Page 86 of Demon Kissed
“Not without a witness,” I blurt before I can stop myself. Her eyes flash, and her grip tightens to the point of pain as she glares at me.
“Now, please.” She practically yanks my arm out of the socket as she drags me away from the group and towards a hallway housing the public restrooms.
And a perfect place to murder me without anyone there to see it…or stop it.
When she reaches the end of the hall, she releases me like my skin is toxic and spins on her heel. A glower mars a face that would be beautiful if it wasn’t currently twisted into an imperious, haughty death stare.
“Stay away from William,” she hisses.
“Excuse me?” I physically stumble back a step as if her words are a blow to my chest.
“You heard me, bitch. Stay away from my man.”
“I don’t—”
“Don’t you have enough guys fawning over you?” She sneers at me like I’m nothing more than a bug beneath her shoe. How is it possible that she makes me feel so small with one look? “I mean, seriously,” she continues on, pacing, “you have Zolroth so desperately in love with you that he doesn’t see other girls. And the teacher—Kastros? Are you fucking him too? Even that gym teacher can’t stop staring at you throughout class. And I saw the counselor watching you when you weren’t looking in the hallway. Is your vagina golden or something? It’s not fucking fair! Why do you getallof them?”
Her words send my head into a tailspin as I blink rapidly at her. In love with me? What? She’s obviously delusional, her jealousy blinding her from the truth, making her see things that aren’t there.
“Janie,” I begin, attempting to place a hand on her arm. Honestly, I don’t even know why. For reasons I can’t fathom, I feel the irrational need tocomforther. There’s real pain in her eyes that not even her anger towards me can obscure. “I’m—”
“Don’t you fucking dare say you’re sorry,” she snaps, pausing her pacing so I’m gifted the full intensity of her penetrating glare. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“But—”
“Everyone is in love with you, Katrina.” For a moment—for a brief, brief moment—the anger bleeds from her voice, leaving behind only heartache and pain. Agony. Her long lashes flutter shut as she takes a deep, calming breath. “But no one is ever in love with me.” Like a flash of lightning ripping apart the night sky, vitriol returns to her fiery gaze. “How would it feel if I was with Zolroth? If I was kissing him, fucking him…” She allows her suggestive words to hang in the air between us like stagnant dust particles. Her smile is the slashing edge of a knife.
Jealousy churns in my stomach like a nest of hissing snakes. They coil around each other, becoming so incredibly tangled that no amount of corralling will pull them apart.
“You stole William from me,” she whispers, inching a step closer. “So I’m going to steal Zolroth from you.”
* * *
Janie’sominous words are still circulating through my head as I rejoin the others.
I see Raz and Kastros still in conversation with the front desk worker, and William is engaged in a heated debate with Tim, Darrel, and Wade. When he catches sight of me, he whispers something to the others and makes an immediate beeline in my direction.
My heart jolts as he steps directly in front of me, flashing a brilliant smile. Before, I would’ve memorized every inch of his perfection and placed it in my spank bank to dissect later, but now, I can only muster up a tentative smile of my own in return. Over his shoulder, catapulting huge-ass boulders at me with her eyes, is Janie. She huffs and tosses her silky blonde hair over her shoulder before focusing on whatever Alanna is saying to her.
“Kat,” William breathes. “Um…I was hoping to ask you something.”
I can see Kastros and Raz returning to the group, both of them eyeing William suspiciously and with great trepidation. A part of me wants them to remain far, far away, but another part of me, a part I can’t name, wants them to save me from this conversation. I immediately shush that second part with an internal growl.
“What do you need?” I query. “Is it about the tournament? Did you get the rulebook Alanna emailed over?”
“It’s not that…” He shifts from foot to foot, repeatedly sliding his hands in and out of his pockets.
“What is it?”
I can hear the distinct pound of Kastros’s giant footsteps as he veers in our direction. William’s eyes widen as he stares at the vengeance demon over my shoulder, and I see a trickle of sweat on his forehead.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime while we’re here,” he says at last, and the footsteps behind me abruptly stop.
Did…?
Did William Washington just ask me out on a date? An actual, honest-to-God date? Like, with dresses and flowers and kissing?
Ohmygawd.
