Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) (15 page)

I watched tensely as Bishop turned to walk toward the woman. He
didn’t reach for his dagger—not yet—but I knew he wouldn’t hesitate if he had no
other choice.

I wanted to have an argument for why he couldn’t do this—that
the woman was pathetic and helpless and needed assistance. But I knew there was
no help for her. What I saw wasn’t a woman who could be reasoned with, but a
monster out of its mind with hunger. One who could hurt others—one who could
infect
others.

She was part of a dangerous disease that needed to be
cured.

And there was a beautiful angel of death moving steadily closer
to help end her illness.

But before Bishop got within twenty feet of her she cried out,
clutched her head and collapsed to the ground. A scream caught in my throat as I
watched her begin to literally melt right before my eyes. It was like something
out of
The
Wizard of Oz
when the water hit the wicked witch of
the west. Smaller and smaller, she sank into the ground...until there was
nothing left but a pile of clothes.

It took less than a minute.

I was trembling violently as I faced Kraven. His expression was
grim, but not surprised like my own.

“That’s happened before.” My voice quaked. “Hasn’t it?”

He nodded. “Ever since the Source was killed, this is what’s
been happening to some of the grays we come across. The Hollow doesn’t open up
for these ones—they’re just gone. Makes our jobs a hell of a lot easier, but...”
He glanced at me, his lips thinning.

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. As a gray, it could
happen to me, too.

“Bishop briefed us on stasis,” he continued. “This chick
obviously wasn’t strong enough to handle it.”

You change or you die, Stephen warned me.

This was door number two.

That poor woman. Once she was a girl like me who’d been kissed
by someone who made her heart beat faster.

Now her heart didn’t beat at all.

“This proves it. We need to find Stephen tonight,” Bishop said
when he returned to us, his expression hard and determined. “There’s no more
time to waste.”

Kraven scoffed. “Drop everything and try to find gray-girl’s
soul so she’s not the next one to melt into a puddle of sludge?”

Bishop fixed him with a contemptuous look. “There’s a new club
I want to check out. Grays have started to hang out there ever since they
realized we were keeping a close eye on Crave. I sent Cassandra and Roth there
earlier to take a look.”

“So let them handle it,” Kraven said.

“No. We’re going, too.”

This was the first I’d heard about an alternate club for grays.
But it made sense. Stephen needed somewhere to spend time—and he had been at
Crave almost every single night since he’d returned to the city from university.
“How did you find out about this?”

“From another gray.”

“Why would he tell you anything?”

Bishop held my gaze steadily. “Let’s just say I can be very
convincing when I want something.”

Kraven snorted. “Better leave it at that. Wouldn’t want to
disturb gray-girl’s delicate sensibilities.”

I stared at Bishop. “Wait. Are you saying you tortured the
gray?”

“Some people need convincing before they decide to be helpful.
This one was particularly unwilling to chat.” He shrugged. “He talked, that’s
the main thing. I got the information I needed.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Just when I thought I’d figured out what to expect from the
angel, he threw me another curveball. And the worst thing was, I didn’t hold
this against him. He was right—some people needed convincing. But it still put a
sick feeling into the pit of my stomach that he’d go to such extremes to help
save me.

I looked into his blue eyes, wishing I could read his mind like
the others.

But maybe I could. Maybe he was just
really
good at shielding—and the mind melds and memory melds were
something completely different he couldn’t control.

“I know you’re doing this for me,” I whispered. “Thank
you.”

His dark brows drew together and that edge of something
vulnerable
returned. Then that very human
expression disappeared like magic and he tore his gaze from mine.

“We need to go check out the club right now,” he said.

“Fine,” I agreed, my tentative tone turning fierce. “And don’t
even think about trying to stop me from coming with you.”

A small amount of humor returned to his beautiful blue eyes.
“Of course you’re coming. Stephen sees us, he’ll make like Houdini and
disappear. You’re the bait to keep him right where he is.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Bait, huh?”

“Bait who likes to get herself in serious trouble whenever
possible.”

“That would be me.” I nodded slowly. “Just do me a favor...both
of you...”

The demon and angel both looked at me.

