Page 48 of White Hot Kiss
Roth laughed. “No. I mean eighteen as in I was born eighteen years ago. I’m a baby demon, basically.”
“A baby demon,” I repeated slowly. When I thought about babies, the image of something soft and cuddly came to mind. Nothing about Roth was babyish. “You’re being serious.”
He nodded, brushing the crumbs off his hands. “You look so shocked.”
“I don’t understand.” I picked up one of the cookies.
“Well, technically, we’re not really alive. I don’t have a soul.”
I frowned. “Were you hatched from brimstone or something?”
Roth threw his head back, laughing. “No. I was conceived just like you, but our growth is vastly different.”
I shouldn’t be curious, but I couldn’t help it. “How is it different?”
He leaned forward, grinning as his eyes glimmered. “Well, we are born as babies but within a couple of hours we mature. This—” he gestured at himself “—is just a human form I chose to wear. We all pretty much look alike, to be honest.”
“Just like the Wardens, then. You’re wearing a human skin. So what do you really look like?”
“As gorgeous as I do now, but a very different shade of skin.”
I sighed. “What color?”
Roth picked up his cup as he dipped his chin. He stared at me through thick lashes. “A boy must have some secrets. It keeps the mystery alive.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“Maybe one day I’ll show you.”
“I won’t be interested then. Sorry.” I moved on to my second cookie. “So back to the eighteen thing again. You seem a lot more mature than normal guys. Is that a demon thing?”
“We’re omniscient.”
I laughed. “Such crap. You’re saying you’re born all-knowing?”
Roth grinned impishly. “Pretty much. I went from this big—” he held his hands about three feet apart “—to what I am now in about twenty-four hours. Brain grew right along with it.”
“That’s just weird.”
He picked up his coffee, taking a sip. “So what do you know about your other half?”
And he was back to me again. I sighed. “Not that much. They told me my mom was a demon, and that’s pretty much it.”
“What?” Roth sat back. “You really are that innocent of your heritage. It’s cute, but oddly infuriating.”
I nibbled on my cookie. “They think it’s better that way.”
“And you think it’s okay for them to keep you completely in the dark when it comes to the other part of you?”
I took another bite, shrugging. “It’s not like I claim the other half.”
He rolled his eyes. “You know, it kind of reminds me of a dictatorship. The way the Wardens treat you, that is.”
“How so?”
“Keep the people in the darkness, away from the truth. Makes them easier to control.” He sipped his coffee, watching me over the lid. “It’s the same with you.” He shrugged. “Not that you seem to care.”
“They don’t control me.” I broke off the cookie roughly, briefly considered throwing it in his face. But that would be a waste of a perfectly good cookie. “And I guess you’re on speaking terms with some of the world’s most infamous dictators.”