Page 45 of Stone Cold Touch

“I know.” I did know that, but the guy wasdead.

“And you need to stop looking at him. No good is going to come from that.” His lashes lifted, stare fixing over my shoulder. “You need to get her out of here. I’ll take care of the body.”

I didn’t want to know how he’d take care of it, and I wanted to not be such a wuss, so easily affected by a dead body, but my hands were shaking as his fingers slid off my cheeks. Roth’s eyes met mine for a second more and then Zayne was there, steering me away from the gruesome sight.

As he led me back to the Impala, I glanced over my shoulder. Not at the body. The shadows seemed to have spread through the parking garage, becoming thicker and nearly tangible. We were only a few car lengths away, but Roth had already disappeared into the shadows.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I wasn’t sure who I was saying it to, but silence was the only response.

The ride home was silent and while Zayne left to brief his father on the altercation with the guys from the Church of God’s Children, I retreated to my room. I should’ve been present when he spoke to Abbot, but after last night, I doubted my being in the same room as him would help my current mood.

I was itchy in my own skin. Bambi kept moving around, trying to get comfortable. I wished she’d just go chill in the dollhouse, but she wasn’t going anywhere.

Tugging my hair up in a messy knot, I paced the length of my room. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the man on the dirty floor of the garage and heard his words. They knew—the church knew about the Lilin. How was beyond me. It was the same with Roth. How had they known about demons in general?

I rubbed my hands together as I passed the front of my bed again. I still couldn’t believe I’d smacked the guy in the face with a Bible. That was terrible. Maybe not completely uncalled for, but my hand would’ve been a better choice. Then again, if I’d just kept my calm, maybe no one would’ve died. That was on my hands and I didn’t even know why I’d done it. Yes, I’d been rocking the full-on rage face, but I wasn’t typically the aggressor.

And I also didn’t normally lick people’s fingers.

It was something Roth would do—had done to me before. When he’d sucked off the crumbs from a sugar cookie.

Roth.

The twisty motion filled my chest.

Ugh.

Groaning, I stopped and sat on the edge of my bed, my back to the door. I’d forgotten about the whole “licking Zayne’s finger” thing in light of watching someone die. It had been better that way. Flopping down, I stared up at the ceiling. Sometimes it felt as though some kind of foreign entity was invading my body. I scrubbed my hands down my face, feeling as if I needed a body cleanse.

A knock on my bedroom door forced me up. Twisting around, I cleared my throat. “Yeah?”

When the door opened and Danika appeared, my brows rose. She shifted her weight. “I was checking in—” pausing, she glanced over her shoulder “—on your arm?”

Damn. I’d forgotten about that, too. “It doesn’t even hurt now.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” She hesitated as she nibbled on her lower lip. “May I?” She gestured at the bed.

Okay. This was weird, but I’d had so much weird in my life recently, I was interested in seeing where this was heading. I crossed my legs. “Sure.”

Her smile was tentative as she closed the door and sailed across the room, sitting beside me. For someone as tall as she was, you’d think she’d be less graceful. Nope. The girl walked on water and the water probably liked it. “Do you mind if I take a look at your arm?”

“Nope.” I reached down and tugged off my sweater. Underneath I wore a tank, which gave her perfect access. The cut on my arm was nothing more than a pink mark. The skin was puckered and that would probably never change, but it was better than dying. “The stitches fell out this morning.”

“Looks perfect.” She raised her gaze as she tucked back a strand of dark hair. A moment passed while I expected her to get up, but she remained. “I heard what happened with those church members.”

I looked away, wondering if Zayne had told his father I’d sort of instigated the violence. “Yeah.”

“Abbot’s worried,” she said softly. “He doesn’t understand how they knew what that... Roth was or about the Lilin.” There was a pause as she hooked one incredibly long leg over the other. “That’s not a problem he really wants to worry about right now. But I guess when it rains, it pours, huh?”

More like when it rained there was a massive hurricane. “Yep.”

Danika fiddled with a silver bracelet around her wrist. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not, but we’re not going back to New York. Not with the Lilin issue. Abbot wants all the manpower he can get.”

Woo. I could barely contain my excitement.

“And with Tomas still missing, Dez and the guys are pretty confident something happened to him.”

I stiffened, absently rubbing the spot on my chest where Bambi’s head was resting.

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