Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) (27 page)

“It’s not that.”

I leaned back. “Then what is it?”

She wiped her eyes. Then her gaze rose to meet mine again.
“Wait. You can read minds, too? Is that like what you did with Bishop—how you
saw his memories? How can you do that?”

I thought she already knew this. Letting more of my secrets out
of the bag—even though I hadn’t considered
this
one
a secret—made my heart start racing. “It’s just more of that supernatural
intuition,” I said evenly. “I think Jordan’s got the same thing going on.”

She studied me a little too closely and I could practically see
the wheels turning in her head. Her eyes widened with shock. “Samantha...are you
a nexus?”

I stopped breathing. “What?”

“It would explain everything, actually. I’m not sure why I
didn’t consider it before. But...if that’s true...how could you be a gray,
too?”

I fought to stay calm and look confused instead of panicked
over this hypothesis. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m nothing
special. Just a messed-up kid who has a minor bit of sixth sense going on.”

Her strained expression didn’t ease off. “Sure you are. Or
maybe, just maybe, we’re both in way more trouble than we’d like to admit.”

I swallowed hard. “Maybe.”

She didn’t keep grilling me on the subject. She left, closing
the door softly behind her. I sat down heavily and stared at myself in my vanity
mirror, trying to harness my racing thoughts. Even up here I still felt Bishop’s
presence downstairs. My hunger swirled, making it difficult to catch my
breath.

Now Cassandra knew my secret, too.

I jumped in the shower and tried to let the scorching hot
water—a relief after being locked in that basement for so long—wash my cares
away. Didn’t work in the slightest. I got out in record time.

It wasn’t until I turned on my blow-dryer that I had the
vision.

I didn’t have many of these. But when I did have them, they
flattened me with their intensity. This one wasn’t an exception to the rule.

Like a waking dream with the intensity of a hurricane. The
images shifted, sliding, turning so I could barely see anything properly.

It was a house—a big house with tons of kids there wearing
masks and costumes. They milled about, drinks in hand; making out, talking,
having fun. Music blared all around.

I also sensed the mind of the angel—the bodiless one. Somewhere
else. Somewhere close. She wasn’t like the others—the team of angels and demons
I’d come to know. She was different. The essence of what she once was distorted
like a reflection in a funhouse mirror, turned monstrous, feeding on joy and
hope to keep her own misery at bay. She knew doing this was draining her victims
of the will to live. It filled her with despair, but she couldn’t stop. Survival
and hunger were this angel’s only remaining motivations.

She was as wretched as she was terrifying.

She felt drawn to this house. It was like a bright beacon
lighting her way through the dark city.

And when she arrived she would find so many kids who were
filled with life and joy...

It would be an incredible feast for her.

The vision shifted, like metal twisting after a car wreck. It
was after—bodies strewn around the house, lifeless, blood everywhere, it smeared
the walls and oozed out onto the carpet and hardwood floors.

Noah’s Halloween party had turned into a mass suicide.

The vision ended and I staggered back, my head splitting in
pain. It knocked me right to the floor. Immediately, I scrambled to get up,
finished getting dressed and raced downstairs as fast as I could.

Bishop looked at me with alarm from where he stood, still in
the foyer, this wild girl who’d practically flown down the stairs with
still-damp hair.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

I explained as quickly as I could what I’d seen. Cassandra
appeared, her arms crossed. She’d heard me. Neither of them told me not to
worry, that it was only my imagination.

“Has it already happened?” Cassandra asked shakily.

I shook my head. “No, but it’s going to.”

“A vision of the future.” She eyed me warily. “Do you have
these often?”

“Thankfully, no.” My last one had been a vision of the city
being destroyed and sucked into what I now knew to be the Hollow. I didn’t
remember it with perfect clarity—I think it was a way of my mind rejecting the
sight of such an apocalyptic disaster.

But the future
could
be changed.
Neither of my horrible visions had to come true.

“We’re leaving,” Bishop said firmly. “Right now.”

“I’m coming, too,” I said just as firmly.

He met my gaze. “Yes, you’re coming, too.”

Looked like I was going to Noah’s Halloween party after
all.

