Kieron is clearly unnerved by this. He stands up and walks over to the grass. Running his long fingers through his hair, he stares out to the valley.
As much as it bothers him to hear it, he needs to know the truth. It’s far better he find out from me than some other way—like if Liora’s into him and he just comes right out and tells her he’s a demion….
I roll my eyes, picturing how well that little bombshell would go over. And I’ve already had about all of her nonsense I can take.
“So there’s no chance of you putting in a good word for me?”
Unfortunately, he’s not looking at me and can’t see my annoyed expression. “Sorry, no Cyrano de Bergerac here. You’re on your own, Romeo.”
“Sorry I asked that,” he says a moment later as he sits beside me again. “This must be…very hard for you. In your mind, it’s as if I was concerned for another girl entirely. As if my feelings are directed at someone other than you…”
I shrug. “Yeah…”
“Well, they’re not. Never forget that,” he whispers in my ear. Then he quickly, lightly, kisses my neck, sending shivers of fire and ice racing through my blood.
“I’ll try. No promises, though.” I try to make my voice stern, but I can’t help smiling. Just friends, huh? True, it was just a quick, soft peck below my earlobe. But I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss him ever since I woke up in his arms in Baymore Park. Maybe we can be ‘kissing friends’…
But just thinking of Baymore Park strikes a chord in my memory. I turn my face to his, mere inches away.
“I have a question for you…” I start, trying not to let myself get distracted by the fact that I have an insatiable urge to run my fingers through his thick, lush locks and pull his mouth to mine. Focus, Lucky! “Last night, at Baymore Park, with the Altrumina…how did you happen to be there?”
He presses his eyebrows together again and sighs. Then he looks away, but not before I see a dark flash in his eyes.
“Kieron?”
“I had no idea this would happen when I came here. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he says, almost as if he’s speaking to himself.
“What wasn’t…and why won’t you answer my question? What were you doing in Baymore Park?”
He finally turns to face me, and I’m stunned to see how hard his face is. His jaw is rigid, his lips pressed tight. But it’s his eyes that surprise me the most. They’ve suddenly gone from clear and open to dark and foreboding.
He sighs again and locks his gaze on mine. “Actually…I was following you.”
His answer confuses me, and my body stiffens; I don’t know if I should be flattered or creeped out.
“I don’t get it…why were you following me?” My eyes feel as wide as one of Illyria’s moons.
He takes a deep breath again. I notice he’s removed his hand from my knee and is tightly clenching the grass behind him. “Because it’s my job.”
“What?” My heart starts to race. If he’s saying what I think he’s saying…
“I came here for you,” he says, quietly.
“Why?” My question is barely a whisper.
“I came here…to kill you.”
******
Every cell in my body instinctively shifts into high alert, but I don’t flinch a muscle. If Kieron plans to take me out, he’s in for one hell of a fight.
“I’d love to see you try.” My mouth is shaped in the sweetest smile I can muster, but my eyes are bright with pure demonic fury.
“Well obviously I’m not going to. I would’ve done so already.”
“You would have tried,” I counter. “Nice ego just assuming you’d win.”
Latros demons are tough, but I have my own talents. Each with our own strengths and weaknesses, we’d be pretty evenly matched unless…
I let out a horrified gasp and jump to my feet. “Is that what you’re doing with her…us? Looking for weaknesses?”
How could I be so stupid? How could I think for one second that this demion was any different than the rest? Friend, my ass!
“No,” he says quietly. “I only knew there was another demon—you—interfering with my bounty. I came here to eliminate that interference, as I normally would.”
“So what’s stopping you?” Every fiber of my being is ready for a fight; my fingers twitch anxiously, ready in a split second to grab my dagger from my boot. But Kieron remains passively on the ground.
“I have no desire to kill you…or her. Especially not her.”
“Especially?” I sneer. “Gee, thanks.”