“Only you can put me in chains.” He winked at me and I punched him on the shoulder.

  Evan climbed back into the driver’s seat and got dressed, a smile on his lips. I’d promised my folks I would stop by the diner to see them, and judging from the noises my stomach was making, it had gotten late. Evan had yellow streaks on his forehead and along his cheekbones, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

  “What is it?” he asked, realizing I was laughing at him.

  “You’d better clean up your face or my dad might get pissed off at you.”

  “More than usual?” Evan joked, not even glancing in the mirror as he put the car into reverse. He knew what I was talking about but didn’t care.

  “What were you just saying about not being stubborn?” I reached out and wiped his cheeks with my fingers. “Besides, my dad likes you. I know he doesn’t show it, but that’s only because he’s always been really protective of me. Despite that, he gave you his blessing.”

  “I’m afraid he’s going to change his mind about me if you show up looking like this.” He flipped down the mirror in front of me so I could see myself.

  “Oh my God.” My eyes bulged and I covered my cheeks with both hands. My cheeks were red, my hair was one big tangle, and the yellow makeup was smeared ear to ear. What had happened between us was practically written all over my face. As Evan set off, I quickly cleaned myself up, combed my hair, and put it up in a ponytail with the hair tie I kept around my arm.

  “You still wear it,” he murmured, a fiery sadness in his eyes. Ever since we’d discovered why I never parted from my hair tie, Evan had looked at it angrily. I’d noticed how he’d clung to it while we were making love, though.

  “I can’t help it,” I admitted. Putting it on was an unconscious response to my connection to my Dakor. Now that I knew that, I should have stopped wearing it, but it was hard. Looking at Evan, I rested my hand on his and changed the subject. “Can we stop by Adirondack Popcorn? I’ve got an incredible craving for Moose Crunch.”

  He relaxed and smiled. “Weren’t you drooling over the thought of your mom’s potato puff a second ago? Didn’t you ask her to make it for you?”

  “Sure. I’ll eat that too. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Evan smiled. “Right. Why did I bother asking?”

  “Hey, what are you insinuating?” I said, frowning. “It’s not my fault I have a healthy appetite!”

  “Anyone would already have gained sixty pounds with all you eat,” he exclaimed with a grin.

  “Shut up. I’m so hungry I could eat you too,” I warned, giving him a dirty look.

  He pulled up outside the popcorn shop at 2520 Main Street. Next to it was the Cabin Grill, and at the thought of French fries my stomach growled again. I lowered the window and the smell of caramel corn wafted over to me in the car. “Mmm . . . What sweet torture,” I said, breathing it in deeply. “Hurry up or I’ll make good on my threat.”

  Evan laughed and got out of the car. I watched him walk into the shop with its wooden façade and display window filled with treats. He came back minutes later with various bags of my favorite flavors of popcorn: peanut, caramel, and chocolate; maple, bourbon, and bacon; and toasted hazelnut.

  “You’re my angel.” I almost ripped them out of his hands and stuffed my mouth like a glutton. “Oh my God,” I whispered, closing my eyes. “I’m in heaven.” Evan shook his head and chuckled. “Laugh at me all you want—it doesn’t matter. I’ve got these.” I clasped the bags to my chest and wolfed down more popcorn as the car headed toward my parents’ diner.

  “Wait. You’ve got some crumbs here.” He leaned toward me and touched my lip with his thumb. Then he moved closer to kiss me, lingering as though tasting me. “Your mouth is like the nectar of the gods. It goes straight to my head.”

  “It’s the popcorn. I told you it was good.” Evan laughed again but then his expression slowly turned grim. “What is it?” I asked, worried I’d upset him somehow. “Sorry, I really am being a glutton.”

  “You’re adorable,” he reassured me.

  “Then why do you look so serious? Is something the matter?”

  “No, it’s nothing. I was just concentrating, that’s all.” He looked at me with a little smile. “Mind if we take a quick detour?” He turned right, heading away from the diner.

  “Why?” I asked with alarm. “Has something happened?”

