“You can’t do that.”
“Are you going to stop me?” He raises a daring brow, and I swallow a thick lump lodged in my throat, following a nod, yes. “Oh?” Ethan approaches again, withdrawing the air back from my lungs and suffocating me silently. “How?” Tingles form over the sensitive skin of my lips, his scent melding within the citrus and cinnamon taste of his question, and I kick myself for not keeping my distance. It’s like I can’t control my own body around him.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. I tilt my chin, meeting his sight when a surge of energy nudges me backuntil I feel the wall’s cold touch.
Placing a hand beside my head and damn near pressing his body against mine, he speaks, “I’d love to see you try.”
Lord, if you’re up there, I need every drop of strength you can offer. My guardian angel’s forsaken me.
Our eyes entrap one another’s, and my dress vibrates from my heart’s obsessive beating. His own matches my cadence, judging from the throbbing vein in his neck, and we wait for one another to break.
My voice is a mere whisper, “Plus, Angie made a Heavenly Oath. You can’t kill me tonight, or she dies.” I play my delayed trump card. The twitch of his lips shows he is not pleased with her doing this.
Moments pass with neither of us relenting, and heat permeates throughout my body, growing more intense. This dress can’t hide his effects anyway; a warming sensation circles around my breast as pressure slowly builds. Sweat beads inside my palms, despite the wall’s cool touch, and each exhale he makes sends sparks over my lips.
“I’ll be back with Angie. The next time you see fit to threaten me…don’t.” He steps back and turns away, hopefully for the last time, reminding me why I can never like someone like him.And he wants you dead.
“Wait. If you find her, you can’t kill whomever she’s with.”
“Why?” He peers around his thick braid, slung over his left shoulder.
“Because Angie would never forgive you.”
“Does it look like I care about forgiveness?”
“When it comes to her, yes.”
With his attention still locked on me, he squints then vanishes into a golden sigil. A shaky sigh passes, and I use this time to clear my head of any trace of him. Pacing slowly across the living area and waiting for their return, I wonder how long it will take, or if he will find her before the night’s end. I repeatedly look at my phone, expecting a message from Angie, but mostly, I’m just checking the time.
After thirty minutes or so, I call it quits. Figuring she is safe fromhis tyranny, I shower away tonight’s failures, then wrap the towel around me and prepare for bed.
The heated floor warms me from the bottom up, and I exit the bathroom. I am excited to spot Angie perched on my bed as I make the small distance across the hall into my room, but take caution viewing the wrinkles flourishing across her forehead.
“Hi,” I mouth, and she returns an annoyed eye roll. “I take it Ethan found you. Is your friend okay?”
“He’s alive, for now,” he answers, leaning against the bedroom door and scaring the hell out of me.
“What the fuck. Why are you still here?”
“Language.” He pries his eyes from his phone long enough to drift over my body before returning.
“You call that being alive? You transported him to the mountain tops and left him there,” Angie yells.
“He did what?” I question, holding back a chuckle. She rises, pointing an accusing finger at Ethan, and his brow lifts.
“Would you prefer I go kill him?”
“Did you know about this?” She turns her manicured finger towards me, frowning in tandem and ignoring his ridiculous question.
“No,” I say as Ethan scoffs. “I mean, yes, I knew he was looking for you, not that he was planning on doing that.” Angie’s face converts into a look of betrayal, which only makes it worse for me to endure.
“You could’ve warned me that he was coming like a real best friend would have,” she spurts.
“I didn’t think he’d be able to find you tonight, let alone transport the poor guy. Plus, I didn’t want to interrupt you from finishing whatever y’all were doing. Like a real best friend.” I throw that out for good measure.
“Yeah? Well, I didn’t get to finish, Kyra. I was almost there until he showed up.”
Lord, it’s me again. Back looking for the strength not to laugh inher face.This demon I’m fighting easily has the upper hand. “I’m sorry, truthfully,” I murmur, almost letting a laugh slip.
