Days of New: The Complete Collection (Serials 1-5) by Meg Collett Page A

sorry,” Maya said abruptly when they were outside her door.
    “For what?” Clark asked, confused. He looked down the halls, noting all the closed doors and sleeping silence in the east wing. The Nephilim slept like the dead.
    “For intruding tonight.”
    Clark sighed. His connection with Zarachiel and Camille ran deep because of the war and everything they’d gone through. Anyone outside their group would likely feel like an outsider. “No, don’t think that. You didn’t intrude.”
    “Right. Well, thanks for walking me back.” She turned to unlock her door.
    “What did you want to talk to me about?”
    “What?” Maya glanced back over her shoulder, her hand falling away from the lock.
    “Earlier, Camille said that you were looking for me.”
    “Oh…” Maya’s eyes fell to the floor, the breath leaving her in one rush. “It’s pretty silly. But I…well, I wanted to know about her. About Sophia.”
    Clark smiled a little. “Our situation was tense, to say the least. I didn’t know her that well myself.”
    Shoulders slumping in defeat, Maya said, “I guess I didn’t think I would miss her this much. I barely knew her too.”
    Knowing he shouldn’t, Clark reached out and tilted her chin up so that he could look her in the eye. His fingers tingled where he touched her skin, like her body was electric underneath his touch. “You remind me a lot of her. Too much maybe. It’s hard for me to separate the two of you.”
    “I look like her?”
    “Extremely.” Clark closed his eyes and easily pictured that it was Sophia standing in front of him.
    “I was mad at her, you know. For leaving me. For putting me in this position. That’s awful, isn’t it? How can I hate my dead sister?”
    Clark opened his eyes. Without thinking, he tucked a piece of wayward hair behind Maya’s ear before dropping his arm. She took a step closer to him, making him wonder if she was drawn to him as he was to her. “I get it. Sometimes I hate Michaela.”
    Maya frowned. “But she’s not dead.”
    “She was, very briefly. And I was mad at her then too, as if she was quitting on me and leaving me alone. But then she came back, and she’s never been further away. I loved her so much—she was my best friend—that I think I’m allowed to hate her every so often. It’s only fair.”
    “That’s pretty twisted.”
    Clark lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t say it was normal. I just said I understood how you feel.”
    Maya smiled at that, her sweet, porcelain features smoothing out. She was so delicate, so special, that Clark couldn’t bear to picture her with Ezekiel. It surprised him to realize how much he hated the thought of the Nephil’s yellow eyes on her. He hated it so much that he knew he couldn’t allow it to happen.
    “I appreciate it,” she said. “And I promise I won’t tell anyone about you-know-what.”
    “Thanks.”
    Neither spoke. The silence was so heavy that Maya looked away, her eyes falling to the floor. Clark tried to tell himself to walk away, to leave her be, but then she glanced back up at him, almost shyly—just like her sister. It was wrong, so wrong, because when Clark leaned forward to kiss Maya, he was kissing Sophia in his mind.
    His lips touched hers, and he was transported to the night he’d first used the magic on his arms. Sophia had been with him then; she’d built him up, fortified him enough to accept his Nephil heritage and the horrible magic on him. Through her, he’d found his strength. And then they’d come together. She’d fit just right against his chest, like Maya did now. She seemed too surprised to hold him as Sophia had, but she opened her mouth to him, letting him in, even though she shouldn’t have.
    Maya made a small sound in the back of her throat, and Clark’s heart flared with pain and longing. He pushed against her and took a staggering step back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered fiercely, his eyes raking across her mouth.
    “I didn’t mind.”
    “I…I