The Accidental Kiss (The Kiss Book 1) (32 page)

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Walking across the street is dangerous, making a batch of caramel is dangerous. Anything is dangerous if you look at it that way.”

“Those two things are nothing compared to what you are about to embark on. You offered your life for Emily. What if you can’t get out of the deal?”

She had hit upon what I feared above all. Not getting out of the warehouse alive but it was a fear I had to confront. “I don’t know, but if Emily was your daughter, you would want the one person who could save her to bust into the warehouse, guns blazing, no questions asked.”

My mom knew I was right because she ran out of excuses and remained silent. After a beat, she looked at Daemon with the utmost trust. “My only daughter’s life is in your hands. Can you shoulder that responsibility and make sure no harm comes to her?”

Daemon didn’t hesitate although I saw a flash of concern in his gaze. “Yes.”

We didn’t divulge to my mom about Daemon’s soul evaporating since it was an added worry and she had enough for one day. I could see the guilt was eating away at Daemon though. Especially since she had basically just said that if I died, it was his fault. I entwined our fingers together and squeezed, offering Daemon the little bit of comfort I could give. He looked down at me with his panties-melting smile. As he had already proved, Daemon would walk through fire and hell for me and I would do the same for him. That was the reason why I was eighty-nine percent confident everything would go off without a hitch when we entered that warehouse tonight.
Although, if we had other people to join our cause, the percentage could be boosted to 100 percent.

The doorbell chimed and my mom looked at Daemon curiously. “Did you lock out Laura?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

The doorbell chimed again and then incessantly until it turned into one long melody. I stomped toward the door, annoyance nipping at my heels. “Hold your freaking horses,” I mumbled.

Daemon stayed closed behind in case it was a psycho killer with the patience of a four-year-old. My hand yanked the door open and I was about to give the person a piece of my mind, but the long-winded speech about manners died in my throat when I saw whom it was.

Lucy’s rainbow-colored Mohawk was like a flash of blinding color amongst the clouds. She was decked out in black leather pants, a wife beater, and combat boots. What caught my attention though was the meat cleaver gripped in her hand.

“Uh…hi?” I said.

“You are gonna help us rescue Emily and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Confounded on all levels, I had no idea what to say to Lucy’s announcement. And why did she think she had to bring a meat cleaver to my house? Light bounced off the metal blade, highlighting red flecks of….blood? Oh God, Lucy must have taken the weapon from her father’s butcher shop. Queasiness rolled over me.

She waved her free hand in front of my face. “Hello? Did you hear me?”

“Yes, I heard you,” I stammered. “But I was kind of distracted by that giant weapon you’re holding.”

“See, I told you, Lucy, you shouldn’t have brought it.”

My gaze settled over her shoulder and onto one of the twin’s faces. I was so distracted; I hadn’t noticed Jacob and Logan standing off to the side. To my relief though, they were weaponless.

Jacob gave me a shy smile and waved. “Hey, really sorry about this. If it makes you feel any better Lucy showed up at our house with the meat cleaver, too. We felt like we couldn’t really say no when she asked if we’d go with her to your house.”

Lucy had been walking around Castor with that thing. I was astonished nobody had called the cops. “It’s fine,” I reassured Jacob.

“Can we come in or not?” Lucy asked, irritated.

It was as if the gods above had heard my pleas for help and sent down a rock ’n’roll angel and her two henchmen. Except, they were my friends, my only friends really. I wasn’t comfortable sending them into the ring of fire as well.

Lucy saw my apprehension and swung the meat cleaver in the air as a vague threat. My gut told me she wouldn’t harm an ant, let alone a human, but her best friend had been kidnapped and she probably wasn’t in the right mindset for rational decisions. Hence the cleaver she stole from her dad’s shop.

“Yes you can come in, but two things first.” I held up my index finger. “One, you need to leave the meat cleaver at the door.” I held up a second finger. “Two, how do you know Emily is in danger?”

Lucy’s eyes darkened and I saw the same expression I wore when Melissa was taken away from me. Hopelessness and inconsolable darkness mixed into a deadly cocktail. “Because when I woke up this morning, there was a text from her with the numbers 113.”

“Your code for life and death,” I breathed.

“Yes, so I grabbed a meat cleaver and came over here to recruit your help.” Lucy leaned her weapon against the house. “She is my best friend, I have to help her no matter where she is.”

“Us two,” the twins piped in.

Lucy’s and the twins’ forlorn expressions tugged at my heartstrings. If Melissa was still alive somewhere, I would do the exact same thing Lucy had done. Gathered the troops to get my best friend back.

Daemon touched my lower back. “Sky? Can we talk real quick?” he asked in a low whisper.

I’d forgotten he was behind me. “Yes, of course.” My gaze settled on Lucy and the twins. “One second.”

We walked further inside, out of hearing range. As soon as we entered the hallway, Daemon crossed his arms over his chest, displeased. “It’s not a good idea to bring them with us.”

“How do you know I was leaning that way?”

