Page 48 of Stone Cold Touch

“You scared the crap out of me.” Heart pounding, all I could think about was the vial in my hand. Zayne wouldn’t understand why I was sneaking around in Abbot’s office, no matter how harmless it was. When he only stared at me, I tried a diversion as I lowered my hands. “What are you doing back so early?”

“What are you doing in my father’s study?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

Hands now hidden behind the desk, I slid the vial down my palm. I’d either have to drop it and pray to the Dalai Lama that it didn’t break, or pretend to faint and put it back. Neither of those options filled me with any confidence. “Nope.”

“Uh-huh.”

My cheeks started to heat, and I was glad for the room’s dim lighting. “You didn’t tell me why you’re back so early.”

“And you haven’t told me what you’re really doing in here.”

I shifted my weight, preparing to drop the vial back into the drawer I’d found it in. All I needed was the name and I’d gotten that. “I couldn’t sleep so I was—Ack!”

Zayne moved incredibly fast, seeming to disappear from just inside the door only to reappear right in front of me. Before I could drop the vial, he wrapped his hand around my wrist.

“What is this?” he asked as he lifted my arm.

My fingers tightened around the vial. “Uh...”

He cocked his head to the side and sighed. “Layla.”

I tried to pull free, but when that didn’t work, I equaled and then topped his sigh with my own. “Fine. I saw Abbot with this vial a few days ago, and I wanted to know what it was. So that’s what I was looking for.”

“At three in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep and I was down in the library when the idea occurred to me.” I tugged on my arm again. “I wasn’t in here photocopying Warden secrets or killing babies. Look.” I wiggled my fingers until he could see the vial’s handwritten label. “I’m not lying.”

His gaze flicked down and he frowned. “Bloodroot?”

“You know what it is?” If so, happy me, because it would be so much better having him just explain it than going through that dusty book again.

“Yes.” He let go of my arm and snatched it out of my fingers quickly, like a cat. “You shouldn’t be messing with that stuff.”

“Why?”

Very carefully, he placed the vial back in the drawer and eased it shut. Standing, he cast me a long look. “Come on.”

Stubbornly, my feet sank into the floor. “Tell me what you know.”

Zayne rounded the desk and kept going. “Layla, come on before someone else comes back, sees you in here and freaks out.”

He had a point, and while I was feeling this childish urge to argue, I ignored it and followed him back into the library. Slipping past him, I made a beeline for the desk while he closed the door behind him.

My eyes widened as I spotted the OJ, the book and the...the empty cookie dough wrapper. I whirled on Zayne. “You ate my cookie dough!”

A small grin tipped his lips up. “Maybe.”

I heaved out a sigh as I grabbed the bottle of OJ. “That’s so wrong.”

He sauntered over to the desk and placed his palms on the edge, leaning in so that we were at eye level. “I’ll get a new pack for you in the morning.”

“You should,” I said, sounding grumpy and peevish. And I was feeling those things because he was close, and all I could think about was what Danika had said and all those dirty things I’d been thinking about that drove me from my bed. I pushed away from the desk.

A brow went up as he watched me cross the room. “You’re in a lovely mood.”

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