Page 110 of White Hot Kiss

Scrambling along the ledge, I stood and realized we were in the subway system. In the distance, there was a flashing light. “My God, we have to be miles from the Monument.”

Roth was beside me in an indecent amount of time, Lesser Key in hand. I glanced at him. Exhilaration lit his eyes. “That was kind of fun, right?” he said. “It got the heart pumping.”

“That wasn’t fun! There were rats walking on two legs. Bats! And then the whole thing came—”

He moved so fast there was no chance to prepare myself. One second he was there, and then he was curving a hand around the nape of my neck. “You need something,” he said, and when I stared at him, he added, “Your face.”

“My face?”

“It’s in need of my kisses.”

I started to laugh, but his lips found mine as if they were made specifically to do so. My mouth parted on a gasp and the kiss deepened, stealing my breath. His fingers dug into my neck in a firm hold. Time slowed to a crawl and his mouth never left mine, his lips soaking up my responses like he was starved for water. The kiss felt good—really good—and it made me think of what we’d done back in his loft.

But reality got in the way. When he did pull back the slightest bit, he rested his forehead against mine. Those beautiful eyes were closed. “We need to get out of here and take a crack at the book.”

“Boo,” I murmured, but I disentangled myself and walked ahead, giving my heart time to slow its rhythm, along with my body. There were much more important things we had to focus on. I wasn’t surprised when Roth caught up with me easily. “I can’t believe we actually got the book, huh?”

“I didn’t doubt it for one second.” He stepped in front of me as we entered a narrow tunnel that opened up into a metro station stop. “We make a good team.”

There was that stupid fluttering in my chest again. A team—like we were together. And, dear Lord, the girlie-girl part of me was doing a very happy dance, which was ridiculous, because a future together was riddled with problems. There was the problem that I was part Warden and the whole “my kind was meant to kill his kind” thing, but it was more than that. Roth couldn’t stay up here forever. He was just doing a job.

And we were getting closer to his job being completed.

Once we came out of the metro station, I realized we were a couple of blocks from Union Station. The musky smell of the tunnel lingered on us, and I drew in a deep breath of the somewhat-fresh air as I stared up at the stars peeking out from behind the clouds.

I squinted.

One of the stars was falling.

Dread formed like a cannonball in my stomach and then exploded a second too late. It wasn’t a star falling.

It was a Warden.

21

He dropped from the sky, landing gracefully in front of us.

The impact shook nearby parked cars, added another pothole in the street and sent what few humans were on the street running for cover. His wings were unfurled, spanning eight feet or more. The broad chest, the color of granite, was heavily scarred, but the face was smooth and handsome.

Nicolai.

His yellow eyes, pupils slanted like a cat’s, slid toward Roth. He let out a growl that shook inside my chest. “Demon.”

“Congrats,” Roth said tightly. “You know your species. Want a cookie?”

The Warden’s eyes narrowed and a voice I’d never heard from Nicolai came out. “How dare you speak to me, alandlik demon?”

The switch to Estonian, Nicolai’s native language, caught me off guard. And honestly, out of everything, I had no idea why it did. My brain was slow to process what was happening, and before it could catch up, another shadow dropped.

“Layla,” he said, rising off the ground and hovering about like a twisted angel. His wings made no sound as they moved through air. All he said was my name, but there was so much weight behind that one word that he had to know. Everything.

Fear hit me in the gut, but not for me.

Nicolai swung toward Roth, baring fangs. There was a second, a sliver of time, when my eyes locked with Roth’s and the air was punched from my lungs. Roth stared at me like he couldn’t believe it. Betrayal ran deep in his stare, slicing through me.

“No,” I whispered hoarsely.

Roth turned at the last second, deflecting Nicolai’s attack with a single swipe of his arm. “You really don’t want to do that,” he snarled. His pupils dilated as he pushed Nicolai back. “Seriously.”