Dark Kiss (Harlequin Teen) (35 page)

She moved as if to thrust the blade into him again. I didn’t think, I just attacked. I grabbed hold of her right arm to keep her from stabbing Bishop. I had no
nexus
abilities to use against her, nothing except the sheer will to stop her from hurting Bishop.

I might not have been as strong as a full-demon, but I was quick and small and I darted around her, punching and kicking her with one goal in mind—to get her to drop that dagger. Finally, with a well-placed kick to her wrist—which cut my shoe when it edged against the blade—I knocked the dagger out of her grip and it fell heavily to the floor. Natalie grabbed me by the front of my shirt and drew me close to her.

“You’re a bad liar, but you’re ruthless like a demon,” she growled. “Maybe you are like your father after all. He’ll be happy to hear that.”

Then she backhanded me so hard that I think I blacked out for a second. Pain reverberated through my head and I tasted the copper tang of my own blood. I spun back from her with the force of the blow and landed hard on my back. All I could do was stare up at the ceiling and try to breathe. It wasn’t easy.

“No!” Bishop roared. “Samantha, run!”

But I couldn’t run. I could barely move.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Natalie snarled as she loomed over me. “But I will. Now you will do exactly what I say or I will start cutting the angel into pieces right in front of you until you agree. I’ll do the same to your best friend and then to you, as well. With your dying breath, I promise that you
will
help me escape from this city.”

She placed the sharp stiletto heel of her shoe over my throat and pressed until I was sure she’d puncture a hole right through my larynx. I wheezed in pain and panic ratcheted through me. She wasn’t trying to kill me, just hurt me. She wanted me to see that she wasn’t playing games anymore.

“I’m going to kill you!” Bishop’s voice was filled with rage.

“No, you’re not. You can barely get to your feet, angel. It’s over. I win.”

So much for trying to save his life. I couldn’t even save my own. I was completely at her mercy.

She was right, it
was
over. She’d force me to do what she wanted. And after the horrible threats she’d made, I knew I would do it to save Bishop. To save Carly. To save myself.

It would be my fault that the world was destroyed.

“Um, excuse me?” Carly said.

Natalie hissed out an annoyed breath and looked at the curvy blonde now standing next to her. “What is it?”

“Nobody gets to hurt my best friend,” she said evenly. “Not even you.”

Carly sank the golden dagger deep into Natalie’s chest.

Chapter 24

Natalie staggered back and stared down at the dagger. She took hold of it, pulled it out with a grunt and dropped it to the ground. As she raised her gaze to meet mine, her brown eyes were wide—so wide—and filled with shock.

She’d thought she’d won.

Bright red blood welled from the wound, staining her dress. “It didn’t have to be like this. You should have wanted to help me. We’re family.”

I hadn’t wanted it to end like this, but now I saw there was no other way it could end. There was still something I needed to know. The carrot she’d dangled in front of me all this time. “How can I find my father, Natalie?”

This earned a sharp, pained bark of a laugh from her. “I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. He has big plans for this world…and for you. This isn’t over. But it could have been different. I could have protected you. We could have been a family. Now you only have yourself to blame when everyone turns against you. And they will. I guarantee you that.”

Her eyes glowed bright red for a moment as pain twisted on her face. Then she fell heavily to her knees. The scary black vortex opened up behind her, accompanied by the tornado-like roar, and fear crashed over me to see it again arriving right on schedule as it sensed the demon’s impending death.

I scrambled back from her as fast as I could. And then, before I could say anything, scream anything, the dark hand of the Hollow reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back into its gaping mouth.

It had happened so fast.

Carly was at my side, clutching my arm, as the storm continued to rage in front of me. “What the hell is
that?
”

I stared at the spot where Natalie had disappeared with utter and complete shock even though I’d been expecting this. “You don’t want to know.”

Her familiar form blocked the swirling, roaring vortex. “Are you okay?”

“Not even close.” I forced myself to look at her. She hadn’t changed totally back to her former self, not that I’d expected she would. She was still a gray, which meant she wasn’t nearly as petrified about what had just happened as the old Carly would have been. “Why did you do that? Why did you save me?”