  “Nothing you need to worry about.” The car came to a sudden halt. Evan turned to look at me and his eyes turned a silvery gray. A shiver ran down my back. He’d transformed.

  “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  I nodded and watched him get out of the car. He walked around to the other side, his eyes on me the whole time. No one on the street could see him in his angelic form, but I could. He stopped on the front walk of a house, took one last look at me, and disappeared.

  I raised more caramel corn to my mouth, one piece after another, completely on edge. I didn’t want to know where he’d gone. With me he was always so sweet, which made it hard to accept that inside him was a Soldier of Death.

  Suddenly, Evan materialized in the driver’s seat, making me jump. “That was fast,” I said. He pressed his lips together, still serious. As he started the engine, someone inside the house screamed and I whipped my head in that direction. Evan switched on the radio so I wouldn’t hear. A shiver turned my blood to ice as I realized what had happened. “You just killed someone,” I murmured, petrified.

  “Sorry,” he said sadly. “For some orders we have very little advance notice. I didn’t have time to drop you off and come back, and I didn’t want to leave you alone. If it’s any consolation, he was elderly and passed on quickly.”

  I nodded and blinked, shaken. For him it was so normal, but I still hadn’t gotten used to his dark side. How could Evan accept mine? Maybe he wouldn’t be able to either. I leaned back in my seat and an icy silence fell over us.

  HEAVEN AND HELL

  “Here you are at last!” My mom came up to me and gave me a big hug. “I hope my Squirrelicue is hungry, because I made her favorite dishes!”

  “I could eat a horse,” I assured her. The funny part was that it was true.

  “Hello, Evan. Please have a seat.” My mom took him by the arm and led him to his chair, casting me a look of approval. She’d always liked Evan in spite of everything. “Give me a second. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll come with you,” I said. “That way I can say hi to Dad.”

  “I’ll wait for you here,” Evan said.

  I followed my mom into the back and gave my dad a hug. “Careful, you’ll get custard all over you,” he warned, but I didn’t care. “You here alone?” he asked warily.

  “I’m with Evan, and our friends will be here any minute.”

  Dad grumbled something as Mom burst with enthusiasm. “Great! I’ll go get the tables ready.” She adored not only Ginevra but also her Sisters.

  Our Sisters, suggested a voice inside me, but I instantly banished the thought. I helped Mom take out the food she’d made for Evan and me. She didn’t know he didn’t eat our food, but I would polish off all of it before she even noticed.

  “Oh, the redheaded girl is already here,” Mom told me.

  Strange, I hadn’t told Faith we’d be there. I looked up, but instead of Faith I saw Devina. “Get away from him now,” I ordered her telepathically. She turned toward me and smiled, resting her arm on Evan’s shoulder.

  “Why is it that Ginevra’s cousin is so attached to Evan? Are they related?”

  “No, she’s a bitch, that’s all,” I grunted. The dish in my hands trembled. My mother shot me a concerned look; I didn’t usually talk like that in front of her. A couple near me suddenly raised their voices and the girl slapped her boyfriend across the face. It was my fault. My anger had extended to them. I had to be more careful. I risked losing control.

  “Don’t worry, Squirrelicue. Evan only has eyes for you,” Mom reassured me. “I have to go help your father, but I’ll be back soon.”

  I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and went to sit next to Evan, but he grabbed me and made me sit on his lap. “You’ll be more comfy here,” he whispered, completely ignoring Devina. I rubbed my head against him and inside me clear skies returned. Evan was my beacon. He always managed to guide me through the darkness.

  “You two are disgusting,” Devina complained, leaning back in her chair.

  “Either that, or you’re dying of jealousy,” I said insolently.

  She snorted. “Don’t delude yourself. I’m only here for the food. Your mother’s cooking is divine.”

  “You have powers. Use them to cook for yourself.”

  “I like being served.”

  “Then here. Feed your face with this.” I rudely shoved a dish at her and focused on Evan, kissing him sensually. Without objecting, he kissed me back as Devina watched. In her presence, Evan was always very affectionate with me—partly to reassure me, partly to make her understand that he was all mine.