“Don’t kill him—even if we do get my and Carly’s soul back.”
Putting it into words felt like I was jinxing it, but I had to say this. “He’s
just as freaked out by stasis as I am. Call me crazy, but if there’s a way, I
want to help him, not hurt him. Okay?”

Bishop blinked. “You want to
help
him.”

I nodded.

“You know—” a full grin appeared on his entirely too kissable
lips “—maybe I’m
not
the only crazy one here, after
all.”

Chapter 15

“Hooray,” Kraven said drily. “Another all-ages kiddie
club. How exciting.”

He was wrong about many things. This was one of them. The club
Bishop had taken us to didn’t cater to the underage crowd like Crave. Ambrosia
was decidedly adult and crowded.

I’d heard of it before. Very popular, and wall-to-wall busy
seven days a week. Carly once suggested we get fake IDs so we could sneak in and
check it out. Since that was just after my near-arrest for shoplifting, and I’d
been extremely paranoid about coloring outside the proverbial lines again, I’d
refused to let her talk me into it.

Carly’d always liked chasing adventure way more than I had. I’d
always, with very few exceptions, played it safe.

But nothing was safe anymore.

It was ten o’clock when we finally got there. I feared I’d get
carded at the door—one of the few tests I’d inevitably fail. I knew Bishop
wasn’t able to do the angelic influence thing that the others could. And demons
didn’t have that particular skill.

But he’d figured out another way of influencing humans—one that
worked nearly as well. He produced a roll of bills and paid off the bouncer.
That was all it took to get a hand stamp and entrance. Money talks.

I’d heard a lot about the club, read articles about it on the
internet, but it was even more impressive in person. A billionaire had
bankrolled it for his Victoria’s Secret model girlfriend—who was named
Ambrosia—and it had that sexy, high fashion meets big bucks look. And to add to
the cool factor, the most hopping part of the club was three stories
belowground. I checked my coat upstairs and we descended a glass, spiral
staircase studded with crystals, sparkling under the pot lights.

Downstairs, the place was packed—despite it being a Monday
night. The bar was in the middle, and the huge shiny black-and-silver dance
floor to the far left. It put Crave to shame. Everywhere else, in the main area
and in the many more private alcoves, were plush designer sofas and chairs, as
well as tables where well-dressed patrons could mingle, drink champagne and sip
cocktails.

But, just like at Crave, the music pounded. It was the one
thing they had in common.

“This is where you think Stephen is?” I asked Bishop. Stephen
was only nineteen, not that that seemed to matter all that much, as evidenced by
how easy the bouncers were to pay off.

“It’s a guess,” Bishop said.

There were also at least two hundred other souls here in this
club. I couldn’t ignore that fact no matter how hard I tried, especially after
how out of control I’d been only a short time ago on the street. I fought hard
to keep my focus and not let my hunger take over—my constant, invisible, inner
battle.

Bishop glanced around our immediate area. “Where did Kraven
go?”

I looked over my shoulder and spotted him almost immediately.
The golden-haired demon was impossible to miss, even in a crowd. “By the bar.
He’s getting a drink.”

“Typical. He’s always preferred getting drunk to working.”

I looked at him, surprised. “Demons can get drunk?”

He raised an eyebrow. “He used to be human.”

“So did you,” I reminded him, and was rewarded with an
immediate tensing of his expression. It was almost amusing, really. He was like
Pavlov’s dog. Ring a bell, the dog salivates. Mention his past, Bishop gets
grouchy.

“Right,” he finally allowed. “Well, some things don’t change.
Alcohol and other drugs still affect us. If we’re not careful.”

“Maybe he wants to drown the memory of...what he had to do to
me earlier.”

There was no humor in his eyes anymore. Instead, there was a
flash of something much darker. “That kiss?”

My cheeks burned. “Yeah, well. He doesn’t like me.”

“He likes you more than he likes me. He hates my guts.”

“You think he still holds it against you that you killed him
and sent him to Hell? Shocker.” I honestly didn’t mean it to sound as smart-ass
as it came out. But there it was.

“Let’s keep looking for Stephen,” Bishop said tightly.

I deflated. My confidence came and went, really. Right now, it
went. “Sorry, but you’re the one who gave me that enticing piece of information
and now you want to pretend you never said anything.”

