Page 43 of Stone Cold Touch

“Only you would laugh at that,” I replied, wrinkling my nose. Mugging was not something I wanted to add to my list of messed-up things that happened this week.

“What?” he said as we reached the walk-in entrance of the parking garage. “They picked the wrong people if that’s the case.”

The garage was quiet and the overhead lights cast dull yellow beams over the hoods of the cars and spotted, stained cement. Not a damn thing about the place gave me that welcoming “nothing bad is about to go down in here” feeling.

At the first aisle of cars, footsteps echoed behind us. Roth drew up short as Zayne turned, moving to stand in front of me. He took off his cap and handed it over. I wondered what he expected me to do with his hat. Not get dirt on it?

One of the young men moved forward—not the one I’d seen with what I thought was a gun. Under the low light, his features looked swallowed, sunken in, as if he hadn’t eaten a good meal in a while.

Roth crossed his arms, causing his shirt to stretch tight along the back of his shoulders. “What’s up, home skillets?”

I rolled my eyes.

Khaki Guy in the front reached behind him, and my heart stopped. Roth’s arms unfolded and Zayne started to drop into a crouch. The guy pulled out something black and rectangular—definitely not a gun. He lifted it in front of him like a shield, holding it in a white-knuckled grasp.

Roth laughed loudly and deeply. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Khaki Guy held a Bible in his right hand. “We know what the three of you are,” he said, voice steady as his gaze moved over Zayne to Roth, and then to where I was peering around Zayne. “God’s mistake, a demon from Hell and something far worse.”

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My brows inched up my forehead. How in the Hell was I the worst thing out of the three of us? Not that I should be paying attention to that. It was a big deal that this human knew about Zayne, and even more shocking was he knew that Roth was a demon, considering the whole humans must be kept in the dark when it came to demons thing.

“I’m offended,” I grumbled.

“The Whore should not speak in the presence of such holy text,” the guy spat out.

“Excuse me?” I screeched, darting out from behind Zayne, who caught me around the waist. “Did you just call me a whore?”

The man held the Bible in my direction. “You are the daughter of one. Does that not make you the same?”

“Whoa.” Roth stepped forward, hands closing into fists at his sides. “That’s really impolite and kind of ironic, you know, using words likewhorewhile holding a Bible.”

“And that comes from a demon?” spat the other man. “You are the scourge of the Earth—a pestilence upon the people.”

“I’d have to agree,” Zayne muttered under his breath.

Bible Guy’s wild gaze swung back to him. “And you—you’re no better. Masquerading as our protectors while consorting with our enemies. False prophets!”

“Church of God’s Children,” I said as realization sank in. Anger tasted like hot pepper on my tongue. Images of all those damn anti-Warden flyers that plastered electric poles danced in front of me. “You’re the fanatics that have absolutely no idea about anything.”

“We know more than you realize,” Bible Guy announced proudly. He sneered as he looked at Roth. “We’ve always known of your existence, and it’s our goal to reveal the Wardens for what they truly are.”

“Curious,” Roth murmured, shifting a foot closer. Bible Guy backed up as a little bit of his arrogance cracked like ice. “How do you know about us?”

“We have our ways,” the other man answered. At his sides, his fingers twitched.

Zayne took a deep breath. “We’re not demons. That’s the furthest—”

“You’re with a demon—two of them,” he responded as he blinked several times. “Lies slip from your forked tongue.”

Although I’d never been up close and personal with Zayne’s tongue, I so knew it wasn’t forked. “You don’t know anything about the Wardens,” I said, hoping to bring a dose of reality in their world. “If you did, you’d know they’re helping mankind. That there is nothing to fear—”

“Shut up, whore of Satan.”

My mouth dropped open and my head was about to spinExorcist-style. I stepped forward as Roth cracked his neck, signaling he was ready to end this little conversation. “Call me that one more time and I’ll give you something to fear.” I had no idea where those words came from because, even with Zayne’s training, I wasn’t really a fighter, and I wasn’t a badass, but my lips curved into a cold, tight smile. “That’s a promise.”

I felt Zayne’s stare—the shock and uncertainty, because I doubted he’d ever heard me sound so threatening before, but rationalizing with fanatics was as fruitful as having a lobotomy. Twice. The simmering anger, the outrage brewing deep inside me fueled courage. Probably not the greatest combination, but I latched on to it. My skin tingled and the back of my throat burned. Bambi shifted on my skin, her tail flicking along my lower back. I bet their souls tasted like watered-down strawberry juice—tainted. “Is there a reason you followed us, other than to preach hypocritical nonsense?”

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