Anger.
Simmering anger was what I’d felt, and it had left a peppery taste in my throat.
Zayne was angry, but at what? His ruined ice cream social? Me showing up? Sam’s unexpected appearance and how it had affected Stacey? Ghosts and Shadow People hanging out at the school? The whole situation, including what had happened between us? The options were limitless.
Whatever. At the end of the day, at least we had a lead.
I didn’t know where I was going. Back to the apartment, I guessed, but I had no idea if I could get back there. I really didn’t care right then. I’d just keep walking and walking, trying to put as much space between me and that damn little ball of warmth in my chest. My path was blissfully clear as I hit the intersection. I was never—
A horn blew, the sound deafening as my head whipped to the left. The car was right there, in my blind spot. Tires squealed as brakes pumped. It was too late. The car wouldn’t be able to stop in time.
Someone screamed, but it wasn’t me, because I was incapable of making sound. In those seconds that stretched into eternity, I knew this car was going to ram into me. It wouldn’t kill me, but it was most definitely going to hurt. Bones might even be broken, and God, wouldn’t time in a body cast just top today—
A band of steel circled my waist and pulled me back. I slammed into a hard, warm surface that smelled of winter. My feet left the ground as I was turned. Within a heartbeat I was staring at...
Staring at Zayne’s pale blue shirt, as the man in the car shouted and then peeled away, laying on his horn. I lifted my gaze, and furious pale eyes met mine.
“Are you out of your mind?”
I felt the words rumble out of him, because he had me all but plastered to his chest. I tried to lift my hands to push away, but my arms were clamped to my sides. I was stuck against him, and his body was throwing off heat like a furnace.
Crap.
“Trin—”
“Let me go.” I knew we had to be gaining an audience, considering we were in the middle of a sidewalk.
He glared down at me. “What were you doing?”
“I said let me go.” The next breath I took was like swallowing fire. “Now.”
Zayne drew in a deep breath, but he let go, sliding his arm away from me in a slow drag that infuriated and frustrated me for half a dozen different reasons.
I stepped back.
But I didn’t make it very far.
His hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist, his grip firm but far from painful. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere but where I am right now.”
Zayne’s laugh was harsh. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
Without another word, Zayne wheeled me back toward the ice cream shop as an older couple wearing matching windbreakers eyed us. Their heads were bent together as they sent nervous glances in our direction. They didn’t intervene. No one did. I guessed it was because it was rush hour in the nation’s capital and people just wanted to get home before dark.
Real concerned, helpful citizens right there.
I tugged on my hand. “Zayne—”
“Not yet,” he said, threading his fingers through mine. “Not here.”
The hand around mine was firm, and his long-legged pace was annoying to keep up with. I peeked over at him. “I do not understand why you’re the one with the attitude right now.”
“You don’t?” he demanded. “You know better than to walk across a street without checking. You could’ve been injured, Trin. And then what?”
I tried to pull my hand free again. No such luck. “But I wasn’t hurt, and look, I busted into your ice cream date. I didn’t—”
“Not yet,” he clipped out.
I started to frown. “But I—”
“Trinity, I’m serious. I don’t want to hear a single word from you right now.” He cut in front of me, nearly causing me to trip. I didn’t, because he righted me before I could topple over.
“But you asked me a question!” I pointed out. “Did you not want me to answer it?”
“Not really.”
Now I was really frowning as he pulled me into an alley I’d passed on the way to the ice cream shop. Zayne stopped by a fire escape, far from the packed sidewalk, and faced me. The light above us flickered, casting strange shadows over his face.
“You going to let me go now?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. Are you going to go play in traffic again?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a favorite pastime of mine, so no promises.”
The look he gave me told me he wasn’t impressed. I drew in a shallow breath and started to try to tell him what happened, but he opened his mouth and beat me to it.
“You have so much explaining to do.” He stared down at me.
That was the wrong thing to say. “I have explaining to do? Me?”
“Are you not the person who just randomly popped up here and then ran off into the street?”