He studied me for a moment, expressionless, then a grin finally
tugged the side of his mouth. “You are bound and determined to learn my deepest,
darkest secrets, aren’t you?”

“
Determined
is a good word.
Obsessed might be another one.”

His smile only grew, the expression working like an arrow
shooting straight into my heart. “Obsession can be a dangerous thing,
Samantha.”

My gaze moved to his lips. “Don’t I know it.”

He wrenched his attention from me to scan the club, and then
turned around to face me full-on. “Am I too close? I’d rather not make this
difficult for you.”

I swallowed hard, ignoring the constant hunger being near him
brought forth. “It’s always difficult when I’m close to you.”

His jaw tensed, and he turned away. “Then I should give you
some space.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s better now than it was
before.” I grabbed his arm, and electricity sparked between us. He tensed and
turned back to face me.

Then he immediately directed me away from the crowd and off
into a quieter alcove, past a translucent crystal-beaded curtain. The loud music
still blared from the live band and I couldn’t even make out what the lead
singer was singing, but it was slightly muted here, giving the illusion of
privacy.

“Bishop, last night when I saw your memory...” I began. I had
to get this out. It weighed on me like a two-ton elephant sitting on my
chest.

“Let’s forget about that.” His attention moved to something
over my shoulder, but I think he was simply trying to avoid eye contact.

“But that’s just it—I don’t want to forget it. I know you think
I might have seen something that you didn’t want me to see. That somehow it’s
going to make me dislike you or fear you. But you’re wrong.”

He gave me a wry look. “Then I guess you didn’t see nearly as
much as I thought you did.”

“Why can I do that?” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “I know I
can do the mind-meld thing, but it’s not like I can control it.”

“You’re a nexus.” He moved closer so he could also speak
quietly in case we were overheard. The song had ended and the band slowly eased
into the next one. The buzz of conversation beyond the curtain swirled around
me. “You have a strange power over the ethereal and the infernal. That includes
me. Add that to the fact that you took a piece of my soul...well, that gives you
certain powerful abilities.”

As much as I’d love to be someone who just readily accepts
every mind-blowing thing that has happened to me over the past couple of weeks,
I wasn’t that girl. The less I thought about my birth parents and what that
meant—and I honestly didn’t know exactly
what
that
meant—the less freaked out I got.

“I don’t feel so powerful,” I said, swallowing hard. “I don’t
know why anybody would even be concerned with someone like me. There’s no way I
could throw anything off balance.”

“I think you underestimate yourself.”

Bishop was still too close to me, and his warm, spicy scent
made it nearly impossible for me to concentrate. “Have you ever known of another
nexus?”

“They’re rare, but yes. Once, years ago, I met one.”

“What happened?” I asked, breathless.

He met my gaze. “I killed him.”

I gasped. “Oh, my God.”

His brows drew together and he watched me, as if wary of my
reaction to this jarring statement. “You always say that you’re the one who
doesn’t hold anything back and I’m the secretive one. But I don’t want this to
be a secret. I need you to know this, now that you’re aware of what my job
was.”

I worked it over in my mind, trying to reject it, but I knew I
couldn’t. “So it was an assignment for Heaven—this nexus was bad. A real
threat.”

He nodded, his jaw tight. “This is exactly why I know you’re
different.”

“Why?”

He surprised me by giving me a small grin. “That you even have
to ask me that proves it all the more. You know that a nexus—while very
rare—can’t access their powers while their human soul covers up what they really
are.”

“Yeah. Natalie told me that. That’s why she had Stephen remove
mine.”

Something unpleasant crossed his expression at the mention of
my aunt and Stephen. “The nexus I dealt with removed his soul through dark
magic.
Blood
magic.”

I gulped. “I’m guessing that doesn’t involve magic wands and
fairy dust.”

“Not even slightly. He knew what he was doing, and was willing
to sacrifice other lives in the process. Your soul was taken against your will
and now you’re actively fighting to get it back.”

“I am a fighter.”

“Don’t I know it.” His lips quirked.

“This is why you don’t want the others to know about me, isn’t
it? Because if Heaven or Hell found out the truth—you’d have to kill me,
too.”

