Laughing, I started toward him but skidded to a halt when I saw that he’d lowered his hands and was staring at me with a rather strange look on his face. “What?”
He pulled his lower lip between his teeth. “Your laugh.”
“What about it?”
A smile formed and then vanished as he gave a shake of his head. “It’s nothing.”
“No. It’s something. Was it weird? Did I cackle? Peanut says I cackle. Like a witch.”
“No.” Half of that smile returned. “It wasn’t a cackle. It was nice. Actually, it was a great laugh. You just... I haven’t heard you laugh like that a lot.”
I shifted from one foot to the next. “You haven’t?”
“No.” He pushed the hair out of his face again. “I think the last time I heard you laugh like that was when you jumped those rooftops and nearly gave me a heart attack.”
I smiled. I had scared the bejesus out of him, and he’d come at me, angry and... Well, anger hadn’t been the only thing he’d been feeling that night. My smile faded. That had been the night the imps had attacked and I had taken the claw out of his chest and...
I looked away, letting out a breath and pumping the brakes on that train of thought. “Maybe I’ll jump off some rooftops again so you can hear the laugh.”
“As much as I love the sound, that would be entirely unnecessary.”
“I don’t think so.” I padded to where I’d left my Coke and took a drink, wishing it was fresher. “I think I’m going to need another shower.”
“Ditto.” Zayne stepped off the mats.
My skin flushed as I thought about the fact that there was only one shower, we both were sweaty and conserving water was good for the environment.
He stopped by the couch and propped a hip against the back. “You know what I think?”
Hopefully what I was thinking. Or maybe not hopefully.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
I opened my mouth.
“Yeah, I know that’s shocking to hear, since you give yourself all kinds of credit.” He smirked when I snapped my mouth shut. “But I was purposely getting into your blind spots, and you were handling it well.”
Trying not to be too pleased, I put on my glasses and sat on a bar stool. Zayne’s face became a little clearer. “But not perfect, and I need to be perfect.”
“No one can be perfect,” he corrected. “But you could improve and I think...” Zayne trailed off as his phone beeped. He picked it up, and then his brows slammed down and his jaw became so hard that I thought he’d cracked a molar. “Dammit.”
I stiffened. “What?”
“It’s Roth,” he bit out. “He’s here, and he brought friends.”
6
Roth.
Also known as Astaroth, who just happened to be the actual Crown Prince of Hell.
“He knows where you live?” I asked.
“Apparently,” Zayne grumbled. “There goes the neighborhood.”
I squelched my laugh as Zayne strode across the floor and placed the cell on the island. I wasn’t all that concerned that Roth knew where Zayne lived or that he was here. Yes, Roth was a demon—a very powerful Upper Level demon—but he wasn’t the enemy.
At least, not ours.
Zayne and Roth had a weird relationship.
A lot of it had to do with the fact that Wardens and demons being remotely friendly toward one another was unheard of, because, well, duh. One represented Heaven. The other represented Hell. Wardens hunted demons. Demons hunted Wardens. That was the circle of life right there, and it was quite understandable that they were natural-born enemies.
Except it wasn’t.
Zayne was the first Warden I’d met who didn’t view all demons as if they were evil incarnate. Like all Wardens, I was raised to believe that there was no question when it came to their evilness, but because of Zayne, I was learning that demons were...complex, and some seemed to be able to exercise free will, just like humans and Wardens.
Not all demons were irrationally evil. Though, I wasn’t sure if rationally evil was any better, but I was learning that good and evil weren’t cut and dry. That no one, not even Wardens or demons, was born one way and stayed stagnate in their choices and deeds. Demons were capable of great goodness, and Wardens could accomplish great evil.
Look at...look at Misha. Although Wardens were born with pure souls—and if there was a list of all that was good and holy in the world, they’d be damn near the top—Misha had done horrible things. He’d been evil. There was no denying that.
But it wasn’t only what Zayne and Roth each were that made it strange that they were sort of friendly with one another. It was what they had in common.
Layla.