She frowned. “Because she was hurting you.”

“Thank you.” Gratitude welled within me and I grabbed Carly and hugged her fiercely. Maybe she wasn’t lost to me after all. I pulled back to look into her bright blue eyes.

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “We’re still best friends forever. Right?”

She was still here. She was still Carly underneath it all. And I could get her soul back and fix her. I knew I could.

“Forever,” I confirmed.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong arms come around my waist to pull me back from her. It was Bishop, who now had me in his tight grip.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Look at her,” was all he said.

I looked at Carly and a scream caught in my throat.

Tendrils of darkness had begun to move over her shoulders like black fingers. The Hollow hadn’t closed after taking Natalie. It had moved closer. It sensed another supernatural entity nearby, and it was still hungry.

Terror gripped me, cutting off my breath. I couldn’t find the air to scream.

The sound of the vortex grew louder, so loud I couldn’t think. Carly stared at me with wide eyes as the Hollow’s grip tightened on her, covering her with its darkness. She reached a hand out to me, confusion written all over her face.

“Sam?” she asked, her voice trembling.

And then the Hollow yanked her backward into its swirling black mouth, just as it had Natalie.

“No!” My scream cut past the roar of the Hollow.

I was hallucinating, I had to be. Horror filled every cell of my body, freezing me, but I knew I had to do something. I had to try to save her. She’d only just disappeared. I couldn’t accept that—I could never accept that.

She’d just saved my life. I had to save hers.

I fought against Bishop, but he held firm. I struggled, I squirmed…I had to get out of his grip. My focus was completely on that black hole. If I could get to it before it closed, reach into it and grab her hand—

I couldn’t lose her. Not like this—not when I’d just realized that she could still be saved.

“Samantha, stop!” Bishop yelled at me as I scratched and clawed against him. “She’s gone!”

“No, she’s not. I have to help her!”

I finally managed to slip out of his grasp and scramble away from him. My eyes stung with tears, but I fought to see past them. I’d gotten away from Bishop in order to try to save my friend, but he’d been holding me back so the Hollow wouldn’t sense that I was in its path.

And, just like a gray, its hunger had no end.

The vacuumlike suction I’d felt last night with Bishop and Connor began to draw me closer to the black hole and I stared at it with horror. I lost my balance and fell hard to the ground. It was as if the world had tilted and I was now sliding feetfirst toward the Hollow’s hungry mouth.

My shock over losing Carly so suddenly and horribly was replaced by icy fear. I’d thought I could save Carly—fight this monstrous thing that raged mere feet away from me. I was wrong.

Bishop grasped my wrist before the vortex could gobble me up, but its dark fingers reached out to wrap around my ankles and pull me toward it.

“Hold on!” Bishop’s eyes glowed blue in the darkness that swirled around me.

Something about this sank into my mind, past the fear, past the shock. This was my vision—my very first vision. The one I’d had before I’d even met him, after Stephen had kissed me. I thought I’d been falling into darkness, but in reality I was being pulled sideways into it.

This was how it ended for me. I was bound for the Hollow just like my aunt, my father, my mother…and my best friend. It was my fate—the inevitable end to everything I’d been fighting against.

“They were wrong, Samantha.” Bishop’s voice broke as he said my name. “It never should have been me. This is the proof.”

“What?” He’d said this to me before. And in my dream he’d also let go of me. He didn’t think he deserved to be leader. He thought someone else could have done a better job—even with a fallen angel’s soul meant to sabotage the entire mission.

“I’m not strong enough for this. I’ve failed you. I’ve failed everyone. It’s—it’s all over.” Even though he tried hard to hold on to me, I still started to slip away from him and I shrieked. The Hollow was incredibly strong and I was so scared I could barely function. He’d given up hope. The sight of me slipping away had finally broken him.

But I wouldn’t accept that. There was still a chance to change this; I felt it deep inside myself. What I’d seen was only a possibility—a worst-case scenario. Visions were previews of the future, but the future hadn’t happened yet. Carly was the one who believed in fate and destiny, not me. I was the realist, the cynic. Even now.