Chapter 25

“We can take my mom’s car,” I said, grabbing the keys
before I left. “But I can’t drive.”

“Why not?” Cassandra asked.

“No license. I’ve been meaning to get around to it.”

“I can drive,” Bishop said, taking the keys from me.

“You have a license?”

“Well...not technically. But that’s never stopped me
before.”

“Good enough for me.” I climbed in the backseat. Cassandra got
in the passenger side. “Just—promise me not to hurt the car.”

“I’ll try.”

“Try, like, really hard. Despite dealing with angels, demons
and otherworldly death vortexes, you haven’t seen my mother when she’s
angry.”

“I could grab a different car,” he offered. “I’ve hot-wired
them before.”

“Stealing cars,” I said under my breath wryly. “Why am I not
surprised?”

“I preferred to think of it as borrowing.” He flashed me a
wicked grin that made my heart race even faster before he turned the key in the
ignition and pulled out of the driveway.

I didn’t want to think about how this night would end, but I
knew that everyone at that party was currently at risk. If we didn’t do
something to stop the bodiless angel, it would be a massacre.

As we neared the house, I felt the harsh stirrings of my
hunger. It cramped my stomach. “Wait. Don’t get any closer.”

Bishop must have heard something in my tone that alarmed him.
He pulled up to the curb and backed up twenty feet. “Better?”

“Yeah, a little. This house—it’s the same one where I had a
hunger freak-out before. When I was with Kraven.” I recognized the neighborhood
immediately. Even from where we were—a block away—I could see my mom’s
real-estate sign out front.

This was where the Halloween party was being held.

“What is it?” Bishop asked. “What’s triggering your hunger
here?”

“I don’t know. Although...maybe...” I got out of the car when
he and Cassandra did, sending a wary gaze down the street.

“What?”

“It’s stupid, but my mother said this house is haunted. That’s
why she was having a hard time selling it. Maybe I can sense the ghosts? Does
that make any sense?” Noah had arranged for his Halloween party to be held in an
allegedly haunted house. If I was my normal, everyday self I would have thought
that was really cool.

“We’ll check it out. You—” Cassandra gave me a concerned look
“—wait here by the car.”

I hated that I’d have to hang back and not be a part of this,
but with the way that house made me feel, I knew there wasn’t any other
answer.

Something else approached from the shadows nearby. It took a
moment for me to realize it was Kraven.

“Good party,” he said. “You’re missing all the fun.”

“You took Jordan home?” Bishop asked.

“I did. She’s a charmer. And by that I mean she’s a total
bitch.”

“But she’s safe.”

“Debatable. She’s already here at the party—must have gotten
into her costume in record time. I gave her the evil eye when I saw her ten
minutes ago, and got the middle finger in return. Like I said, charming.” He
swept a glance back toward the house. “I know this is a problem area, based on
gray-girl’s reaction the last time we were here.” He eyed us. “Why are you
here?”

“I had a vision,” I explained. “The angel that killed Zach is
coming here.”

“Visions.” He raised an eyebrow, scanning me. “Right. Forgot
you could do that. You’re like a veritable toolbox of supernatural handiness,
aren’t you? No wonder my brother doesn’t want to see you dead. Yet.”

There was something off about him, but I wasn’t sure what it
was. Something crueler and ruder than normal.

“What’s your problem?” Bishop asked, a hard edge of
unpleasantness in his tone.

This made Kraven laugh. The cold sound shivered down my
spine.

“My problem. You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s
happened earlier tonight. Crazy stuff, right?” He glanced at each of us in turn.
“I keep coming back to the moment I saved your ass, brother.”

I had wondered if they’d forgotten about that. I sure hadn’t.
The moment when Kraven saved Bishop from being swept into the Hollow right after
Zach was burned into my brain.

Bishop studied him with his arms crossed over his chest. “If
you have any problems with me, we can deal with them later.”

Kraven shrugged. “Nah. I want to deal with them now.”

I looked at Bishop to get his reaction to this; there was a
look of deep annoyance on his face. He turned to Cassandra, and unstrapped his
sheath and dagger from under his shirt, then handed it to her.

