Page 131 of Stone Cold Touch

Our eyes met, and I totally got what he meant. “I am.” Which was such a lie.

He tipped his head against the wall and breathed in deeply. I watched him for a moment. His arms were folded loosely over his chest. Everything about him looked tense. I hadn’t even told him about the woman from the Palisades.

“Hungry?” he asked, his voice off. “We should probably head in there before Stacey and Sam start making babies on the lunchroom table.”

“We found another wraith,” I said in a low voice.

His eyes snapped open. “What?”

“Last week. Zayne and I did an exorcism,” I explained quietly.

He was standing straight now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was the woman from the club in the Palisades, Roth.” My stomach dipped as his eyes flared. “The woman I fed off.”

He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut as he thrust a hand through his dark hair. Tight lines formed around his lips. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It was her.” I scrubbed my hands down my face. “She walked away, right?”

He nodded. “She did. I swear to you, Layla. She walked away.”

“But how did she end up dying? It was supposedly a heart attack, but she didn’t have any existing issues. I know that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but the likelihood of that? What if it was me? What if I infected her? What if I’ve been the one infecting all of these people?”

“Whoa, where has this come from?” Roth got all up in my personal space. “Is this something new?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve been wondering about it for a while and Zayne doesn’t think it’s me, but we haven’t found any evidence of a Lilin, nothing concrete, and everyone who’s been infected has been near me.”

“But how? Have you been wandering around kissing people? Because if so, I’m pretty pissed off that I wasn’t included in that.”

I shot him a look. Not like I hadn’t kissed him recently. “Uh, no, I haven’t, and I don’t know how. That’s the only part I can’t figure out.” I looked up at him and put it all out there, because I trusted him to not hold back. He hadn’t before on the sucky stuff I didn’t want to hear. “Do you think it’s me?”

He stared at me a moment, not moving. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing. Then he leaned in, placing his hands on my shoulders. His grip wasn’t heavy, but there was so much in the touch. It was a comforting pressure, and I closed my eyes.

“Stop,” he whispered against my hair, “asking questions that serve no purpose.”

Roth said nothing more as he pulled back, his arms falling to his sides and whatever comfort he’d offered turned to apprehension. His silence was unsettling. He never answered my question.

The night we left for the club in Bethesda, there was a hint of snow in the air. It was definitely cold enough and the crispness had that wintry feel to it.

Our drive to the club was quiet. Roth was waiting inside his Porsche in the parking lot across from a school. As soon as Zayne and I pulled up in the Impala, he opened the door and stepped out.

I glanced down at myself and wrinkled my nose.

Roth was dressed as if he was about to walk into a coven full of witches. His legs were encased in leather and he wore a dark shirt. The outfit bled menace and mayhem, while my blue jeans and blue turtleneck pretty much bled Susie Homemaker.

“I should’ve worn something better,” I commented.

“I think you look fine.”

I glanced over at Zayne and smiled. “Thank you, but I have a feeling I’m going to stand out.”

“You always stand out.” The grin on his face faded as Roth strolled up to his window. Grumbling under his breath, he rolled it down. “What?”

Roth looked unfazed. “About time. I think I grew about a week’s worth of facial hair waiting for you two.”

Zayne rolled his eyes as I glanced over to where the club was. At first I didn’t think we were at the right spot. It was inside a ritzy hotel. The kind of hotel that had all reflective glass walls and sculptures that looked like something a five-year-old had molded.

Or something I would make.

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