“You make it sound like I did all that on purpose, which I did not, and I also did not run off.” Even though I’d wanted to. “I walked off.”
“As if that makes a difference.” His eyes flared wide as he dipped his head. “You were out here for who knows how long, unprotected and alone.”
“Oh, like you care,” I blurted out. It was such a typical thing to say, but whatever.
“Really? You think that?”
“Based on the way you’ve been acting the last couple of days? Yeah.”
“God, I shouldn’t even be surprised that you’d think that.”
I gaped at him. “You need to chill with the attitude.”
“I need to chill?”
“Obviously. That’s what I said.” I yanked on my hand again. I was done with the hand-holding crap. I broke his hold just to remind him exactly who had the strength here. “In case you’re confused, I don’t have to tell you anything about what I’m doing, so you need to check yourself with the whole you-didn’t-know-where-I-was spiel. That is not how this works. Ever. Second, I can protect myself—”
“Except when you’re crossing streets, apparently,” he fired back.
“You know what. You can go—” I cut myself off, taking a step back.
His lips twisted into a smirk. “Finish that sentence if it’ll make you feel better.”
Instead of doing just that, I lifted my hand and flipped him off.
One eyebrow rose. “Did that make you feel better?”
“Yes.”
Lips thinning, he looked away and dragged in a deep breath. “You didn’t tell me the truth the night you were in the kitchen.”
My ears must have been deceiving me, or the Lord was testing me. Or both. “Come again?”
“That was why you had your dagger with you.” He faced me again. “You weren’t getting something to drink. Sam was there, and you didn’t tell me—”
“You didn’t tell me you were meeting up with Stacey!” I shouted loud enough that people on the street had have to heard me. “You failed to mention that when you talked about the ‘stuff’ you needed to do, so don’t stand there and lecture me. And it’s not the first time, either, right? That’s where you were the day you met me in the park. The night we—” I cut myself off. “The night Morgan was killed.”
His gaze flew to mine. “I had lunch with her that day. I didn’t tell you—”
“I don’t care.” And that was the God’s honest truth at that messy moment. “I don’t care why you didn’t.”
Zayne stepped toward me. “Are you sure about that, Trinity?”
I tensed. “I’m positive. I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.”
“Then if that’s the case, I can’t wait to see your face the moment the hypocrisy turns right back on you.”
“Oh, you think you’re smart.” I started to turn away, but I stopped. “I didn’t tell you about Sam because I had no idea who he was that night. He disappeared before I could get a name, and I thought he was just some random spirit who’d seen me and followed me back. It’s happened before, and I didn’t bring it up because I figured hearing there was another dead person in your apartment would creep you out.”
Zayne looked toward the street, arms crossing over his chest.
“I didn’t know he was bringing me to Stacey until I saw her. If I had known who he was, I would’ve contacted you. I’m not stupid.”
His head whipped back to mine. “I didn’t say you were.”
“I guess I misinterpreted the playing-in-the-street comment then.” I held on to my anger like it was a favorite blanket. “And why are you even here right now?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Really?” My tone was so dry, a desert would seem like a damp destination in comparison. “You have stuff to do, and the whole Sam thing seemed to hit Stacey really hard. So, you should be in there, where you’re needed. Not out here, giving me crap.”
Zayne’s nostrils flared and his pupils changed, stretching. “You’re right. I had stuff to do today, and that, back there?” He jabbed a finger at the street. “It did hit Stacey hard, because when Sam died, she didn’t even know. None of us did, because a damn Lilin had assumed his form and pretended to be him in every way possible.”
My eyes widened. A Lilin was the offspring of Lilith but nothing like Layla. A Lilin was a demonic creature way forbidden to be topside, because they could strip souls by simply brushing up against a human, creating wraiths like a mogwai feeds after midnight. And now I understood what Sam had meant by saying he hadn’t crossed over as soon as he’d died. His soul would’ve been stripped and he would’ve been...
Oh God.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered. “I don’t know anything about these people—”