Death Watchers

Gifted

"What?" I asked, sure I had to have heard him wrong.

Cole scowled. "You heard me, Jocelynn."

"So you're, like, a...vampire?" I whispered.

"God, no. I don't have sharp teeth or huge fangs." He opened his mouth to show me. "So don't worry, I'm not going to suck your blood in your sleep. You can rest assured."

"Cole, I didn't mean it like that." I waited a moment. "So, um, how could you be, uh, undead if your mother gave birth to you?"

For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer. Then, "Well, I wasn't born this way, if that's what you're asking. Mom explained to me that even though I look human, I'm not. She said I was sick for a good month before I had developed my powers. That's when she figured out I wasn't completely human anymore I guess.

"Supposedly, I had died during that time. It had only been for about ten minutes, but she said I hadn't been breathing and I hadn't had a pulse. Then, I just opened my eyes and looked at her and everything came back. I was breathing, my heart pumping." He shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you're undead."

"So I'm alive? Humans don't feel like me, but I'm one of them? I don't even like humans. They're distasteful."

"You like me."

"You're a gifted human, one I've been selected to guard. I have no choice."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence. Really. I feel like I can run a marathon, climb the Empire State Building, and then fight off a whole horde of aliens with still enough energy to get through my morning."

He scowled. "Why am I even helping you?"

"You have to, apparently," I snapped. "Besides, it's not like you can leave me in the dark with what I am and still expect me to fight the Shadow Man."

"Maybe I should just let him take you then."

"Then why don't you?"

Those purple eyes smoldered with anger when they locked with my green ones. "Obviously you are in the dark. If a Shadow Man gets his queen, he then rules the Underworld and then decides to make all the nice little demons and evil souls do whatever he wishes—wreak havoc, destroy entire cities, natural disasters. The possibilities are endless. Do you want to be responsible for the Armageddon?"

I cast him a bland look. "That's a little dramatic."

He rushed into my face, mere inches separating us. "Is it? How would you know, Jocelynn? You hardly even know what you are, let alone the different powers the Shadow Man has that he will use against you."

I refused to back down, keeping my face there as I held his glare. "Good thing I have such a loving, nurturing guardian to fill me in then, huh? I'm sure he'll tell me everything, unless he wants an Armageddon."

His eyes narrowed. When he exhaled, his breath feathered over my cheeks. I swear, my body reacted in the oddest way. I relaxed as I gazed at his pissed off face, the tight bunch of his shoulders. My whole body tingled, making me realize his knee was now pressing into my thigh, a mere inch separating our bodies.

Okay, I'll admit, Cole was seriously hot, but this was ridiculous. He didn't even like me and here I was practically melting under a glare. What had gotten into me?

And then, he took in a sharp breath, his purple gaze traveling over my face and softening to that pretty lavender again. His eyes lingered on my lips.