Page 86 of White Hot Kiss
“Not.” He said something under his breath in a different language and then extended his hand. “Then come on. Let’s do this. Together.”
16
Skipping school for, well, for the very first time to see a seer had trouble written all over it. So did the way Roth drove his Porsche, like he was the only person who had the right to be on the road. Naturally, “Paradise City” was blaring from the speakers.
“You may be an immortal demon,” I said, holding on to the seat belt’s chest strap, “but I’m not.”
He flashed a wild sort of grin that made me think really stupid things. “You’ll be fine.”
The possibility of dying in a massive car accident aside, this was far better than sitting around pretending that nothing was going on. I was being active. In a way, I was taking care of this myself with Roth’s help and that eased the panicky restlessness that had been building inside me.
As we entered Manassas, Roth did the unexpected and pulled into the lot of the first grocery store we came upon. I stared at him as he cut the engine. “You need to get groceries, like right now?”
Roth sent me a look but didn’t answer. Sighing, I got out of the car and followed him into the market. I half expected someone to jump out at us and demand why we weren’t in school, but once inside the store, I saw about six other teenagers and figured we’d blend right in.
He stopped in the poultry section, frowning.
“What are you looking for?” I asked, curious.
“A chicken,” he said, poking around the shelves. “Preferably a live chicken, but doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
I leaned closer to him. “Do I want to know why you want a live chicken right now?”
“I thought it would make a good traveling companion.” He smirked when my eyes narrowed. “You should always bring a token of thanks when you visit a seer. I’ve heard that chickens make a good gift.” He picked up a wrapped whole chicken that claimed it was raised on a farm. “Everyone loves Perdue, right?”
“This is so weird.”
A lopsided grin appeared. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, heading toward the Manassas Battlefield with our Perdue chicken. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when we passed the old wooden fences and stone walls and pulled into the driveway of a house that looked like it probably had bullet holes in it from the Civil War battle, I tried to prepare myself for the bizarreness that was about to go down.
Roth strode ahead of me, his eyes scanning the neatly trimmed bushes lining the walkway like he expected a garden gnome to attack us. We stepped up on the porch. A swing to the far left moved in the slight breeze. There was a wooden scarecrow sitting on a pumpkin hanging from the door.
The door opened before Roth could even raise his hand to knock.
A woman appeared. Once the faint blue hue of her soul faded, I got a good look at her. Her blond hair was pulled up in an elegant twist. Fine lines surrounded razor-sharp gray eyes. Her makeup was immaculate. Her light pink cardigan and linen trousers were free from wrinkles. She was even rocking a pearl necklace.
Totally not what I expected.
She swept a cool gaze over us and then settled on Roth. Her lips thinned. “I am not happy about this.”
He arched a dark brow. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t mean it.”
I opened my mouth to apologize, because that kind of attitude wasn’t going to get us anywhere, but the woman stepped aside nonetheless. “In the den,” she said, gesturing to her right.
Carrying the chicken in a plastic bag, Roth went down a narrow hall first. The house smelled nice, like roasted apple. Sounds of a video game radiated from the den, and as we stepped inside the large room, my gaze went straight to the TV.
Assassin’s Creed. Sam would dig this place.
“I appreciate the chicken, but it’s not quite what you’d bring a seer.”
My jaw hit the floor.
At first it was just a blur of pearly white goodness—a pure soul. Seeing a human with a pure soul was like winning the lottery; that was how rarely they were sighted outside the Warden race. My mouth dried and my throat constricted. A bone-deep yearning kicked me right in the stomach, one that didn’t go away when the soul faded, revealing the seer. Roth put his hand on the small of my back, and I hadn’t realized I’d stepped forward until then. The look on his face said, “don’t eat the soul of the seer,” but honestly, the only thing that eased the craving was the shock that rippled through me when I turned back to the seer.
Sitting cross-legged in front of the TV was a boy about nine or ten years old, game controller in hand. It couldn’t be...
Roth shifted his weight. “Sorry, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to get a live chicken on such short notice.”