Every Last Breath - Armentrout Jennifer L. - Страница 22

“I wouldn’t, because he’s not going to be down with it.” He kept his voice low while he spoke fast.

“Remember, sweet pea. I told you that the Boss isn’t entirely pleased with him. He goes down there, they’re going to keep him detained. You don’t want that.”

My stomach hollowed as I stepped closer to Cayman. “Can the Boss just come up and get him if he wants to?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Yes, but it’s doubtful right now. Later? Who knows? I can distract Roth next Friday and give you time to get down there, but once you’re there, you’re going to have to hurry.”

“Hurry? In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve never been to Hell so I have no idea what the landscape is like,” I pointed out, trying not to freak out over the fact that I was going to go to Hell. Literally. “Need a little bit of direction here.”

Cayman grinned. “It’s easier than you think. Trust me, butterball. You’ll know exactly where to go once you get there.” Then he winked. “By the way, I’m proud of you. You made the right decision yesterday, choosing the future—choosing Roth.”

I opened my mouth, but he was gone before I could say a word. Turning slowly, I looked around the now-empty room. “I hate it when he does that.”

“What?”

Jumping at the sound of Roth’s voice, I couldn’t say I was that surprised to find him standing a foot behind me. “That! You guys just popping in and out of rooms. It’s freaky and unnatural.”

“You’re just jealous because you can’t do that.”

I rolled my eyes, but he was kind of right. I was sort of jealous of not having that nifty ability. If I did, I would be popping here, there and everywhere. Bambi chose that moment to switch positions.

She slithered around my waist, resting her head along my ribs. I’d also pop her butt on the couch when she got antsy.

“What was Cayman doing in here?” Roth picked up a strand of my hair and started roping the length around his finger.

The idea of lying to Roth, especially after everything, made me feel like I’d just bathed in grime, but I knew if I told him what I planned to do about Sam’s soul, he wouldn’t let me go down there alone, and maybe not at all. I couldn’t allow him to stop me. And this was more than just protecting Roth from an unhappy Boss. Saving Sam’s soul was bigger than what either of us wanted.

“He was just being Cayman,” I said finally.

Roth tugged on the strand of hair he’d wrapped around his finger, guiding me closer to him.

“That’s a loaded statement.” His eyes met mine, and my heart sped up. Leaning down, he rested his forehead against mine. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“If you behave yourself today, I have a surprise for you later.”

My lips curved up. “If I behave myself?”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed my brow as he straightened, letting go of my hair. “And by behaving yourself, I mean being as naughty as you can possibly be.”

Laughing, I gathered up my hair, twisting it into a quick bun. “I’m not sure I can be that naughty if we’re in public, looking for the Lilin.”

“There’s always time for naughtiness, Shortie.”

“I’m not surprised that you believe this.”

He shot me a look. “When have any of my beliefs been wrong?”

I arched a brow. “Many, many times.”

“I think you have a distorted memory,” he returned, and I laughed again, missing this—the playful banter—and I was relieved to see that it hadn’t been tarnished by everything it had taken us to get to this point.

“Keep telling yourself that.” I smiled when he pouted. “Before any surprises, I want to swing by and see Stacey.”

“Can do.” He lifted his hand, brushing his knuckles across my cheek, and it was another thing about Roth that had never changed, not even when we were apart. He was definitely a touchy-feely kind of demon. “You want to visit her alone?”

His thoughtfulness didn’t really surprise me anymore. Not that it didn’t still wow me, because it did, and my heart was doing that swelling thing again, but I couldn’t figure out how he didn’t see his own goodness. I stretched up and kissed the corner of his lips before settling back down. “I think she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Of course she will be,” he murmured, his gaze lingering on my lips. I shivered even though I wasn’t cold. Nope. Not at all. “Everyone is happy to see me.”

I shook my head. “You ready?” When he nodded, I smiled up at him. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“I would, but that would ruin the fun.” He chuckled as my smile slipped into a frown. “Okay. We aren’t going anywhere. Well, anywhere in particular. We are going to roam the streets aimlessly.”

“Wow. That’s a stellar plan.”

He bit down on his lower lip as he grinned. “Actually, it’s pretty damn clever.”

“That’s yet to be seen.”

Roth grabbed my hand and started to lead me toward the front door. “Here’s the deal. I don’t think we’re going to have to look too hard for the Lilin. Actually, I don’t think you are going to have to seek the Lilin out.”

“And why’s that?”

He looked over his shoulder at me, all humor vanishing from his face. “Because I believe the Lilin is going to come looking for you.”

nine

NOTHING LIKE HEARING a psychotic demon that you’d unwillingly helped create would be looking for you to make you feel like you needed to enter the creeper relocation program.

But I hoped Roth was correct, because it would make finding the tool easier.

Since it was the afternoon, we drove into the city and parked the car in one of the parking garages.

We didn’t have great luck when it came to those particular structures, but hitting the sky was out of the question in the daylight. While the city’s human residents were all too aware of the Wardens and Roth was similar enough to them in his true form, if a human looked too closely at him, questions would arise that we weren’t prepared to answer.

Roth glanced at me as I opened the door. “You didn’t bring a jacket?”

I shook my head.

He closed the driver ’s door. “A scarf?”

“No.”

“What about mittens?”

My lips twitched. “Nope.”

He eyed me as I walked around the front of the car. “What about a little beanie for your little head?”

I laughed. “No, Dad. I’m fine.”

His eyes glittered. “I like it when you call me—”

“Stop.”

He tilted his head to the side. “On a serious note, it’s cold out there, Shortie.”

That much I already knew. Roth was wearing only a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, because like full-blooded Wardens, his internal temperature was somewhere between steaming and boiling. One would think because I was a mixture of both, I would also have a high tolerance for the cold, but I never did.

Until now, I guessed. It couldn’t be more than forty degrees. “I’m not cold.”

A strange look crossed his features as he watched me intently. “Odd.”

There were odder things about me, say, for example, my feathered wings. There wasn’t a damn thing normal about that, and as Roth and I safely made it out of the parking garage on F Street, I brought them up.

“So...” I drew the word out as I stepped around a herd of young kids in uniforms and soft, white auras being ushered toward a bus idling at the curb. The packed sidewalk was an array of colors and my attention was immediately drawn to those with darker shades, the crimson reds and plums. Most were suits, clutching briefcases. They had sinned, and sinned in a very bad way. My stomach tightened with need, but the urge was nowhere near as intense as it used to be, and that also confounded me.

Roth took my hand, threading his fingers through mine. My heart got all giddy. I remembered a time when I would’ve yanked my hand away from his so fast his head would’ve spun. “What?” he asked.