Any humor vanished from Bishop’s expression. It was more than
enough to tell me I was right. “Like I said before, Samantha, you can’t let the
others know what you are. You won’t like the results.”

He began to turn from me to return to the main club, but I
grabbed his arm hard. That familiar charge of celestial energy flew between
us—so powerful this time that I swear I saw literal sparks. He froze before he
glanced at me again.

I held on to him tighter. “You know, you really piss me off
sometimes.”

He didn’t pull away. “Excuse me?”

I hissed out a frustrated breath. “Seriously. You refuse to
tell me anything about yourself, except these frustrating bits and pieces. And
then when we start talking about something important, you want to turn away and
ignore me. But you’re still the only person who wants to protect me. That means
something to me.”

Yeah, something big. Way too big to wrap my head around.

“I’m not the only one. Kraven proved tonight he’s more than up
to the task of filling in when I’m not around.” His words were tight. “You
really don’t think he likes you? I saw the way he was kissing you—tonight
and
Saturday night. Maybe you should think again.”

Kraven didn’t like me. At all. The two times he’d kissed
me—that was only because there wasn’t any other choice. “Now you’re being
ridiculous.”

This earned a short, humorless laugh. “Not many people have
ever called me ridiculous before. But okay. Don’t let him fool you, though. The
brother I knew—that one you might have seen in my memory—is long gone. He’s a
demon now. Just because he’s able to play the part of a charmingly sarcastic Boy
Scout now and then doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.”

“I guess you have that in common.”

“You’re right. We do.”

“But you’re an angel, not a demon. I know that means you’re
good, even if you don’t totally believe it yourself. If you tell me more about
your past, I won’t hold it against you. I swear I won’t, Bishop.”

His brows drew tightly together. “Why do you want to know so
badly?”

“I just do.” I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t tell him
that I wanted to know because every single time I saw him I fell that much
harder for him. He might feel the need to protect me, he might feel
something
for me, but in his mind it was all due to
his soul and my hunger. And that hadn’t been proven otherwise.

But for me, I knew it was different. Hunger and heart—they
weren’t the same thing, no matter how hard he tried to justify it and explain it
away.

No matter how he might have looked at Cassandra, or how much
they had in common with each other, he didn’t look at her in the same intense
way he looked at me.

The way he was looking at me right now.

He hissed out a breath. “We don’t have time for this right
now.”

I sent another furtive glance toward the main club through the
beaded curtain. I couldn’t see Kraven anywhere. And Stephen wasn’t around,
either. I knew we needed to be out there right now, but I had to do this. I had
to know the truth.

“Let me see your memories. You don’t even have to tell me about
them—maybe you can just show me. We can try.”

“Samantha, you need to stop being so concerned with my past and
be more worried about your future.” His jaw tightened. “And make sure you keep
that dagger on you at all times. No matter what. Do you have it tonight?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

He glared at me. “You’re seriously the most stubborn person
I’ve ever met. You know that?”

I glared back. “Ditto.” Then I froze as he pressed me back
against the wall and slid his hand down my side and over my thigh. “What are you
doing?”

“Checking something.”

My heart slammed hard against my rib cage and the delicious
scent of him, of his soul, was slowly driving me crazy. He was so close. And his
touch, even if it was through my jeans, not against my bare skin, had helped
shut off my senses to everything around us—no music, no voices, no crowd, nobody
else—only this moment.

“Good,” he whispered as his fingers trailed over the weapon and
sheath hidden beneath my loose jeans. “Although, it’ll be too hard to access
quickly unless you start wearing short skirts.”

I struggled to breathe normally. “Is that a request?”

“A suggestion.” His now-heated gaze locked with mine and held.
“Damn it, Samantha. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“Like what?”

“You were not supposed to be part of my problem.”

On the surface, word for word, it almost sounded like an
insult. But the way he said it, low and throaty...me being problematic for an
angel of death—it was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard in my entire life.

My hunger swirled around me, ever tightening like a cool silk
scarf binding me in place. Everything else faded into the background—my future,
my survival, the safety of everyone in the city, even the fate of my best friend
trapped in the Hollow.