Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2)(8)
Author: J. Lynn

“Well…” Roth drew the word out. “This is awkward.”

I slowly lowered my hands. “You think?”

He didn’t look at me. “So now that we have this covered—”

“But what about the taking of the soul?” Nicolai demanded.

Hair rose on the back of my neck. The change of subject should’ve given me happy feet, but Hell, it just got worse.

Roth shrugged. “The Lesser Key is an ancient text, remember? That means it’s not the easiest thing in the world to interpret. Clearly we all got something wrong, despite my superior intelligence. You have the Lesser Key. See if you can figure out what.”

The Wardens seemed to believe that for the moment, but Abbot shot me a look that said we’d talk later and that was so not a conversation I was looking forward to.

“But back to the issue at hand—three of the chains broke, meaning there is a Lilin.”

That again. “Wait,” I said, drawing in a deep breath. “I didn’t know her chains would break if the Lilin was created.” Unease curled in my belly as I glanced at Abbot, Zayne and then back to Roth. “None…none of you have told me this. You all just said that if the Lilin were created, everyone would be too busy rounding them up to worry about Lilith.”

“It wasn’t necessary to tell you,” Abbot responded in a clipped voice.

A hot and ugly emotion replaced my anxiety as I twisted toward the man I once looked upon as the closest thing to a father I’d known. I was so sick of the lies—about the fact that Lilith was my mom, that Elijah, a Warden who acted as if he loathed my very existence was actually my father. Abbot had kept all of that from me. “Really? Considering who she is to me, how isn’t it necessary?”

“Good point,” Roth acknowledged.

“You didn’t tell me either,” I shot back. His lips formed a hard line, and I willed him to look at me, to explain why he’d kept that major detail to himself. When he didn’t, apprehension took root deep inside me. “And if the fourth chain breaks, then Lilith is freed?”

The third demon, who’d been silent up until that point, shook his head. “Lilith won’t be freed. The Boss has her locked down now and I’m pretty sure Hell would freeze over before she gets out.” He laughed at himself, and I arched an eyebrow.

Abbot’s shoulders jacked up. “Even if Lilith is still in captivity, if there’s a Lilin, we have a huge problem on our hands.”

“Right now, there must be only one, because if there were more, you all would know. You’d have an overpopulation of wraiths. But even one Lilin can turn this city into its own personal soul-sucking playground,” Roth said. “They can take a soul with a single brush of their hand or they can mess with people—slowly stripping away who they are, changing their entire internal moral code. The Lilin could turn a Warden if they got their hands on one.”

Oh, that would be bad. Very bad.

“And they’re the only ones that can control wraiths,” Cayman added. “If they take a soul completely, that vengeful thing they create will answer to the Lilin. It’s like…double the suck.”

Wraiths were what became of any creature who once had a soul and then lost it. They didn’t go to Hell. There was no in-between for them. They lingered on Earth, stuck, and bitter hatred festered within them. They quickly became dangerous and they were powerful, able to interact with humans on a not-so-friendly level. Sometimes they targeted people they’d known while alive. Other times they didn’t discriminate, going after anyone who crossed their path.

“You know, with the rules and all, the Alphas—your big, bad guys in the big, bad sky—aren’t going to be happy.” Roth folded his arms across his chest. “So we need to find the Lilin before the Alphas decide to step in. Otherwise, we all will be at risk, including the Wardens.”

Alphas were the ones in charge. Angels. My half-demon butt had obviously never seen one. “Why would the Wardens be at risk?” I asked, confused.

It was Cayman who answered. “The Alphas aren’t the biggest fan of the Wardens, even though they created them. Isn’t that right, fearless leader?” When Abbot didn’t respond, the infernal ruler grinned. “The Alphas will see the existence of a Lilin as a sign of the Wardens’ inability to handle things, making them useless. They’ll wipe them out as punishment, right along with the rest of us.”

Oh my God, Alphas didn’t mess around.

“So we need to work together,” Roth stated.

Maddox laughed harshly. “Work with demons. Are you on crack?”

“Like I’ve said before, the Boss frowns on drug use while on the job.” Roth’s expression slipped into his bland look. “And you’ll have to get over your bigotry. We’re in a city that has over a half a million people in it, and that’s not counting the suburbs. The kind of damage even one Lilin can create is astronomical.”

“So we’re back to where we were two months ago?” Zayne said. “Except instead of a lovesick demon, we have a Lilin—a Lilin that can strip a soul from a human—”

“Wait.” Maddox turned sideways, finally taking his eyes off the demons. “If the ritual succeeded in birthing a Lilin, then wouldn’t Layla actually be the mother? The demon was born from her blood.”

“Ew.” I swallowed the sudden taste of blood. “I am so not referring to the Lilin as my kid. So none of you even attempt to put that on me.”

“The Lilin was born from Lilith’s blood, too, so…” Roth sighed, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter, you heavenly reject.”

Maddox snarled. “Excuse me?”

He ignored the Warden.

“Just what we need to contend with—a Lilin or something similar,” Abbot murmured mostly to himself, and I frowned. What the Hell did that mean? He shook his head. “We have to find and stop this Lilin.”

“We’re sure that Lilith can’t be freed?” I asked, still unsure of how I felt when it came to the fact that my mother was bound to Hell.

“The Boss isn’t going to let that happen.” Roth watched Abbot, smiling tightly.

The tension was palpable between them, and instinct told me it ran deeper than the fact they were enemies. “The thing is, we don’t know a lot about the Lilin.”

I felt like I needed to sit down. “You don’t?”

