Page 67 of A City of Smoke and Demons
The party? Ezra smiled, unable to help it. ‘It does bother you.’
‘No, you can do what you want. I’m making conversation,’ Analise said tightly.
‘Well, in that case, yes, I did enjoy my party.’
She jerked out of his arms and stalked away. He could barely believe it—she was jealous. She was halfway off the platform when he spoke again. ‘When I went back to the bar, she was gone, and I didn’t go looking for her.’
Analise froze. ‘Is that the truth?’
‘Yes,’ Ezra said. ‘I might have lied to you before, but I’m not lying to you now.’
He waited for her to say something scathing, to tell him to fuck off, but she didn’t. Her shoulders sagged, and the tension left her spine. When she turned to look at him, her expression was carefully composed. He watched her throat move as she swallowed, then she surprised him by returning to her position in the middle of the ring.
‘You want to keep training?’ Ezra asked.
Analise nodded. ‘Only if you do.’
He didn’t. He wanted to kiss her so desperately it was making his head hurt.
‘If you wish,’ Ezra managed, but neither of them moved. Slowly, he stepped closer, until he could take her hand. She let him, so he brushed his thumb gently over the back of her knuckles. Magic coiled around their joined hands; he held his breath, but it didn’t plunge inside him and start tearing him to pieces. It was golden, soft and almost warm against his skin.
She watched his face closely. ‘You want me to hit you?’
‘You might like it,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘I might like it.’
Her eyebrows lifted. ‘You really like pain?’
‘Sometimes.’ His thumb made another pass over her knuckles.
Analise ripped her hand free and punched him in the face, hard.
‘Fuck,’ he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. She was holding her fist to her chest, her expression caught somewhere between pride and pain. ‘Are you alright?’
‘I’m not the one bleeding,’ she pointed out. ‘Your lip is split.’
He touched his tongue to his top lip, tasting blood. ‘How did your tiny hand manage to smack me in both the nose and the mouth?’
She ignored him, inspecting her hand. ‘I think I cut myself on your teeth.’
‘Let me see,’ Ezra demanded, forgetting his own hurt as she held out her hand for him. He took it gently, being careful with her fingers. One of her knuckles was split.
‘I’ll probably get an infection—your mouth is disgusting,’ she said.
He huffed a laugh.
She took her hand back, staring at it critically. ‘I’m going to have a reminder each day that I managed to punch Maddog Pierce’s prize boxer in the mouth.’ She smiled proudly. ‘Speaking of Maddog, did he tell you there's a meeting tonight? Father Blackwood is coming, and he wants us both there.’
‘Does he?’ Ezra jumped down from the platform, holding out his hand for Analise. She hesitated, then let him help her down. As Ezra’s thoughts shifted to the good Father, something crawled the length of his spine.
‘You I understand—you’re a demon hunter now,’ Analise said. ‘But me? I don’t feel I’ve made any sort of contribution to the Order of the Dawn. I think Jem let me join because he felt sorry for me.’
‘False sympathy isn’t Jem’s style,’ Ezra told her.
‘Father Blackwood came and saw me several days ago,’ she said, frowning. ‘He gave me a book on death magic, told me to read it.’
‘Did you?’
‘Not really. But I don’t knowwhyhe gave it to me. He said it was to help me learn about my magic … I don’t know. I don’t trust him,’ she added, her voice low, cloaked in suspicion. ‘And I don’t trust him because he hasn’t made clear what he wants from me—no one gives a gift for nothing.’
