The chain was old and thick. It had a series of ropy loops I knew by heart. In the waning light, I couldn’t make out the etchings on the silver ring. Endless knots had been carved into the metal band by someone who obviously had too much time on their hands. I turned the ring over. I’d never seen anything like the gemstone set in the center. It was deep red, almost like a ruby, but the color was off in some areas, darker in others. Sometimes, depending on how I held the ring, it looked as if there was liquid inside the oval stone.
Supposedly the ring had belonged to my mother.
My memories prior to the night Abbot found me were nothing but a blank void. This ring was the only thing that tied me to my real family.
Family was such a strange word. I wasn’t even sure I’d had a family to start off with. Had I been with my father at some point, before the foster home? Who knew? And if Abbot did, he wasn’t telling. My life started when Abbot found me.
I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly and deeply. Now wasn’t the time for self-reflection or a pity party. I tucked the ring back under my sweater, figuring I needed to focus on what I was going to do about Roth.
I was on my own with this one. Ignore him? Sounded like a good idea, but I doubted it would work. Part of me hoped he’d just disappear after warning me not to tag.
I must’ve dozed off at some point during my plotting, because when I opened my eyes, the sky was dark, my nose was cold and someone was lying beside me.
My heart jumped into my throat, then skipped a beat when I turned my head and soft hair tickled my cheek. “Zayne?”
One eye opened. “What a strange place to nap when you have this great thing called a bed.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You didn’t come down for dinner.” He lifted his hand and removed a strand of my hair that had drifted across his face. “After a while, I decided to check on you. You weren’t in your room, and when I asked Morris if he’d seen you, he pointed toward the woods.”
I scrubbed my eyes, clearing away the remnants of my impromptu nap. “What time is it?”
“Almost nine-thirty.” He paused. “I was worried about you.”
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
Zayne tilted his head toward mine. “Why did you leave class today?”
I stared at him a moment, then I remembered the strange look on his face when he’d seen the glass of OJ. “I wasn’t about to suck out a soul, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
He frowned. “Whenever you’re craving something sweet—”
“I know.” I turned my gaze to the sky. The stars peeked out from behind the thick branches. “Nothing happened at school today, I swear.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Okay. That wasn’t the only reason I was worried.”
I sighed. “I’m not going to murder Danika in her sleep.”
Zayne let out a deep laugh. “I’d hope not. Dad would be pissed if you killed my mate.”
Hearing that, I decided there may be a good chance I would kill her. “So now you’re down with the whole mating thing? Going to start making little gargoyle babies soon? That should be fun.”
He laughed again, which pissed me off. “Layla-bug, what do you know about making babies?”
I punched him in the stomach as I sat up. His low chuckle turned into a grunt. “I’m not a freaking kid, you ass. I know what sex is.”
Zayne reached up and pinched my cheek. “You’re like this little—”
I slammed him in the stomach again.
He caught my arm, hauling me to his chest. “Stop being so violent,” he murmured lazily.
“Then stop being such an ass.” I bit my lower lip.
“I know you’re not a kid anymore.”
An incredible heat swept through me, odd for such a chilly night. “Whatever. You treat me like I’m ten.”
A moment passed and his hand tightened around my arm. “How am I supposed to treat you?”
I wished I had something sexy and flirty to say. Instead I mumbled, “I don’t know.”
A corner of his mouth turned up. “Danika’s not my mate, by the way. I was also joking about that.”
I tried to look totally unaffected. “It’s what your father wants.”
He looked away, sighing. “Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah. I was worried about where you were because Elijah’s here.”
I stiffened, forgetting about Danika. “What?”
He closed his eyes. “Yeah, he was one of the group that came in last night. I thought they’d be leaving today, but they’re hanging around awhile.”
Elijah Faustin belonged to the clan that monitored demon activity along most of the southern coast. He and his son acted like I was the antichrist. “Is Petr with him?”
“Yeah.”
My head drooped. Petr was the worst kind of boy. “Why are they here?”
“He’s being relocated to the Northeast along with his son and four others.”
“So he’s going to stay here until Dez gets back?”
Zayne met my stare, his expression suddenly hard. “Petr will not go anywhere near you. I promise you that.”
My stomach knotted up. Pulling free, I rolled onto my back. I drew in a shallow breath. “I thought Abbot told them they weren’t welcome back here.”
“He did, Layla. Father isn’t happy about them being here, but he can’t turn them away.” Zayne moved onto his side, facing me. “Do you remember when we used to pretend this was an observation deck for NASA?”
“I remember you dangling me off the edge a couple of times.”
Zayne nudged me. “You loved it. You were always jealous that I could fly and you couldn’t.”
I cracked a smile. “Who wouldn’t be jealous of that?”
He grinned as he looked over his shoulder. “God, it’s been years since we’ve been up here.”
“I know.” I stretched out my legs, wriggling my toes inside the sneakers. “I kind of miss it.”
“Same here.” Zayne tugged on the sleeve of my sweater. “We still on for Saturday?”
For years, we’d been visiting a different coffee shop every Saturday morning. He’d keep himself awake to do so, prolonging the moment when he’d return to his room and assume his real form, the one that allowed him to
