Lauren Kate - Torment

ALSO BY LAUREN KATE

FALLEN

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2010 by Tinderbox Books, LLC and Lauren Kate

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

WWW.RANDOMHOUSE.COM/TEENS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89717-7

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v3.1

F OR E LIZABETH , I RDY , A NNE, AND V IC .
I HAVE BEEN SO LUCKY TO HAVE YOU .

First, inexpressible thanks to my readers for all the effusive and generous support. Because of you, I may just have to keep writing forever.

To Wendy Loggia, whose belief in this series was a great gift, and who knows just how to make it more like what it always wanted to be. To Beverly Horowitz for the sharpest pep talk Ive ever received, and the dessert you stuffed into my purse. To Krista Vitola, whose good-news emails have made so many of my days. To Angela Carlino and the design team, for the jacket that could launch a thousand ships. To my traveling partner Noreen Marchisi, Roshan Nozari, and the rest of the tremendous marketing team at Random House. You are magicians. To Michael Stearns and Ted Malawer, tireless geniuses. Your wit and encouragement make you almost too much fun to work with.

To my friends, who keep me sane and inspired. To my family in Texas, Arkansas, Baltimore, and Florida for so much exuberance and love. And to Jason, for every single day.

For, if I imp my wing on thine
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

G EORGE H ERBERT , Easter Wings

NEUTRAL WATERS

D aniel stared out at the bay. His eyes were as gray as the thick fog enveloping the Sausalito shoreline, as the choppy water lapping the pebble beach beneath his feet. There was no violet to his eyes now at all; he could feel it. She was too far away.

He braced himself against the biting gale off the water. But even as he tugged his thick black pea coat closer, he knew it was no use. Hunting always left him cold.

Only one thing could warm him today, and she was out of reach. He missed the way the crown of her head made the perfect resting spot for his lips. He imagined filling the circle of his arms with her body, leaning down to kiss her neck. But it was a good thing Luce couldnt be here now. What shed see would horrify her.

Behind him, the bleat of sea lions flopping in heaps along the south shore of Angel Island sounded the way he felt: jaggedly lonely, with no one around to hear.

No one except Cam.

He was crouched in front of Daniel, tying a rusty anchor around the bulging, wet figure at their feet. Even engaged in something so sinister, Cam looked good. His green eyes had a sparkle and his black hair was cut short. It was the truce; it always brought a brighter glow to the angels cheeks, a shinier sheen to their hair, an even sharper cut to their flawless muscled bodies. Truce days were to angels what beach vacations were to humans.

So even though Daniel ached inside each time he was forced to end a human life, to anyone else he looked like a guy coming back from a week in Hawaii: relaxed, rested, tan.

Tightening one of his intricate knots, Cam said, Typical Daniel. Always stepping aside and leaving me to do the dirty work.

What are you talking about? Im the one who finished him. Daniel looked down at the dead man, at the wiry gray hair matted to his pasty forehead, at his gnarled hands and cheap rubber galoshes, at the dark red tear across his chest. It made Daniel feel cold all over again. If the killing werent necessary to ensure Luces safety, to save her, Daniel would never raise another weapon. Never fight another fight.

And something about killing this man did not feel quite right. In fact, Daniel had a vague, troubling sense that something was profoundly wrong.

Finishing them is the fun part. Cam looped the rope around the mans chest and tightened it under his arms. The dirty work is seeing them off to sea.

Daniel still gripped the bloodied tree branch in his hand. Cam had snickered at the choice, but it never mattered to Daniel what he used. He could kill with anything.

Hurry up, he growled, sickened by the obvious pleasure Cam took in human bloodshed. Youre wasting time. The tides going out.

And unless we do this my way, high tide tomorrow will wash Slayer here right back ashore. Youre too impulsive, Daniel, always were. Do you ever think more than one step ahead?

Daniel crossed his arms and looked back out at the white crests of the waves. A tourist catamaran from the San Francisco pier was gliding toward them. Once, the vision of that boat might have brought back a flood of memories. A thousand happy trips hed taken with Luce across a thousand lifetimes seas. But nownow that she could die and not come back, in this lifetime when everything was different and there would be no more reincarnationsDaniel was always too aware of how blank her memory was. This was the last shot. For both of them. For everyone, really. So it was Luces memory, not Daniels, that mattered, and so many shocking truths would have to be gently brought to the surface if she was going to survive. The thought of what she had to learn made his whole body tense up.

If Cam thought Daniel wasnt thinking of the next step, he was wrong.

You know theres only one reason Im still here, Daniel said. We need to talk about her.

Cam laughed. I was. With a grunt, he hoisted the sopping corpse up over his shoulder. The dead mans navy suit bunched up around the lines of rope Cam had tied. The heavy anchor rested on his bloody chest.

This ones a little gristly, isnt he? Cam asked. Im almost insulted that the Elders didnt send a more challenging hit man.

Thenas if he were an Olympic shot-putterCam bent his knees, spun around three times to wind up, and launched the dead man out across the water, a hundred feet clear into the air.

For a few long seconds, the corpse sailed over the bay. Then the weight of the anchor dragged it down down down. It splashed grandly into the deep aquamarine water. And instantly sank out of sight.

Cam wiped his hands. I think Ive just set a record.

They were alike in so many ways. But Cam was something worse, a demon, and that made him capable of despicable acts with no remorse. Daniel was crippled by remorse. And right now, he was further crippled by love.