Bitter Sweet Love. Jennifer L. Armentrout

words as we crested a hill. “Danika is the only girl close to my age and she’s always busy trailing after the guys, so she’s never been interested in this kind of thing or really anything I’m interested in.”

      “She’s still trying to learn how to fight?” Amusement colored his tone.

      My sister wanted to fight demons. That was never going to happen, but she’d manage to convince the males to train her for self-protection. “Yeah, and while that’s fun and passes the time, I like to...”

      “Get out?”

      I nodded again, silent as I remembered the past three years of being alone in so many ways. Dez had been my buddy, my partner in doing things I shouldn’t be doing, and when he left, a lot of things became impossible.

      Dez shifted in the seat, his large body crammed into the spacious SUV. Seconds ticked by before he spoke. “Why didn’t you ask anyone else to teach you?”

      “I did, but none of them had the patience or thought it was a good idea.” The constant irritation of being caged stoked to life like a fire. “They think that if we do this, then we’ll just run amok and get ourselves in trouble. That demons will find us and—”

      “Demons will find you, Jasmine. They sense us just like we sense them. It isn’t safe for you to be out here without one of us.”

      “I’m not weak.” I cut him a sharp look.

      “I’m not saying that. You’ve never been weak. Not once.” His sincerity rang true. “But if you were ever to run into an Upper Level demon, you would not get away.”

      I bit my lip. There were many types of demons. Most common were Fiends. They looked human and they were into general mayhem, breaking things down, starting fires, manipulating the emotions of large crowds. I’d heard they could be ferocious when cornered. Then there were Posers. They too looked human, but only for a short while, and they had one hell of an appetite, including the rare cannibalistic tendency. When they bit a human, things went downhill fast—like turning-into-a-zombie fast. There were dozens more, but most dangerous of all were the Upper Level ones—the princes and dukes of Hell—the very kind that had killed my mother and wiped out Dez’s clan. They were rare, but their threat was very real.

      Suddenly, some of the fun was sucked right out of this experience.

      “I’m sorry.”

      His apology caught me off guard and I wanted to not be affected by it, but my chest spasmed.

      “When I left, I knew it would impact you, but I didn’t realize all that it would change,” he continued quietly. “I didn’t think that you’d be alone, stuck there.”

      “Stuck” was an accurate description. “Well, I guess in reality, you really didn’t owe me anything, right? You didn’t accept my father’s offer and you—”

      “I did owe you.” His eyes flashed teal. “If it hadn’t been for you, well, God only knows what would’ve become of me. You helped me move on, for the most part. And you...” He trailed off, staring out the passenger window. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”

      I accepted the change of subject, wanting to recapture the earlier giddiness. “I think I’m doing pretty awesome.”

      He chuckled. “You are. I think you’ve got it down. You’ve always been a fast learner.”

      I smiled and then a jolt of nervousness hit me. Once I completed a condition, then I had to fulfill his. Kissing. Fire spread across my cheeks. Sweat dotted my palms. Would I have sweaty palms while I kissed him? Ew. I told myself I didn’t care if I did, but as Dez had reminded me, I was a terrible liar. I did care.

      “Can I drive some more?” I asked.

      “You can drive as long as—stop the car!” he shouted suddenly, rearing up in his seat. “Stop the car, Jasmine. Now!”

      Tiny hairs rose over my body as a thick, smoky feeling invaded my blood. Something was wrong, something unnatural. I slammed my foot on the brakes. Tires squealed and the smell of burnt rubber filled the air, but another scent overshadowed it—the smell of rotten eggs.

      Sulfur.

      The back wheels spun out and the SUV fishtailed into the other lane. Desperately, I straightened the wheel and we slid to a bumpy stop along the side of the road.

      Movement blurred from a thick cropping of trees crowding the road. The air shimmered and warped, as if a lens was out of focus and then was corrected. As if a veil had been ripped away, forms rapidly took hold. My eyes widened and I smacked my hand over my mouth.

      Two of them stood side by side, their lean, muscular bodies covered in reddish matted fur. With clawed, four-fingered hands and hoofed feet, they didn’t resemble anything remotely cuddly or friendly. Their wings were black and fragile looking. Mouths gaped open, each exposing a ragged set of teeth that rivaled a great white’s. A large brown horn curved out from each camel-shaped head, sharp as a dagger.

      My heart jumped into my throat as I processed what I was seeing. Humans believed these creatures to be nothing more than a legend, comically named the Jersey Devil. One part of that name was correct. I knew what these things were. I’d seen them in books I’d sneaked from my father’s library.