Page 95 of Stone Cold Touch

As I spun, I saw odd shapes and shadows. Flesh with no faces. Faces made of skeleton and nothing more. Soft material billowed around my legs, supple and daring. For a second, I thought I wore a gown, but when I looked down I saw only blue jeans.

Brother pulled me back into his arms. I pressed against him, inhaling deeply. He had no scent, nothing at all. Our hips fit together, moving in tempo.

“We feel the same need.” He placed his lips against my flushed forehead. “A taste will not hurt.” He pushed me away.

“A taste will ease your burden,” Sister whispered, placing a kiss against my throat. “A taste will help you see.”

“See what?” I asked, breathless and dizzy.

Sister smiled. “Brother, she wants to see.”

He came up behind me, flattening his hand against my stomach. “We have one for you, our lovely little sister.”

I let him pull me away from Sister, turning me so that I faced the crowd, my back to his front. We were farther into the shadows than I’d realized. Everyone seemed so far away. Sister flitted away from us, spinning around the dancing couples like a mini tornado.

“Lovely,” he said again, kissing my neck, where my pulse pounded, then underneath my jaw, my cheek.

I closed my eyes, leaning into him. I felt warm, wanted and cherished in his embrace. I wasn’t lonely or unwelcome. I was the most beautiful girl in his world and his world centered around me—only me.

“Open your eyes, lovely,” he ordered softly.

I did.

A redhead stood in front of me, her dress pink with purple dots. A pretty cupcake, I thought. I liked cupcakes, especially these kinds.

Her face seemed fuzzy, though. I thought maybe she was older and that maybe I should be more concerned about this, and yet, I no longer knew myself. Sister whispered in her ear, taking a glass from the woman’s suddenly limp fingers.

“Dance,” Brother said.

And we danced, this girl and me. We didn’t touch, but we moved in the exact same step. As if we were reflections of one another, but we were nothing alike. That much I knew. Soon, Brother joined me, whispering words I didn’t understand. A language I was meant to know, I believe, but could not quite grasp. Sister did the same, and the woman seemed to grow fuzzier.

The woman stilled in front of me, head tipped to the side and blue eyes closed. Blue? She wasn’t a demon. She wasn’t like me. But it didn’t matter. I stepped forward, because I knew I was supposed to. It was what Brother wanted. I wanted it, too.

I stood on the tips of my toes, barely able to reach her. I felt hands on my shoulders, holding me steady. We were close, close enough. I closed my eyes, waiting for a moment, a sweet moment of pure torture. Then I inhaled slowly, deeply.

I took her soul.

23

Warmth flooded my veins, igniting flames as it continued to my curled toes. This woman tasted of frosted sugar and bubbling wine. Every cell in my body opened up, like a flower that had been denied water and sun for far too long. Without thinking, I inhaled again.

The air moved as the woman jerked.

Oh God, why had I denied myself this?

Brother sighed, his fingers digging into my arms. The tiny spark of pain was nothing compared to the rush of this woman’s essence. I kept dragging her in, filling my body with light and air. A door seemed to open in my mind. I saw her more clearly. She was a pretty woman but had a cruel mouth that said cruel words. She’d cheated her way through school and then on her fiancé. In a flash of light, I saw a brief memory of her whispering wretched words about a coworker to her boss and then laughing when the coworker was fired.

So many memories rushed me, all of them stacking the odds against her. She was mean, spiteful to the core, but I knew if I kept going, if I kept tasting her spirit, I’d see what damaged her. Something had turned her into this hateful person, something darker and more twisted than any bullshit she could pull.

Without warning, she was yanked away from me. I stumbled forward, gasping for air. I felt Brother let go of my arms and I looked up.

Roth was before me, tall and terrible. He held on to the woman’s chin, forcing her to look him straight in the eye. “You will remember none of this,” he said. “Leave this place. Go home and never come back here again. Do you understand me?”

The woman managed a short nod and then stumbled to the side, into the crowd. Where she went, I didn’t know. I didn’t even care. My eyes were trained on Roth.

Sister giggled. “You ruin all the fun. She said she didn’t belong to you.”

Roth leveled a stare at me. “She doesn’t belong to either of you.”

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