Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2)(47)
Author: J. Lynn

My eyes widened. “Okay. This sounds like an ‘are you using a condom’ conversation.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he said.

Our eyes met, and I totally got what he meant. “I am.” Which was such a lie.

He tipped his head against the wall and breathed in deeply. I watched him for a moment. His arms were folded loosely over his chest. Everything about him looked tense. I hadn’t even told him about the woman from the Palisades.

“Hungry?” he asked, his voice off. “We should probably head in there before Stacey and Sam start making babies on the lunchroom table.”

“We found another wraith,” I said in a low voice.

His eyes snapped open. “What?”

“Last week. Zayne and I did an exorcism,” I explained quietly.

He was standing straight now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was the woman from the club in the Palisades, Roth.” My stomach dipped as his eyes flared. “The woman I fed off.”

He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut as he thrust a hand through his dark hair. Tight lines formed around his lips. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It was her.” I scrubbed my hands down my face. “She walked away, right?”

He nodded. “She did. I swear to you, Layla. She walked away.”

“But how did she end up dying? It was supposedly a heart attack, but she didn’t have any existing issues. I know that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but the likelihood of that? What if it was me? What if I infected her? What if I’ve been the one infecting all of these people?”

“Whoa, where has this come from?” Roth got all up in my personal space. “Is this something new?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve been wondering about it for a while and Zayne doesn’t think it’s me, but we haven’t found any evidence of a Lilin, nothing concrete, and everyone who’s been infected has been near me.”

“But how? Have you been wandering around kissing people? Because if so, I’m pretty pissed off that I wasn’t included in that.”

I shot him a look. Not like I hadn’t kissed him recently. “Uh, no, I haven’t, and I don’t know how. That’s the only part I can’t figure out.” I looked up at him and put it all out there, because I trusted him to not hold back. He hadn’t before on the sucky stuff I didn’t want to hear. “Do you think it’s me?”

He stared at me a moment, not moving. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing. Then he leaned in, placing his hands on my shoulders. His grip wasn’t heavy, but there was so much in the touch. It was a comforting pressure, and I closed my eyes.

“Stop,” he whispered against my hair, “asking questions that serve no purpose.”

Roth said nothing more as he pulled back, his arms falling to his sides and whatever comfort he’d offered turned to apprehension. His silence was unsettling. He never answered my question.

* * *

The night we left for the club in Bethesda, there was a hint of snow in the air. It was definitely cold enough and the crispness had that wintry feel to it.

Our drive to the club was quiet. Roth was waiting inside his Porsche in the parking lot across from a school. As soon as Zayne and I pulled up in the Impala, he opened the door and stepped out.

I glanced down at myself and wrinkled my nose.

Roth was dressed as if he was about to walk into a coven full of witches. His legs were encased in leather and he wore a dark shirt. The outfit bled menace and mayhem, while my blue jeans and blue turtleneck pretty much bled Susie Homemaker.

“I should’ve worn something better,” I commented.

“I think you look fine.”

I glanced over at Zayne and smiled. “Thank you, but I have a feeling I’m going to stand out.”

“You always stand out.” The grin on his face faded as Roth strolled up to his window. Grumbling under his breath, he rolled it down. “What?”

Roth looked unfazed. “About time. I think I grew about a week’s worth of facial hair waiting for you two.”

Zayne rolled his eyes as I glanced over to where the club was. At first I didn’t think we were at the right spot. It was inside a ritzy hotel. The kind of hotel that had all reflective glass walls and sculptures that looked like something a five-year-old had molded.

Or something I would make.

“I really wish I was going in there,” Zayne said, pulling his hands off the steering wheel. “I don’t like you going in there alone.”

“She’s with me.” Roth grinned as he leaned into the window. “She’s not alone.”

“You don’t count.”

It was so past the time for me to get out of the car. I started to open the door, but Zayne caught my hand. “Be careful,” he said.

“I will.” I hesitated, feeling as though I should kiss him goodbye, but I couldn’t with the one-man peanut gallery staring at us.

“How cute.” Roth pushed back from the car, his tone light, but his expression was sharp. “Don’t worry, Stony. She’s in good, capable hands. I think you know just how good and capable, right?”

Zayne drew back, anger flashing across his features. “Yeah, go screw yourself.”

He grinned. “Well, about that—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” I snapped, slamming the door shut. His eyes met mine over the roof of the Impala. “Seriously.”

Roth arched a brow and then wiggled his fingers at Zayne. Turning away, I headed toward the sidewalk. He was beside me in an instant.

* * *

“That wasn’t necessary,” I said.

Roth’s shoulders were tense. “Whatever. It’s not what we need to focus on right now.”

“Focusing on that or not isn’t the point.” We crossed the virtually empty street, which was strange considering it was only around eight in the evening. “There’s no reason for you to say stuff like that to him.”

He looked at me as he reached for the door. “There isn’t, Layla?”

For a moment, our gazes locked and it was as though his shields were down. Anger. Disappointment. Yearning. Helplessness. It all came through those amber-colored eyes. And then he turned, motioning me into the lobby. “Let’s get this over with.”

Taking a deep breath at the harshness in his tone, I shook off whatever was going on with him and went in. The hotel was nice and new. Silver ceiling lamps cast light across the main floor, but it was as though the building reached out to us, as if it was seeking comfort and light. The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

I followed Roth to the elevator and we rode it up to the thirteenth floor in silence.

