“They’ve been tailing any witch sent on a Family mission. I guess it worked out for them this time, because I led them right to the Bible.”
We grow quiet. In our silence crickets chirp, bullfrogs ribbit, and somewhere close, a coyote howls. It’s like the world’s volume control was turned down just for the story, and now it’s been cranked back to normal level.
“So that’s it?” Bishop asks. “No more questions?”
I glance at him, and he rakes back the black waves that have fallen in front of his face. It’s a feminine gesture, yet he obviously doesn’t care, and somehow his self-confidence makes it very masculine. He couldn’t be more different from Devon, I realize, who cares infinitely about what people think of him.
I guess I’ve scrutinized Bishop for too long, because he gets this unreadable expression on his face and starts throwing pebbles down the mountain again.
“Just one more question,” I say. “Why Betty Boop?”
Moonlight accentuates the crinkles around his eyes as he smirks. “Ah, so you’ve been checking me out, huh?”
My cheeks flush. “It’s on your neck, idiot. I didn’t have to look too hard.”
He rubs the cartoon character tattoo poking above the collar of his T-shirt. “Why not Betty? She’s pretty hot.”
“Yeah, but like, permanently-on-your-body hot? And on your neck too? Aren’t you going to regret that when you’re, like, a seventy-year-old man in a nursing home?”
He laughs. “Nah. I regret nothing. But I’m glad we’re having this conversation. Very important topic to cover, right up there with our impending death.”
Maybe he meant to scare me with that last comment, but I ignore him. “Okay, but does she have to be naked?”
He raises an eyebrow, giving me a knowing look. I guess one would have to be looking pretty closely to know she was naked, since her boobs are pretty well hidden by his jacket’s collar.
“What?” I say defensively. “I saw it when you picked me up.”
He nods, grinning.
“Couldn’t she be wearing a cute little bikini or something?”
He laughs. “I didn’t think you were such a prude, Indigo. Last I recall—”
“God, if you bring up that ass-flashing thing one more time I’m going to—”
“What?” He leans across me so that he’s just inches from my face, and his dark eyes stare into mine. “What are you going to do to me?”
I pause for way, way too long, so that when I say, “Ugh! You are such a creep,” it doesn’t come out genuine at all.
Which, apparently, is hilarious to him.
“So what now?” I ask, and I really don’t have to force an irritated tone this time.
His laughter finally ebbs. “Good question. Track down your boyfriend and beat him with sticks?”
“Very funny,” I say. But guilt presses on my shoulders like an anvil—Paige has been alone down there for ages; I should have suggested we go back long ago. Actually, I shouldn’t have left her to begin with. Shouldn’t have dragged her into this whole mess.
I push to my feet. “We better get back—”
Before I can finish that sentiment, the lights of the city—the entire city, from the homes on Mulholland to the skyscrapers as far as the eye can see—dim, flicker, then glow anew.
“Holy crap.” I swing around to face Bishop. “Did you see that?”
Bishop sits up straight just as a bolt of lightning brightens the sky, which is suddenly thick with low-hanging clouds. His eyes grow wide, and he chews the nail of his thumb as he looks out at the city. In the short time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him look anything but irritatingly cool, calm, and collected, and I don’t like it. I definitely don’t like it.
“What? What’s wrong?” I ask.
He swallows. “They’re here.”
“Who’s here?”
Bishop scoops me up without any warning.
“What the— Do you mind? Put me down!” I push against his chest.
He doesn’t argue, just grips me tighter. We lift into the air, and I get that butterfly-in-stomach feeling that happens when you fall from a height. Only this time, as we fly, I cling to him a little less maniacally, like I’m some kind of seasoned flier now. I even keep my eyes open, though I won’t look down.
“What’s going on?” I yell over the wind.
“The Family’s coming for me.”
“What do you mean, coming for you?” I yell. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He lets out a humorless laugh. “Doesn’t matter to them.”
The name “the Family” conjured up all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings in me, but right now, the way Bishop’s face is set in hard, uncompromising lines, like the fear of God has been put into him, I’m questioning my previous assumptions.
“I was supposed to bring the Bible back to headquarters, and now it’s in the enemy’s hands,” Bishop says, like he plucked my question right out of my mind. “Our whole race is at risk of genocide.”
Bishop lowers to the ground just feet from the Sunfire. The driver’s-side door flings open, and Paige runs up to me. “Thank God! I was just about to call the police.” She hugs me so hard I can barely breathe.