Anyway, I guessed Zayne and Roth were sort of frenemies.
Roth had helped Zayne and I meet with the coven of witches who’d been responsible for placing an enchantment spell on humans, and that was something he hadn’t needed to do. Another oddly undemonic thing he’d done was, when we’d been ambushed by Upper Level demons and nearly died at Senator Fisher’s house, Roth had come back to help Zayne after he’d gotten Layla to safety. Maybe he’d done it because of Layla’s complicated history with Zayne, but he had come back and that meant something.
“Wait,” I said. “You said he’s bringing friends?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Every muscle in my body tensed as Zayne went to the console beside the door and hit a button just as a buzzing sound came from the intercom.
“Come on up,” he said into the speaker, his voice full of exasperation.
When Roth said friends, did he mean Layla? Would he really bring her here, knowing all that had gone down between her and Zayne? It was the demon who had told me about Zayne and Layla’s messy history. I’d had no clue about it until Roth had broken the news.
Although if he had brought her, I didn’t have a problem with her being here. Layla had been nothing but nice to me—well, she hadn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat when I’d first met her. I still thought there was a good chance she wanted to eat me, but she seemed okay and she was obviously so very deeply in love with Roth.
Maybe Roth was bringing Cayman, a demon broker who bartered souls and other valuable possessions for a whole range of things that humans were willing to give up. He even made deals with other demons, so he was an equal opportunity player right there. I hoped it was Cayman, because I knew I was a sweaty, hot mess, and my hair was a ratted—
I felt the sudden hot pressure along the nape of my neck, and a heartbeat later, the door glided open. The first person I saw was the demon prince.
Roth was death and sin wrapped in one really gorgeous package. Dark spiky hair. High, angular cheekbones. Lush mouth. His face alone could launch a thousand magazine covers and probably start a few wars.
“You look so thrilled to see me,” Roth said, his tone light and those lips curved into a half smile as he looked at Zayne. The demon was a little taller than the Warden, but not as broad.
“I’m just bursting with excitement. I can barely contain myself.” Zayne remained by the door, his tone dry as a piece of burnt toast. “Didn’t realize you knew where I lived.”
“I always knew,” the demon replied.
“Well, that is...great.”
“I didn’t know.” A familiar voice spoke from behind Roth. “He never told me he knew where you lived.”
My gaze zeroed in on the elevator bay. Roth wasn’t alone, and he definitely hadn’t brought Cayman.
The one who spoke was her. Layla. And God, seeing her, it was easy to understand why Zayne had fallen for her so hard. Why even a demon like Roth would fall in love. She was a paradox. With white-blond hair, big eyes and a bow-shaped mouth, she had a startling blend of doll-like innocence and raw seduction etched into every feature. She was the embodiment of good and evil, the daughter of a Warden and one of the most powerful demons in the world, who luckily was caged in Hell.
I knew there was more to her than the fact she was interesting to look at. There had to be for Zayne to have loved her. He was measurably less shallow than me.
“Kind of surprised he kept that secret,” Zayne said, clearly amused and maybe even a little happy. “I see someone tagged along with you guys.”
“Couldn’t shake her.” Roth turned toward me just as someone else darted out of the elevator and all but launched herself at Zayne.
He easily caught the tall, thin girl in dark jeans and a violet-blue tank top. Her arms circled his shoulders, and his went around her narrow waist.
Who in the holy hot water was that?
My insides felt weird, chilled to the bone, as I watched Zayne dip his head and say something to the girl that earned a muffled laugh from her. What had he said? Better yet, why was he still holding her like they were long-lost best friends who didn’t care that one of them was super sweaty?
“Hi there.”
It took me a second to realize Roth was talking to me. I glanced at the demon and then went back to staring at Zayne and the girl. “Hi.”
Roth sidled up to where I sat. “Layla was worried about Zayne and wanted—”
“—to see for myself that he was really okay,” Layla jumped in. “Roth would tell me that Zayne was okay even if he wasn’t, just so I wouldn’t get upset.”