Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) (4 page)

“Is that what she is? I didn’t see the imprint.”

I nodded. Since angels and demons didn’t have actual wings here
in the human world—apparently such things were not physical as much as they were
metaphysical
—they did retain the mark of such
wings. It looked like a large tattoo that stretched across their backs and down
their sides. Angel wings were pale with delicate, feathery lines. Demon wings
were bold and black and webbed. It was the only way to tell them apart at a
glance.

“There are an equal number of male and female angels,” he
said.

“Equal. Everything’s equal,” I grumbled. “Got to keep the
balance on the universal teeter-totter, don’t you?”

He studied my face. “I know you’re upset.”

I didn’t break our eye contact. “Did you really tell Roth he
could kill me if I screw up?”

He didn’t speak for a moment. “No.”

The demon had said it with such certainty, there had to be more
to this. I needed to know the truth. “Then what did you say that gave him that
idea?”

His gaze grew fiercer. “You can’t let what happened earlier
with that boy ever happen again. It’s too dangerous, Samantha.”

It was so cold tonight—or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was just me
and my soulless side effects. My coat wasn’t thick enough to keep me warm. The
tights I wore under my skirt were too thin. I shivered. “That’s the real reason
you’ve stayed away from me this week. So I wouldn’t be tempted to kiss you
again. So I wouldn’t hurt you again.”

His vivid blue eyes burned into mine. “You didn’t hurt me the
first time.”

“But I could next time.”

“We don’t know that for sure.” He wrenched his gaze away from
me, his expression shadowing. “I kept my distance because I needed to know if
this pull I feel toward you was because of what you are. If this soul inside me
has been a magnet drawing me closer to you since the first moment we met.”

It was what I’d also feared. That this—this overpowering
thing
I felt for Bishop wasn’t real. That it was just
another side effect, like me being cold and hungry all the time. All because he
had a soul and I longed for it. “And?”

His brows drew together. “Inconclusive. I’ll know for sure when
we get your soul back.”

My heart pounded like a wild thing in my chest. “You think
it’ll be that simple? Find Stephen, find my soul, pop it back in like a battery
pack? Snap, Samantha’s back to normal and you won’t feel so weird around
me?”

“Nothing important is ever that simple.” He searched my face.
“Let me do my job. Let me find him. And then we’ll figure everything else
out.”

I pushed a hand through my hair, tugging on a tangle, and
realized I was literally trembling. “Quite honestly? Roth is right. Even if you
purge the city of every single other gray, I’m still here. That means the
barrier stays right where it is and you’re stuck here.”

“It’s fine.” Bishop rubbed his fingers over his temples, his
frown deepening. “All is fine. All will be fine. I swear it will. Nothing to
worry about. Nothing, nothing at all.”

There was a worrisome edge of madness to his voice, something I
remembered all too well from before. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Everything’s fantastic.” When he laughed,
it had a sharp, insane edge to it.

He wasn’t okay. Far from it. “You said you’d found alternate
ways of dealing with the crazy when it landed. How exactly is that? Deep
breathing? Meditation?”

“Something like that.”

“Care to expand?”

“Not really.”

His insistence on always being evasive made
me
crazy. “Nothing’s really changed, has it? You don’t
tell me anything.”

“I tell you what you need to know. But some things...you don’t
want to know.”

I flinched. “I thought we were in this together. Like a team.
The others don’t know the secret about me....”

“And you are never to tell them.” He grabbed my shoulders
tightly as if what I’d said had alarmed him. The craziness in his eyes
intensified. “You hear me? None of them can ever know about your birth
parents.”

“I hear you. Relax.” I reached down and grabbed his hand.
Electricity sparked between us and the insanity began to ease from his
expression.

Skin to skin. Touching him only spiked my hunger, but it was
essential—at least right now—for him to calm down.

The others knew I could do this, just like I could see the
searchlights. But they didn’t know the whole truth like Bishop did.

“Better?” I asked.

“Much.” He nodded, entwining our fingers together for a moment
that was equal parts blissful and torturous before he reluctantly let go. “I
know you’re frustrated by some of the things I do, but you have to trust
me.”

“I want to...”

“But?”

My throat tightened as I locked gazes with him. “How can I
trust somebody who won’t even tell me his real name?”

