Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers)

Chapter 20



Chloroform.

I was sure that’s what Stephen had on the cloth. I’d only seen it in movies before. Now I’d experienced it in full Technicolor unconsciousness.

I wasn’t sure how long it was until I started waking up. As soon as awareness began swirling around me and I peeled my eyelids open a little, the cloth was at my mouth again. I barely had a chance to struggle or summon a scream before darkness welled up.

This happened twice more before I finally came to full consciousness. My head ached. The world around me was blurry. My chest hurt when I inhaled raggedly and hoarsely, followed by a dry, wheezing cough. My broken wrist throbbed.

I lay on a hard floor in a small, dark room—small enough that my claustrophobia kicked in immediately and my heart began to race. There was a tiny window near the high ceiling that let in enough light to tell me it was late afternoon. I tried to breathe, in and out, and may have let out a small moan.

Apart from my headache and wrist, the next pain I felt was sheer, unadulterated hunger.

“Finally. Thought you were never going to wake up.”

I blinked several times until I finally shifted my gaze in the direction of the voice—also the source of my current hunger.

Jordan was crouched next to me.

“Get back,” I croaked out.

She shifted backward to give me some space. It helped a little.

“Where are we?” I managed. “What are you doing here?”

Her expression was pinched as she looked around. “Where we are? No idea. Some room with a locked door. What am I doing here? I’m guessing it’s the same reason as you. You didn’t come here of your own free will.” A bit of her bravado slipped away and I could see the fear in her green eyes. “I thought you were dead.”

I rubbed my head with my good hand. “And you’re disappointed that I’m not?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course not. I don’t like you, Samantha, but I didn’t want you to die. There’s been enough death this week.” Her voice quavered. “What the hell is going on?”

The room was no more than ten square feet. I hated being in enclosed spaces so much. It made me feel trapped. Now I was literally trapped. “How long was I out?”

“A day and a half.”

I forced myself to sit up. “A day and a half?”

“It was yesterday morning when I was brought here. You were brought in an hour later. And then...all afternoon. Night. Day again...it feels like forever. He threw in a water bottle and a couple energy bars. I saved one for you.”

I sat up completely. My head throbbed with the effort and I brought my knees up in front of me, hugging them to my chest as I tried to sort things through. I pressed my right hand against my chest. My wrist was definitely broken.

Panic and anger swirled inside me at the thought that Stephen had kept me unconscious for a day and a half.

Locked in a basement with Jordan.

I looked at her. “We need to get out of here.”

“Gee, what a fantastic idea. I hadn’t considered that before.” Her sarcasm dripped. “The door’s locked. And it’s made of metal. There’s no way out. I already broke three nails trying.”

“What about that window?” I looked up at it.

“Do you have a secret identity as Spider-Man I’m not aware of? Besides, you’re small, but that window is still way too tiny to squeeze through.”

I struggled to get to my feet. Jordan tried to help me but I flinched away from her.

“What is wrong with you?” she snapped.

My stomach clenched as I tried to get control of myself. It took a second. “Trust me, you don’t want to get too close to me right now.”

“You are so weird.”

“Yeah, I’m weird. But take my word for it, okay? Stay back.” I got to my feet on my own and turned in a circle. It looked like a storage room, cleared of any storage so the room was completely empty. Just white walls. Ceiling-set lights. That small window. Two trapped girls. “Do you have a cell phone?”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. “My cell phone! I could just call someone for help.” She glared. “He took it away from me, of course. First thing he did.”

I scowled at her. “You’re not helping.”

“Why is Stephen doing this?” Her earlier smart-ass tone had been replaced by raw pain and confusion. “Why would he do this to me?”

“Maybe you should have left him alone.”

“Nice. And let you have him?”

A cold line of perspiration slid down my back. Being in this tight spot with no idea how to escape was starting to freak me out. “Believe me, I don’t want him. There’s only one thing I want from Stephen and it’s definitely not his body.”

Jordan’s bottom lip wobbled. “He’s a monster.”

“Did he kiss you?” I asked with alarm when the thought occurred to me. At her look of confusion, it took all I had in me not to reach forward and shake her. “Did he?”

Her eyes sparked with fury. “No. He was too busy knocking me unconscious to do any making out. Not that I’d ever kiss him again after what he’s done to me. Bastard.”

“Good.”

“Oh, I see. You’re the only girl that psycho can kiss now. Is that it?”

“Save your jealousy, Jordan. It’s not helpful right now.” I went to the door, pressing my left hand flat against its smooth, cool surface. There was no handle or lock on this side, only flat metal.

