Sweet Temptation

I have to get rid of the damn spirit so I can explain. Just another minute more.

All I have to do now is climb onto the bed with her—breathe—throw a sheet over us—breathe—and pretend. And then it will be over. I won’t let anything happen. I swallow hard and yank the blanket down from underneath her. She scoots back and I put my hands on the bed. Then a knee. A

I am nearly on top of her when the demon spirit makes a disgusting sound, like something gurgling inside a zombie’s throat. A

“Do you have to be here?” she yells at it. “You’re really distracting.”

“Shut up,” it hisses into our minds, diving forward. “As if I want to be here with you boring Neph!”

Bingo, baby.

“Then leave,” I say in a lazy voice. “We’re almost finished here. Anyway, I think you’d find room 108 far more interesting.”

My heart is pounding. The whisperer goes still. Then moves up and down, pondering. Please, let this work.

“You won’t tell?” it hisses.

“Tell what?” I snap, as if I’m eager to get back to work. “You did what you bloody came to do—you saw me find the girl and assure she’s impure. Your job is done, and I can finish mine much better if you’re not hovering.”

For a horrible moment I imagine it will refuse, then it spins and disappears through the side wall into the hall. Just like that. I stare at that spot forever, because it’s too bloody good to be true. When he doesn’t come back, I fall to my face on the bed beside A

My man parts are crying.

I want A

A

Right. That’s a no.

I look at her face as she stares at the wall in agony, and I can’t take it any longer. I reach a hand over her waist and lay my head in her blanketed lap, breathing in her sweet scent. I have to erase any shred of doubt, fear, or distrust in her mind.

“I would have stopped, A

Her voice is filled with emotion when she says, “I believe you.”

My head is suddenly too heavy to lift, though I know I should move away from her. Then I feel A

“Get under the covers with me,” A

Yes. I lift my head and the doubt is gone from her eyes. Only love and concern are there, and I feel myself melt.

Her head tilts and she touches my cheek. “There you are.”

Here I am.

She pulls back the sheet and I move next to her, shielding myself with a pillow. We lay silent, side by side, and I’m trying damn hard not to think about our nakedness. About her waist and hips and thighs and legs . . .

I bolt upright. The bruises!

I take her arm and gently twist it to find fingertip bruises on the soft flesh underneath. The smoking coals beneath my skin reignite with a vengeance.

“A

“Listen, Kai.” It’s her calming voice, but it’s not working. “I’m all right now, okay?”

No. Not okay at all. Anyone who is capable of putting marks like this on A

“The sons of Thamuz.”

HolyMaryMotherofGod.

My mouth goes completely dry as I recall the things they did to Marna when she was so young—things that forced her to begin seeing evil whisperers. “What did they do?” I don’t want to hear it, but I need to know. If they raped her and stole her i

“Nothing!” she assures me, grabbing my arm. She sounds as if she means it, and I try to calm my breathing. “They tried to take me, but I fought. And . . . Kope showed up.”

I’m sorry, what? “Kope?”

Her eyes dart about like she wants to run. “Yeah. Um. I figured it might be safe to call him for information. I didn’t ask him to come. I didn’t have any idea the sons of Thamuz were going to attack me. I was only pla

I can see the worry on her face, that I might get jealous, but I’m not jealous of Kope anymore. I know there’s nothing between them except friendship. However, my foolish pride makes me hate the fact that she had to ring another person for help while I had no clue what was happening. And I hate that A

I rub my face hard as exhaustion hits me.

“I can’t . . . I just . . . A

Her shoulder blade is swollen and purpled. I want to vomit, remembering how she’d yelped when I pushed her against the wall. “I’d no clue you were injured. I was too rough. . . .”

She takes my hand and angles herself so I can’t see it. “I’m okay. I swear. You had to be rough. It was more convincing that way.”

But I don’t hear her. I’m too busy picturing the evil sons of the Duke of Murder manhandling her. “I’ll kill them.”

A

“If it makes you feel any better,” she says, “I zapped one of them pretty good.”

“You did what?”

She points at the torch on the ground by the door. “It’s a stun gun.”

I chuckle at the thought of this, and A

We dodged a bullet tonight, but we’re not out of the dark yet. What happened tonight was only a temporary fix on a major problem. Father and the others will come looking for A

CHAPTER THIRTY

Blake and the Twins

“Bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere . . .

I wa