Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,172
is I wouldn’t throw a life jacket to that guy if our boat was sinking.”
Zayne rubbed his brow as he shook his head.
“Well,” I said. “You are a demon, so...”
“I’d also kill baby Hitler,” Cayman announced. “Easily.”
“Jesus,” Zayne muttered under his breath.
“I’d kill baby Harbinger, too,” Cayman added.
“Really?” Layla pursed her lips. “A baby? But what if there was a chance you could change him?”
Exhaling heavily, Zayne dropped his hand but still looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.
“Some people can’t change,” Roth interjected. “Evil is their destiny.”
“But a baby?” Layla shuddered. “That would be hard.”
“Not really,” Cayman said, shrugging when her eyes widened.
“Is this a necessary conversation to have right now?” Zayne asked.
“No, I agree,” I jumped in, and Zayne sighed once more. “Knowing what the Harbinger has been doing, I’d go back in time and terminate his ass.”
Layla was quiet and then she nodded. “Yeah, I’d kill baby Harbinger.”
Roth crossed his arms. “You know I’d do it.”
“Now, that’s a shocker,” muttered Zayne.
“I’d do it, but then again, I don’t have a problem killing some babies, because I’m a demon.” Cayman paused as we all turned toward him again. “Oh, was that an overshare?”
I lifted my pointer finger and thumb. “Just a little.”
“What about you, Zayne?” Roth asked. “Would you kill baby Harbinger?”
“Yes,” he said, and I imagined a vein was beginning to throb in his temple. “I would. Now that we’ve all agreed that we’d kill baby Harbinger, can we get a move on?”
“Sure.” Cayman grinned. “I don’t know about you guys, but this sharing-and-caring moment makes me feel like we’re a real team that can get stuff done. Like the Avengers, but more evil.”
“So, pretty much like Tony Stark?” Layla said.
“Tony Stark is not evil!” Cayman shouted, causing me to jump. “Why do you keep saying that? He’s the only one who ever tried to set boundaries. He just has moral gray areas, thank you very much.”
“You know he’s not real?” I asked. “Right?”
Cayman spun on me. “How dare you?”
“Okay. Really.” Zayne gestured to the sidewalk. “Seriously.”
The plan was to enter around the side of the building, where the work trucks had been parked.
“I think we should check out the basement locker area, since we’re certain that’s where the tunnels lead,” Roth suggested. “It’s where the Lilin and Nightcrawlers were last time. We can access it through the gymnasium.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Zayne said and started walking up the sidewalk.
“What?” I caught his arm, stopping him. “What do you mean it sounds like a plan?”
His face was shadowed in the glow of the streetlamp. “Just what it sounds like.”
“Zayne, we talked about this,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Yeah, we did. I’m going to be careful and—”
“That’s not what we agreed on!”
“What did we agree on exactly?” He pulled his arm free.
“We agreed that you’d stay outside until we knew what we were facing.”
“That’s not what I agreed to.”
“You have to got to be kidding me.” I stepped back, hands opening and closing at my sides. “I thought we agreed—”
“We agreed to figure this out together. That doesn’t mean I agreed to stay out here.”
“So, you’re going to go in there, where there might be demons and pissed-off ghosts and Shadow People, who are far more dangerous than most ghosts?” I was aware that we were gaining an audience of three. “What if the Harbinger is in there?”
“Do you feel him?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t there or won’t show up—”
“While I’m outside?”
“Or he could be in that school and I just don’t feel him yet. Neither of us can tell if there are more demons around, because, hello, there are several of them right here with us, eavesdropping on our conversation!”
“I’m only part demon,” Layla murmured. “Why are you guys arguing over this? I’m confused.”
“I’m enthralled,” Cayman countered.
I turned from Zayne, not wanting to say what was going on, but they needed to know. “His skin is no longer like a Warden’s. It’s like a human’s.”
“Like yours,” Zayne called from behind me.
I ignored that. “And he hasn’t had any time to figure out what that means and how to work with it.”
Layla stepped toward us. “How is that possible?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, not really wanting to get into our super personal business. “But I want him to stand back until we know what’s inside.”
“I can still fight,” Zayne said.
“Yes, you can. We’ve already discussed this, but the moment they realize that your skin is as soft as a baby’s butt, they’re