Kelley Armstrong

He said "cool" like I say a Spanish word when I'm not sure of the pronunciation.

Simon whispered to me, __ut is everything okay?___o,_ Tori said. __ kidnapped her and forced her to escape with me. I__e been using her as a human shield against those guys with guns, and I was just about to strangle her and leave her body here to throw them off my trail. But then you showed up and foiled my evil plans. Lucky for you, though. You get to rescue poor little Chloe again and win her undying gratitude.___ndying gratitude?_ Simon looked at me. __ool. Does that come with eternal servitude? If so, I like my eggs sunnyside up.__ smiled. ____l remember that._***__h, right. You must be starving._ Simon reached into his pockets. __ can offer one bruised apple and one brown banana. Convenience stores aren__ the place to buy fruit, as I keep telling someone.___etter than these. For you, anyway, Simon._ Derek passed a bar to Tori.__ecause you aren__ supposed to have those, are you?_ I said. __hich reminds me_ I took out the insulin. __erek said it__ your backup.___o my dark secret is out.___ didn__ know it was a secret.___ot really. Just not something I advertise._...__ackup?_ Tori said. __ou mean he didn__ need that?___pparently not,_ I murmured.Simon looked from her to me, confused, then understanding. __ou guys thought___hat if you didn__ get your medicine in the next twenty-four hours, you__ be dead?_ I said. __ot exactly, but close. You know, the old __pping the ante with a fatal disease that needs medication_ twist. Apparently, it still works.___ind of a letdown, then, huh?___o kidding. Here we were, expecting to find you minutes from death. Look at you, not even gasping.___ll right, then. Emergency medical situation, take two.__e leaped to his feet, staggered, keeled over, then lifted his head weakly.__hloe? Is that you?_ He coughed. __o you have my insulin?__ placed it in his outstretched hand.__ou saved my life,_ he said. __ow can I ever repay you?___ndying servitude sounds good. I like my eggs scrambled.__e held up a piece of fruit. __ould you settle for a bruised apple?__ laughed.

Whatever it is," I said, "the point is moot because as long as I'm on these pills, I can't make contact to ask."Derek ... snapped, "Then you need to stop taking the pills."Love to. If I could. But after what happened last night, they're giving me urine tests now."Ugh. That's harsh." Simon went quiet, then snapped his fingers.Hey, I've got an idea. It's kinda gross, but what if you take the pills, crush them and mix them with your, you know, urine."Derek stared at him.What?"You did pass chem last year, didn't you?"Simon flipped him the finger. "Okay, genius, what's your idea?"I'll think about it. ..."***Here," Derek whispered, pressing an empty Mason jar into my hand. He'd pulled me aside after class and we were now standing at the base of the boy's staircase. "Take this up to your room and hide it."It's a ... jar."He grunted, exasperated that I was so dense I failed to see the critical importance of hiding an empty Mason jar in my room.It's for your urine."My what?"He rolled his eyes, a growl-like sound sliding through his teeth ashe leaned down, closer to my ear. "Urine. Pee. Whatever. For the testing."I lifted the jar to eye level. "I think they'll give me somethingsmaller."...You took your meds today, right?" he whispered.I nodded.Then use this jar to save it."Save . . . ?"Your urine. If you give them some of today's tomorrow, it'll seem like you're still taking your meds."You want me to . . . dole it out? Into specimen jars?"Got a better idea?"Um, no, but ..." I lifted the jar and stared into it.Oh, for God's sake. Save your piss. Don't save your piss. It's all the same to me."Simon peeked around the corner, brows lifted. "I was going to ask what you guys were doing, but hearing that, I think I'll pass.

I don't forgive him," I said."Hell, no, you don't. And why should you? So he can feel better? Get on with his life? And what's he done to help you get on with yours?

It was completely fifth garde and completely silly and I loved it, because he wasn't afraid to be silly. It was like kissing him first - I could do whatever I wanted and not have to worry what he'd think of me.

Everyone is the sum total of past experiences. A character doesn't just spring to life at age thirty.

So consider your options, make your choice and call me home.

Demons are a very human creation. You look for ways to explain evil, and instead of seeing it in yourselves, you offload the responsibility onto monsters. The monstrous exists in the mirror, not in the sulfurous depths of some fantasy world.

