The Dark Elements

Zayne seemed unaffected by the whole exchange, but I felt close to tears. I murmured something about homework before leaving the kitchen. I didn’t need to wait around to see how the conversation wrapped up. Whatever Zayne thought or wanted didn’t matter. It hadn’t mattered for Abbot or Zayne’s mother.

And it sure as Hell didn’t matter what I wanted.

* * *

The application to Columbia University stared at me from the floor. Scattered beside it were more college applications. Money wasn’t an issue. Neither were my grades. Since I couldn’t serve the clan by producing more Wardens, my future was my own. Those applications should’ve filled me with excitement and joy. But the idea of moving away, of becoming someone new and different, was as frightening as it was enthralling.

And now, when I finally had the chance to leave, I didn’t want to.

It didn’t make any sense. I tucked my hair back and stood. My schoolwork lay on the bed forgotten. If I was honest with myself for two seconds, I’d admit I knew why I didn’t want to leave. It was Zayne, and that was stupid. Abbot had been right earlier. It didn’t matter how much Warden blood I shared, this wasn’t my world. I was kind of like a guest who never left.

I looked around my room. It had everything a girl could want. My own desktop computer and laptop, TV and stereo system, more clothes than I’d ever wear and enough books to lose myself in.

But it was all just stuff...empty.

Unable to stay in my bedroom, I left with no real plan in mind. I just needed to get out of the room—out of the house. Downstairs, I could hear Jasmine and Danika in the kitchen making dinner. The scent of roasted potatoes and the sound of laughter filled the air. Was Zayne with them, cooking alongside Danika?

How sweet.

I passed Morris on the front porch. He glanced up from his newspaper with a questioning look, but that was all. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and inhaled the scent of decayed leaves and the faint trace of the city’s smog.

I cut across the manicured yard, past the stone wall that separated Abbot’s property from the woods surrounding the compound. Zayne and I had made this trip so many times as kids that a path had been carved through the grass and rocky soil. We’d escaped here together—me running from the loneliness and Zayne avoiding the rigorous trainings and all the expectations.

When we were younger, the fifteen-minute hike felt like we’d managed to disappear into a different world full of thick cherry trees and maples. It had been our place. Back then, I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t include him.

I stopped under the tree house Abbot had built for Zayne long before I came along. There wasn’t anything special about it. Kind of like a hut in the trees, but it had this cool eight-by-eight observation deck. Climbing a tree was a Hell of a lot easier when I was a little kid. It took several tries to get into the main part. From there, I crawled through a door roughed into the treated wood. I inched across the platform gingerly, hoping it didn’t cave in.

Death by tree house didn’t sound like an exciting way to go.

Lying down, I wondered why I’d come here. Was it some twisted way of wanting to be close to Zayne, or did I just want to be a kid again? To go back to a time when I didn’t know that seeing colors shimmering around people meant that I wasn’t like other Wardens...before I learned that I had tainted blood. Things were easier then. I didn’t think about Zayne the way I did now or spend my evenings touching random strangers. I also didn’t have an Upper Level demon in my bio class.

A cool breeze picked up a few strands of my hair, tossing them across my face. I shivered and hunkered down in my sweater. For some reason, I remembered what Roth had said about Abbot using me for my ability.

It’s not true.

I pulled the necklace out from underneath my sweater. 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 sleep. The only true rest a gargoyle gained was when they turned to stone. “Of course.”

“Oh. I almost forgot.” He sat up, reaching into the pocket of his jeans. He held a slender rectangular object in his hand. “I did pick this up for you today.”

I grabbed the cell out of his hands, squealing. “It’s a touch screen! Oh, my God, I promise I won’t break it or lose it. Thank you!”

Zayne rolled to his feet. “I went ahead and charged it. All you have to do is program your numbers in there.” He grinned down at me. “I took the liberty of programming my number as your first contact.”

I stood and hugged him. “Thank you. You are the awesome sauce.”

He laughed, easing his arms around me. “Ah, I have to buy your love. I see.”

