Page 56 of White Hot Kiss

The next morning, I got up early like I did every Saturday. Sure, I was still upset over everything with Zayne, but it was Saturday morning. There had to be a reason why he never checked on me last night. Most likely Abbot had him leave the mansion immediately to help the rest of the Wardens.

We had plans—we always had plans on Saturday morning. Even with the possibility that demons were looking for me, I’d be okay because I’d be with Zayne. He was the kind of babysitter I could get behind.

And I wanted to ask Zayne about my mother. I figured I could do so without raising any suspicion and I knew he’d tell me the truth. All my life, Zayne had never lied to me. I trusted him and I knew he’d tell me I had nothing to worry about—that my mother was not the Lilith.

I waited until eight and went to his bedroom door like I always did. By then he’d already be shifting back into his human skin, opening the door any minute. But the door didn’t open at eight. Ten minutes went by. After thirty minutes, I sat down. When the clock chimed nine, I started to feel sick. What if something had happened to him? What if he was hurt or worse?

Unable to wait any longer, I pushed to my feet and raced to the first floor. Abbot wasn’t at rest yet. He was with Elijah and a few other men from the clan. I skidded to a stop in front of his study, out of breath.

Abbot lifted his head, a faint look of amusement crossing his face when he spotted me by the door. “Layla?”

Each of the men turned to look at me. Heat suffused my cheeks as I folded my arms across my chest. “Has Zayne returned?” I couldn’t ask if he’d been hurt. The words wouldn’t form on my lips.

Abbot looked puzzled for only a moment as he stroked his beard. “Oh, today is Saturday, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“I do believe Zayne may have forgotten,” Nicolai said in his quiet way.

Elijah leaned against the door, yawning loudly. “Zayne is with Danika. She met up with us just before dawn. I heard them mention something about breakfast.”

My gaze darted to Abbot. He looked pleased by the development. Of course, he wanted Zayne to mate with the girl, so he was probably mentally cheering and already picturing bouncing babies, but I couldn’t breathe.

Stepping around the chair, Nicolai’s eyes landed on me. Sympathy shone on his face, and my heart lurched in the worst way. “Do you want to get breakfast? Or coffee?”

Elijah and his men snickered, which Nicolai ignored.

“That won’t be necessary,” Abbot said. “You need your rest, Nicolai, and Layla really shouldn’t be out after what happened last night.”

“I can spare an hour or two for the girl.” Nicolai’s expression sharpened. “It will bring no harm to anyone, and we’ll be fine.”

“How charitable,” Elijah murmured.

Humiliation brought stinging tears to my eyes. Backing away from the study’s entrance, I shook my head. “No. That’s...that’s okay.”

“But—”

I spun around, hurrying away before Nicolai could finish. Zayne had forgotten me. I couldn’t believe it. He never forgot our Saturdays. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he’d just replaced me with Danika, a much more suitable companion. I didn’t understand, though. He had never paid this much attention to her before.

But he was now.

I started to head toward the front door, but stopped in the foyer. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. Where could I go? Hang out in the tree house again, like a dweeb? I was stuck in this house.

Back in my bedroom, I changed back into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I didn’t want to cry. It was weak and stupid to shed tears over something like this, but my cheeks ended up feeling damp anyway and my chest ached. I curled onto my side, fisting the ring in my hand until I drifted back to sleep.

A knock on my bedroom door roused me out of sleep hours later. I pried my eyes open to see that the sun was setting outside my bedroom window. I had slept the day away. The knock came again. I pulled the thick down comforter over my head.

The door cracked open. “Layla-bug?”

I hunkered down, hoping he’d just go away.

A few moments later, the bed shifted under Zayne’s weight. He felt around until his hand landed on my head. “Where are you at under these blankets?” He patted the bed a couple of times. “I can’t find you.”

I hated him for joking.

There was a moment of silence. “You’re mad at me.”

I squeezed my eyes shut until I saw white light. “You forgot me.”