“Go,” he said. “We’ll catch up to you. Survey the party and see
if there are any problems. If there are, you know what to do.”

Cassandra flicked a glance at me, her gaze worried...and there
was something else there. An edge of sheer determination and resolve.

She was good at her job. This was what she’d been sent here
for—to deal with this lost angel. After that, I knew Cassandra would be able to
focus on helping the guys with the continuing gray situation—as well as dealing
with whatever was going on with her and Roth.

The sooner this bad angel was destroyed, the better. I just
hoped Cassandra would be able to think of a way to reason with her.

She walked right up to Kraven, who was blocking her path.

“You going to give me a problem right now, demon?” she asked
tightly.

“No, Blondie, you’re not my concern tonight. Go flutter away
where you’re needed. I think Roth’s already in the house. I’m sure he’ll be
thrilled to see you.”

Something in the way he said it—that all-too-familiar mocking
edge to his words.

He knew about Cassandra and Roth.

The demon knew too much for his own good.

With a glare that showed that she might be thinking the same
thing, Cassandra took off at a run in the direction of the party house.

I drew my coat closer to block out the chill. I assumed Bishop
would want me to wait in the car while they checked out the house, but I wasn’t
ready to crawl back inside yet.

It was so cold tonight—like below zero. At least, that was how
it felt to me.

Increased cold, increased
hunger.

I blocked out the sound of Stephen’s voice from inside my head.
I wasn’t like him. I wasn’t. My birth parents were very special. I was special,
too. I would be different.

I would not lose hope.

“So here we are,” Kraven said, his arms crossed. He moved
slowly toward us, his gaze locked on Bishop in a chillingly predatory way. “You,
me and your little girlfriend. Or is she? I’m getting confused. You can’t kiss
her. She’s basically one of the things we’re fighting against here in this city
that will keep us trapped for as long as she’s still breathing. Being around you
is torture for her. I wonder what the appeal is. Frankly, I can’t see it.”

“Are you going to whine all evening or get to the point?”
Bishop asked.

“Whatever. I do sort of get it, you know. You’re addicted.
She’s addicted. It’s kind of adorable, if you’re into junkies. Won’t end well, I
can guarantee you that.”

“If I wanted your opinion, James,” Bishop said unpleasantly.
“I’d beat it out of you.”

Kraven smirked at him. “Noticed that you got rid of the only
weapon in this city that can kill either of us. Did you do that on purpose?”

“What do you think?”

“I’m going to vote yes on that. You’re afraid I’m going to kill
you.”

“More like the other way around.” Bishop looked at me. “You
should go back home.”

“And miss this brotherly standoff?” I said. “Not a chance.”

Nope. No way was I missing out on this. After what I’d seen,
what I’d heard, and the way my imagination was working overtime to put it all
together, I wanted to know more about them. Both of them.

Kraven laughed again coldly. “You haven’t fooled her
completely, you know, with your angelic sparkle. She knows there’s bad blood
between us.”

“I could have spotted that from a mile away,” I told him. “Even
without a glimpse at some of Bishop’s memories.”

Bishop cringed at the reminder that I’d seen bits and pieces of
his very sordid past.

“Bishop,”
Kraven said, rolling the
name over his tongue with distaste. “I never asked. Did they give that painfully
insipid name to you or did you choose it yourself?”

Bishop stood there, unflinchingly. “They gave it to me.”

“New identity, new existence. You think you can forget who you
were? Like it’s that easy?”

“Trying to.”

“It’ll never happen.”

“You saved me tonight, Kraven. Don’t say you were trying to
push me into the Hollow. Because you weren’t.” His jaw tightened. “That means
something to me.”

Kraven scoffed, his attention turning to the Italian restaurant
a block up the street where he’d kissed me the other night to help me deal with
my hunger. “It would have solved a lot of problems to see you take a nosedive in
there. It was a knee-jerk reaction to save your ass, nothing conscious about
it.”

When Bishop turned away from him I saw an edge of pain slide
through his gaze that made my heart wrench. Whatever he tried to make either of
us believe, Kraven still had the power to hurt him with words.

