I tried to smother my giggles with my hand, but failed.

Stacey’s jaw hit the floor.

Roth’s brows rose. “Sex on the brain, bud?”

Sam mumbled something and cleared his throat. “Anyway, did you know bananas are radioactive?”

“Wow.” Stacey shook her head, but she was grinning. “You are just full of random stuff.”

“Yeah, the banana thing is really...” I jerked up straight, spine rigid. Roth sent me a weird look, but I ignored it. Sam really was a fountain of random knowledge. How had I not thought of this before? Excitement shot through me like an arrow. “Hey, I heard this riddle on the radio the other morning and it’s been bothering me ever since.”

Interest gleamed in Sam’s eyes. “Hit me.”

“Okay. I think it’s referencing somewhere in the city, a place where a monolith is cast back.” I was practically bouncing in my seat once Roth caught on. “Any idea what it could be?”

Sam stared at me for a moment, and then he laughed, smacking his hands off the white table. “Are you serious?”

I didn’t get what was so funny. “Yeah, I’m serious.”

Roth picked up a plastic fork. “I’m assuming you know where this place is?”

“Of course! How can you not know? It’s so obvious. Only a...” Sam trailed off when it looked like Roth was going to turn the fork into a projectile. “All right, maybe it’s not that obvious.”

“Sam,” I said, growing impatient.

He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Look, the riddle is worded obliquely to throw you off track. So clearly the key lies in deciphering more common meanings for some of its clues. For example, what’s another word for a monolith? A monument. And a synonym for cast back? Reflected. So what you’re really being asked is to find a place where a monument is reflected. And we all know where that is.”

“Dude.” Stacey eyed him peevishly. “Not all of us.”

Sam sighed. “Do I have to spell everything out? It’s the Washington Monument. And its reflection is in the...reflecting pool. See? Kind of obvious, right?”

Roth muttered, “Obviously not.”

I wanted to hug Sam. “You’re awesome! Thank you so much.”

“I am awesome.” Sam grinned. “I know.”

Glancing at Roth, I grabbed my tray. “Hey, guys, see you in English?”

“Sure,” Stacey murmured, still staring at Sam.

I’d bet twenty dollars she was back to thinking about burning two hundred calories. Roth and I dumped our food and sneaked off to our stairwell by the old gymnasium. Flecks of paint peeled around the rusted handrails.

“I’m so hoping you’re wanting to test out that two-hundred-calorie thing.”

I shot him a bland look. “No, Roth. Good try.”

“Ah, a demon can hope, can’t he?”

“We know where the Lesser Key is now.” I tucked my hair back. “God, I can’t believe we didn’t figure that out. Hello! This is good news.”

“I know.” He caught the piece of hair I was messing with and wrapped it around his finger. “But I’m really stuck on the two-hundred-calorie idea.”

I slapped his hand away. “Roth!”

“Fine. Fine.” Roth caught the wild strand of hair again. “Who knew all that useless information Sam has up in his head would actually be...useful.”

“I know.” I laughed. “Now we just need a full moon.”

“We’re in luck. There’s one on Saturday night.”

My lips turned down. “How in the world do you know that off the top of your head?”

Roth tugged me forward. “Demons and full moons go together like peas and carrots.”

I placed my hands on his chest to keep some space between us. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

He grinned. “Want to hear the best thing?”

God only knows what was going to come out of his mouth. My eyes flicked up, meeting his. “What?”

“Hmm?” He pressed forward and I inched away. “Remember what you were trying to convince me of that day at my place?”

My back hit the old cement wall. “About you not being just another Roth?”

Roth dropped my hair only to place the tips of his fingers on my chin. A spark of electricity made its way down to my toes. Tilting my head back, he stared down at me with a mischievous grin. “When I said I wasn’t a real boy?”

“Yes.”

He smirked as he leaned forward. I tried to clamp my legs shut, but his thigh slid between mine. “I think I’m definitely becoming a real boy.”

Oh, sweet Jesus...

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. It sounded so far away. “Roth...”

“What?” He lowered his head, rubbing his nose against mine. His lips hovered just inches from my mouth. Our bodies were flush, hitting at every point that fried my senses. He lowered his head, brushing his lips across my cheekbone, over my earlobe. He nipped, catching the sensitive skin. I gasped, fingers curling into the front of his shirt.

Roth let go and stepped back. “Stop distracting me.”

I gaped. “What? I’m not doing anything. It’s you—”

“You’re just too irresistible.” His grin went up a notch. “But back to the important stuff.”

I was so tempted to hit him. I folded my arms. “Yeah, back to the important stuff.”

“I can go for the Key on Saturday.”

“I’m going with you,” I threw in.

Roth sighed. “I knew you were going to say that, but there’s a little problem with you wanting to do that. How are you going to get out of a Warden stronghold in the middle of the night to do this?”

“I can sneak out.” At his pointed look, I groaned. “Okay. I probably can’t sneak out, but I could try to get them to let me spend the night with Stacey.”

“And they’re really going to allow that?”

“I don’t know.” I readjusted the strap of my bag. “But I want to at least try.”

Roth exhaled loudly. “Okay. Try it. Text me and let me know.” He inclined his head, holding the door open. “Think you can walk to class, or are your knees too weak?”

I narrowed my eyes, brushing past him. “My knees aren’t weak. And you have a big ego.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s bi—”

“Shut up! TMI, Roth, TMI.” I threw up my hand. “I’ll let you know.”

Roth fell back into the throng of students while I made my way to class. I’d lied. My knees were totally weak.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I made my tenth pass in front of Abbot’s closed-off study. Getting him to agree to let me stay with Stacey on Saturday would take a small miracle. Even though there hadn’t been any demon attacks since the Rack demons, and the Wardens didn’t even know about that, I seriously doubted he was going to allow this.

But I had to try.

Zayne rounded a corner and stopped when he saw me. Back from working out, his gray shirt was damp and clung to his tapered waist. He grinned. “What are you doing, Layla-bug?”