Read Online Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Free Book Online Page B

them seemed to notice that we were any different—at least those who didn’t look too closely at our eyes. The color was too pale to be human, and in my small town, everyone noticed.
    But not here.
    Everyone was too busy trying to get to wherever it was they were going, or they were enthralled with the sights, much as I was.
    I couldn’t stop staring up and I knew everything about me screamed tourist, but the heights of the buildings, and the sheer number of them, was truly astonishing. And then there were all the flashing signs and bright lights.
    “Hungry?” Dez asked.
    “Yes.” I placed a hand on my belly. We’d walked so many blocks I’d lost count. “You?”
    “Always. How about some authentic New York pizza?”
    A grin split my lips. Another block down, he spied a pizza shop right in the middle of Times Square. Pictures of all the famous patrons lined their walls, from athletes to politicians. We waited in line and ordered, then found an empty table in the back.
    Dez watched me as I bit into the pizza and moaned. The taste—it was nothing like the pizza back home; the cheese, spices and crust.
    His dark auburn brows lifted. “Don’t ever stop eating if you’re going to make sounds like that.”
    I almost choked on my slice, flushing. “It tastes good!”
    He laughed. “I can tell.”
    Grinning, I watched him under my lashes. For someone so large, he had such delicate eating habits. He cut each slice into bite-size pieces while I shoved half the thing in my mouth and probably ended up with sauce all over my chin. Of course, I finished before him since I inhaled the pizza. As he savored each bite, I took the time to people watch.
    Around humans I tended to feel as if I lacked worldly knowledge, especially in a place like this where there were so many people, all of them so very different looking. I hadn’t even had a human friend; the closest I came was the lady who worked at the ice-cream parlor. I wanted one, probably much like humans wanted a puppy, but my father was wary of growing too close to them.
    After we’d left to investigate Times Square and Broadway, I was reminded of why my father was so cautious. On the storefront of a cute Italian eatery was a sign that boldly read WARDENS ARE NOT WELCOME. Underneath that was scrawled WE SERVE ONLY GOD’S CHILDREN.
    I sucked in a shrill breath, unsettled. These were the kind of people that thought we were the Devil incarnate; the kind who believed we were monsters, no matter how much good we did. As sheltered as the other females and I were, we’d only heard of such bigotry but never actually seen it in real life.
    “Hey,” Dez said, reaching down between us and clasping my hand in his. “You okay?”
    I hadn’t realized I’d stopped until then. “I just don’t understand.”
    His gaze followed mine. “Honestly? In a city like this, I’m kind of surprised, but it’s just one place out of thousands . And there’s no point in even trying to figure it out. They’re the ones who don’t understand. They don’t know what’s really out there.” He tugged on my hand. “Come on, there’s a lot to see.”
    I let him pull me away. “It’s just—”
    I stopped again as a cold, sharp series of tingles exploded between my shoulder blades. I turned before Dez said anything, sensing a nearby demon. My gaze sought it out among the crowds of humans hurrying up and down the packed sidewalk.
    The demon had walked out of the eatery—the very one that supposedly only served “God’s children.” A laugh bubbled up my throat but got stuck. He didn’t look much older than me, and to human eyes, he no doubt appeared rather harmless as he stopped beside a red-and-white fire hydrant. His dark hair was cropped close and his profile revealed angular features. A stud in his right nostril glinted in the sunlight.
    “A Fiend,” Dez said, his hand tightening around mine.
    Although Fiends were the most common class of demons topside, I’d never seen one.