“No! Not at all. I’d—” I stopped myself before I said something I couldn’t take back, and lifted my gaze. Half of his face was shadowed, but there was a strange look in his eyes. “I mean, you’d still be cool even if you hadn’t bought me the phone.”

Zayne tucked my hair back behind my ear, his hand lingering on my cheek. Bending at the waist, he pressed his forehead against mine. I felt him take a deep breath, and his hand flattened against the small of my back.

“Make sure you keep the balcony doors in your bedroom locked,” he said finally, his voice deeper than normal. “And try not to roam around the house in the middle of the night. Okay?”

“Okay.”

He didn’t move. A slow burn started to slither under my skin, different than my body reacting to his. I forced myself to take a shallow breath, to focus on Zayne, but my eyes drifted shut. I tried to stop it from happening, but my imagination took hold and ran wild. I pictured his soul—his very spirit—warming the cold, empty places inside me. It would feel better than a kiss, better than anything. I swayed, my body leaning toward his, drawn in by two very different wants.

Zayne dropped his hands, backing off. “Are you okay?”

A tide of hot mortification burned through me. Stepping back, I held the phone between us. “Yeah, I’m fine. We—we should head back.”

He studied me a moment, then nodded. I watched him turn and duck back into the tree house. I held my breath, waiting until I heard him drop to the ground below.

I couldn’t continue living like this.

But what choice did I have? Go full-throttle demon? That would never be an option.

“Layla?” he called out.

“I’m coming.” I lifted my head, and as I started forward, something caught my attention. Frowning, I squinted at the tree branch directly above the observation deck. Something wasn’t right about it. The branch seemed thicker, shinier.

Then I saw it.

Curled around the branch was an abnormally long and thick snake. Its diamond-shaped head turned down, and from where I stood, I could see the unmistakable red gleam of the snake’s eyes.

I jumped back, gasping.

“What’s going on up there?” Zayne asked.

I glanced down for maybe two seconds—that was all—but when I looked up, the snake was gone.

CHAPTER FIVE

By the time I followed Stacey into bio, I wanted to smack her. She wouldn’t stop talking about Roth. Like I needed any help wondering if he’d actually show up today. I’d stayed up all night thinking about that damn snake in the tree. Had it been there the whole time, watching me as I slept and listening to my conversation with Zayne?

Creepy.

All of it was made worse by the reminder of how Roth had pressed against me in the bathroom. Because when I thought of him, I thought of how that had felt. No one really got that close to me. Not even Zayne. I wanted to crawl inside my own head, surgically remove the memory and then douse my brain with Clorox.

“He better be,” Stacey was saying as she threw herself into her seat. “I didn’t sneak out of the house dressed like this for no good reason.”

“No doubt.” I eyed her short skirt and then her cleavage. “We wouldn’t want your boobs to go to waste.”

She gave me a sly smile. “I want him to think about me all night.”

I pulled out my textbook, dropping it on the desk. “No, you don’t.”

“I’ll decide that for myself.” She shifted, tugging her skirt down. “Anyway, I can’t believe you don’t find him hot. There’s something wrong with you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” I looked at her, but her eyes were glued to the door. I sighed. “Stacey, he’s really not a good guy.”

“Mmm. Even better.”

“I’m being serious. He’s...he’s dangerous. So don’t get any perverted ideas in your head.”

“Too late.” She paused, frowning. “Did he do something to you?”

“It’s just a feeling I have.”

“I have a lot of feelings when I think about him.” She leaned forward, planting her elbows on the table and cupping her chin in her hands. “Lots of feelings.”

I rolled my eyes. “What about Sam? He’s totally in love with you. He’d be a better choice.”

“What?” She scrunched her nose. “He is not.”

“Seriously, he is.” I started doodling on the book, keeping my attention off the door. “He’s always staring at you.”

Stacey laughed. “He didn’t even bat an eye when he saw my skirt—”

“Or lack thereof.”

“Exactly. Now, if I wore a binary code on my legs, then he’d notice me.”