Then I started to pound on it. “Stephen! Let us out of here!”

Jordan grabbed my shoulder. “What are you doing?”

I literally shoved her away from me. Her soul was like a tempting second skin she wore, and the last damn thing I wanted to do right now was lose what little control I had left and attack her. “What did I tell you about not getting close to me?”

She frowned deeply. “Stephen said the same thing to me when he brought me in here.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. I figured he just doesn’t like me anymore.”

“I think he might like you too much,” I mumbled. Then I pounded on the door again until my left fist hurt. It was a very sharp reminder that my nexus abilities did not extend themselves to super strength, at least, not when a demon or an angel wasn’t involved. No, a big metal door was more than enough to keep me trapped. And my only ability as a gray was my current and growing need to devour Jordan’s soul.

It was my worst fear come to life. No way to escape my hunger. What happened with Colin would only be foreshadowing if I didn’t find a way out of this room.

“Stephen’s one of them,” Jordan whispered.

She wrung her hands anxiously. “The ones who hurt people, who can absorb their energy somehow. It weakens them—can kill them. The murders in the paper, the ones where the victims have no sign of trauma, only those strange lines around their mouths. The police don’t know why, but I do. I saw it before, and Stephen’s one of them. He’s got us in here and he’s going to kill us.”

I looked at her, stunned that she figured it out—even if she had no idea what she’d figured out. “I don’t think his plan is nearly as simple as killing us.”

“You’re not looking at me like I’m crazy. Why aren’t you freaking out?”

My heart was going a thousand beats a minute, but I was doing everything I could not to let it show on the surface. “I am freaking out, believe me.”

“I checked out the modeling agency. But—but that woman...”

“She wasn’t the reason why Julie killed herself,” I finished. “I know. I checked her out, too.”

She looked shocked. “You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I was trying to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed.”

The mix of surprise and gratitude in her eyes both froze off quickly. “That wasn’t smart. Since now we’re going to die, anyway.”

“Yeah, well, you’re welcome. And we’re not going to die. Stephen, he...he has another reason for keeping us here. And I think we’re going to find out what it is very soon.” There was the sound of a lock turning and the door began to creak open. My mouth went dry with fear. “Like...right now.”

I staggered back from the door and, for the first time since I came to, felt for the knife at my thigh. Only the leather sheath remained.

“A*shole,” I muttered. He’d broken my wrist when I pulled out the dagger to defend myself. Of course he hadn’t given it back.

Stephen entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He studied us each in turn before casually leaning against the wall. “So we meet again.”

I eyed the door, knowing it was my only escape. The key must be in his pocket. “Planning to knock me out again?” I asked icily.

“Not right now. Maybe later.”

“You need to let us out of here,” Jordan said, her voice breaking.

I watched for his reaction to her, and was surprised to see there wasn’t one. His face remained cold and impassive.

“You’re not going anywhere. Not yet.”

“Start talking,” I snarled. “What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want something?”

“Basic deduction. You dragged both of us here and locked us up. You haven’t hurt Jordan.”

He shrugged. “I knocked her out. Didn’t get to the chloroform in time. Had to slam her head against a cement wall. I’m sure that hurt.”

I glanced at Jordan to see her flinch at the reminder. I finally noticed that there was dried blood along her right temple. I narrowed my eyes at Stephen. “What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”

He held my gaze steadily. “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions.”

I grabbed his shirt with my left hand, furious now. “Let us out of here.”

He eyed my grip on him before he smirked. “Nah.”

Then he took hold of my shirt, balling the material in his grip, and shoved me backward with inhuman strength. Jordan’s scream pierced through the small room as I went flying backward and hit the wall. I fell flat onto the ground and lay there dazed and gasping for breath.

Grays didn’t have strength like this. The super-gray who’d broken Cassandra’s back had. The realization made my blood run cold.

“You’ve gone through stasis.” I forced out the words as I tried to sit up.

“My evolution was quicker than I thought it would be.” Stephen towered above me, his cinnamon-brown eyes glinting. When I tried to get up, he pinned my shoulder to the ground with the heavy sole of his shoe. “Don’t make me hurt you more than I have to. Stay down.”

I didn’t take direction very well. I struggled, but the pressure only increased as he shifted his weight to my collarbone.

“No angels here to heal you. I suggest you don’t move unless you want me to break some more bones, Samantha. For what I need from you...you don’t have to be in one piece.”

I stopped struggling. He leaned over and yanked me up, slamming me into the wall hard enough to knock my breath out of me.