  “A-hem . . .” My father. “Let’s not overdo it, okay?”

  Devina smiled. She must have lured him out front. I shot her a lethal look and pulled away from Evan. “Sorry, Dad,” I murmured, sitting in my seat.

  “I brought you fries with black pepper, just how you like them.”

  “Thanks! You’re the best.” I got up to kiss his cheek and he calmed down.

  “You’re still my little girl. Don’t forget it.”

  “I won’t.” I squeezed his arm affectionately and he disappeared into the back.

  Just then, Ginevra and Simon appeared in the door along with four Witches: Safria, who had amazing violet-blue eyes that stood out against her black skin; Nausyka, with her silver hair and eyes of ice; Zhora—whom many of the Sisters called Suri—with her short mahogany-colored hair and incredible emerald-green eyes; and finally Camelia, who on that occasion was showing off both light- and dark-blue hair.

  It must have been strange for them to be there, keeping their instincts under control. Maybe they considered it a game, a challenge to themselves that they didn’t want to lose. And yet I saw the way their eyes caressed the other customers as though they were all potential prey. Everyone around us was fascinated by our group. If they’d been normal people dressed in the Witches’ sexy, extravagant outfits, there would have been an outbreak of gossip in our town, but they charmed everyone. They were breathtakingly beautiful.

  The Witches praised my mom’s cooking, polishing it off as though they hadn’t eaten for months, and she was so enthusiastic she kept filling up their plates, proud of their constant compliments. Once again, Ginevra assured me her Sisters wouldn’t put the mortals’ lives at risk. They were only there to spend some time with us and protect me if need be. Some of the Drusas, in the form of panthers, had stayed to watch over the prisoners in the dungeons, while other Witches had stayed with Sophìa because, like it or not, the evil in the world couldn’t take a vacation. Their work had to go on.

  “Gemma, you absolutely have to try this,” Camelia told me. “It’s divine!”

  Her excitement made me smile. “It’s all yours. I grew up with my mom’s potato puff. I know what it tastes like.”

  “Don’t you want even a little bit?” she asked sadly, almost as though I’d told her I didn’t want to be her friend.

  “Okay, I’ll take some.” A radiant smile lit up her face and I couldn’t help but return it.

  Ginevra squeezed my hand under the table and for a moment it felt like it was just her and me in the room. I knew exactly what she was feeling. She was happy to be there with her Sisters. With me. It must have been so hard for her to choose to leave them. I felt the bond and I hadn’t even transformed yet. They already treated me like a Sister. People were spellbound by them. They looked at them, their eyes brimming with admiration, as though they were princesses. And maybe they actually were—they were princesses of darkness. And soon I would be one of them. A part of me that I tried to keep hidden wanted to be part of it, but then I remembered that the price was being separated from Evan. I would never be willing to pay that price.

  The line between good and evil had grown so tenuous it was hard to tell them apart. The Witches were evil . . . yet they wanted to protect me. The Màsala, on the other hand, had done nothing but try to kill me. Where was my place? Who was I supposed to defend myself from? Sometimes I no longer knew.

  And then there was Evan, there were Simon, Ginevra . . . and Drake. They were sacrificing everything for me. They’d protected me from the Subterraneans and the Witches, from both warring factions. It had always been a battle for souls between them, and now they both wanted mine—the Màsala, to send it to Heaven, where Evan and I would never be able to see each other again, and the Witches, to send it to Hell, where maybe there was still a chance for us.

  Noticing I was in a daze, Evan squeezed my hand. I looked into his eyes and every doubt vanished. We were caught at the midpoint of the battle between good and evil. That was where our love was. Nothing else mattered.

  The candles cast quivering lights and shadows that danced across the walls. The water in the tub was hot and the little cascade flowed from the rock with a sound that soothed my spirit.

  Evan had gone on a mission to the other side of the world. I’d gone home with Simon and Ginevra, but then he too had been called to duty. Even with everything happening around us, they were Soldiers and their orders came before everything else . . . except me.