I was all nerves as we stepped into a long hallway. Not just because we were about to be surrounded by a slew of witches of the unfriendly kind. A seedling of hope was burning bright in my chest. Maybe the crone would tell us something that changed what I believed and proved that Zayne was right.

Just as I was about to ask if we had the right place, we turned a corner and a restaurant or club came into view. The windows were tinted bronze, but I could make out several human forms sitting at tables. There was the loopy design above the double doors.

“You ready for this?” Roth asked.

“Sure.”

He looked doubtful as he opened the doors and we stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was how normal everything was. Like totally human normal. We were stopped right in front of a hostess station. Couples sat at tables, laughing and talking. A stocked bar ran along the back, packed with people sitting and standing. Light jazz played from overhead speakers. These people didn’t look as though they’d stepped off the Goth train. I actually blended it.

“What were you expecting?” He chuckled in my ear, and I wondered if I’d spoken out loud or not.

“Not this.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of not judging a book by its cover?” He reached down and took my hand in his and when I got all what the Hell is up with that, he tightened his grip. “Like I said, shortie. Don’t judge a book by its cover. I need you to stay close to me.”

A slender woman appeared, her hands clasped together. She wore a simple black dress cut above the knees and her hair was pulled back in an elegant chignon. “I’m sorry. We do reservations only.”

Roth smiled. “How do you know we don’t have reservations?” He glanced over at the hostess station. There was no book. “You don’t know our names.”

“I know you don’t have reservations.” Her chin rose as her cool gaze centered on us. “And I also know what both of you are. So if you want to leave this building without so much bad luck it would make the Titanic look like a Disney cruise, I suggest you leave before—”

“Rowena,” the man who came up behind her said. “They are expected. Let them through.”

We were? I glanced at Roth, but his expression was unreadable.

The woman didn’t look happy about it, but she stepped to the side. The man nodded. “Follow me. She is waiting for you.”

Well, this was only a little creepy. As we followed the man, who looked as if he was in his forties, the people—er, witches—sitting at the tables stopped what they were doing and stared. Some had forkfuls of food halfway to their mouths. Others turned around in their chairs. Out of all of their hard faces and distrusting eyes, none of them looked happy.

Suddenly Roth holding my hand wasn’t such a bad thing. Even if it made me feel like a bit of a wussy. I was trained in hand-to-hand combat—not to ward off spells and charms.

The man led us around the bar, to an area of the club that was somewhat secluded. There was only one table back here, surrounded by a large crescent-shaped couch. Several women rose from where they were sitting. Each of the women, a total of six, passed by without looking at us.

Not odd or anything.

The couch looked empty until we moved to the area that was open. Then I saw her and, holy crap, I thought the crypt keeper was sitting before us. The woman was old—like, I wasn’t quite sure how she was still alive and breathing.

Patches of snow-white hair fell down her tiny, frail shoulders. Deep wrinkles creased her face and her eyes…they were milky-white. The whole eye.

The old woman smiled and her faced was so crinkled I thought it would collapse into itself. “What did you expect?” For such an old woman, her voice was strong. “A young woman? You seek the crone, do you not?”

I found my voice. “Yes.”

“A crone is someone who is old and wise…or just old. Either way, I’ve walked this Earth for many years,” she said, lifting a small white hand, motioning us to sit down. “And this is the first time I’ve seen a Crown Prince.”

Roth sat, tugging me down beside him. “It is an honor, crone.”

She tipped her chin up. “I’ve also never thought I’d live to see a child of a Warden and our true mother, but here you are, Lilith’s own flesh and blood.”

I really had no idea what to say to that.

The crone leaned forward and I was worried she’d tip over and shatter right in front of us. Her heavily wrinkled face seemed to age even more, as though she would turn into dust at any moment. “What you fear, child, is wrong. Some evil, my children, is necessary.”

Roth slid me a look, as if he was saying I told you so. I wisely kept my mouth shut.

“I know why you two are here.” Her laugh rattled like dry bones. “I know you are here to find the Lilin.”

My heart jumped and I figured it would be best for us to be honest. “Yes. We need to find the Lilin.”

“Like, yesterday,” Roth added. “I know ya’ll love you some Lilith, but you know the chain reaction the Lilin will cause.”

“Ah, yes, the Alphas.” She waved her hands. “I’m surprised they haven’t already arrived with their mighty swords, cutting through all things they feel are not worthy of this Earth. Have you ever seen an Alpha, children?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve been…near them, but never seen one.”

“I haven’t,” Roth replied. “Obviously.”

The crone heaved out another laugh. “No. You would not be sitting here if that was the case, would you? Ah, the Alphas. They are a threat to us all. Maybe even the humans. They see only in black and white, no shades of gray. No sympathy. They are the true monsters.”

I schooled my expression into blankness as she prattled on. The Alphas were literally the boogeyman of all things and while there was a part of me drawn to them, they also terrified me.

“Back to the Lilin,” Roth coaxed gently.

“Impatient, young Prince? You should not be.” The old crone cackled. “No Lilin has sought refuge with us, if that is what you think. There is no reason for that. You seek what is right in front of you, Prince. You know that. It’s the truth behind why you rose from Hell.”