“Let go of her!” Jordan shrieked. She was fighting him now, clawing at his arm. But, while she was tall, she wasn’t any stronger than a typical seventeen-year-old girl. Not compared to something like Stephen.

He shoved her away from him. She stumbled and fell to the ground.

Stephen glared at her. “Stay down.”

He had me raised off the ground, my feet dangling. While he hadn’t broken any bones this time, I’d definitely sprained my shoulder. The pain only fueled my anger and helped my claustrophobia take a backseat.

“Does it make you feel like a man to beat up two girls like this?” I asked. “You’re a pathetic lowlife. You always have been.”

His hateful smirk returned, making his handsome face very ugly. “Wrong. I’m an example of the highlife, the best yet. Do you know what it feels like after going through stasis? I thought losing my soul was a good thing in the beginning. It gave me confidence all of a sudden. It made girls look at me more than they already did—and every one of them wanted me. That extra something we have, it’s to draw our victims closer. Gives us a chance to feed. And they like it, even when you’re draining every last bit. You know that, right?”

I didn’t say anything. He didn’t need the confirmation.

“It tastes better now, taking a soul,” he said. “And we take the whole soul, every time.”

Repulsion shot through me. “Now when you kiss them, you can’t change them into another gray. You kill them.”

He laughed. “Stupid humans, milling about this city. They think they’re the top of the food chain. But they’re not. Why can’t you get it through your head, Samantha? You’re one of us. You’re part of the new order.”

“Oh, my God. The new order? What is this, some sort of gray power thing? You’re sick.”

“You’ll feel differently after you’ve evolved to the next level.” He raised an eyebrow at my blanched look. “You know it’s inevitable, don’t you? You must feel it drawing closer by the hour.”

His words made me ill. I kept quiet, hoping that my glare would suddenly turn into something capable of killing him where he stood.

“Stasis is like a wave in the distance, taking its time to arrive,” he continued, “but when it gets closer you realize it’s more like a tsunami. Natalie thought the less we fed, the more it stayed at bay. But it’s just the opposite. The more you feed, especially closer to stasis, the more you delay it, but it’s not forever. When it gets here you’ll lose yourself completely. There’s no other choice.”

His words sent a fresh ripple of jagged fear through me. “You lost yourself?”

Stephen nodded. “Monday night. At Ambrosia. I lost it. I had to get out of there. Funny thing was, I left so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. Once you lose it, you don’t care about meaningless things like that. All you think about is feeding. And your victims? They’re still drawn to you, even in that mindless state. Easy pickings. I fed a lot that night. And I woke up the next morning better than ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Jordan demanded. “I don’t understand any of this. What the hell are you?”

“I’m the future. Your future.” He looked at her. “You called me a monster before, but I’m way better than that.”

She gaped at him. “You can take someone’s soul by—by kissing them?”

“That’s right.”

Her shocked expression soured. “That sounds really lame.”

He gave her a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll change your mind.”

Stephen was still in love with Jordan. Don’t ask me how or why, but he was. I’d seen it at the mall. That was my confirmation. Even though he’d gone through stasis, there was still something there when it came to his feelings toward the redhead.

She had a soul. She was close to him right now, trapped and vulnerable. And yet, he didn’t make a move to feed on her because it would kill her if he did.

That meant something very important to me.

“Stop this, Stephen.” He still held me effortlessly against the wall as if I weighed no more than a teacup Chihuahua. With his increased strength, he could break my spine with the smallest twist. And he could do the same—or worse—to Jordan.

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to stop. This is it, Samantha. This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life. My reason to exist.”

“And what reason is that? You’re stuck in this city like all the others. You’re trapped as much as I am in this room.”

He cocked his head. “Natalie said that you have the power to cut a hole in the barrier with your boyfriend’s dagger.”

My stomach clenched. I’d hoped he’d forgotten about that little hypothesis, my aunt’s quest to escape from Trinity so she could spread her evil far and wide. “She was fooling herself. I can’t do that.”

Stephen glanced at Jordan again, who hadn’t gotten up from the ground yet. “Samantha’s the daughter of a demon and an angel. That gives her special powers that I need.”

“Shut up.” Any mention of what I was put me into immediate panic mode as if the words themselves had power.

He grinned. “It’s a secret, though, so shh. Don’t tell anyone.”

Jordan’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Are you serious?”

My gaze shot to her. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar.”

Her face was so pale her freckles stood out more than they normally did. “Demons and angels...but those things don’t really exist.”