“Because I know you and the way you think.”

It was pretty scary how well he knew me after a short week. Then again, when you’re thrust into life and death situations together, you get acquainted fast.

I shrugged. “Fine, you’re right. I was going to allow them to come but we need more people. The two of us won’t be enough.”

His eyebrows knitted together in anger. “I made a promise to protect you until my dying breath and I will keep that promise.”

I loved Daemon’s warrior nature but right now he needed to put his pride aside and see the big picture. “How many zombies do you think will be at the warehouse?”

“I don’t know? Ten? Maybe more. Part of our job was to recruit new members so I’m not quite sure how many the voodoo priest has acquired since I left.”

“And you really think you can kill ten, fifteen, TWENTY zombies by yourself?”

Daemon’s chest puffed up. “Yes. I could kill fifty.”

My eyes almost rolled skyward at his arrogant statement. Nonetheless, I posed the wrong question and tried again. “Fine but what if while you’re killing these FIFTY zombies, something goes wrong, and I need back up? Wouldn’t you want somebody else around to step in and help?”

“I guess but your little friends out there aren’t the people we need.”

“How do you know that?”

“Yeah? How do you know that?” Lucy’s voice spoke up behind us and I spun around. She was in the entryway, hip cocked. Daemon’s eyes flashed in annoyance as she sauntered over to where we stood. “You know nothing about me,” she said to Daemon. “Since I was five years old, I have taken self defense classes and can butcher a meat carcass in under sixty seconds. I will be able to hold my own.”

Daemon looked over her shoulder to where the twins were. “And how bout them?”

She followed his gaze and shrugged. “If anything, they are my responsibility. Not yours.”“We are right here,” Jacob said, waving his hands in the air. “And we aren’t idiots. If you haven’t noticed, we are twins and twins confuse people.”

Daemon’s eyebrows knitted together. “You’re going to play a game of fun house mirrors?”

“The voodoo priest does love to play games,” I reminded him.

Lucy, Jacob, and Logan spoke at once. “
Voodoo priest?
”

Right. I forgot they were in the dark about who kidnapped Emily and why. It was going to be a long morning and my pancakes were getting cold. “Let’s all go into the kitchen and eat. I’ll explain.”

They shuffled out of the room into the kitchen while Daemon and I lagged behind.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Daemon asked.

“If you’re thinking we should be selective with our information with a few lies thrown in, then yes I am.”

His nod told me we were on the same page. Things like zombies, voodoo priests, and magic belonged in storybooks. Unraveling that mystic would shatter a person’s perspective on reality. Trust me, I would know.

“Just tell them a deranged person who thinks he is a voodoo priest has kidnapped Emily because he wants to drain your blood,” Daemon instructed.

“Sounds good.”

As I was heading into the kitchen, he tugged on my dress and I turned around. An adorable smile stretched across his face. “I like being in cahoots with you.”

My stomach did a somersault. “Cahoots? Huh? Where did you learn that word?”

“I watched a lot of old crime movies when I was living at Mrs. Ruth’s house.” Daemon pulled me closer to his chest. “And do you know what else it taught me?”

I looked up at him, breathless. “Hm?”

“This.”

Daemon placed his arm firmly across my lower back as he gently tipped me backwards into his arms. He leaned in until our faces were mere inches from each other. My nerves jumbled in anticipation. Daemon pressed his lips against mine and I fell into a cloud of bliss. As quickly as it was started, our kiss ended and I was back on my feet.

I cleared my throat. “Well that was…”

“Amazing, mind blowing, out of this world good?”

Laughing, my hand smacked him playfully on the chest. “Your ego is getting out of hand.”

He grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s not keep everybody waiting.”

Lucy and the twins were sitting around the table, digging into a pile of pancakes. They were too busy stuffing their faces to notice we entered. I resumed my seat and picked up a fork. While the pancakes were cold, they were delicious. My mom leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee in hand. I wondered what she thought about our guests. Namely though, how she would react when she find out they were joining our fight. In the entryway, I heard the front door shut and footsteps approach.

Laura entered around the corner clad in a rain jacket. She shook out the water from her hair. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but there is a meat cleaver resting outside your front door.”

I should have told Lucy to hide the stupid weapon. Lucy looked at my mom apologetically and spoke around a mouthful of pancakes. “Sorry. My dad is the town butcher and I was on the way to get the blade sharpened when I remembered I had to pick up a homework assignment from Sky.”

Damn. Her lying skills were as impressive as mine. Nonetheless, my mom had heard enough lies to last her a lifetime this past week and she had quickly become an expert on them. “Right,” she said unconvinced. “I’m going to take a nap.” She rinsed out her mug and set it in the sink. “Clean up after yourselves when you’re done.”

We watched her stumble out of the kitchen, already half-asleep. I guess I wouldn’t have to explain why Lucy and the twins were here after all.

Laura looked awkwardly at us and got the message she wasn’t welcome. She held up her hands as she backed out of the room. “I’m gonna go read a book or something.”