The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)(31)

Activate it. I glanced at my arm again. That was one way to describe what had happened. Then I looked back at Adrian. If I concentrated, his features become clearer.

"I think it, ah, activated before, when you first came back and took out Snake Hands," I told him. "I didn't see the glow because of my long sleeves, but I felt the same pain. Maybe the slingshot embedded itself in my arm as a sort of...demonic early-detection system?"

Adrian looked at my arm, and this time, I was sure I caught a glimpse of a smile. "Maybe. Figures Zach wouldn't have given us a heads-up about that. He does love his surprises." 

I let out a watery laugh. "Archons, right?"

Adrian laughed, too, and a thread of hope wormed its way through my depression over this area's future. I'd gladly take the pain that came with the tattoo's "activation" if it was warning us that a demon was near. We needed all the help we could get when it came to fighting demons, and if we won, no other place would have to suffer this same fate.

Adrian began to rummage through his jacket pockets. After a moment, he handed me a plastic bottle and something rectangular.

"Water and a power bar," he said, his tone turning wry. "Hardly the romantic dinner I'd planned to have with you, but the jackets only have room for necessities."

I gratefully uncapped the bottle and took a long swallow, then paused before my next one. "Where's yours?"

He waved a hand. "I don't want any right now."

I knew him well enough to recognize a deliberately vague answer, and I gave him a look that he should've had no trouble deciphering. "That's not what I asked you."

With an unintelligible mutter, he pulled out an identical water bottle. "See? Happy now?"

I waited, drumming my nails for emphasis. "And?"

This time, I made out what he said under his breath, and it was a Demonish curse word. "And what?" he finished with.

"And you don't have any food, unlike what you tried to get me to believe," I pointed out.

"No, I said I didn't want any right now, with ‘any' referring to my water. I can't help it that you assumed I meant food, too," he countered smoothly.

I gritted my teeth. Why couldn't men just admit it when they were busted? "Lies of omission are still lies, Adrian."

His look said that he disagreed, and I wanted to shake him. We were only talking about chocolate now, but if he still didn't believe that lies of omission counted, what would he do when the stakes were higher? The same thing he'd done months ago when he'd hidden the truth of my real destiny from me? "Your chocolate is getting cold," he added with infuriating glibness.

If we weren't in a subzero realm with a demon possibly in the nearby castle, I would've given him a piece of my mind about the entire subject. But now wasn't the time. So instead, I gave him an arch smile as I split the power bar in half. "No, our chocolate is getting cold."

"Ivy," he began.

"Oh, who's assuming now?" I mocked. "You thought I wanted the whole thing, but I never said that, did I?"

Maybe my eyes were adjusting even more to the dark, because now I could see him glowering at me. "Don't be stubborn."

I laughed at that. "You of all people should talk."

"There's more in the car, I'll get some later-"

"Then we'll get some later," I interrupted, quiet but firm. "If it comes to a demon fight, you'll need your strength because you're the only one who can take them down. My skills have improved, but minions are hard enough for me. I couldn't win if I faced off against a demon, and we both know it."



       
         
       
        

That sealed the deal. Adrian was trying to be chivalrous-an admittedly unfamiliar characteristic for him-but no one would know more than he about the importance of keeping himself at his lethal, fighting best.

"Fine," he said, accepting half of the power bar.

I clicked the tip of mine with his. "Cheers."

A smile hovered over his lips. "That's usually reserved for drinks, so save it for one of the bottles of Cristal I intend to crack open as soon as we're back on the bus."

My eyes widened. "You brought champagne on a relic-hunting trip where our best hope is to end up ass-deep in demon ash?"

His smile spread into a grin. "I'd break out every kind of liquor ever invented to celebrate being ass-deep in demon ash."

"Good point," I said, with a little laugh. "I really need to start looking at the bright side of things."

His expression changed, that grin fading. When he spoke, his tone had changed, too, becoming darker and more luxuriant. "I had other motives behind the champagne. One of those bottles is just for us, and we'll open it to celebrate what will happen after I fulfill my promise to you."