MY EYES SCANNED the tall pines near the back of the park, searching for movement.  The street was empty, the light pole barely illuminating a few feet in diameter.  A trickle of cold sweat leaked down my nape.

It didn’t matter how dark or light it was.  Kye could appear out of nowhere like a ghost.

I’d done a lot of stupid things in my past and even more so recently, but this?  This was truly idiotic.

My feet wore a trail in the lush grass as I paced back and forth, waiting for my blue-eyed stalker.  After he called, and I asked him about Trey and Daniel, it didn’t take long for him to use this in his favor.  He would tell me what happened to them if I met him.  Alone.

I was asking for trouble.  Rex would see red if he knew what I was doing.

But he wouldn’t find out.  I’d get the info from Kye and be on my way back to Amarose.  Easy as pie.

Yeah right.

A chill dusted down my spine, and I spun around, my fingers tightening on the iron knife in my jacket pocket.  Nothing was there but an empty playground and an even emptier street.

“I don’t know why you brought that knife.  You won’t use it on me.”

I whipped back around.  Kye was standing directly in front of me.  Close.  Too close.

I backed up, my nostrils flaring.  “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

A smirk tilted his lips—those same lips I’d kissed last night—and his glacier eyes ran the length of me.  “Oh I am sure, Koralein.”  He stepped forward, and I yanked the knife out.

“Back off,” I hissed.  “I’m not here to play your little games.  I just want to know if my friends are still on my side of this fight.”

Did I really just refer to Daniel and Trey as friends?  I needed to wash my mouth out.

Kye crossed his arms against his chest, his head tilting.  “Your side?  Do you even know which side that is?  In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re straddling that thin little proverbial line between darkness and light.”  He drew an invisible line between us with his foot.  “It won’t be long before you free fall over to this side.”

I rolled my eyes.  “We already covered this, Kye.  I don’t want to be a demon, and I’m not letting you screw with me anymore.  I know where I belong.”

He scoffed.  “I’m not the one screwing with your emotions.  It’s that condescending, holier than thou ferrum who thinks he can control the darkness in you.”

My head lifted to the star-spotted sky, slowly shaking.  This was such a bad idea.  He wasn’t going to tell me jack.  “I’m leaving.”

“Wait.”  Fingers brushed my wrist.  “They’re still ferrums.”

My head snapped back down, staring into those icy blue orbs.  If I wasn’t careful, I could get lost in his dangerous power.  “Are you lying?”

Kye tsked.  “Why would I lie?”  He jerked his chin behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder.  A car pulled to a stop on the curb.  The interior light cut on, flooding over the driver and passenger.

Sharp air caught in my lungs.  Trey and Daniel.

“How do I know they’re not demons?” I asked, not taking any chances.  Kye was too tricky.

“I guess you’ll have to trust me, Koralein.”

My eyes narrowed.  I hated that he called me that.  It was as if he thought he had some intimate connection with me no one else did, no one except Rex.

“Let them go.”  I turned toward him, and he was way too close again.  My fingers tightened on the knife.

Damn.  Why couldn’t I just drive this through his heart?  It would make everything so much easier.

A dangerous smirk curled his lips.  “I’ll let them go—for a price.”

My skin puckered.  Whatever his price was, it wasn’t good.  I could tell by the way tiny flecks of silver twinkled in his eyes.

He was too close.  I shouldn’t be able to see details in his eyes like that.

I took a deep breath, inhaling his sweet demon scent and backed up.  “What could you possibly want?”  There was no mistaking the sarcasm in my voice.

He laughed.  Actually laughed.  “Talking to you never gets old.”  He opened his arms as if he was going to give me a hug.  “I want a kiss of course.”

Cold air coasted along my skin, and I was already shaking my head.  “No way.  Hell no.”

Kye had the audacity to look hurt.  “Oh come on.  You seemed to enjoy it last night.”  His head tilted to the side again in that cocky way of his.  “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.”  His tongue flicked out, licking his bottom lip.

Heat dusted over my cheeks and from the twitch of his mouth, he noticed.

“Ugh!”  I spun around, grinding my teeth as I stared at Trey and Daniel sitting in the car across the street like robots.  He’d obviously compelled them.  They probably had no idea what was going on or how close they were to being released.

All I had to do was kiss an evil, treacherous demon.

Easier said than done.

If Rex found out, he’d go ballistic.  We were together.  It would be cheating.

It was only cheating if I enjoyed it and I sure as hell wasn’t going to like it.

“Why do you want me?” I asked, spinning around to face Kye.

His face pinched in an almost comical expression.  “Are you serious?”

I tossed my hands up.  “I’m never going to choose you.  You’re an evil, murdering demon.  And, newsflash, Rex is my cae—”

His finger was suddenly against my lip.  “Don’t say it, Koralein.  Don’t say the big C word.”

