Page 52 of Demon Kissed
Zolroth starts chuckling, and I realize I just spoke aloud.
His hands wrap around mine and lift them. He places a gentle kiss on the back of my knuckles that makes my heart flop into a girlish faint.
“You’re cute. But Janie is definitely not our Center.”
My eyes flicker from Zolroth over to the other demons, who are glancing furtively in our direction whenever they aren’t bowling.
“Yes,our,” Zolroth answers my unspoken question.
So, they all share a single mate? Oh, poor demon woman. The guys are just trying to help me, and they wear me out with the constant attention, stalking, and ridiculousness. How much worse would it be for her? Still, though, we’re talking mates, and with demons, I’m guessing it’s not a stretch to call it a soulmate? I don’t really know.
I file that question away for later. I’ll start with something easier.
“But if this Center is your mate…why are you wasting your time with me?” I’m genuinely confused. “Who cares about a summoning spell when your mate is out there?”
Zolroth drops my hands and harshly shoves off his loafers before putting on the bowling shoes, aggressively tying them. “Most demons never want to find their Centers. Those that do…” He trails off and shakes his head.
Not want to find their mate? Pity, like a coin dropped in a lake, ripples through my stomach. What a sad existence. “Why not?”
“Because if a demon is near their Center, an angel can kill them.”
17
This fake firstdate has suddenly gone from light-hearted to scary in a matter of minutes. I shoot up from my seat, fear for Zolroth taking the lead. “Well then, we’ve got to get you out of here.” I go to tug on his hand, but he just stands leisurely and captures my chin in his hand, turning my face back towards him.
He leans close, like he’s about to kiss me, and dammit all, my knees go weak. They definitely cannot tell the difference between a fake date and a real one.
Zolroth leans in close on my good side and whispers, “Stop panicking, love. The guys have my back. Just because an angelcouldkill me doesn’t mean they will. They’d have to get to me first. My team wouldn’t let that happen. We’re taking precautions.”
I want to argue, but he spins me in a slow circle and points me toward the rack lined with balls. “Now, choose your weapon.”
He releases me, and I stumble toward the bowling balls, mind still spinning with all of this new information. I know so little about them, about all of this, because I’ve been so focused on William.
But here they are, putting themselves in danger to help me.
Way to be an asshole, Kat, I scold.
Well, no more. I’m gonna do everything I can to find out all about Zolroth and the rest of the guys. And I’m gonna help them. Somehow. My puny, weak, human self is going to help. Maybe I can capture this demon woman and recite decathlon facts until I bore her to death.
Resolved, I grab the lightest ball I can find, because I don’t want to remember this date as I’m rubbing my aching, non-existent muscles tomorrow.
“Blue ball? Not very nice, but very accurate,” Zolroth says in my ear.
I nearly drop the ball onto my toe. Luckily, he has demon reflexes, and he catches it before my foot is smashed to smithereens and carries both our balls toward the lane.
He’s somehow already programmed our names into the scoreboard on the little screen at the table. I peer down at it.
“SnuggleButt and CuteseyPoo?” I say sarcastically as I turn to him, raising an eyebrow. “And which one am I supposed to be?”
“Well, who’s got the better ass?” He grins as he puts the balls into the return.
“Guess I’m up, CuteseyPoo.” I laugh and grab my ball, nearly skipping to the lane. For all his regal persona, Zolroth’s got a humorous side. It’s fun to discover, and I wonder if it’s a side he often lets others see. Part of me thinks it’s not.
But then that part of me starts to get smug and gloaty and tosses a feather boa around her neck like she’s special. I throat punch her.
Thoughts like that are going to make me forget this is a fake date. Which I cannot do.
I line myself up for a shot and swing my arm back just as Zolroth calls out, “Love your fingers touching my balls!”