“Enough of this,” Bishop growled. “We don’t have the time. We
have to get to that house and stop a group of kids from committing mass suicide.
Understand? What happened to Zach isn’t going to happen to anyone else.”

“If I’d let the Hollow take you,” Kraven continued as if he
wasn’t paying attention to a word Bishop said, “then I wouldn’t have been able
to witness your continued suffering.”

Bishop looked at him. “Is that what you want? To watch me
suffer?”

Kraven’s lips thinned. “That’s what I’ve wanted ever since you
sent me to Hell and got a first-class elevator ride up to Heaven as some sort of
shining champion.”

“You think it was that easy for me?”

“I don’t give a damn how easy it was.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Both of you?” I snapped,
unable to keep it inside any longer. I usually said what was on my mind without
too many filters. Tonight wasn’t going to be the exception to the rule. “You
could have had this out with each other for the last three weeks, but you wait
till now? Why now? Why here?”

Kraven glared at me. “Because I saved him tonight and it pissed
me off. That’s what I used to do, you know. Save his ass when he got into
trouble. And he thanked me by shoving a knife into me when he knew I was already
on Hell’s shortlist.”

“Don’t try to pretend you were a good guy, James,” Bishop said
darkly. “You weren’t.”

He snorted. “Nah, I was as badass as they came back then. But I
was also young and stupid. I didn’t even get a chance to try to redeem myself
for the things I did. I might have succeeded.”

Bishop hissed out a breath. “Whether you believe this or not, I
wish I could go back and change what I did.” Again, he averted his gaze from his
brother as pain slid through his eyes.

A small muscle in Kraven’s cheek twitched. His dark gold hair
had fallen into his eyes and he swiped it back. His amber eyes held the same
pain I saw in Bishop’s. “Like I’d believe a damn thing you say.”

“It’s the truth. Believe it or don’t believe it. Right now, I
don’t care. There are bigger things to deal with in this city tonight than our
feud.”

“Feud?” Kraven snapped. “You think this is as simple as a
feud?”

Bishop straightened his shoulders and wiped the pain from his
face before he turned to Kraven again. “It’s ancient history.”

“Doesn’t even bother to apologize,” Kraven said, flicking a
glance at me. “How do you like that? Total son of a bitch.”

My chest felt so tight listening to all of this, I could barely
breathe. I understood Kraven’s outrage, and I also believed that Bishop
regretted what he’d done. “You two need to talk about this later.”

The demon shot me a dark look. “And here I thought you were
drooling to learn the truth about my brother. Maybe you’re scared to know it
now. Might change how you feel about the two of us. Might make you like me
more.”

“You don’t even give me a chance to like you,” I snapped.
“Before you go and say something to make me hate you again.”

“Ouch.”

“But...I know there’s still good in you, Kraven,” I continued,
forcing myself to stay calm. “You proved that by saving Bishop earlier.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, bite me, sweetness. Seriously.” Then
he returned his gaze to Bishop. “By the way, I know she’s a nexus.”

My stomach dropped.

Bishop froze. “What?”

“Angel and demon parents. I think you’ve been acquainted with
nexi in the past as one of Heaven’s lapdog assassins. Killing them, anyway. Not
whispering sweet nothings in their ears.”

Bishop’s expression darkened. “You don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

“So I guess that makes three that should be put on your kill
list, right? A dangerous angel-demon hybrid like sweetness here, and two
rule-busting renegades like the romantically inclined Cassandra and Roth.”

Bishop stared him down. “Are you finished running your
mouth?”

“Oh, I’m just getting started.”

Bishop stormed toward Kraven, grabbed him by his shirt and
slammed him down on the hood of my mother’s car hard enough to make me shriek.
“No, you’re definitely finished. It’s over. I’ve tolerated you long enough. Your
hate has made you blind—you keep us from getting to that house and helping those
who need help because you’re so consumed by your own self-pity. You destroy
anything you touch—just like old times. I see that now. You haven’t changed a
bit.”

“Screw you,” Kraven spat out. “What do I care what you think?
You’re crazy. You’re losing it.”

“How about this, James? Make a threatening move toward Samantha
and I will kill you. And this time there won’t be any deals or rituals to
resurrect your sorry ass again.”