heart felt as if it was going to come out of my chest, a mixture of our closeness and the jolt of fear that came with the touch of Danika’s cool fingers.

“I’ll make this quick,” she promised. “It will literally only take a couple of seconds.”

Closing my eyes, I took several deep breaths. “Okay. I can do this. I can deal.”

“You can.” Zayne’s cheek slid over the side of my head. “You’re so strong, Layla. You can do this.”

I almost believed him.

When the needle pierced my skin, my back straightened. Fire poured through the tiny hole she created, lighting up my body as though I was touching flames.

“It’s okay,” Zayne murmured, curling his fingers through my hair. “It’ll be over before—” He plastered my face to his chest, muffling the scream that erupted from my throat.

“I’m sorry,” Danika whispered, her hands trembling slightly. “I wish I had something stronger to give you, but Jasmine would notice it was missing.”

The fire had moved up my arm, and I tried to pull away, but Zayne locked me down, keeping my injured arm straight and still. A dizzying swarm of curses left my tongue, and Zayne chuckled hoarsely.

“I had no idea you had that kind of mouth on you,” he said.

“I don’t care. I want her to stop. Now.” I tried to pull back, but his grip tightened. “Stop. Please. ”

“We can’t stop, baby. It’ll be over soon. She’s almost half done.” Zayne’s body was stiff, and Bambi started to slide up my hip. The last thing we needed was for her to come off and eat Danika. But the snake stilled. Maybe Zayne was right and she had an upset belly. “And then you’ll be perfect,” he added.

“I’m not perfect.” My entire body throbbed like one giant raw wound. God, I was a wimp. No pain tolerance whatsoever. Then again, my skin was being stitched back together with minimal numbing. “I s-smell like a demon.”

“You don’t smell like a demon.” He seemed to hold his breath as I screamed into his chest again. “You smell like...like freesia.”

“Freesia? I—I smell like blood and demon,” I whispered hoarsely, squeezing his hand until I felt his bones as she made another loop. “Sorry,” I gasped out.

“It’s okay.” Zayne managed to get closer, fitting his body against mine. “You don’t smell like blood.”

I moaned as Danika tugged on the thread. “You’re a really bad liar.”

“Finished,” she said, letting out a ragged breath. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“I-it’s okay.” I pressed my face against Zayne’s chest, inhaling that winter-mint scent of his. My fingers ached from clenching his hand and shirt. “T-thank you.”

She drew in a deep breath as she quickly bandaged the wound. “You should rest for a few minutes, let your body settle down, and it might be a good idea to take a deep sleep tonight, just so you’ll feel better quicker after the loss of blood.”

Deep sleep meant retreating into a shell-like form so we could rest on a cellular level, but I’d never slept like that before. Even though I probably would’ve shifted today if Bambi hadn’t made an appearance, I hadn’t shifted since the night in the gym and I didn’t think I could ever sleep that way.

I didn’t know how long we lay there with Danika sitting on the edge of the bed. Zayne smoothed a hand up and down my back until eventually the tremors subsided and the contents of my stomach settled a bit. He eased his leg off mine.

“You okay?” Zayne asked. When I nodded, he pulled back a little, smoothing a hand over my damp cheeks. “You want to try to sit up?”

Not trusting myself to speak yet, I nodded again. With Zayne’s help, I got the quilt readjusted and sat up. My head swam a bit and dark spots clouded my vision.

“I can get her some pain relievers,” Danika said, her voice slightly off as she stared at her elegant hands while wiping off my blood. “Jasmine won’t notice that.” Looking over her shoulder, her gaze landed on where Zayne’s arm rested over my shoulders. “I can get you something to wear.”

“There...there should be a hoodie on my bed.”

Danika left and returned quickly with the hoodie and while both of them turned away, I carefully eased it up over my bandage. When I was done zipping it up, they faced me.

“Thank you,” I said again.

“How do you feel?” Danika moved to sit beside me.

“I don’t think I’ll puke.” At her relieved look, I tried to hide my weak grin, but Zayne saw it, and his eyes lightened. “That...sucked.”

“You did good.” She glanced over at Zayne. He stood in front of me, arms crossed and features stark. “What do we do now?”

My brain felt like mush, I figured because I needed sugar. Lots of sugar. It helped with the cravings. And a nap. Maybe two naps. Just because. Then I was going to bed.

Zayne sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I don’t think this is the time.”

“She needs to know. Obviously.”

Ears perking right up, I lifted my head, my gaze bouncing between the two. “Know what?”

He looked as though he wanted to argue, but instead he took a step and sat beside me. “There has been something I’ve sensed about you over the past couple of days.”

“Okay.” My arm burned something fierce, but dread pushed away the pain. “I smell like a demon?”

“You don’t smell any different than usual. That...asshole never should’ve phrased it that way, but I do...” He exhaled deeply as he rubbed a hand along his jaw. “I have sensed the demonic side in you more.”

My already sensitive stomach dropped.

“It’s really no different than sensing another demon,” Danika said, twisting her hands together. “But it’s as though we’re sensing a certain kind of demon—an Upper Level one.”

Air whooshed right out of my lungs as I twisted toward Zayne and my voice came out in a pitiful whine. Upper Level demons were the most powerful, the most dangerous. “I’d rather smell like a normal demon.”

He didn’t say anything, but a tortured, pinched look crept across his face.

A second went by. Then a minute. I’m not even sure it had sunk in. The fact that I felt like an Upper Level demon to them was moldy icing on the cake. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“How could I? You would have thought the worst and I didn’t want to bring that down on you. And it doesn’t matter, because you’re part Warden. You’re inherently—”

A low hum reverberated through the house and steel shields slammed down over the windows, causing Danika and me to jump. Similar thumps sounded as Zayne shot to his feet. I’d never seen the windows do that before, but I knew what it meant.

Zayne whirled as Danika paled. “Demons,” he said, hands curling into fists. “There are demons here. Stay here. Both of you.”

He was already out the bedroom door.

Danika and I exchanged looks and, rising in mutual agreement, we followed him downstairs. What they had told me could wait. For the shields to go down on our home, we had to be under attack.

Two of the clansmen stood guard in front of the sitting room, where I knew Jasmine must’ve been cloistered away with the babies. The front door was open, which caught me off guard. There was steel reinforcement there, too, but for the door to be open, as if there was nothing to fear? The night air seeped in, bringing with it a certain scent.

My pulse kicked up and my mouth dried.

Maddox blocked the entrance and he turned, eyes narrowing on us. “Danika, you need to stay back.”

“What’s going on?” she demanded as her pupils stretched vertically. “There are demons out there. I sense them.”

“We’re well aware. Abbot is with them,” he replied. “So are the men. This is none of your concern.”