Kiss Me Deadly

Chapter Sixteen

An hour later, after we've both calmed down, Lani and I lay on her bed shoulder to shoulder. The subject of my past was dropped because it was just too painful to talk about. So, instead, we talk about other, lighter topics. However, avoided subjects tend to rear their ugly heads sooner or later.

"I've heard that you and Archer have gotten pretty close," Lani starts innocently but with a wicked gleam in her eyes, "is there anything going on there?"

I frown at her, absentmindedly tapping my thumb on my stomach. Is there something going on between us? He's been so sweet, taking care of me and pressing kisses to my forehead whenever he gets the chance but that could just be friendship to him. Maybe he's just taking pity on me. Do I want there to be something between us? Hell yes.

He was the first person to treat me like an equal instead of a weapon in forever. And not only that, but his touch sets me on fire. They're not even intimate touches, just innocent, accidental brushes of his hand on my skin, but even so, I feel as though I might combust at any second. My heart is so willing to fall into his hands and it scares me. I've never loved before and I'm not sure I know how.

I'm jolted back into reality when Lani coughs, waiting for an answer. I recover hastily. "No, there's nothing going on between us. At least, I don't think there is."

Leilani raises a skeptical eyebrow a me, rousing a frown on my lips. "There's nothing going on with you?" she asks incredulously, then scoffs, "please. It's obvious that you two are crazy about each other. Whenever the two of you are in the same room, your eyes go straight to him. And do I even need to mention how worried he was when you were all alone with the incubus? He was frantic. When he found you and carried you back, the way he looked at you . . ." she trails off, shaking her head with a strange light in her eyes.

My heart warms in my chest. He was worried about me? I think in wonder. Despite myself, a goofy grin spreads across my face. Shyly, I peek at Lani, who's grinning. "How did he look at me?"

Her grin widens. "Like you were the most beautiful, precious thing he'd ever seen."

A tear leaks from the corner of my eye as a humorless laugh escapes my lips. I shake my head as I cover my mouth, overwhelmed. Her words couldn't be true. Good guys like him don't fall for rotten girls like me. But, damn, I want it to be true.

I look up at a curious Lani with sad eyes. "Falling for him wasn't part of the plan."

She frowns. "The plan?"

"I was suppose to protect Archer from Octavian and my parents. That's it. I never expected to fall in love with him."

Lani sighs and scootches closer to rub my shoulder comfortingly. "When do we ever expect to fall in love with someone? It's okay to fall for him, Vi. You're only human," she jokes, but I'm in no mood for humor.

"It's not okay, Leilani! If I'm falling for him, that means I'll kiss him and if I kiss him, Octavian and my parents will have gotten exactly what they wanted."

Leilani opens and closes her mouth, unable to say what she wants to say out of shock. I don't leave it at that, though.

"They knew about Archer's powers somehow and they wanted me to obtain it for them, whether that be bringing him in or kissing him and taking the power for myself," I move my gaze from Lani to the wall, not really seeing, "if I kiss Archer, half of the job will be done right there. All I have to do is go to them. Maybe they'll find me and I'll be their weapon again. Octavian will use me against you. He will not rest until the entire supernatural race is under his control. He's pure evil, Lani."

For a moment, Leilani looks truly terrified. How could she not? I was terrified of him when I was his ally! I can only imagine what she feels, having been dragged into his warpath so suddenly.

He won't show any mercy towards her. He'll revel in the sound of her tortured screams as he destroys every last fragment of innocence within her. I know because I've seen it happen over and over. He, with the aid of Fenrir and Katrina, had destroyed me the same way.

To my immense surprise, Lani's fear doesn't last long. Determination and strength flare in her baby blue eyes. The fear is still there, of course, but it fades into the background compared to her other emotions.

"It won't come to that," she says, without a flicker of doubt, "you're safe here, Viridian. We'll protect you."

Protect me, I think ironically, that has to be a first. No one has ever wanted to protect me before. I hadn't ever been a girl who needed protecting before.

I want to argue with her. I want to say that no amount of protection can save me from Octavian's clutches. It's better that I don't have Archer's powers. That way, I'm the only one who will suffer his wrath.

I don't argue, though. There's no use. Leilani is as stubborn as I am. So, instead, I murmur a heartfelt "thank you" for her display of loyalty and concern for me.

Her bedroom door opens suddenly, without a knock of warning. The same, tall, curvy blond that I'd seen Dax arguing with the day Lani was taken steps in, uninvited. Alonna, I think her name is. The werewolf looks almost sorry before her brown eyes land on me.

A growl escapes her pouty lips as her look of apology morphs into a glare. I frown back at her and return her glare with one of my own.

With an annoyed sound from the back of her throat, she turns back to Leilani and says with a false calm, "I'm glad you're not dead."

She then whips around and leaves in a blur of supernatural speed, slamming the door behind her.

Still frowning, I turn to Lani and ask, "what the hell is her problem?"

Lani sighs and runs a hand through her tousled hair. "She use to date Archer. They were crazy about each other, but they broke up. She doesn't seem to like you much."

My frown deepens. Archer use to date her? Miss tall, blond and bitchy?

"Because she thinks there's something going on between Archer and I and she doesn't want anyone else to have him?" I ask, already not liking the she wolf.

Lani shakes her head, a sympathetic grimace already in place.

"Because she's still in love with him."