LITMIR.BIZ

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      Jasmine stopped and faced me, out of breath. “Oh, Layla. How are you doing?”

      I flipped off the switch to the ceiling fan. “Good. You?”

      Isabelle giggled as the fan slowed, still flapping that one wing. Jasmine stepped beneath her. “Oh, you know. The twins are two and just learning how to shift. It’s been a real joy.” She grabbed one of Isabelle’s stumpy legs. “Let go—Izzy, let go this instant!”

      Yeah, two-year-olds could shift and I couldn’t. Embarrassing. “Did you guys get in yesterday?” I asked, thinking of the gargoyles on the roof.

      She wrangled in Isabelle, sitting her down on the floor. “No. We just got here. Dez had to go out of town, so he asked Abbot if we could stay here until the clan returns to New York.”

      “Oh.” I peeked behind the couch, spotting the other twin. At first, he was just a little blob of pearly-colored goodness. Then I saw past his soul. He slept in his human form, curled atop a thick blanket. He had his thumb in his mouth. “At least this one is sleeping.”

      Jasmine laughed softly. “Drake sleeps through anything. This one—” she picked up Isabelle and sat her on the couch “—doesn’t like to sleep. Isn’t that right, Izzy?”

      Isabelle half jumped, half fell off the couch and rushed me. Before I could move, she went down on all fours and sank those sharp little teeth through my flats, biting my toe.

      I shrieked, fighting the urge to punt the little freak across the room.

      “Izzy!” cried Jasmine, rushing over to us. She grabbed her, but the damn thing had a firm hold on my toe. “Izzy! Do not bite! What have I told you?”

      I winced as Jasmine manually removed her daughter’s fangs from my foot. The moment Jasmine put the giggling child down, Isabelle launched herself into the air, straight at me.

      “Izzy! Don’t!” her mother yelled.

      I caught her, taking a wing in the face. She was surprisingly heavy for a two-year-old. I held her at arm’s length. “It’s okay. She’s not bothering me.” Now.

      “I know.” Jasmine floated to my side, wringing her slender hands. “It’s just that...”

      As realization sank in, I wanted to crawl into a hole. Jasmine was worried that I’d suck her baby’s soul out. I’d thought Jasmine had grown to trust me after we first met, but when it came to her babies, that trust had jumped out the window. Part of me couldn’t blame her, but...

      Sighing, I handed Isabelle over to Jasmine and took a step back. Feeling all kinds of wrong, I forced a smile. “So how long will you be staying here?”

      Jasmine cradled the wriggling kid to her chest. Isabelle kept reaching out toward me. “A couple of weeks—a month, tops—and then we’ll head back home.”

      Then it struck me. If Jasmine was here, then that meant her younger and totally available sister was here. And she’d be here for weeks. My stomach dropped.

      Without saying another word, I wheeled from the room to go on a manhunt—or a female-gargoyle hunt. Whatever. Danika was different from any human girl Zayne might occasionally “date.” Way different.

      The soft sound of husky laughter floated out of the library I usually occupied during all my copious spare time. An irrational territorial urge surfaced. As I crossed the sparsely decorated sitting room that no one ever used, my hands balled into fists. Jealousy was a bitter acid sweeping through my veins as I stopped before the closed doors. I had no right to barge in on them, but I was no longer in control of myself.

      Danika’s throaty laugh came again, followed by a deeper chuckle. I could picture her tossing her long black hair over her shoulder, smiling the way all girls smiled at Zayne, and I pushed open the door.

      They stood so close their souls touched.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      Zayne leaned against the desk, dusty from disuse, his muscled arms folded across his chest. He had a slight smile on his face—a fond one. And Danika had one hand on his shoulder, her face so bright and happy I wanted to throw up on the both of them. They were the same height, both around the same age. Admittedly, they’d make a beautiful couple and have tons of beautiful babies that would shift and wouldn’t have any tainted blood in them.

      I hated her.

      Zayne looked up, stiffening as his eyes locked with mine.

      “Layla? Is that you?” Danika pulled away from Zayne, smiling as her hand trailed down his chest. A soft, rosy flush covered her high cheekbones. “Your hair has gotten so long.”

      My hair hadn’t grown that much since the last time I’d seen her, which was three months ago. “Hey.” I sounded like I’d swallowed a bed of nails.

      She came across the library, stopping short of embracing me because we so weren’t on hugging terms. “How have you been? How’s school?”

      The fact that Danika actually liked me made it all the more intolerable. “It’s great.”

      Zayne pushed off the desk. “Did you need something, Layla-bug?”

      I felt like the biggest kind of idiot. “I...just wanted to say hi.” I turned to Danika, my face burning. “Hi.”

      Her smile faltered a bit as she glanced at Zayne. “We were just talking about you, actually. Zayne was telling me you were thinking of applying to Columbia?”

      I thought about the half-completed college application. “It was a stupid idea.”

      Zayne frowned. “I thought you said you were going to do it.”

      I shrugged. “What’s the point? I already have a job.”

      “Layla, there’s still a point. You don’t have—”

      “It’s nothing we need to talk about. Sorry for interrupting.” I cut Zayne off. “I’ll see you guys later.”

      I hurried away before I made an even bigger fool out of myself, blinking back hot, humiliating tears. My skin was starting to crawl by the time I made it to the fridge. I shouldn’t have gone looking for them, because I’d known what I’d find. But apparently I was into torturing myself.

      Pulling out the carton of OJ, I also grabbed the roll of sugar-cookie dough. The first gulp of juice was the best. I loved the acidic burn. Sugar helped when the cravings to take a soul hit hard. It was a mortifying need, reminding me of drug addicts.

      “Layla.”

      Closing my eyes, I set the carton on the counter. “Zayne?”

      “She’s only going to be here a couple of weeks. You could at least try to be nice to her.”

      I twisted around, focusing on his shoulder. “I was being nice to her.”

      He laughed. “You sounded like you wanted to bite her head off.”

      Or take her soul. “Whatever.” I grabbed a chunk of dough and popped it in my mouth. “You shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

      Zayne reached over, taking the dough from my hands. “She went to help Jasmine with the twins.”

      “Oh.” I turned away, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard, filling it to the top.

      “Layla-bug.” His breath stirred my hair. “Please don’t act like this.”

      I sucked in air, wanting to lean back into him, but knowing I never could. “I’m not acting like anything. You should go hang out with Danika.”

      Sighing, he placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me back around. His eyes dropped to the glass I held. “Rough day at school, huh?”

      I backed up, hitting the counter. The image of Roth cornering me in the bathroom immediately

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