Page 80 of Stone Cold Touch

Roth frowned as he eyed me. “Could one of the coven members have gotten to him?” The question wasn’t really addressed to anyone in particular. “Or could it have been the Lilin?”

“Wouldn’t you have sensed a witch running around?” Zayne asked.

He shook his head. “They use charms to block us, just like they do with the Wardens. And we don’t know enough about the Lilin to even figure out if I’d sniff it out or not.”

I sat back, folding my arms across my stomach against the sudden chill that moved over my skin. “It was almost like it was a message.”

Zayne twisted toward me. Shadows had bloomed under his eyes, and I knew he hadn’t gotten much rest. “I don’t like where that thought is heading.”

“But it makes sense,” Roth said.

“We meet him yesterday, he tells us what he is and about where we can find more info on the Lilin, gives me a warning and then not even an hour later, he’s hanging.” I took a deep breath. “Seems like the message there is pretty clear. Back the Hell off.”

Roth’s eyes flashed. “Not going to happen.”

“As much as I hate to say it, the coven is the only lead we’ve got.” Zayne draped his arm behind me, and his body heat immediately expanded. His fingers coasted through the loose strands of my hair in a seemingly absent gesture. “There’s nothing on the streets. We’ve come up empty.”

“Same on my side.” Roth’s gaze drifted to Zayne’s hand and lingered. “Any update on possible deaths related to the Lilin?”

“Nothing out of the norm, but how do we really know?”

A muscle began to tick in Roth’s jaw, and I looked away, focusing on my untouched cookie. There was a sudden loud thump from the other side of the bakery. When I looked up, I saw Gareth on his knees by the table he’d been sitting at. Eva was beside him, her arms wrapped around his upper arm. Two bright pink spots appeared on her cheeks as half the bakery stopped to stare at them.

“Come on,” she said, forcing a smile on lips that were bare of any makeup. “You need to get up.”

I cringed from the secondhand embarrassment. Eva was not a fan of mine, but watching this made me uncomfortable.

“The kid needs an intervention,” an older man in line said loud enough that Eva heard.

Eva’s cheeks flushed even brighter, but Gareth let out that giggle again; the kind that made my skin crawl.

“More like a demonic intervention,” muttered Roth, eyeing the situation with visible distaste.

Gareth rose but then stumbled again, knocking into a nearby table. Drinks spilled and people scattered. A glassy sheen filled Eva’s eyes. I couldn’t sit there any longer.

“Move,” I said, pushing lightly on Zayne.

He didn’t budge. “Why?”

“This is too embarrassing to watch. Someone needs to help her.”

Zayne stared at me a moment and then sighed. “Stay put. I’ll make sure she gets him out of here.”

“Thank you.”

As Zayne headed over to help her out, my gaze drifted across the table. It was impossible for it not to go there. I could feel the intensity in Roth’s stare. Our gazes locked.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

The question caught me by surprise. I couldn’t remember a time when he’d asked that. “I’m okay.”

“Seeing that this morning couldn’t have been fun.”

Uncomfortable, I placed my hands on the table to keep from fidgeting. “It wasn’t.”

“And the guy that died a few nights back.” A lock of black-blue hair fell across his forehead, softening his features. “How are you handling that?”

Pressing my lips together, I didn’t answer immediately. Zayne had Gareth to the door. I hoped that wherever they needed to go wasn’t far because I doubted they’d make it without Zayne carrying him. When my gaze slid back to Roth, he was still waiting.

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