“My name is Bishop.”

“It wasn’t always.”

“No. Not always.” He looked into my eyes and for the briefest
moment I was certain he was going to tell me. Then something shuttered there,
keeping me out when I only wanted in.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked his name. I loved his name, really.
It was right and it suited him. But it wasn’t real. It was something made up,
like an actor in Hollywood who wanted to leave his humble beginnings far
behind.

If anything, I felt uneasier than I had before our private
talk. I followed him wordlessly back to the dark alley to find Roth hovering
over the angel while still holding the knife. The way he watched her was
predatory.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

“She’s so hot. Too bad she’s an angel.” He gave me a cold grin.
“I checked under her sweater.”

A sudden flash of fury turned my vision red. “Touch her again
and I’ll kill you myself.”

“Chill out, gray-girl.” Kraven stood nearby with his arms
crossed over his chest. “I was chaperoning from a disinterested distance. Don’t
worry, he didn’t get frisky. It was just her back.”

“She smells so good.” Roth crouched down lower so he could put
his face close to hers. “Like strawberries and whipped cream. It’s making me
hungry.”

“Get away from her,” Bishop warned.

“Make me.”

All I wanted to do was protect this defenseless girl. I was
about to move toward Roth and kick him as hard as I could, hoping to do a little
damage with my high heels, when she let out a gasp and her eyes snapped
open.

“Back from the dead.” Roth gazed down at her lasciviously.
“Welcome, beautiful.”

She stared up at him hovering over her with the knife in his
grip. Then her hand shot out and grabbed his throat.

“Get off me.” She pushed him upward and then slammed him down
to the ground. She easily disarmed him and held the knife to
his
throat.

He looked up at her straddling his chest, his eyes wide with
surprise.

“That I didn’t expect,” Kraven said, from where he leaned
against the wall. “But I kind of like it.”

“Easy.” Bishop approached the furious angel. “It’s okay.”

“How is this okay?” she demanded. “He was sniffing me like a
horny dog. Very unprofessional. He must be one of the demons.”

“I’m definitely enjoying this,” Roth said with a lewd grin.
“You can sit on me anytime, beautiful. Clothing optional.”

“You’re disgusting.” She jabbed the knife into his throat deep
enough to cut him. He winced and blood trickled down his neck. The mocking edge
to his expression disappeared. “I
despise
demons.”

In a single effortless movement, she got to her feet and
inspected the golden dagger. Her gaze flicked to Bishop. “Who’s the leader
here?”

“I am,” Bishop said.

“Depends on the day, really,” Kraven muttered.

The blonde’s gaze shot to him. “You’re another demon, aren’t
you?”

“Is it my cologne or my good looks that gave me away?”

I was becoming more impressed by the second. I’d expected her
to be scared and uncertain, like she’d been before. But this angel could kick
some serious ass.

“I’m Cassandra,” she said when her attention fell on me. “You
said your name’s Samantha, right?”

“That’s right. Samantha Day.”

She cocked her head. “I thought you were human, but...” She
looked at Bishop. “I sense that she’s soulless—a gray. I don’t understand.”

“Samantha’s different from the others. I’ll explain everything
later.” Bishop’s eyes flicked warily to the knife the blond angel clutched. “I’m
Bishop. That’s Kraven. And the demon on the ground in need of a Band-Aid is
Roth. Welcome to Trinity, Cassandra.”

“Glad to be here.” She rubbed her previously injured chest and
gave him a bright smile. “Stupid ritual.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He grinned back at her.

I’d been more than prepared to like Cassandra, but a dark
ribbon of jealousy suddenly appeared out of nowhere to twist through me.

“Take me to your headquarters and we’ll debrief,” she said.

“Sure thing.” Bishop glanced at me. “Samantha, go home.”

The gorgeous, blond angel gets a killer smile and I get the
brush-off. Awesome.

“No,” Cassandra said. “She’s coming with us.”

“Is that necessary?” Bishop asked.

“I have a few questions for her.”

He flicked a glance at me before returning his attention fully
to Cassandra and he gave her another knee-weakening grin before offering her his
arm. “Of course. Anything you like.”

She took his arm and he began to lead her away, ignoring the
rest of us.