I didn’t want to give up. I didn’t want to stop fighting, not yet. Not
ever.

“No, Bishop! Listen to me. You
are
strong. You
are
a leader. I believe in you and I trust you with my life.”

His face was strained. “Samantha, no…”

I stared into his pained gaze. “Yes! You’re amazing and I’m so happy I met you, no matter what happens now. Do you hear me? I can’t lose you, not like this. If you let me go right now, we won’t be able to get my soul back and I won’t be able to kiss you again. So don’t let go of me. You hear me? Because I really want to kiss you again!”

His dark brows drew together and he stared at me, surprised by what I’d just said to him. But I saw the spark of determination strengthen in his eyes.

“Then hold on! I won’t let go if you don’t.”

Which meant we’d both get sucked into the Hollow together in mere moments if it continued to pull on me this hard. But my words had given Bishop the strength he needed to keep holding on.

Long enough for a very tardy demon to get his ass up here and help us out.

Through my watering eyes, I caught a glimpse of Kraven moving toward us, his gaze registering shock at the sight before him.

“Need some help?” he asked.

“Yes!” I yelled at him. “Help us!”

“What’s the magic word?”

“Now!”

“Close enough.” He edged toward me, eyeing the swirling blackness wrapped around my ankles with uneasiness.

“Don’t get close to it!” Bishop hissed. “You’ll get sucked in, too.”

Kraven swore as he assessed the situation. “Then just hold on to your girlfriend, little brother.”

I was only a few feet away from the dark vortex and I fought against the intense suction with every ounce of strength I had left. True to his word, Bishop didn’t let go of me, but our grip wouldn’t last much longer.

Kraven moved behind Bishop and grabbed the angel’s ankles. With effort, he pulled. It felt like a tight rope, with Bishop and Kraven on one end and the Hollow on the other. I was in the middle, about to be torn in half.

Bishop kept his hold on me and Kraven kept pulling on his legs until slowly, slowly, I found that we were moving away from the vortex. Once Kraven got some traction, we moved faster until the black tendrils that had wrapped around my ankles receded into the darkness. I looked over my shoulder, and I swear the Hollow was staring at me with malevolence.

I shuddered.

But then, a moment later, the dark swirling hole closed up and disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. I stared at the spot where it had been, a hungry mouth with an insatiable appetite. It had swallowed Natalie and Carly right before my eyes. It had very nearly taken me, too.

I’d escaped from it, but my best friend hadn’t. I’d lost her right when I’d learned there was a possibility of bringing her back completely, restoring her soul…

She’d saved me, but I couldn’t do the same in return.

The painful realization was like a blow, stealing my breath and shattering my heart into a million pieces.

“Carly…I’m so sorry,” I whispered as tears streaked down my cheeks. I began to sob and Bishop pulled me against his chest. I clung tightly to him. I let myself sob against Bishop’s shoulder—I didn’t even know how long. I already thought I’d lost her, but it hadn’t been like this.

But a small glimmer of hope remained. I was a realist, yeah, but I’d already seen my share of miracles this week. She hadn’t been killed, just taken. Natalie had found a way out. If that was possible, then maybe Carly could do the same.

Finally, I looked up at Bishop through damp eyes.

He held my face between his hands and looked at me with concern. “I’m sorry, Samantha.”

I clutched the front of his bloodstained T-shirt. His knife wounds were still deep, still bleeding. “Will these heal?”

He grimaced. “I’ll need Zach’s help.”

I glanced around the lounge, surprised to find that there were only three of us up here now. “Where’s Stephen?”

He was the one who knew where my soul was. Where Carly’s was, too.

“Gone. Must have taken off after Natalie was stabbed. The others are gone, too.” He stroked my hair back from my face. “He can’t leave the city, so all he can do now is hide. We’re getting very good at finding grays in this city. We’ll find him, too.”

I nodded and drew in a ragged breath. “So I guess you believe in miracles.”