Page 88 of Demon Kissed
What am I going to tell him when his new friends disappear? How am I going to handle that? Tears fill my eyes, and I talk to him for a few more minutes about his time with the demons. But eventually, I hear Zolroth asking for the phone. I say a hurried goodnight to him, hanging up before the demon can grab the phone back and lay into me for agreeing to go on a date with William, after I went on a fake-date with him. I suppose we should have had a fake break-up first, but it’s my only fake relationship and I don’t know the rules for those things.
I close my eyes and fake sleep because real sleep won’t come.
Eventually, after an hour or so, I hear the other two breathing evenly, and I sit up in bed. I feel restless. I should be swoony over my upcoming date with William. But instead, I feel anxious. What if he has expectations? What if he hates the way I kiss?
I climb out of bed and start pacing. Eventually, I make my way onto the balcony so that I won’t wake up my roommates. That’s when I see Van, standing on the balcony right next to mine, leaning over the railing as he peers down at the people walking below.
“Van?” I call out softly, sliding the glass door slowly shut behind me.
“Hey.” He smiles over at me, and I’m struck for the millionth time by just how gorgeous he is, particularly when he’s not even trying and his smile is soft and genuine.
“Adam asleep?” I ask.
“Oh yeah, he fell asleep an hour ago. One second, he was telling me all about Godzilla and Mothra, the next, he was just passed out.”
I smile fondly. Adam does that a lot, falling asleep mid-sentence.
There’s awhoosh, and suddenly, Van’s on my balcony, his wings stretching up behind him and casting us into shadow. “Other people—” I start to blurt, worried that we’ll be seen.
But Van’s arms are around my waist, and we’re streaking towards the hotel garden before I can finish my thought. There’s no one else around when he lands near a beautiful white gazebo that looks like it belongs in a gardening magazine and is probably used for weddings. Beautiful red roses climb up its posts and perfume the air. We walk over to it, and I’m shocked to see all of the guys but Kastros sitting inside, beers in hand. Because this looks like a manly beer spot.Not.
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be watching Adam?” I immediately turn a scolding look on Van.
“Kas is with him,” Van says, tucking his wings behind him before making them turn invisible. He takes a seat on the bench next to Zolroth, who levels me with a glare.
“You said yes to a date with William.”
For some reason, his annoyance ratchets up my anxiety. “Look, I know we probably should have had some big fake rom-com style break-up scene before I said yes to him, but I really didn’t expect him to ask.”
Honestly, I thought all their matchmaking attempts had completely bombed.
“Bombed?” Van gives me a harsh smile before he takes a pull from his beer.
Crap. I need to wash my mouth out with soap, so it will stop saying every thought in my head.
“I’ve got something you can wash your mouth out with,” Raz growls.
Zolroth groans and adjusts his pants. “Come on, man. Don’t say shit like that.”
I’m so totally lost. Was he going to make me drink beer to wash out my mouth? My brow furrows, and Van starts chuckling.
“You’re so innocent, Katty.” His eyes take on a darker gleam than I’ve seen before. “But how innocent?”
It should make me scared, but it doesn’t. I can feel the ripple of his lust power in the air, making my nipples and throat both tighten in anticipation.
But I talk myself down. I take a step back and turn away from him. Van has told me himself that he’s not even into sex anymore, and he most definitely is not interested in me. His power is just going wonky because he’s annoyed.
I slide into a seat next to Akor, and he hands me his beer. “I’ll go grab the next round,” he declares, but nobody else looks at him. Their eyes are all on me, and it makes me ten kinds of nervous. I quickly down the second half of Akor’s beer and try to make small talk. But nobody bites.
“Where’s he taking you to dinner?” Zolroth asks, accusation saturating his tone.
And that’s it. For some reason, I can’t stand that he’s so upset when I didn’t even do anything wrong.
I stand up and stare down at him. “I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know. But isn’t this what you wanted? Wasn’t this your grand plan all along? Complete my summons and help me get together with William so you can go home?”
Zolroth doesn’t look at me; he just angrily peels the label off of his beer bottle.
His dismissal cuts at me, and I whip away, stomping across the garden toward the pool area. It’s locked down for the night, but the water glimmers like fluorite, a gemstone Alanna quizzed me about this afternoon.
