Mark of the Seer by Jenna Kay

they seemed to be glued opened. And just when I thought Nick was going to wail on him, the biggest surprise of the whole day took place, making my curiosity cultivate and confusion to settle deeper into my already brackish brain.
    Nick, after all of his hate-filled threats, did not go ballistic and pound the boy to the ground. Instead he simply obeyed the boy's order, opening the door and walking out, without saying another word.
    As the door opened and closed, the bell clanged, forcing a jump out of me. I glanced back at the boy, who was nonchalantly flipping through the magazine again, as if everything was all peachy-keen. As if Nick hadn't just threatened him.
    Walking a few steps forward, finally able to break my planted feet free from the floor, I headed over to this lucky boy. I mean it—he was lucky! Nick had never backed down from a fight... never . And looking him over, anyone could see that Nick would have beaten him to a pulp. I'd seen Nick destroy way bigger guys than him. It wasn't that this kid was a weenie or anything. He was tall, may be six feet, and slender. From the jeans and black t-shirt he was wearing I could not tell if he was ripped or not. His black hair was ruffled slightly, immediately making me want to reach out and run my fingers through it. With ruffled hair and all, this guy was gorgeous.
    Reaching the magazine rack I stared at him in wonderment. That warm, calming sensation circled around me. The smell of lavender had completely taken over the nasty lemony smell of the cleaning supplies. To my dismay he continued flipping the pages of the magazine, as if I was invisible.
    “How...how did ya do that?” I asked, determined to get his attention. My heart pounded when his light, unnatural eyes looked down at me.
    “Do what?” he replied elegantly, closing the magazine and placing it back on the rack.
    I gaped at him dubiously. “Keeping Nick from grinding you into pieces! I've never seen him back down from a fight.”
    I waited for him to give me an obvious answer, but instead I got an answer that was so full with opacity that my brain screamed with annoyance, fueling up confusion.
    “So that was Nick,” he said, his head turning toward the door. “That boy's got some demons hanging all over him.” He turned back to me, his enthralling eyes catching hold of mine, and again that warm feeling of calm ran from my head all the way down to my toes.
    “W-Who are you?” I managed to asked, though my tongue felt too heavy for my mouth.
    To my disappointment he remained silent in his comfortable stare. I don't know why I felt comfortable with him—any normal person would be running for the hills! There was something not quite right about him, something I couldn't grab a hold of, which totally upset me.
    I decided to take a different approach. “I saw you at my school today. Are you new in town?”
    Giving me a dash of hope, he grinned. “Sort of,” he retorted sheepishly.
    Okay, now we're getting somewhere. “What's your name?” His grin faded, and he grimaced.
    “My name's Sam.”
    I smiled graciously, so happy to finally get his name. “ Just Sam?”
    He nodded.
    “Well, my name's Clarity Mi—”
    “Yeah, I know,” he said, cutting me off.
    I frowned. “Yeah, about that. How do you know me if you're new in town? Also, what did you mean by calling Nick a “little human”, and what did you mean that demons were all over him? And how did I hear you whisper my name when you were outside the—”
    “Whoa, slow down,” he said, chuckling. “Has anyone ever told you that you ask way too many questions?”
    “Not really,” I replied, crossing my arms. “But that's the only way to learn, right? To ask as many questions as possible?” I leaned into the rack of magazines, starring quizzically at him.
    He shook his head, appearing amused. “You've always been so inquisitive,” he said softly, surprising me by taking my hands and holding them, rubbing my palms. His touch was warm on