Mrs. Cleo shuffled in, ending our conversation. I almost keeled over, the relief was that powerful. I didn’t even care when Mrs. Cleo eyed me strangely. Roth was gone, I thought, drawing giant smiley faces all over a diagram. Maybe his stupid snake ate him.

Stacey’s arm thudded off the desk. “I guess today is just going to suck.”

“Sorry,” I chirped, twirling my pen between my fingers. “Wanna grab—”

The door swung open just as Mrs. Cleo wheeled out the overhead projector. Roth strolled into class, bio book in hand and a cocky smile plastered across his face. The pen slipped out of my grip, flinging forward and smacking the head of a girl sitting two seats in front of me. She whirled around, throwing up her hands as she shot me a dirty look.

Stacey popped up in her seat, emitting a low squeal.

Winking at Mrs. Cleo, he edged past her. She just shook her head and fiddled with her notes. All eyes were on Roth as he sauntered down the center aisle. Jaws dropped and girls turned in their seats. Some of the guys did, too.

“Hey there,” he murmured to Stacey.

“Hi.” Her elbows slid across the desk.

Then he turned those golden eyes on me. “Good morning.”

“My day is made,” Stacey whispered, grinning at Roth as he dropped his book and sat.

“Good for you,” I snapped, digging another pen out of my bag.

Mrs. Cleo flipped off the lights. “I haven’t graded the tests yet, since some of you will be making up those tests on Friday. Expect your grades and any extra-credit assignments to be handed out on Monday.”

Several students groaned while I pictured stabbing my pen into the back of Roth’s head.

What had I planned last night? Not a damn thing, because I fell asleep while plotting on the observation deck.

About ten minutes into Mrs. Cleo’s dry lecture about cell respiration, Stacey stopped bouncing in her seat. I still hadn’t taken my eyes off Roth. He didn’t even bother pretending to take notes. At least I held a pen in my hand.

He tipped his chair back until it rested against our table, planting his elbows on my textbook to support his precarious position. Once again, I smelled something sweet, like sugary wine or dark chocolate.

I considered moving his arms, but that would require me to touch him. I could poke him in the arm with my pen—hard. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing really nice arms. Smooth skin stretched over well-defined biceps. And there was Bambi, curling around his arm. I leaned forward, somewhat fascinated by the detail. Each ripple in the snake’s skin had been shaded so that it actually looked three dimensional. The underbelly was gray and soft-looking, but I doubted Roth’s skin would be very soft. It looked as hard as Warden skin.

The tattoo looked so real.

Because it is real, you idiot.

Just then, the tail twitched and slid over his elbow.

Gasping, I jerked back in my seat. Stacey shot me a weird look.

Roth turned his head. “What are you doing back there?”

My eyes narrowed on him.

“Are you staring at me?”

“No!” I whispered, lying through my teeth.

He eased the chair down, sparing Mrs. Cleo a brief glance before turning sideways in his seat. “I think you are.”

Stacey leaned over, grinning. “She was.”

I shot her a hateful look. “I was not.”

Roth eyed Stacey with renewed interest. “She was? And what was she staring at?”

“I really don’t know,” Stacey whispered back. “I was too busy staring at your face to notice.”

A pleased grin appeared. “Stacey, right?”

She leaned into me. “That’s me.”

I pushed her back to her side, rolling my eyes. “Turn around,” I ordered.

His eyes met mine. “I will when you tell me what you were staring at.”

“Not at you.” I glanced at the front of the room. Mrs. Cleo flipped over her notes. “Turn around before you get us in trouble.”

Roth dipped his head. “Oh, you’d love the kind of trouble I’d get you in.”

Stacey sighed—or moaned. “I bet we would.”

I clenched the pen. “No. We. Would. Not.”

“Speak for yourself, sister.” Stacey popped the edge of her pen in her mouth.

He smirked at Stacey. “I like your friend.”

The pen cracked in my hand. “Well, I don’t like you.”

Roth chuckled as he finally turned back around. The rest of the class went like that. Every so often he’d look back at us and grin or whisper something entirely infuriating. When Mrs. Cleo finally turned the overhead lights on, I was ready to scream.

