Page 36 of Bitter Sweet Love

Dez held his arm out, keeping me from making my way around him. “I’m going to give you five seconds to get out of here.”

The demon stood there as several heartbeats passed. “Five seconds are up. Next threat?”

“Aren’t you a smart-ass,” Dez snapped.

“Among many, many things.” The demon’s gaze seemed to find the tiniest part of me visible behind Dez. He sighed as his gaze softened. “I have no problems with the two of you, so...whatever.”

Whatever? Had I heard him right?

The Upper Level demon winked an amber-colored eye and then turned. Casting one last lingering look inside the ice-cream’ shop, he strolled away, humming under his breath. The melody poked around at my memory.

“‘Paradise City’?” I said dumbly, stepping to stand beside Dez. “He’s humming a Guns N’ Roses song?”

Dez didn’t respond, and I don’t even know why I was fixating on the song. Maybe it was shock from being this close to an Upper Level demon and then hearing him say he had “no problems” with us. He’d walked away. He’d walked away when the demon who killed my mother hadn’t.

I had no idea what had just happened.

Swallowing hard, I glanced at Dez. His body was trembling from the amount of control it took to stay where he was. The small crowd that had started to gather around us thinned out as interest was lost, but a few humans, ones who were clearly observant, were starting to look at us closely.

“Dez?” I wrapped my hand around his forearm, feeling the tension in his muscles. “Are you going to go after him?”

“I should—I need to.”

The unspoken “but” was that all Wardens, no matter how ticked off they were or how big their egos could be, knew better than to try to take on an Upper Level demon alone, even one who had turned his back.

Dez let out a ripe curse as he finally looked at me. “I need to warn Zayne.”

“Okay.” I started to let go and then tightened my hold on his arm. “Wait.”

“What?”

I took a breath. “I don’t know, but it looked like he was watching them—watching Layla.”

Dez glanced through the window to where the two were sitting. “If so, that’s not good. Not good at all.”

Dez had pulled Zayne aside while I waited with Layla, and told him what had happened outside. The moment Dez had relayed my suspicion over what the Upper Level demon was doing, Zayne wanted to get Layla home.

Nothing was said to her about why we all were heading back to the compound and she didn’t seem to suspect anything when Dez disappeared with Zayne to speak with Abbot. I followed Layla upstairs to her bedroom.

The room was a mess. Books littered the floor. Mismatched socks peeked out from her dresser and under her desk, but the room was decked out in everything a girl could want—laptop, desktop, stereo, a huge TV and a closet overflowing with clothes. In the corner, a large handmade dollhouse was placed near the balcony doors and, at the head of the bed, nestled between a fleet of pillows, was a teddy bear that looked as if it had seen better days.

Layla plopped down on the bed and bounced once before she crossed her legs. Hovering at the door, I couldn’t help but wonder why the demon had been so interested in her and Zayne.

“It’s okay,” she said, planting her chin in her hands. “You don’t have to hang out with me.”

I blinked. “I’m sorry about the way I acted when I first saw you.”

She shrugged. “It’s no biggie.”

Biting down on my lip, I joined her on the bed. “You get that a lot?”

Layla laughed softly. “All the time. I can’t blame those who react that way. I am half demon.”

“But you’re so...” What was the right word?

“Awesome?” she answered, and then giggled. I smiled as she tugged her hair over her shoulder, twisting it. Danika did the same thing. “Can I ask you a question?”

I tucked my knees to my chest. “Sure.”