Page 36 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

I wanted to talk to Sarah, but she had left before the angels did. She told Murmur she had to work. The tattoo parlor didn’t open for a few more hours, and Cole never had her come in that early. I was pretty sure she didn’t have to work; she just didn’t have the balls to face me.

Fine.

I would let her run for a while longer.

I had already texted my boss and requested the next few days off. The bookstore I worked in was tiny, and the other staff members had no problem picking up my shifts. Most were probably grateful for the extra hours.

Murmur and Rune had their own shit to do. Hopefully, part of it was figuring out who was after us. Vivi and Evie had turned the media room into a “super-secret, adroit-only club.”

So, I was alone.

Again.

Refusing to face my issues or make a plan.

Mom would be so proud, I thought with a snort. Well, she wouldn’t be surprised.

I remembered Rune pointed down a hallway and saying something about a library. So that was where I went. The library was massive. It was at least two stories high. Light from tall windows made the place seem bright and open despite each wall lined with dark wood bookcases. This library was serving massiveBeauty and the Beastvibes, and I was here for it.

There were even rolling ladders.

I couldn’t even describe how happy rolling ladders that ran on a rail attached to a bookcase made me. It was just so pretty that my eyes watered.

While wandering the shelves, I saw most of the books were non-fiction. Which I guess was cool, but if I were going to run from my problems, Ipreferred to get lost in a very spicy epic fantasy or a dark mafia romance.

In a back corner, I found a dark little alcove created by a few shelves. It had a well-worn tan couch, a few blankets, and a coffee table that was the perfect height to put something on if you were lying on the couch. Well-loved paperback books filled the shelves. The covers reminded me of the bodice-ripper novels the little old ladies would buy and sell back to the store. Except these covers were different. In one, the sea captain was holding on to the mast of a boat with a tentacle. In another, the Highlander had scales covering his arms and giant wings.

Had I just found Elysian romance books?

Score!

I grabbed the book calledThe Last Dragonand curled up in the corner on the couch and read. The book was about a maiden who had lost her way and the Dragon King who rescued her. It was sweet and spicy but a little clichéd with the damsel in distress rescued by the hero.

“Ah, this is where you have been hiding.” Rune strode toward me and then sat next to me. He set a tray of cookies and hot chocolate down on the table in front of us.

“I wasn’t hiding, just chilling, reading,” I said, holding up the book. “Everyone was busy, so I thought I would explore the library.”

“You don’t need to explain. I get it.” The sexy smirk he gave me made my heart lurch a little. “This is my favorite spot to hide, too.”

“In all the romance books?”

“There is nothing wrong with a man enjoying a bit of romance, and the sci-fi is behind you,” he added. "I brought you something.”

“Diabetes?” I asked, looking at all the sweet treats.

“No, better. Eat this.” He handed me a cookie. “Then take this.” He took a small glass jar off the tray and offered it to me. In the jar was a white pill.

“What is it?”

“It’s called silver leaf; it’s sort of like aspirin for Elysians. Take it. It will make your bruises heal in a few hours instead of weeks.” He shook the pill out of the jar. “It’s just better not to take it on an empty stomach.”

I took a bite of the cookie—chocolate chunk, my favorite. Then I took the pill with a sip of the hot chocolate before wondering if I’d made a huge mistake. Weren’t there entire after-school specials about not taking pills from random hot guys?

Fuck it. Nothing I could do about it now.

“If you had this the whole time, why didn’t you give me one yesterday, so I didn’t have to spend the day looking like the loser in a Black Friday brawl?”

“I don’t know what that means,” he said. “But I didn’t give you one yesterday, because yesterday you were human, and it doesn’t always have positive side effects for humans. But since you’re a Nephilim with such strong demon blood, you’ll be fine.”

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