LITMIR.BIZ

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on his side this time, keeping his hand wrapped around mine. Hair fell across his cheek. I wanted to brush it off his face, but didn’t have the nerve. “I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow,” he said finally.

      I beamed at him like he was my own personal cell-phone manufacturer. “Please get me a touch-screen one this time. Everyone at school has one.”

      Zayne arched a brow. “You’d destroy that in a matter of seconds. You need one of those giant satellite phones.”

      “That’ll make me real cool.” I wrinkled my nose as I glanced at the wall clock. He’d need to be leaving soon. “I guess I should go study or something.”

      Golden-hued skin crinkled as he smiled. “Don’t go yet.”

      Nothing in this world could stop the warmth building in my chest. I glanced at the bedside clock once more. He had a few more hours before he left to hunt the demons I’d tagged earlier. Grateful, I rolled onto my side. Mr. Snotty lay between us.

      He untangled his fingers from mine and plucked up a few strands of my hair. “Your hair is always in knots. Do you even know how to use a brush?”

      I smacked his hand away, shuddering at the reminder of the rat. “Yes, I know how to use a brush, you ass.”

      Zayne chuckled, returning to my knotted hair. “Language, Layla, language.”

      I quieted down as he gently pulled a few of the tangles out. This touching-my-hair thing was new and I didn’t mind. He held the pale strands between us, eyes narrowed in concentration. “I need a haircut,” I murmured after a few moments.

      “No.” He draped my hair back over my shoulder. “It’s...beautiful long. And it suits you.”

      My heart practically exploded into mush. “Do you want to hear about school today?”

      His gaze brightened. All the Wardens except me had been homeschooled, and most of Zayne’s college classes had been online. He listened as I told him about the paper I’d gotten a B on, the fight in the cafeteria between two girls over a boy and how Stacey accidentally locked herself in the guidance counselor’s office after school.

      “Oh. I almost forgot.” I paused, yawning obnoxiously. “Sam wants to interview you for the school paper. Something about you being a Warden.”

      Zayne grimaced. “I don’t know about that. We aren’t allowed to give interviews. The Alphas would see that as being prideful.”

      “I know. I told him not to hold his breath.”

      “Good. Father would flip out if he thought I was talking to the press.”

      I giggled. “Sam’s not the press, but I gotcha.”

      He kept me up for a little while longer, asking question after question. Against my will, my eyes fell shut. He’d be long gone before I woke up; out hunting demons. Maybe even a few Upper Level ones. Maybe even the demon boy with the snake named Bambi.

      * * *

      Bleary-eyed, I dug out my bio book. I had three seconds to myself before a soft green soul edged into my line of vision. I lifted my head, inhaling deeply. I liked to be around innocent souls. They were pretty average and not as tempting as—

      A fist slammed into my arm. “You didn’t come to our study group, Layla!”

      I stumbled to the side, catching myself on the locker door. “Jeez, Stacey, that’s going to bruise.”

      “You left us hanging. Again.”

      Slamming my locker door shut, I faced my best friend. Stacey had some oomph behind her punches. “Sorry. I had to run home. Something came up.”

      “Something always comes up.” She glared at me. “It’s ridiculous. Do you know I had to sit and listen to Sam talk about how many people he killed on Assassin’s Creed for an entire hour?”

      I shoved my books into my bag, laughing. “That sucks.”

      “Yeah, it did.” She ripped a hair tie off her wrist and pulled her hair into a short ponytail. “But I forgive you.”

      Stacey always forgave me for being late or not showing up. I really didn’t understand why. I could be a terrible friend at times, and it wasn’t like Stacey wasn’t popular. She had a lot of other friends, but ever since freshman year, she’d seemed to like me.

      We stepped into the throng of students. The mingled scents of perfume and body odor turned my stomach. My senses were slightly heightened. Nothing super extraordinary like a full-blooded demon or Warden, but unfortunately, I could smell what most humans couldn’t. “I’m really sorry about last night. I didn’t even get to study for our bio exam.”

      She stared at me, her almond-shaped eyes narrowing. “You still look half-asleep.”

      “I was so bored in homeroom that I dozed off and almost slid out of my chair.” I glanced at a group of jocks slouched near the empty trophy case. Our football team sucked. Their souls were a rainbow of soft blues. “Mr. Brown yelled at me.”

      She snickered. “Mr. Brown yells at everyone. So you didn’t study at all?”

      Pink souls surrounding a group of giggling sophomores caught my attention. “What?”

      Letting out a long-suffering sigh, she said, “Biology—as in the science of life? We’re on our way to class. We have an exam.”

      I tore my gaze from the pretty trails, frowning. “Oh. Duh. No, like I said, I didn’t study at all.”

      Stacey switched her books to her other arm. “I hate you. You didn’t crack a book and you’ll probably still get an A.” She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, shaking her head. “So not fair.”

      “I don’t know. Mrs. Cleo gave me a B on the last exam and I really have no clue what’s on this one.” I frowned, realizing how true that was. “Man, I really should have studied last night.”

      “You still have Sam’s notes?” She grabbed my arm, steering me out of the path of another student. I caught the tail end of a deep pink soul blurred with streaks of red. “Wow, he is so checking you out.”

      “Huh?” I looked at Stacey. “Who?”

      She glanced over her shoulder as she pulled me closer. “The guy you almost plowed into—Gareth Richmond. He’s still checking you out. No!” she hissed into my ear. “Don’t look. That’s too obvious.”

      I fought the natural urge to turn around.

      Stacey giggled. “Actually, he’s checking out your butt.” She let go of my arm, straightening. “It is a nice butt.”

      “Thanks,” I murmured, my gaze following the powder-blue soul surrounding a guy ahead of us.

      “Gareth checking out your butt is a good thing,” Stacey continued. “His dad owns half of downtown and his parties are freaking awesome.”

      I turned into the narrow corridor leading to bio. “I think you’re just imagining things.”

      She shook her head. “Don’t act clueless. You’re cute—way hotter than that hobag over there.”

      My gaze went straight to where Stacey pointed. A faint purple aura surrounded Eva Hasher. Meaning she was a few more mean-girl moves away from slipping into questionable soul status. My throat suddenly constricted. The darker or purer the soul was, the stronger the allure.

      The really, really bad and the really, really good were the most appealing, which made Eva very interesting to me, but eating the soul belonging to the most popular girl in school would be way uncool.

      Eva leaned against a locker, surrounded by what Stacey referred to as the bitch pack.

      Eva flipped Stacey off with one perfectly painted blue nail and then glanced at me. “Oh, look! It’s the gargoyle whore.”

      Her

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