Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,136

it.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Me, too.”

Zayne lifted his hand slowly, reaching out and guiding my sunglasses back up the bridge of my nose. “The fact you’re questioning yourself and your reactions is proof you’re not evil.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

I smiled at that, carefully leaning my head against the wall. His words did make me feel a little better. I just hoped I could hold on to them. That I could believe them.

“You getting tired or anything?” he asked after a couple of minutes.

“Of anything other than boredom? No.”

“Just let me know if you tire of anything other than boredom,” he said and then added, “or me.”

My lips quirked. “I’m not sure I can make that promise about the last part.”

“Do try to resist.”

I pushed away from the wall, feeling like I should say something. To be honest. “I don’t think I could ever get bored with you.”

Surprise rippled through the bond like a rush of cool air. “Annoyed, a different story,” I amended.

“Well, I know better than to expect that.”

I inched closer to him. “Do you...do you get bored being stuck with me?”

His head tilted as warmth infused my cheeks. “I don’t know how you could ever think a moment with you could be boring. You filled up my entire kitchen with junk food and hid my coconut oil.”

“Unfair accusations,” I said and then I laughed a little. “Okay. I did hide your oil.”

His chuckle warmed my face even more. “I don’t look at us as being stuck together, Trin,” he said, and air lodged in my chest. “Things have been—”

I felt the shivery hot warning of a nearby demon, effectively stopping whatever Zayne was going to say. I swallowed a sigh of disappointment and stepped away. Seconds later, Roth and Layla rounded the other corner, walking toward us like the embodiment of light and dark. They crossed the street, hand in hand, and there was a little burst of envy in my chest as the happy couple joined us.

I wanted that.

I glanced at Zayne. I wanted that with him.

“Hey, sorry we’re late,” Layla said, a smile appearing as they came closer. The warm wind picked up pale strands from her ponytail, tossing them across her face.

“I’m not,” Roth replied.

I rolled my eyes while Zayne snorted.

Layla ignored that comment as she looked at me. “Zayne filled us in on everything. The Harbinger is another Trueborn?”

“Yep.” I nodded.

“Just when you think you’re unique and special.” Roth grinned. “You find out you’re just another of the same thing.”

I arched a brow at him. “At least we now know what we’re dealing with.”

“But there’s still a lot of unanswered questions.”

Like the glowing spikes and strange marks, the video interference or what it was doing with the trapped souls.

“Do you think we’ll find something in this tunnel?” Layla asked.

“There was something written on the walls. I couldn’t make it out, but the tunnels have to be important, right?” I glanced between them. “I mean, how many cities have tunnels underground?”

“A lot actually,” Roth answered, his dark hair a spiky mess. “But in DC, half the tunnels were created by government administrations to get important people in and out of the city undetected. The other half, well, probably have more demonic origins.”

“Huh.” Learn something new every day.

“We’ve been in a few of them.” Layla glanced at Roth. “Not in a while, but they’re super creepy. The fact I’m willing to check them out again is proof of my dedication to the human race.”

“Or that you’re prone to making bad life choices,” Roth commented.

“That, too,” Layla sighed.

Completely relating to that, I smiled. “Did you know about the tunnels?”

Zayne nodded. “I know they’re there. All the Wardens do, but I don’t know many of the entrance or exit points or what they connect to, and I didn’t know there was one near the school.”

“I don’t think anyone has a map,” Roth said. “And I imagine a whole lot of unlucky fools have entered them to never be seen again.”

“Where did you fall in?” Layla looked toward the hill that led to the school.

“I can show you.” I started toward the sidewalk. “It won’t be too hard to find a Trinity-size hole in the ground.”

We started up the hill, Zayne ahead of us with Roth following close behind. Layla fell in step beside me. “Stacey told me,” she said when I glanced over at her. “That you saw...you saw Sam.”

“I did.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry about what happened to him. I don’t know everything, but I