I glanced at Kraven as that sharp-taloned jealousy I was trying
to ignore began to leave claw marks on the inside of my chest.

He smirked at me. “Love hurts, sweetness.”

Chapter 4

I only had myself to blame. Bishop said I should go.
Instead, I insisted on sticking around to help the helpless girl who wasn’t
helpless at all.

Now I felt like a specimen under the microscope as Cassandra
had been watching every move I made since we got back to St. Andrew’s, which was
the abandoned church in an abandoned neighborhood the team had chosen as their
makeshift “headquarters” and temporary hotel. Along with yours truly, the blonde
angel swept her appraising gaze over the tall ceiling, stained-glass windows and
rows of pews in the main sanctuary. Since there was no electricity, hundreds of
candles were lit throughout, giving the area an eerie glow.

My feet hurt from these heels—which were meant for nightclubs,
not brisk walks through the city streets. Still, the pain gave me a focal point.
I concentrated on my aching feet rather than the threads of panic stitching
unpleasant patterns through my gut. Even though I’d been given an uneasy pass
when it came to the team, I still had a lot in common with a mouse in the middle
of a group of feral cats. It didn’t matter if they had halos or horns.

While Cassandra studied me, I studied Bishop. Hard not to. My
gaze was always drawn to him when he was in the same room as me. I couldn’t
ignore him if I tried.

I refused to believe it was just because I was attracted to his
soul, even if that was his hypothesis for my unearthly infatuation with him.

I didn’t feel like this toward Colin. Or anybody else with a
soul.

Bishop was different for me. Different from anyone.

And when his gaze followed Cassandra through the sanctuary as
if he couldn’t look away from
her,
the gnawing ache
inside me suddenly had nothing at all to do with hunger.

The other demons had taken seats in the pews on opposite sides
of the church. Kraven sat three rows from the front.

“Why’d they send another angel?” he asked sullenly, cutting
through the silence that had fallen since we’d arrived here. “I thought we were
supposed to be all nice and balanced. Now it’s four against two.”

“An exception was made,” Cassandra replied crisply. “Demons are
rarely trustworthy enough to be part of a rare mission like this without causing
trouble. Present company excluded, of course.”

“Don’t try to butter me up now, Blondie. You already said you
despise demons.” His lips curled to the side. “It’s almost like you’re trying to
hurt my tender feelings.”

She grimaced. “I apologize. That was rude of me. Truth is, I’ve
never even met one before face-to-face.”

Roth sat in the front row, eyeing her with caution while
rubbing the shallow wound at his throat. Demons and angels usually healed much
faster than humans, but after the ritual, when the wound was caused by the
golden dagger, it was a different story.

It was more dangerous to a supernatural than any other
weapon.

“Can you heal Roth?” I asked Cassandra. I needed to say
something, to be part of the conversation, not just the helpless mouse who
lurked in the corner trying not to squeak. “Not that you’d want to heal him, but
I was just wondering if all angels had that ability.”

“We can, in varying degrees of strength. I’m quite a strong
healer.” Her gaze shifted to the demon. “Do you want me to heal you?”

Roth shrugged. “Whatever.”

Her expression soured as she moved closer to him. “A real
charmer, aren’t you?”

“I try my best.” Roth stiffened as she reached toward him and
brushed her fingers against his throat. There was a soft pulse of light and his
tanned skin healed right before my eyes.

“You’re very gifted,” Bishop said. His angelic powers were
limited due to his fallen status. He watched Cassandra with a wistful envy that
made my heart hurt for him.

“Now that that’s done we can deal with the problem at hand.”
Cassandra turned to the rest of us. “Your mission was to clear this city of its
recent infestation of soul-devouring creatures. Yet one is here with us right
now. Why?”

“Good question,” Roth said.

I wouldn’t underestimate this angel. She might look harmless,
but she was anything but.

At the same time, I didn’t blame her for her confusion. I’d ask
the same thing if I was in her position.

“Samantha’s different,” Bishop said calmly. “She isn’t ruled by
her hunger.”

Kraven snorted at that, and I shot a dark look at him.

“Something funny?” Cassandra asked.

