Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers)

Chapter 14



Don’t ask me how it worked, but it did. Something about kissing the demon, going through the motions of feeding from him, managed to fool my inner monster. Made it believe it was getting what it wanted.

Kraven’s grip twisted into the front of my coat to hold me still. My arms were slack at my sides. He had to hunch over to make up for the difference in our heights.

I kissed him back as if I had no choice. I didn’t. This wasn’t a conscious decision, it was one of necessity. And slowly, slowly my mind began to clear.

His hands slid around to the small of my back and he pulled me up tighter against him. My eyes were squeezed shut, but I couldn’t even try to pretend that I was kissing anyone else. Kraven’s scent was unique to him—a pleasant spicy musk with undertones of smoke, like he’d been hanging out near a campfire for a few hours. He was the same height as Bishop, the same build, but they were so very different, so very—

Snap!

I was scanning the streets, looking for something.

No, wait. This wasn’t me. It was Bishop. I was seeing through his eyes, but it wasn’t a memory this time. It was now, and all I could do was observe, not feel what he was feeling. He flicked a glance at Connor, who was crouched on the sidewalk nearby.

“That was close,” Connor said, turning his copper-colored eyes in Bishop’s direction.

“Too close. Damn Hollow isn’t working right anymore.” Bishop looked down at the dagger he held. It chilled me to see that the blade was coated in blood. He’d just killed something. A gray that was no longer around; the Hollow must have opened up and taken it already.

Connor rose to his feet, scrubbing a hand over his shaved head. “Either it works to snatch them away, nearly taking us, too, or it doesn’t open up at all. Why?”

“Don’t know. Wish I did.” Suddenly, Bishop’s breath caught. “Go find Zach.”

Connor looked at him with alarm. “What is it?”

“I sense her. She must be close.”

“Who? Are you talking about Samantha?”

Bishop nodded. “She needs me.”

“I didn’t think that location link between you worked anymore.”

“Sometimes it does. Like now.”

Connor’s gaze grew wary. “You know what Cassandra said. You should stay away from Samantha.”

“I don’t care what Cassandra said. Go. I’ll catch up later.” He didn’t stay to argue. He took off at a run, scanning the streets, looking for something.

Looking for me.

He had this...ability...to find me—from the first moment we touched. The others didn’t. It was a trait unique to Bishop. I wondered if it had to do with his particular job in Heaven. That made sense. An assassin needed to be able to track his prey.

I knew it didn’t work so well all the time, especially when he got confused. When things got in the way of his concentration. When I was too far away.

But sometimes...it worked perfectly.

He was closer than I thought. Only around the corner from the house with the iron gate. He breezed past it, not looking twice in its direction.

Two more blocks up the street and Bishop staggered to an abrupt stop.

He saw me. And I saw myself through his eyes—it was a jarring sight. I was up against a side wall of the Italian restaurant, my arms tightly around the demon’s shoulders, clinging to him as he kissed me.

I didn’t remember grabbing hold of Kraven like that. But I guess I had.

Keeping his attention on us, Bishop quickly closed the distance, reaching forward to grab—

Snap!

Kraven staggered back from me and spun around to face the wrath of his brother. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and braced myself against the wall of the restaurant. I was dizzy and weak, barely able to stay on my feet. Barely able to process what just happened.

“What the hell are you doing?” Bishop’s words held deadly malice. His narrowed eyes glowed bright blue. But he finally shoved the dagger in his grip into the sheath on his back.

For a second there—based on the murderous look he’d given Kraven—I’d been positive he’d completely lost his mind and was about to slice it through his brother’s chest.

When I inhaled again, my hunger returned—and it was totally focused on the angel this time. I felt his warmth from where I stood, propped up against the wall. I fisted my hands at my sides to keep from automatically reaching for him. Kraven’s kiss was enough to take the edge off, but the desire was still there.

I needed more time to get my head together. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm myself.

“Um, what am I doing?” Kraven began, more maddeningly amused than concerned by the angel of death glaring at him. “My job, of course. Why? Whatever did it look like?”

“Your job, huh?” Poison dripped from the words. But when Bishop turned to face me, the anger slipped from his expression. “Are you all right?”

“What?” I blinked at him, stunned. It was the last thing I expected him to say after his furious arrival.

He touched my face, stroking the long, dark hair back that had fallen across my forehead. That breath-catching tingle of electricity flowed between us immediately.

“Oh, give me a break,” Kraven said drily. “I wasn’t forcing myself on her if that’s what you’re thinking.”

My cheeks began to burn as I remembered Kraven’s lips against mine.

“What happened here?” Bishop asked sharply.

“I had to kiss her. Obviously.” The demon leaned a shoulder against the wall nearby. “She was having another soul-sucker meltdown like at Crave the other night.”

I was shaking now. “Please, Bishop...”

His breath caught. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry, but...you’re too close to me right now.” My brain was growing fuzzy at the edges. My vision narrowed on his mouth.

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple jumping as he did. He slid his hands to my arms, gripping them firmly. His gaze sank into mine and he was close enough that I could feel the rapid beat of his heart. It was just like last night in my room. Dangerous.

But there was one six-foot-two difference tonight.

“Uh-oh. I think you’ve caught him in your spiderweb, gray-girl. Allow me to lend the hapless fly a hand.” Kraven grabbed the back of Bishop’s shirt and yanked him backward and out of my orbit of hunger. His warmth disappeared in an instant, and the cold rushed in on all sides.

There was still a spark of something unhinged in Bishop’s eyes—something uncontrollable. Then he swore under his breath and raked a hand through his messy mahogany hair as he looked away from both of us.

“Exactly,” Kraven said, nodding. “Best keep you two crazy kids apart.”