He wet a paper towel, and took my chin, lifting and wiping my

Antonio-"Just in time, Pete. Five more minutes of reading this and she'd have been in a coma."Peter-"Are we such bad company that you'd rather hide out in here reading that old thing?

I'd seriously contemplated a real collar - a sparkly green one - if only because I was sure it would offend his dignity.

Is that a no?" I said. "No. I mean.." He struggled for the smile again. "I'm just waiting for the punch line. Something about making it date so I need to pay. Or you expecting flowers. Or.." He trailed off."There isn't a punch line," I said.I rose onto my knees and inched over, in front of him. Then I stopped about a foot away."No punch line, Daniel," I said. "I'm asking if you'll go out with me."He didn't answer. Just reched out, his hand sliding between my hair and face, pulling me toward him and..And he kissed me.His lips touched mine, tentatively, still unsure, and I eased closer, my arms going around his neck. He kissed me for real then, a long kiss that I felt in the bottom of my soul, a click, some deep part of me saying, "Yes, this is it."Even when the kiss broke off, it didn't end. It was like coming to the surface for a quick gasp of air, then plunging back down again, finding that sweet spot again, and holding onto it for as long as we could. Finally it tapered off, and we were lying on the picnic blanket, side by side, his hand on my hip, kissing slower now, with more breaks for air. until I said, "We should have done that sooner."He smiled, a lazy half smile, and he just looked at me for a moment, our gazes locked, lying there in drowsy happiness, before he said, "I think now's just fine." And he kissed me again, slower and softer now, as we rested there, eyes half closed."So, about Saturday, did you ask me?" he said after a minute, "Because I'm pretty sure that means yo're paying.""Nope. You were imaging it. Considering how you eat, the meal bill is all yours. But I will spring for the movie. And bring you flowers."He chuckled. "Will you?""Yep, a dozen pink roses, which you'll have to carry all night or risk offending me.""And what happens if I offend you?""You don't get any more of this."I leaned in and kissed him again. And we stayed out there, on the blanket, as the sun fell, talking and kissing mostly, just being together. We had a long road ahead of us, and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But I had everything I wanted-everything I needed-and I'd get through it just fine. We all would.

I stopped short and sighed as Derek stepped up behind me, arms sliding around my waist. I leaned back against him and rel

The door slapped shut, sound echoing as Derek marched across the yard, dead on target.I looked around, desperate for an escape route, but there was none. Go forward and deal with Derek, or run back toward Simon and have to deal with both of them. I kept wa

Chloe. Always Chloe with him and his brother. I know I sound like a whiny brat when I complain, but I think I have a good reason. I__ just discovered that I was a witch and my mother was a bitch__he murderous kind. I was now on the run with three kids who didn__ want me along.No matter how hard I tried to keep up and help out, the guys only cared about Chloe. If I ran in front of this bus to push her to safety, they__ race to her side to see if she was okay. Probably give me crap for bruising her when I shoved her out of the way.

On that walk around the building, two sets of cops coming out stopped to tell our guys to hustle us inside so they could head back out on the road. Accidents everywhere. A pileup oneach of two major roads. __elcome to winter,_ one said. __hen fifty percent of drivers should have their licenses temporarily suspended.

It reminded me of what Dad said after every snail__ crawl home fromAlbany when snow hit.__t__ New York, people. It__ winter. We get snow. If you aren__ preparedto deal with it, move to Miami.

Yeah, I worry what will happen when we stop running. When we go back to school. When she meets other boys. Boys who don__ argue and snap at her. Boys who don__ obsessively worry about her. Boys that could take her to a movie and stay right until the end, not have to leave halfway through because he started turning into a wolf. But she wouldn__ pick up some random guy in the mall. Ever.So why was I over-reacting? I don__ know. I saw the guy and something ignited in my brain, a flash-fire that burned away reason and common sense. If Simon hadn__ stopped me, I__ have made an idiot of myself and called attention to us. Worse, I__ have embarrassed Chloe. I was over-protective enough as it was. Frothing at the mouth because a guy talked to her? Really not going help us get to that next anniversary.