“No, ma’am.” He put his laced-up boot-clad feet over the back
of a pew bench and crossed his ankles casually. I braced myself, expecting him
to share what happened earlier at Crave, but he kept his mouth shut.

Shocker. But I’d reserve my gratitude for later.

Bishop raked his hand through his short, dark hair, his gaze
flicking to me for a weighted moment before returning to Cassandra. In the
shadowy light of the church, I wasn’t sure if his eyes were glowing or if it was
the candlelight.

“Samantha’s important to us,” he continued. “She has a special
psychic ability—she can see the searchlights. I can’t because I’m damaged from
my fall.”

“I did hear about what happened,” Cassandra said, her brows
drawing together. “I’m pleased you seem very capable despite the misfortune
that’s befallen you.”

“Doing the best I can.”

“You must be very angry.”

“Someone sabotaged me, sabotaged this entire mission. Now I’m
forced to deal with the consequences of having this soul. Can’t say I’m happy
about it.”

“Nor should you be. What happened to you is unfair.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” He snorted humorlessly, reminding
me uneasily of his brother. “I hold out hope that it’ll be corrected when the
mission is complete and I’ll be pulled back with the others.”

“One should always have hope.” Cassandra turned to eye me
curiously. “So you have supernatural intuition. It’s rare, but not unheard of.
Perhaps you’re mentally stronger than other humans.”

“I do pretty well in school,” I said as lightly as I could.
“Mentally, that is.”

Cassandra and the others could never find out what I really
was. If demons and angels were forbidden to be together—to such an extent that
this love had destroyed my mother and sent my father into the Hollow after her—I
knew if anyone learned the truth I’d be in even worse trouble than I already
was.

“Samantha isn’t what I expected,” Cassandra finally said. “When
they briefed me about grays, I thought they would all be the same.”

“I know.” Bishop crossed his arms over his chest. “We were told
we’d find mindless creatures driven by their hungers—created by an anomalous
demon who devoured souls. That much was true. But it’s not always like that for
those who’ve been kissed—and I believe it’s not only Samantha who’s different.
We’ve taken to eliminating only those who’ve completely lost their control and
their reason. Anything else would be murder.”

Something heavy inside me lightened at this confirmation, a
part that was worried he and the others were indiscriminately slaying grays
across the city.

“Is that why you’re here?” I asked her. “Because all the grays
haven’t been wiped out of the city yet? Because the barrier’s still up? Are you
like...like some sort of quality control agent sent to assess how things are
progressing?”

When I got nervous, I started talking and asking questions. I
was surprised I’d been able to hold my tongue this long.

“Yeah, Blondie,” Kraven spoke up. “Just what are you doing
here?”

“I have a mission, of course. Part of it is to assess how the
team is succeeding...” She paused. “Or failing.”

“What is your main mission?” Bishop asked.

She swept her gaze over the four of us before she said
anything. “We know the Hollow is not acting as it normally does.”

Just the sound of its name spoken aloud made an unpleasant
shiver race through me.

“Are interdimensional gateways to supernatural graveyards ever
that reliable?” Bishop’s expression had relaxed and his tone felt almost too
light.

Bishop had as snarky a sense of humor as Kraven did, only he
usually kept it under wraps as leader. However, he seemed different with
Cassandra around. More relaxed, more easygoing. I wondered if it was because he
felt comfortable with her here...or if it was just the opposite.

“What have you learned about it?” Cassandra pressed, and she
shifted her gaze to Roth.

He shrugged a shoulder. “It opens when it’s supposed to—at the
death of a supernatural. Sucks in the garbage. Then it closes up. Other than it
spitting the Source of the grays back out to cause this current little citywide
infestation, I don’t think it’s changed all that much.”

She frowned. “So it’s true. What has been cast into the Hollow
now has a chance to return.”

I didn’t have to look to see that Bishop had drawn closer to
me. I felt it.

“We think so,” he said. “If a supernatural finds him or herself
in the Hollow, there is the chance for escape. But the barrier is here to keep
anything that gets loose in the city contained so we can deal with it.”

“Keeping us trapped here like rats also,” Roth grumbled. “All
grays should die. Thinking any other way is just delaying the inevitable. And,
for the record, I don’t think that Bishop’s pet gray should be given a break. We
don’t know that her soul can be restored.”

