Page 153 of Stone Cold Touch

Zayne stumbled as he took a step toward me, and it was as if he couldn’t move any farther. “Layla,” he said, the one word sounding broken. It was like a bow snapping. Some of the tautness in his body seeped out. His shoulders sagged.

“Were you followed?” Roth asked.

All he did was stare at me, his face pale and his chest rising in deep breaths.

A low growl emanated from Roth. “Were you followed?”

Stacey took a healthy step back. “I feel like I need to get out of the way.”

Zayne shook his head. “No.”

His answer did nothing to relieve Roth. “How can you be sure?”

“They don’t have any reason to follow me,” he said, and then he blinked. “God, Layla, I... I’m so sorry.”

Taken aback, I placed my hand against my chest. “Why would you apologize? I hurt—”

“I know what they did to you.” He finally looked at Roth. “Whatever you did, however you helped her, thank you. I can never repay for you that. Ever.”

Whoa.

Even Roth looked a little knocked off his game by that. There was no smart-ass response. All he did was nod in return, and then Zayne’s gaze returned to mine. He shook his head, and my chest tightened.

A knock on the front door raised the hairs along the nape of my neck.

“That wouldn’t be a Warden, would it?” Stacey asked. “I doubt they’d knock, right?”

Zayne didn’t take his brilliant teal eyes off me. “They wouldn’t knock, but I’m telling you, I wasn’t followed. They think...they think she’s dead.”

Roth’s lips curled, revealing fangs. He started toward Zayne, and I knew that even though he was aware that Zayne hadn’t been responsible for anything, he wanted to shed blood over it—any Warden blood.

Reaching forward, I wrapped my hand around his arm. “Don’t. You know this isn’t his fault. Don’t fight him. Please.”

He eyeballed Zayne as if he wanted to finger paint with his entrails. Finally, he turned sideways and leaned in so that when he spoke, his breath danced along my temple. “Only because you asked. Only because of that.”

Zayne closed his eyes. The knock came again.

“Uh, I’m going to go answer that,” said Stacey, and then she mouthed,awkward.

Roth pulled free. “I’ll go with you.” As he strutted past Zayne, he cast him a look of warning. “Don’t make me regret the fact I’m letting you continue to breathe.”

A muscle popped in his jaw, but Zayne kept his lips sealed. Once Roth and Stacey were out in the hall, I took a breath I didn’t need.

“I... I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, curling my arms around my waist. “But I’m sorry for hurting you. I didn’t mean to. I know that doesn’t make it okay, because what I did was so—”

“Stop,” Zayne said, and his voice cracked. “Stop apologizing, Layla. None of this was your fault. You don’t understand. So much has happened.” He broke off, taking a step forward. “I don’t care what you did to me or what has happened, but it’s not you. It can’t be.”

“Zayne,” I whispered, pleaded really.

“There is a wraith at the house,” he continued, and I blinked, unsure whether I heard him right. “It’s Petr. Geoff caught it on camera not too long after what... God, what my clan—your clan—did to you....” He swallowed thickly and I swore his eyes got misty. “They think you died. Even Nicolai wasn’t confident that he got Roth there in time, but I knew you weren’t dead. I would know in here.” He thumped his hand against his chest. “I would know if a part of my heart was gone.”

I sucked in a breath as the voices in the hall grew closer and then Stacey and Roth had returned. Behind them was a tall and slender Sam, and the air whooshed out of my lungs as if someone had drop-kicked me in my chest.

My knees shook as I took a step back and my brain didn’t want to process what I was seeing, but there was no denying it. In my chest, my heart cracked wide-open.

Zayne’s brows knitted as he focused on me. “Layla?”

The room spun a little. I was vaguely aware of the way Roth was moving, angling his body toward mine so that he was standing beside me, but every ounce of my being was focused on Sam.

---