Stacey only blinked, looking like she was coming out of some kind of bizarre trance. I scribbled hobag across her notes. She laughed and wrote virgin ice princess across mine.

When the bell rang, I already had my stuff packed, ready to make a clean exit. I needed air—preferably air that Roth wasn’t sharing. Surprisingly enough, he was already out the door by the time I stood, walking so fast he appeared to be on some sort of mission. Maybe Hell had called him back home? I could only hope.

“What is your problem?” asked Stacey.

I brushed past her, scooping long strands of hair out from underneath my bag’s strap. “What? I have a problem because I’m not in heat?”

She made a face. “Well, that just sounds gross.”

“You’re gross,” I threw over my shoulder.

Stacey caught up with me. “Honestly, you have to explain to me what your problem is with him. I don’t get it. Did he ask you to be his baby mama?”

“What?” I made a face. “I already told you. He’s just bad news.”

“My favorite kind of news,” she said as we filed out of the door, “is bad-news boys.”

I gripped my bag tighter as a sea of pink and blue souls filled the hallway. A banner hung down, interrupting the flow of the pastel rainbow. “Since when did you start liking bad boys? All your past boyfriends qualified for sainthood.”

“Since yesterday,” she quipped.

“Well, that’s really...” I stopped by the row of lockers, wrinkling my nose. “Do you smell that?”

Stacey sniffed the air, then immediately groaned. “God, it smells like raw sewage. Probably the damn bathroom’s backed up.”

Other students were starting to pick up on the scent of rotten eggs and soured meat. There were giggles, a few gags. Apprehension stirred in my chest. The smell was foul—too foul—and I couldn’t believe it was only now that I was smelling it.

I was going to blame Roth for that, too.

“You’d think they’d cancel classes with a smell like that.” Stacey started to tug her shirt up as a shield, but must’ve realized there wasn’t enough material there. She clamped her hand over her mouth, muffling her voice. “This cannot be safe.”

A teacher stood outside his class, waving his hand in front of his face. My eyes burned as I turned away from him, trailing behind Stacey. In the stairwell, the smell was stronger.

Stacey glanced at me on the landing. “See you at lunch?”

“Yeah,” I replied, stepping out of the way of several taller and bigger seniors. I looked like a freshman standing in their way.

She tugged on the hem of her skirt again with her free hand. “Hopefully the smell is gone by then. If not, I’m starting a protest.”

Before I could respond, she was bounding up the stairs. I headed down the steps to the first floor, trying not to gag.

“What the Hell is that smell?” asked a petite girl with a lilac-colored soul. Her hair was blond and pixie short.

“I don’t know,” I murmured absently. “Our lunch?”

The girl laughed. “Wouldn’t surprise me.” Then she frowned, squinting at me. “Hey. Aren’t you the girl who lives with the Wardens?”

I sighed, wishing the mass of bodies on the steps in front of me would move faster. “Yes.”

Her brown eyes widened. “Eva Hasher said you and the old black dude who’s always picking you up from school are their human servants.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

She nodded vigorously. “That’s what Eva told me in history class.”

“I’m not a servant and neither is Morris,” I exclaimed. “I’m adopted. And Morris is part of the family. Big difference.”

“Whatever,” she said, pushing around me.

A servant? As if. A darker pink soul with stripes of red crept into my vision—Gareth Richmond. The boy who maybe stared at my butt.

“This place reeks.” He held his notebook over his mouth. “You know the gym is going to smell even worse. Think they’ll cancel class, Layla?”

Huh, he did know my name.

He lowered his notebook, revealing a megawatt smile. The kind I imagined he used on many girls. “They can’t expect us to run laps breathing this crap. You’re a pretty good runner, by the way. Why didn’t you ever go out for track or something?”

“You...watch me run in class?” I wanted to smack myself after saying that. It sounded like I’d accused him of being a creeper. “I mean, I didn’t know you paid attention. Not that you’d pay attention. I just didn’t know you knew I could run.”