White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements 1)

The door to the bathroom creaked open as I grabbed several rough brown paper towels. I swung around, but no one stood in front of the door that was easing shut. Frowning at the sense of déjà vu, my gaze moved away from the door and over the empty bathroom stalls.

A surprised gasp caught in my throat.

Perched atop the second bathroom door was a crow—a very large, very black crow. Its yellow beak had to be half the size of my hand.

My school kind of had a sucky security policy since they didn’t have many problems, but I couldn’t imagine a crow that big getting into the building...or how it had been able to open the bathroom door.

“What the...?” I stepped back, hitting the edge of the sink.

The crow cawed loudly, the sound as disturbing as it was fascinating. Launching itself into the air, its black wings spread out as it glided to the space between me and the stall. My eyes widened as the crow hovered before me for a second and then...expanded.

Really, really expanded.

The dark belly elongated and the wings took on armlike shapes. The beak sank in and fingers replaced the sharp-looking talons. Roth? Filled with hope, I stepped forward, ready to rush and embrace him.

I drew up short as the man appeared, dressed in leather pants and a loose, flowing white shirt. Mixed among shoulder-length black hair were feathers.

I blinked slowly. So not Roth.

The man smiled. “My name is Caym. I rule thirty demons, loyal to Hell only.”

“Oh, crap,” I whispered. What in the Hell was up with demons and the girls’ bathroom?

Caym’s opaque eyes fixed on mine. “Do not be afraid. This will only hurt for a few moments.” Then he reached for me.

Reacting on instinct, I threw my arm out, catching him in the throat. The demon made a strangled sound, but I didn’t wait to see if I’d done any real damage. For the millionth time in my life, I cursed my inability to phase as I darted toward the door.

He grabbed a handful of my hair, twisting the strands around his thick fist as he yanked. A scream built in my throat, powerful and sure to draw attention. I opened my mouth, preparing to let it loose when Caym’s hand clamped around my throat, cutting the scream off.

“Don’t fight it,” he cajoled, letting go of my hair. “It’ll be easier that way.”

I clawed at the hand around my throat, sinking my fingernails deep into his skin as Caym lifted me until my feet dangled in the air. I gripped his hands, trying to loosen them as I gagged. No air! I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get the fingers off my neck.

“Now,” he said, moving his free hand to my forehead. Warnings bells went off. “Just relax and—”

I kicked out wildly, catching the demon in the stomach hard enough to startle him. He let go and I fell backward. My hip crashed into the rim of the sink and the side of my head smacked off the ceramic. A fresh burst of red-hot pain shot through me, knocking what little precious air I had out of my lungs. I hit the dirty tile of the bathroom floor hard. Gasping for air, I rose to my elbow and reached one hand up to the side of my throbbing head in a daze. My hand came back red.

Red? I pushed through the pain and confusion, scrambling under the sink before Caym could grab me again. Wasn’t the best hidey-hole, but it was all I had.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he seethed, kneeling down and grabbing my flailing leg. “Now you’ve pissed me off.”

“You weren’t pissed when you tried to strangle me?” I grabbed on to the metal under the sink.

The bathroom door swung open before Caym could respond to that, and I immediately caught the scent of a familiar sweet musk. My heart tripped over. Hope, along with something far more powerful, rose like a tide.

Roth stood in the doorway, his golden eyes slowly moving from me to the demon. “Caym, I didn’t expect to find you in the girls’ bathroom.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I almost couldn’t believe that I was seeing him.

“Extreme times call for extreme measures,” Caym replied with an odd smile as he tugged on my leg again and pulled me another inch out from underneath the sink.

I kicked out my free leg, catching him in the knee. Caym let go, stumbled backward and straightened. The anger blew off him in waves of heat.

“That doesn’t look like it’s working,” Roth commented, brows raised.

Caym sighed. “It’s been one of those centuries, brother. I can’t catch a damn break.”

“Roth,” I said, his name coming out a croak. He didn’t take his eyes off the other demon. He was too busy chatting with him. Any hope I had deflated like a balloon.

“I can see that.” His stare lowered and thick lashes fanned his cheeks. A small smile pulled at his lips, and when he spoke, his voice was soft, yet deep and powerful. “You know I can’t let you take her.”

“What?” demanded Caym. “You know what the risk is! She must be dealt with or all of us will die if the Lilin are raised. You can’t stop me.”

Roth shrugged. “But I can.”

His brows furrowed as he stared at him, and then understanding dawned on his face. The air around him started to shimmer, but it was too late. Roth shot forward, and he was just so damn fast. His hands were around the other demon’s neck in a second. He twisted.

The crack was deafening, swallowing Caym’s scream.

A thick black mist exploded, stinging my eyes. And it stank—really stank. I covered my mouth, gagging as the vapors expelled from the demon—or what was left of the demon—blew the window at the back of the bathroom out. Shards of glass clattered off the floor and then the fire alarms went off, ear-piercingly shrill.

The smoke filled the bathroom, turning everything black. Out of the darkness, I felt warm hands touch my cheeks. I jerked back, unable to see past the fire in his eyes.

“It’s all right. It’s me,” Roth said, sliding his hands to my shoulders. “Are you okay?”

I coughed. “I can’t see...anything.”

Roth bent, picking something up off the floor, and then he slid an arm around my waist. “You’re bleeding.”

“I hit my head.”

He lifted me to my feet. “On the sink you were hiding under?”

“Yeah, well, things weren’t going too well in here.” I let him guide me out of the heavy smog and into the hallway. I dragged in a deep breath and soaked up the clean air, but the smoke billowed out into the hall. I was having trouble making sense of the shapes in front of me. “Roth, where have you been? I’ve been so worried.”

“I’ve been around” was all he said.

Kids were rushing out of the classrooms, half-hysterical. I thought I heard someone yell “Bomb!” in the barely controlled chaos.

I felt Roth let go and my hands reached out blindly. “Roth...? I can’t see.”

“I’m here.” Roth wrapped an arm around my waist, half carrying me down the hall.

I stumbled alongside him, dumbfounded by his sudden reappearance and still reeling from my encounter with the demon. The pounding in my head was lessening, but the sting in my eyes made it impossible to see.

His grip tightened. “Hold on. We’re almost outside.”

A burst of bright light caused me to wince as the double doors were opened. Teachers called out, ordering students to cross the street and stay in the park. Chilly air caressed my cheeks and soothed some of the burn.