his voice cracking. âIâm not good enough for you?â
âOf course you are,â Vanessa said. âYouâre a great guy. Itâs just more complicated than that.â
Justin frowned. âHow?â
She told him about her dream, about the demonâs promise. âIf I kiss you, whatever part of it is still in me . . . it could hurt you. And I canât be responsible for that.â
There was a long pause as she watched him take in her words.
And then he started to laugh.
âSeriously?â
âThis isnât funny,â Vanessa said. âIâm being honest with you.â
âI know,â Justin said. He took a deep breath and said, more calmly, âbut Vanessa . . . thatâs crazy talk.â
âAfter everything weâve been through, now youâre going to tell me that Iâm crazy?â She stood up, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. âYouâre an ass, Justin Cooke.â
She turned, about to press open the door, when Justinâs warm arms wrapped themselves around her. âIâm sorry,â he whispered. âYouâre not crazy.â
Vanessa could feel the muscles of his chest against her back, the sweet warmth of his breath on her neck. âThanks,â she said. âAnd youâre not . . . an ass.â
He chuckled softly. âThe demon is not going to hurt you. Not while Iâm around.â
She let out a long sigh. âBut itâs so close ââ
âWe donât know where the demon is, Vanessa.â Justin gave her a gentle squeeze. âAnd mark my words â at the first signthat itâs here, in London, well . . . Iâll make up some crazy excuse to your mom and weâll hop on the first plane back to New York.â
Vanessa froze. There was no way she could leave London â the Lyric Elite were here, and they were the only ones who could help her find her sister.
âI donât want to leave London,â she said softly.
âIâll do whatever is necessary to protect you,â Justin murmured, softly kissing her neck.
âJustin!â she said, spinning around in his arms. She wanted to tell him that the demon was in London, Enzo had said so, but she couldnât. She wanted desperately to kiss him, but she couldnât do that either. Not now. Not until the demon was destroyed.
âThe demon possessed me, and I survived,â Vanessa said stiffly, breaking away from Justinâs arms. âThere is some sort of . . . link between us. I can feel it. And I canât risk putting anyone I care about in danger.â
âSo what are you saying?â Justin asked.
She stared into the clear blue eyes of this boy who clearly liked her. And who â if she was going to be honest â she liked back. âIâm saying . . . we need to be just friends for now. OK?â
âThatâs ridiculous,â Justin said. âI donât understand ââ
âPlease,â Vanessa said. âIf you care about me at all, you wonât question me on this.â
Justin still looked as if he didnât quite believe her, and it made Vanessa sick that she was hurting him this way. âOK?â she whispered.
Justin looked away. âI guess.â
The silence between them was deafening. Vanessa pushed the bar on the door leading back into the hall. âIâll see you at rehearsal.â
He nodded. âLater.â
And with that, Vanessa climbed down the stairs, along the hallway to her room. Alone.
Back inside room 321, Svetya was nowhere to be found. Which was probably a good thing, because Vanessa still hadnât unpacked, and her chat with Justin had unnerved her. She pressed her back against the closed door. She had wanted Justin to kiss her, more than anything, but she had to be careful. She couldnât let anyone else be hurt because of her, especially not Justin. She was trying to protect him . . . even though, right