“No. There might be info in the Lesser Key, but—” Roth inclined his head at Abbot “—you have the Lesser Key.”

“And it will remain safe with us,” he replied.

“Safety is subjective,” Roth murmured.

“We already know what the Lesser Key has to say about the Lilin,” Nicolai said.

“Care to share?” Roth grinned. “Because sharing is fun.”

Abbot shifted his weight. “There’s nothing new. Only vague references to the time they ruled the Earth. Nothing that we don’t already know. This is serious,” Abbot said after a few moments. “Serious enough that we won’t hinder your investigation into the matter.”

Meaning the Wardens wouldn’t go after Roth and his crew, which was huge. Maddox and the other Wardens got their undies in a bunch over that, but Abbot silenced them with a wave of his hand.

“As the leader of the D.C. clan, this is my decision,” he said, casting a fierce look at all of them. “The possibility that we have a Lilin topside is not something we can allow.” He turned that deadly look on the demons. “But if I even begin to suspect that this is some sort of trickery, I will personally hunt each of you down.”

Roth shrugged. “All we need is for you all to be extra vigilant while you’re out on your…hunts.”

“I can’t believe we’re entering into an agreement with demons,” Maddox said, taking several steps back.

Neither could I, but a Lilin was a big deal.

“It’s the way it is,” Abbot said, dragging in a deep, heavy breath. “We will keep an eye out for any suspicious reports. Our contacts within the police departments and hospitals should prove helpful in this case.”

Cayman nodded in agreement, and the fact we all were having a pretty civil conversation was monumental. “We will also keep our ears to the ground. A Lilin will most likely seek out other demons. You know, to bond and make friends. Hopefully, there will be one that it trusts.”

“Good,” Abbot said, shoulders squaring. “But for now, get the Hell off my property.”

A misty cloud of air puffed out from between my lips as my stomach dropped. They couldn’t leave yet. No way. I stepped forward, ignoring the piercing stares of the Wardens. I didn’t care. They could take their bigoted ideals and shove them so far up their—

“We’re on our way, but…” Roth finally turned to me. Our gazes collided, and it was like a punch to the chest. “We need to talk.”

CHAPTER SIX

I almost rushed Roth right then and threw my arms around him, but a low growl rumbled from behind me. At first I thought it was Abbot’s response, but when I realized it was coming from Zayne, I couldn’t move.

Roth tilted his head to the side, watching me as a slow, roguish smile graced his lips. “Are you…seriously growling at me, Stony?”

“I’m about to do a lot more than growl.”

He chuckled. “That’s not very appreciative.”

I turned to Zayne and my heart leaped into my throat, stopping whatever I was going to say. He glared at Roth in a way I couldn’t understand, especially not after what Roth had done for him, as if it… I shook my head.

“It’s all right,” Abbot interrupted, surprising me. “Let them talk.”

Wait. What? He was okay with me talking to Roth? Abbot’s appeasement knocked me into motion. My heart did another leap.

Zayne opened his mouth and then clamped it shut. Our gazes held for a moment and then he nodded stiffly, resigned. “I’ll wait for you.”

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, but the oddity of the statement stole my words. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Roth.

“Let’s walk?” he suggested.

There was a coldness laced through his words that left me unsettled. I told myself it was only because we were around so many Wardens, but my knees felt weak as I walked toward him. His unique scent invaded my senses, causing my skin to flush in spite of the chilled air. He turned as I reached his side and started toward the faint path Zayne and I had worn into the ground over the many years we’d traveled to the tree house in the nearby woods.

Skin tingling along the back of my neck, I glanced over my shoulder and drew in a tiny breath. The Wardens were still standing guard in front of the compound, but I didn’t see Abbot anymore. Zayne was sitting at the bottom of the wide steps, leaning against one of the large white marble columns. Cayman and the other demon were gone. It was obvious they didn’t fear for Roth’s safety. Or they didn’t care.

My head swung back around and my breath caught when I saw Roth’s profile. A dizzying amount of relief crashed into me as it struck me once more that he was alive and he was here.

So many things bubbled up the moment we stepped past the crumbled stone retaining wall that surrounded the manicured lawn and under the thick, bare branches that rattled like dry bones in the breeze. But I couldn’t speak. The clog was back, centered right in my throat.

Coherent thought clicked off, and I found myself moving around him. Roth stopped midstep as I did what I’d wanted to do since he’d shown up tonight. Like a mini rocket, I threw myself at him.

Roth stumbled back a step as my arms went around his neck. The moment my body came into contact with his, pressure clamped down on my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut against the violent tide of emotions. They were so tangled together—relief and fear, desperation and resolution, a deep craving that rivaled the need I struggled with every day, and anxiety—that I couldn’t make sense of them, or understand how I was feeling so much.

As I nestled into his chest, I could feel his heart pounding fast and realized then that his arms were at his sides. A cloud of nervousness passed over me as I lifted my head, searching out his eyes in the darkness, but they were closed and thick lashes fanned the tips of his cheekbones. His face was pale in the thin slivers of moonlight breaking through the branches, lips pulled in a taut line.

Another shiver of apprehension slipped over my skin. When I started to pull back, to give voice to the near fear growing like a weed in the pit of my stomach, his arms finally—finally—encircled me. He pulled me tight against him, our bodies flush and pressed together in a way that reminded me of the night we’d found the Lesser Key. The muscles low in my stomach tightened as his hand smoothed up my spine, tangling in my hair. Bambi followed the caress, as if she sought to get closer to her true owner.