Bishop glared at Kraven before his expression cooled. “Want to tell me what’s going on here?”

Still weak and shaky, my legs finally gave out and I slid down the wall all the way to the ground. But at least I could think again. “You missed the part where I nearly attacked somebody a minute ago. I’m losing it, Bishop. Little by little. And it scares the hell out of me.”

His gaze, now guarded, moved back to me. “What are you doing out here tonight?”

I let out a shaky breath. “I couldn’t just stay home and wait for other people to solve my problems. I’m looking for Stephen, of course. Luckily, Kraven was keeping an eye on me when my control took a nosedive.”

An unpleasant smile cracked through his expression and he shot a withering look at the demon. “My big brother, so attentive. Especially when it comes to you, Samantha.”

Kraven spread his hands. “I’m here to help.”

“Let’s try this again.” Bishop held his hand out to me, and I eyed it wistfully and warily. “It’s okay. I’m better now.”

“Really?” I chewed my bottom lip as I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. He let go of me immediately, regretfully, and tore his gaze from mine to look at his brother again.

“Ah, that charming look of death,” Kraven said. “I know it well. But, really, you shouldn’t be jealous over a simple kiss between me and your girlfriend. You know. Another one.” He glanced at me. “What was that tonight? Strawberry lip gloss? I approve.”

“Thank you for helping me.” My cheeks burned. “Also, go to hell.”

“Been there, done that.”

Bishop fixed him with a steady look. “Why would I be jealous? It was so good of you to sweep in and save the day like the hero you are.”

Even I recognized sarcasm when it was spread on that thick.

The problem was, it was true. Kraven had helped me. He had saved the day.

Bishop knew it, too. And while he might accept that it was necessary, the dark expression on his handsome face made me think he didn’t like it at all.

I drew my coat closer to help keep out the chill. If I wasn’t touching Bishop—which was a seriously bad idea right now—the cold of the night bit right through the fabric and sank straight down to my bones. Being that it was only October 29, it couldn’t possibly be as cold as it seemed.

The cold is one of the signs of stasis, I reminded myself silently. Just like the hunger, it’s getting worse.

I bleakly focused on the night sky for a moment, which was dotted with bright stars. No searchlights. No quests for new team members tonight.

“Blondie told you to patrol without her tonight—and she also told you to stay away from gray-girl,” Kraven said, crossing his arms. “Trying to impress her with your warrior prowess and angelic obedience so you can land a ticket back to Heaven and a chance to regain your brain. Right?” He glanced at me. “For the record, he’s still cutting his flawless angel skin to maintain his sanity without your magical touch. Won’t last forever, though. He knows it, too.”

“Bishop, no!” My voice broke. “You have to stop doing that.”

He hissed out a breath. “Sometimes I have no choice.”

I shivered. “What does Kraven mean, it won’t last forever?”

Bishop spoke to me, but his attention was now on the demon. “Little by little my sanity’s slipping away no matter what I do to try to stop it. This soul inside me...the more it takes hold of me, the more damage it does to my mind. And some damage can’t be fixed.”

“No.” I said it firmly, even though my stomach sank all the way to the ground at this confirmation. “That’s not going to happen to you.”

“No?” He flicked a glance at me, his blue eyes haunted. “You don’t know what it’s like when the craziness grips me.”

“You don’t think I know what it’s like to start to lose your mind and your control? We might be complete opposites in a lot of ways, Bishop, but this much we have in common. Sometimes we lose a battle. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the war. Only if we stop fighting is it really the end.”

His jaw tightened. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Damn right, I am.” My surge of anger over his fatalistic attitude had helped chase my own away. “No maybes about it. We’re going to fix me and we’re going to fix you. Somehow, someway.”

“FYI, I’m not kissing you, too,” Kraven said to him. “So you can just forget it.”

I shot the demon a look. He wasn’t fooling me with this nonchalant, joking facade of his. Whenever he dealt with Bishop, there was an edge to him—to both of them. Something dark lurking under the surface. Barely restrained animosity.

I continued to wipe at my mouth to remove the taste of Kraven’s lips, disturbed that the kiss had lasted way longer than it had to due to the unexpected mind meld. I looked around. “Something about this area triggered me. Like, out of nowhere. I’ve never felt anything that horribly immediate before.”

Bishop also scanned the street as if searching for clues. “And now? How are you feeling?”

“Better. Just—” I turned my gaze to his “—don’t come any closer to me right now.”

Something slid through his eyes then, something vulnerable, before it disappeared and his expression hardened again.

Then something else caught my attention.

A woman slowly shuffled down the street toward the abandoned house at the end of the block. She was making a mournful, whimpering sound. My blood ran cold. It sounded like she was in desperate pain.

And she sounded exactly like I had only a short time ago.

“She’s a gray,” I said, my voice catching.

At the house, she grasped hold of the bars of the gates and shook them, as if attempting to break them down to get to the house.

Bishop and Kraven shared a look.

“I can’t go back there,” I whispered. “Whatever’s happening to her...it happened to me, too.”

The gray was openly weeping as she clawed at the gates, her shoulders racking violently with her sobs.

“I’ll take care of her,” Bishop said.

My gaze shot to him. I knew exactly what he meant. And it wasn’t to send her to a psychiatrist to work out her problems. A chill went through me. “But she’s so helpless right now. You’re just going to kill her?”

His face was tense. “I’ll talk to her first. But if she’s lost herself...if she’s gone into stasis...we know what that means. She can’t think straight.”

I couldn’t help it; I reached out to grab his arm. “Neither can I sometimes.”

He looked down to where I touched him, his expression tormented. “You’re different.”

“You sure about that?” Kraven asked without any humor.

“Yes,” he hissed. “So let me deal with this.”

The demon waved a hand. “Be my guest.”

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.”