“Excuse me?” Cassandra said, her gaze moving to me again. “Your
soul is still in existence?”

“The one who took it managed to contain it,” Bishop answered
before I could. “We mean to find him and retrieve it.”

She watched me again like a scientist studying a fascinating
microbe. “This must be why you’re different, Samantha.” She looked at Bishop.
“Right?”

“Perhaps,” he conceded, but he believed I was different due to
my secret origins.

Either way, I needed my soul back. It wasn’t even a
question.

“Very good.” Cassandra nodded and slowly trailed her gaze over
Bishop’s body. It was leisurely enough that the sour taste returned to my mouth.
“Despite your personal difficulties, you appear to have everything under control
here.”

“I do.”

“Then why are you bleeding right now?”

My eyes shot to him.

“Excuse me?” he asked tightly.

She pointed at his abdomen. “How were you wounded?”

His jaw tensed. “It’s nothing.”

“Bishop!” I exclaimed. “What is she talking about? Are you
hurt?”

He didn’t look at me. “No.”

“Pull up your shirt,” Cassandra instructed. “Let me see.”

After another hesitation, he reluctantly reached for the bottom
of his long-sleeved T-shirt and raised it up to show his flat, muscled abdomen.
My breath lodged in my throat. There were three deep cuts in his skin. The flow
of blood had slowed, but it had soaked through his shirt. Since the material was
black I hadn’t noticed anything before.

I was horrified that he’d been walking around with these wounds
all night and I’d had no idea. “Oh, my God! What happened to you?”

His gaze flicked to me. “Nothing. I was going to get Zach to
heal me next time I saw him.”

“Nothing? That’s not nothing! Who did that to you?”

“He did it to himself,” Kraven said with disinterest,
exchanging a wry look with Roth. “It’s his new thing.”

All I could do was gape at Bishop. “Why would you cut yourself
like that?”

“The pain helps me concentrate,” he said through clenched
teeth. “It takes my confusion away. I need to be able to keep my focus, no
matter what.”

I clasped my hand over my mouth, stunned. This is what he’d
discovered during the days we’d been apart. This is why he hadn’t needed me to
touch him to help clear his mind.

Instead of sympathy for his struggle, hot anger surged through
me. “That was an unforgivably stupid thing to do!”

His gaze hardened. “I found a solution. I used it.”

A strangled sound escaped my throat. “Yeah, fantastic solution,
Bishop. Self-mutilation. Really brilliant.”

Kraven snorted.

It was as if someone had just drawn a blade over my skin as
well and pressed down hard. He’d chosen to inflict injury on himself rather than
seek me out. The realization stung like hell.

He lowered his shirt, frowning deeply. “I didn’t want you to
know about this.”

“Such a martyr,” Kraven drawled. “Spare me the drama.”

“I assume you used the Hallowed Blade to do this. Otherwise, it
would have healed by now.” Cassandra was pushing Bishop’s shirt back up. “Hold
still.”

She placed both hands over his wounds and a few moments later,
with that soft pulse of light from before, the cuts disappeared.

She didn’t let go of him right away, standing intimately close
to him.

“Better?” She smiled up at him.

“Better. Thank you.”

“I know how hard it must be for you to deal with the side
effects of your soul. I wish I could do more to ease your pain.”

I literally trembled with the effort it took not to close the
distance between us and wrench her hands away from him. Even though I knew she’d
helped him, I didn’t like how she was touching him.

I’d known Cassandra the Perky Blonde Angel for an hour now and
I was insanely and irrationally resentful of her immediate connection with
Bishop. I hated feeling this way, all these gnawing doubts in my gut joining my
ravenous hunger pains.

Cassandra was beautiful, capable, smart and strong—and she
could heal injuries with a mere touch. She was an angel, too. They had
everything in common with each other.

Irrational or not, I hated her stupid blond guts.

“Do you give everyone this kind of personal attention?” I
asked. “Or just Bishop?”

She glanced at me and gave me a small smile. “I healed Roth,
too.”

I felt the heat of Bishop’s gaze on me, but I didn’t look
directly at him. I knew every word that came from my mouth made me sound like a
petty, jealous girlfriend. I’d always hated girls like that.