Charade (Heven and Hell #2)(12)
Author: Cambria Hebert

My stomach clenched. Could Cole have told her what happened with the demon earlier? Trying to come up with an explanation for them both would not be easy. Kimber would never let this go. “What do you mean?” I asked innocently.

“He told me that he was too tired to come shopping with me, but then he went out for ice cream, for the second time today.”

I sighed. “He just brought his mom in for some.”

“He brought Christine in for ice cream?” Her voice took on a high-pitched tone and I winced. Had she not known that his mother was with him? “You met Christine?”

Clearly, Kimber was on a first-name basis with Cole’s mother. I don’t know why, but it bothered me. I told myself that of course she would be, she’s been dating Cole for years and it’s only natural that she would know his mother.

“Heven,” Kimber demanded, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I sat down on the edge of the toilet seat. “Yeah, I met her. She didn’t like me.”

This gave Kimber a reason to pause. “What do you mean?”

“As soon as Cole told her my name, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

“Really? Christine is always so nice to me.” Was that satisfaction I heard in her voice?

“Do you see her often?” It made me uncomfortable to ask. A lot of things with Kimber lately have felt awkward.

“Sure. I had lunch with her last week.” There was definite smugness in her tone.

I didn’t like it. I kept my voice nonchalant when I said, “I have to go. We’re watching a movie.”

“Wait. You didn’t tell me what happened with Cole.”

“I just did.”

“Then why is he acting all weird?”

“Weird how?”

“Distracted, quiet— he keeps staring at his phone like he wants it to ring.”

In other words, he wasn’t giving her his undivided attention. And, he was expecting me to call him. “I really need to go,”

“Fine.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She hung up without another word.

I sat there staring down at the little white octagon tile that just a week ago I scrubbed and bleached within an inch of its life. It looked lots better. I got up from the toilet seat and opened the door. Sam filled the doorway. Without a word, I leaned into him, sinking into his warmth and strength.

“Do you understand why I want to keep the scroll now?” His words erased some of the comfort I felt in his arms.

I pulled back to look up into his eyes. “The scroll isn’t your responsibility.”

“You are and having this thing puts you in repeated danger. I’m taking it from you and hopefully taking some of the danger with it.” As he spoke he crossed his arms across his chest like he was laying down the law.

I didn’t much care for his attitude. “You need to give it back to me.” I refused to show how desperate I felt.

He shook his head and started to turn away. I caught his hand and yanked him back. I kept my voice low to say, “I don’t want you to have it, Sam. You having this puts you in danger. I can’t bear the thought. If anything happened to you…” My voice trailed off as my eyes filled. I didn’t even have to pretend because the thought of him being hurt made me crazy.

His fingers tightened around mine. “I understand. I do, but I can’t stand watching demons come after you.”

“I can hold on to it for both of you,” Logan said from behind us.

Sam spun to face Logan and I looked around him to see Logan staring at the scroll.

“No!” I blurted. Sam looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I flushed and looked away. I didn’t want Sam to figure out that one of the reasons that he just couldn’t keep the scroll was because the thought of Logan around it made my skin crawl. “It would be dangerous,” I said, still not meeting Sam’s gaze.

“I agree,” Sam said. My head snapped up in time to catch Logan frown.

“You mean you don’t trust me with it?”

“It’s not that. It’s just that I can’t worry about you and Heven all day long.”

Logan bristled, his thin chest puffing out. “I am a hellhound too, remember? You keep telling me to act like one—to accept it. Maybe holding onto that would give me a reason to be closer to that side of me.” Sam nodded which thrilled Logan, so he said, “Plus, no one would expect me to have it, so it would be safe.”

“You make a good case, bud,” Sam said, thoughtfully.

He couldn’t give the scroll to Logan. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much, but I really didn’t want to find out. “That’s really sweet of you, Logan, but I would hate myself if something happened to you because of this.”

“I’ll be fine,” Logan said and I caught a glimpse of the darkness in him that I sometimes saw. I looked up at Sam to see if he finally noticed, but he was busy glaring at me.

“I’ll hide it,” I blurted.

“What?” Sam’s glare softened.

“I agree that I shouldn’t carry it around with me anymore. You’re right; it’s just too risky.”

“Finally,” Sam muttered.

“But, I don’t think anyone else should carry it around, either. It just isn’t safe, so I’ll hide it.”

Sam nodded. “It could work.”

“It will work,” I said, hope seizing me. This way I could keep it away from Logan, and they would be safe.

“Where are you going to hide it?” Logan asked. Why was he so interested in the scroll all of a sudden?

“I’m not sure,” I said, glad it was the truth so I didn’t have to lie.

“We’ll figure it out,” Sam said, pulling me out of the bathroom, toward the couch.

Just as we sat down my phone rang again. I glanced at the screen to see who it was and my stomach dropped to my knees. It was Cole. I knew he had to be going crazy, wondering what was going on. I grasped the phone tightly, considering what would happen if I answered it.

“Don’t,” Sam murmured, his lips brushing my ear.

I looked up and his face was so near mine. His eyes were tawny and pleading. How could I defy that look? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t risk another argument or a feeling of hurt between us today so I hit the ignore button on my phone. Tension seemed to melt from Sam’s shoulders and he lifted me from the cushions next to him and settled me on his lap, cuddling me close. Logan made a rude noise, but Sam ignored him and brushed a kiss along my forehead.