“Cancer?”  My voice was muffled against his finger.

A short laugh slipped out.  “Caetera.”

“Oh.”  I pulled his hand away with my free one, my other still clutching the knife.  He really was confident about me not stabbing him.  “It’s true though.  You know what Rex is to me.  You know there’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”

His eyes flickered down at my fingers still curled around his wrist.  The movement made me release him.  Quickly.  He still smirked.  “If that’s true, then what’s the harm in giving me one little kiss?  Like you said, you won’t feel a thing.”  He motioned toward the car.  “I get what I want, and you get what you want.”

I swiveled around again, staring at the two young ferrums.  Shit.  When did I become such a sacrificial lamb?  I was actually considering this twisted lip lock to save those two jerks.  One of them had even publicly taunted me not too long ago.  Hell, one threw an apple at my head.

And I wanted to save their sorry asses?

My jaw clenched. 

Just rip the bandaid off.

“Fine,” I hissed, spinning around.  I grabbed Kye’s shirt with my free hand and yanked him forward.  Within seconds my lips were fastened to his.

Rex was going to kill me.  Hell, I might kill me.

I intended it to be a swift, closed mouth kiss—he didn’t specify—but Kye had other ideas.  When I tried to pull back, his head tilted and his tongue slipped into my mouth before I knew what was happening.

He was a quick bastard.

His taste of cold snow and frozen berries flooded my senses.  I didn’t want to like it.  I really didn’t.

But—I think—I did.

Kye’s arm slid around my waist, pulling me against his hard body.  My fingers found their way into the soft hair at his nape, each strand like silk against my skin. 

Holy effing crap.  What was I doing?

This was wrong.  So wrong.  He was a demon.  He’d probably killed thousands of people in his long life of evil and darkness.  The hands gripping me had probably broken countless necks.  The teeth my tongue just touched had torn into millions of necks, sucking life force out like a leach.  He’d killed Stein!

Why the hell wasn’t I stopping?

The knife fell from my hand with a thud.

As if he heard it, knew I’d let go, Kye held me tighter.  His kiss turned from slow and tingling to fire and searing.

Somewhere deep inside me, I knew this wasn’t the same demon I’d first met in Bishop.  Something had changed him.

Did he know?

“Kye, wait.”  I shoved him back, breathing heavily and disoriented. 

The demon that carved the pavor on me would never have given up Trey and Daniel just for a little kiss.  Okay, a big kiss, but still.  That thing in Red’s, he was pure evil.  Undiluted.

My lids fluttered open, Kye’s face inches from mine.  A soft smile curled his lips.  He was still evil as hell, but that wasn’t all he was.

“Have you always wanted me like this?”  Ugh.  Why did I sound so breathy?  And why the hell hadn’t I pushed him off me?

“Yeah.”  His lids opened wider, staring into mine.  “No.  I don’t know.  Does it matter?”

I disentangled myself from his limbs.  “Maybe it does matter.  Why don’t you just want to kill me?”

He blinked, a line forming between his brows.  “Because…”  He shook his head, his expression turning serious.  “We should go.  Now.”

My head snapped back.  “We?  Go?  I’m not going anywhere with you.”

His lips thinned.  “It’s only a matter of time before he comes for you.  If he gets you, it’ll be too late.”

“Lorne?”

He nodded. 

“What does he want?”

Kye ignored me and snatched my knife off the ground, shoving it in my pocket. 

That was new.

“You don’t want to know.”  He gripped my wrist and pulled me closer.  “He’ll destroy you.  Literally.”

Chills ran the length of my spine.  True fear reflected in Kye’s glacier eyes, something I never thought I’d see.  “Just tell me.  I can handle it.”

He let out a barking laugh.  “No, you can’t.  Trust me.”

I yanked out of his grasp.  “I know you, of all people, are not going to treat me like everyone else.  Like someone who needs to be lied to, kept in the dark for her own good.”  Fire lit my insides, and the knife in my pocket was calling for me to snatch it out.

His nostrils flared.  “That’s not it.  You don’t know what he’ll do to you.”  He closed the distance between us, his face inches from mine.  “I won’t let him though.  So, you have nothing to worry about.”  His arms were suddenly around me in a tight grip.

Panic spiked through my bloodstream.  “What are you doing?”

“We’re getting out of here.  I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

Oh effing hell.  I knew this was going to end in disaster. 

“Kye, no,” I hissed.  “Put me down right now.”

“No can do.  It’s the only way to keep—”  His body froze. 

“What?”  My eyes scanned the area.

Kye cursed and dropped me.  “Lorne,” he growled moments before spinning around and punching a demon with a sickening crack.

We were surrounded by demons.