Page 7 of Hell Kissed
My thoughts tumble through my mind one after another, and why the hell he cares so much about my cat is suddenly at the top of the pile.
“And why is your blade so tiny?” He lowers himself until he’s kneeling just before me, looking curiously at the key in my hand.
“It’s a key,” I whisper on a shaking breath.
“Huh,” is all he says as he pokes at it with the tip of his pointer finger
“Not very… stabby.” His brows pull low over starlit blue eyes. “Have you ever considered one of these?” He stands, and with a turn of his hand, a beam of fire erupts, slashing out fast before sizzling into a long iron blade.
My gasp catches in my throat, unable to escape as my eyes widen.
The wolf in me warms, impressed and amazed like this man is now my own personal party magician instead of a stalker and possible killer. The drilling of my heartbeat is the only logical sign that I know I should run. But he’s just too close. He could slice my head clean off before I even made it a single step.
For self-preservation, I decide to stay where I am.
On the floor.
“What do you want?” I ask again in a steady but breathless tone.
His attention flits back to me like he momentarily forgot the cowering woman he was holding hostage in the corner of the room. There’s a shift in his stance. Ashen boots pace shortly before he looks to me once more.
“The girl this morning. She’s your friend?”
Thoughts spin wildly in my mind.
This is about Bea?
What does this asshole want with Bea? A growl creeps up from the back of my mind and slips past my lips.
“I mean… you have friends here. A caregiver too. I saw the woman who left early this morning, and then your friend came right out to meet you. You’re loved here?”
Sudden laughter that I can’t stop bursts out of me, the sound is sharp with a sarcastic edge.
“Oh my God,” I gasp with a smile I can’t contain. “Literally no one has ever said that to me.” I try to reel in my crazy girl hysteria, but it just dissolves into the pathetic realization that he’s so incredibly wrong. I couldn’t stop the pang in my chest if my life depended on it.
Messy hair falls into his pretty eyes as he tilts his head at me in blank confusion. He turns his wrist quickly, and the weapon in his hand sparks brightly before turning to ash and dissolving entirely. The remnants of it float through the moonlight, and my wide eyes follow the tiny particles of magic.
I’ve never seen magic like his before.
“I made a mistake.” He turns away from me and heads toward the door. “She was wrong,” he says quietly as a goodbye.
What does that mean?
My sneakers slip as I scramble to my feet. I’m right behind him in the darkness of the kitchen, but he just keeps going.
“Who? Who was wrong?”
He pulls open the door and pale moonlight streams across the worn tiles, reminding me that the Dark Moon won’t wait for me. Still, I can’t let this guy go without getting an explanation.
“Who?” I scream once more.
The mysterious man turns on his heel, his blue eyes sharp even in the growing shadows of the deepening night. Somehow, the darkness enhances their color, turning them into gleaming sapphires that cut through me with the intensity of a tidal wave.
“Your mother wanted me to tell you that you are loved.” His deep, rich voice is like a bad omen that makes my heart drop instantly.
And with a heavy scent of ash, he bursts into flames, flickering out into drifting sparks that float into the starry night sky. I gape into the darkness where he once stood, staring after him with fear and want tangling tightly together in my chest.
He’s gone. And so are the answers I suddenly need now more than ever.
