“She rolled her eyes. "Then what happened?"Rubbing his temples, he glanced at the door. "Bethany and I were making out and something happened that never happened before."Dee leaned back. A look of supreme disgust clouded her pretty face. "Uh, yuck if this is about any kind of premat-""Oh my God, shut and listen, okay?" He dragged a hand through his hair. "we were making out, and I lost my hold on my human form. I lit up like a freaking Christmas tree.”

“Without thinking, I moved again, reaching out and touching the handresting near my thigh. Call it an experiment, but I wanted to see what would happenSeth’s head whipped in my direction. “What are you doing?”“Nothing.” And nothing was what happened. Confused, I wrapped my fingers around his.“Doesn’t look like nothing,” His eyes narrowed on me.“I guess so.” Giving up on my impromptu test, I lifted my hand. “Shouldn’t you be—” Whatever I was about to say died on my lips. Incredibly fast, Seth grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through mine.“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, ever so casually.It happened. Being so close to him this time, I could see where the markings came from. The thick veins in his handwere the first to darken, branching out before spreading up his arm. Mesmerized, I watched the inky tats cover every piece of exposed skin. Before my eyes, they shifted away from his veins, swirling around his skin. Breaking off into different designs as he—we—continued to hold hands.”

“I think it's obvious if you're wanted here or not.""Daemon," hissed Dee, her cheeks red. She turned to me, tears in her eyes. "He's not being serious.""Are you being serious, Daemon?" Ash turned in his lap, head cocked to the side.My heart was already pounding in my chest when his eyes met mine. His were sheltered. "Actually I was being serious." He leaned over the table, staring up at me through thick lashes. "You're not wanted here."Dee spoke again, but I was beyond hearing. My face felt like it was on fire. People around us were starting to stare. One of the Thompson boys was smirking while the other looked as though he wanted to crawl underneath the table for me. The rest of the kids at the table were staring at their plates. One of them snickered.I'd never been more humiliated in my life.”

“„It’s okay. It’s over.” He slipped back into his human form, pulling her against his chest, resting his cheek against hers. Their pounding hearts beat in unison. „I’ll never let anything happen to you. I promise. You’re safe with me.” Bethany’s fingers dug into his shirt as she shivered. „I know. I love you.”

“Taking pity on me, Carissa kept her voice low. “You were calling out for Daemon.”I dropped my face in my hands and moaned. “Oh, God.”Lesa giggled. “It was kind of cute.”A minute before the tardy bell rang, I felt an all-too-familiar warmth on my neck and glanced up. Daemon swaggered into class. Textbook-less as usual. He had a notebook, but I don’t think he ever wrote anything in it. I was beginning to suspect our math teacher was an alien, because how else would Daemon get away with not doing a damn thing in class? He passed by without so much as a look.I twisted around in my chair. “I need to talk to you.”He slid into his desk chair. “Okay.”“In private,” I whispered.His expression didn’t change as he leaned back in his chair. “Meet me in the library at lunch. No one really goes in there. You know, with all those books and stuff.”

“Well, it was probably the fever. You were burning up.” My eyes snapped back to his. “You touched me?”“Yes, I touched you…and you weren’t wearing a lot of clothes.” The smug stretch of his lips spread. “And you were soaked …in a white T-shirt. Nice look. Very nice.” Heat crept over my cheeks. “The lake…it wasn’t a dream?” Daemon shook his head.“Oh my God, so I did go swimming in the lake?” He pushed off the desk and took one step forward, which put him in the same breathing space as me… if he actually needed to breathe. “You did. Not something I expected to see on Monday night, but I'm not complaining. I saw a lot.”“Shut up,” I hissed.“Don’t be embarrassed.” He reached out, tugging on the sleeve of my cardigan. I smacked his hand away. “It’s not like I haven’t seen the upper part before, and I didn’t get a real good look down—“I came off the desk swinging. My knuckles only brushed his face before he caught my hand. Wowzer, he was fast. Daemon pulled me up against his chest and lowered his head, eyes snapping with restrained anger. “Don’t hit, kitten. It’s not nice.”

“Daemon!" Dee called from the kitchen. "I need your help!""We should go see what she's doing before she destroys your kitchen." He rubbed his hands down his face. "It's possible.”