LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER SIX

      I almost rushed Roth right then and threw my arms around him, but a low growl rumbled from behind me. At first I thought it was Abbot’s response, but when I realized it was coming from Zayne, I couldn’t move.

      Roth tilted his head to the side, watching me as a slow, roguish smile graced his lips. “Are you...seriously growling at me, Stony?”

      “I’m about to do a lot more than growl.”

      He chuckled. “That’s not very appreciative.”

      I turned to Zayne and my heart leaped into my throat, stopping whatever I was going to say. He glared at Roth in a way I couldn’t understand, especially not after what Roth had done for him, as if it... I shook my head.

      “It’s all right,” Abbot interrupted, surprising me. “Let them talk.”

      Wait. What? He was okay with me talking to Roth? Abbot’s appeasement knocked me into motion. My heart did another leap.

      Zayne opened his mouth and then clamped it shut. Our gazes held for a moment and then he nodded stiffly, resigned. “I’ll wait for you.”

      I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, but the oddity of the statement stole my words. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Roth.

      “Let’s walk?” he suggested.

      There was a coldness laced through his words that left me unsettled. I told myself it was only because we were around so many Wardens, but my knees felt weak as I walked toward him. His unique scent invaded my senses, causing my skin to flush in spite of the chilled air. He turned as I reached his side and started toward the faint path Zayne and I had worn into the ground over the many years we’d traveled to the tree house in the nearby woods.

      Skin tingling along the back of my neck, I glanced over my shoulder and drew in a tiny breath. The Wardens were still standing guard in front of the compound, but I didn’t see Abbot anymore. Zayne was sitting at the bottom of the wide steps, leaning against one of the large white marble columns. Cayman and the other demon were gone. It was obvious they didn’t fear for Roth’s safety. Or they didn’t care.

      My head swung back around and my breath caught when I saw Roth’s profile. A dizzying amount of relief crashed into me as it struck me once more that he was alive and he was here.

      So many things bubbled up the moment we stepped past the crumbled stone retaining wall that surrounded the manicured lawn and under the thick, bare branches that rattled like dry bones in the breeze. But I couldn’t speak. The clog was back, centered right in my throat.

      Coherent thought clicked off, and I found myself moving around him. Roth stopped midstep as I did what I’d wanted to do since he’d shown up tonight. Like a mini rocket, I threw myself at him.

      Roth stumbled back a step as my arms went around his neck. The moment my body came into contact with his, pressure clamped down on my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut against the violent tide of emotions. They were so tangled together—relief and fear, desperation and resolution, a deep craving that rivaled the need I struggled with every day, and anxiety—that I couldn’t make sense of them, or understand how I was feeling so much.

      As I nestled into his chest, I could feel his heart pounding fast and realized then that his arms were at his sides. A cloud of nervousness passed over me as I lifted my head, searching out his eyes in the darkness, but they were closed and thick lashes fanned the tips of his cheekbones. His face was pale in the thin slivers of moonlight breaking through the branches, lips pulled in a taut line.

      Another shiver of apprehension slipped over my skin. When I started to pull back, to give voice to the near fear growing like a weed in the pit of my stomach, his arms finally—finally—encircled me. He pulled me tight against him, our bodies flush and pressed together in a way that reminded me of the night we’d found the Lesser Key. The muscles low in my stomach tightened as his hand smoothed up my spine, tangling in my hair. Bambi followed the caress, as if she sought to get closer to her true owner.

      There was so much warmth in the embrace that it pushed the shadows away. I squeezed my eyes shut and soaked him up. I didn’t know what his return meant, what it signified for us, but it didn’t matter in that moment.

      He dropped his head to mine and murmured something in a deep, guttural voice that I was positive wasn’t anywhere close to the English language.

      “You’re hurt,” he said, his voice rough.

      All I could do was shake my head as I balled my hands into the back of his shirt. I was feeling too many conflicting emotions. Some of them were mine, but there was also a distant quality to them I couldn’t quite understand.

      He slid his other hand to my arm. When his fingers slipped under the sleeve of my hoodie, I bit my lip. “Your arm,” he said, managing to curve his fingers just below my elbow. “How did it happen?”

      “A Warden did it,” I said, rubbing my cheek against his chest like a cat with a full belly, ready for a nap. A sigh escaped me. “He said I smelled like a demon.”

      Roth drew back and his chin tipped down. Dark eyebrows slashed together. “A Warden did this? Was it iron?”

      I nodded, but this wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. “Roth—”

      “What about Bambi?” he demanded, withdrawing his hand from my hair. “She would’ve protected you.”

      “Bambi’s fine.” I forced a smile, but nothing about his features softened. “She ate the Warden.”

      His brows shot up. “Well...”

      “Yeah.” I drew the word out slowly. I knew I should ask him about why I suddenly felt like an Upper Level demon to the Wardens, but as bad as it was, that wasn’t at the top of my priority list. “I don’t know where to begin. How are you even here?”

      Roth’s golden eyes held mine for a moment and then he pulled away. I mourned the loss of warmth immediately. “Well, there’s these things called portals and I popped into—”

      “That’s not what I meant.” Before, his smart-ass responses had grated on my every last nerve, but now there was a relief in being irritated with him. “You were in the devil’s trap with Paimon. You went to the pits.”

      “I did.” He folded his arms and took another step back from me. “It wasn’t fun, in case you were wondering.”

      I winced. “I didn’t think it was, but I don’t understand. The pits are permanent.”

      One shoulder rose gracefully. “They are, but I am the Boss’s favorite and I’d done what the Boss had wanted—stopped a Lilin from being created. Or at least we thought I had.”

      “So you were let out for good behavior?”

      “After a day or two. The Boss wasn’t in a big hurry. No surprise there.”

      My heart squeezed. “But the pits had to be...” My voice cracked as I shook my head.

      “It wasn’t a vacation, shortie. Imagine your skin being flayed and burned off for a forty-eight hour period.” He shrugged again, as though it was no big deal to be virtually burned alive, and brushed the dark hair off his forehead. “But it could have been worse. Paimon’s dumb ass is still in there.”

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