Jennifer L. Armentrout - Stone Cold Touch

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?

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