  I smiled, thinking of how affectionately Evan and Simon protected me. Two Soldiers of Death battling for a mortal soul. A soul everyone was vying for. When it was all over, who would it belong to?

  To me, I promised myself. That was the only way I could stay together with Evan. I moved closer to the little waterfall and let the water run over my head, filling me with its warmth, relaxing my every muscle. I moved my head to the right, then to the left. Suddenly I sensed a presence in the room and my eyes shot open.

  “You going to stand there watching me?” I asked provocatively without turning around, my eyes on the rock wall.

  Evan came over and rested his hands on the tub. “That was one of my options.” I turned and looked into his eyes, which were as gray as the storm of desire that I knew raged inside him. God . . . Why did he stare at me like that? It drove me wild.

  I moved closer and raised myself slightly, dangerously close to his face. “Or,” I whispered against his mouth, “we could explore the other options.”

  Evan swallowed and his hand stroked my wet side. “I agree,” he whispered, mesmerized by my lips. I grazed them just barely against his, igniting his desire, but instantly pulled back, toying with him. “Option one: I stand here and watch you take a bath for me,” he murmured.

  “The idea sounds enticing,” I said playfully, still provoking him. I’d realized that I loved arousing him.

  “Option two: I get undressed and take a bath with you. It has been a long day, you know . . .” He raised an eyebrow, his expression telling.

  “I think I’ll choose option three.”

  “Which is . . . ?”

  I smiled and grabbed him by the shirt. “The one where I pull you in still dressed!”

  “Wait, stop!” But it was too late. He emerged from the water, a saucy smile on his lips, and slicked back his hair. “You’re getting mischievous! You want war?”

  I shrieked when Evan lunged at me, splattering the floor. I tried to escape, but he grabbed me by the waist and pinned me down beneath him. “Now you’re my prisoner.”

  I challenged his eyes of ice. “And what will you do with me?” I teased him again, moving my lips closer and then pulling them back.

  Evan cupped my head in his hand and kissed my chin passionately. “I’ll take you to heaven.”

  I moaned when he nibbled my shoulder, sending an electric charge surging through my entire body. Clinging to him, I hurriedly pulled off his wet shirt and unbuttoned his jeans, flinging them to the floor. We were naked, immersed in the hot water, one against the other. His hands moved over me, leaving shivers on my skin. All the while devouring me with kisses, he grabbed me by the bottom and pulled me astride him. My core throbbed with desire; I squeezed my legs around Evan’s hips to feel his erection against me. Lifting me up slightly, he penetrated me, staying motionless, holding me tight. “Oh, Jamie. Why do you do this to me?” he whispered, clasping one of my breasts in his strong, warm hand. He stroked my nipple with his thumb and I felt it stiffen at his touch. He kissed it and rested his head on my chest. “You break down all my defenses,” he murmured in desperation.

  I cupped his face in my hands and kissed it, taking my fill of him. He was inside me, satiating me, completing me, like he always did. Grabbing the hair at the nape of his neck, I moved against him, pursuing the pleasure only he could give me.

  “You’ll take me to hell,” he grunted, letting desire overwhelm him. He grabbed my buttocks and squeezed me tighter, thrusting with tender force. Our cheeks brushed together, our foreheads touched, our lips sought each other. We were in another world, a bubble all our own, intoxicated by the love that united us. It inundated us, touching our souls.

  He bit my lip, panting in my ear, and a quiver made my heart tremble. I clung to Evan and a cry escaped me as I peaked. Evan gripped my bottom tighter and climaxed inside me with a groan roughened by desire. He held me tight, rubbing his cheek against mine. “You are my goddess,” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear.

  I smiled and kissed his shoulder. “Didn’t you just say I would take you to hell?” I left more kisses on his neck, moving down to his chest, following the scars.

  Evan nodded. “But I promised you heaven, remember?”

  “You kept your promise, then, because I was just there.”

  DUSTY MEMORIES

  “Why didn’t you tell me right away when your birthday was?” I asked Evan. We were still in the tub, the soft light barely illuminating the room. He was behind me, stroking my back with a sponge, immersed in a cloud of white foam.