Free Death's Mantle: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 1) by J.A. Cipriano

eavesdrop. And this was a cyclops. He’d definitely come out during the conversation, especially if he heard about her being attacked and saved by Mal. If only she had told him earlier… Why hadn’t she been honest?
    But could she have been, really? Would he have believed her if she said she’d been attacked by a cyclops during school? No…
    “I don’t know if that is going to work,” she replied, feeling like the most unreasonable person on the planet. Was she really asking her boyfriend to leave so she could spend time with her ex after they had just had a fight about cheating? Was that really happening? He must think she was crazy.
    “Fine, you know what… give me a second, I’ll just call for a ride...” Caden turned and walked into the kitchen to use the phone on the wall. She’d almost forgotten he didn’t own a cell phone. Something about his parents not liking the devices…
    Kim chased after him and grabbed her phone out of Caden’s hands before he could dial. “You need to leave now. I don’t have time to wait for your ride to show up.”
    “They aren’t going to come if I don’t call.” He put his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. The feel of his skin pressed against hers made her tremble as he reached out and ran one hand along her cheek. “It’ll just take a second. I’ll wait out back for my ride. He won’t see me…”
    “Hey, Kim, where are you?” Malcom called from the living room. Had he just let himself inside? She cursed herself. Of course he had. She should have left the chain on the damn door.
    “Yeah, hold on a second.” She turned to Caden and kissed him. “Okay, hurry up.”
    “Okay,” Caden replied, taking the phone from her hands. “But we’re going to talk about this later.”
    “What are you doing here?” Malcom asked as he poked his head into the kitchen. He took a confused step backward and gripped the doorframe for support. His ebony skin looked so dark against the white paint that, for a moment, it seemed like he was darkness incarnate.
    “I’m just leaving, we’re done making out for the day. She’s all yours, tiger.” Caden brightened as he spied Ian just behind Mal. “Awesome, Ian can you give me a ride?”
    “I didn’t drive, man.” Ian smiled his “you just sprayed me with soda at the swim meet you huge jerk” smile.
    “How’d you get here then?” Caden looked concerned. “We both know he doesn’t drive anymore.” Caden jerked his thumb at Malcom. “Not like he could afford the gas anyway.”
    Ian shrugged. Caden eyed him for a few moments before dialing into the phone and turning away from them. “Whatever. You’ve been hanging out with dork boy too much, Ian. Careful, don’t get let him stay over too much or his dad might come over to get him,” Caden replied, glancing back over his shoulder, but even though his words sounded angry, concern was etched into his features. “You won’t like that.”
    “What are you talking about?” Ian asked as Caden spoke quietly into the phone and hung up.
    “Nothing,” Ian replied, shrugging as he made eye contact with Mal. The two of them seemed to have an unspoken conversation before Caden nodded once and headed toward the front door.
    As they passed each other, Caden leaned close to Malcom and whispered something Kim couldn’t hear. Malcom nodded back, a strange look on his face. Caden smirked and moved out of sight. A second later, she heard her front door close, which was a little weird because he had left his backpack by the back door. She glanced over her shoulder at the lime green backpack and sighed. How long would it be before he remembered it?
    “Well that was fun,” Ian said with a sigh. “Why did I let you talk me into taking you over here?”
    “Because there’s a cyclops on the loose who is after Kim, and I don’t drive?” Malcom offered, and Ian shook his head.
    “I’m like this close,” Ian pressed his thumb and index finger together. “To not