“Wrong,” Stephen said. “They’re prowling the city right now, on a hunt for things like me. Although, I’m pretty hard to kill now. Nearly impossible, really.” He raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t come to rescue you yet, have they, Samantha? Thought they’d taken you as a pet.”

Bishop had found me when Kraven was forced to kiss me. But his tracking ability wasn’t reliable anymore.

Did he even know I’d been missing for a day? Had Cassandra noticed the house was empty, or had she thought I’d gone to bed early again last night and left first thing this morning?

I’d told Bishop I wanted nothing to do with them, and with him. And he’d agreed to give me my space. To say I regretted our last conversation would be a monumental understatement.

I did need him. And I wished desperately he was here.

Mostly so he could kick Stephen’s ass and introduce him to that handy golden dagger of his.

My empathy toward Stephen Keyes was at an end.

“What do you want with us?” I demanded, trying my best to remain calm when I felt anything but. “Or did you just want to talk to us all day?”

He looked over his shoulder at Jordan again, who was finally pushing back up to her feet. “Every soul I take makes me stronger. Strength means power. Power means I can have anything I want—become a true leader, respected and feared. But the others like us...they bore me. Most are too weak to survive stasis, anyway.”

I glared at him while holding my injured wrist protectively against my chest. “Too bad. You can have everything, but you’re all alone. Boo hoo. Maybe you should buy a goldfish to keep you company.”

Jordan reached for something on the ground—a loose brick I hadn’t noticed before—and slowly crept up behind Stephen. My breath caught as she swung it forward to bash him in the head, but he turned just in time and yanked the brick out of her grip. Then he grabbed her throat and slammed her up against the wall directly beside me.

Too close. I couldn’t be this close to someone with a soul right now. From the claustrophobia, to the pain, I’d become too weak. Hunger crashed over me and I literally whimpered.

Stephen’s expression shifted to one of victory.

“See, Samantha? You can pretend to be all high and mighty and above these earthly needs, like someone worthy of hanging around with Heaven and Hell’s best. But at your core, you’re exactly like me. And it won’t be long before you change to something much more interesting. We’ll get along better then.”

“What?” Jordan choked. “Samantha’s not...”

Stephen smiled. “Yes, she is. I made her myself. I took her soul in a kiss that she was begging me to give her. She’s wanted me since she wasn’t much more than a kid. Right, Samantha?”

“And now I want to kill you,” I growled.

He laughed at this and the sound sent a shiver racing down my spine. “I took her soul because her demon aunt asked me to. I actually felt bad about it at the time. Just a kid.”

I tried to kick him, but his grip increased on my throat. Jordan’s, too, since she let out a hoarse scream.

“Don’t hurt her,” I managed.

He didn’t loosen his grip on either of us. “You want to know my plan? It’s this. I’m going to leave you two alone for a while. It won’t be very much longer before you can’t hold back, Samantha. You’ll take Jordan’s soul, and you’ll take it all.”

“What?” My throat closed with horror at the suggestion.

His cheeks tightened. “If I did it myself, I’d kill her. And I want her to live. I want her to be...improved. There’s room for both of you at my side in the new world if you survive stasis.”

He flung both of us to the side and went to the door. “I’ll check on you later.”

He left.

I scrambled to the far corner of the room, which still wasn’t far enough away from Jordan to help clear my head.

I thought Jordan was crying for a moment, but when she pulled her hands away from her face, she looked mad as hell.

“Explain to me right now what the hell is going on here!” she demanded.

I tried to breathe shallowly as possible as I gave her a bleak look. “What part don’t you understand?”

“All of it!”

I studied her for a moment, her furious expression, the sparking anger in her eyes. “I think you understand more than you realize.”

“What does this have to do with Julie’s suicide?”

“Honestly?” I thought about it. “Nothing, directly. But in a way, everything bizarre that’s going on in this city is related.”

If Connor had been right in his hypothesis about the new demon in town, everything bad going on in Trinity was related to the Hollow and how it had become a two-way swinging door, rather than Heaven and Hell’s dumping ground. It had a case of bulimia now, purging what it had once swallowed down.

Jordan raked a shaky hand through her long, tangled red hair. “I thought I was going crazy, but it’s all true. Stephen’s a monster. And you’re...you’re a monster, too. Was he lying about that?”

I swallowed hard. “Depends on your definition of monster.”

She glared at me. “You’re one of these things that can steal a soul with a kiss.”

My chest tightened. “Afraid so.”

“And Stephen’s the one who changed you into one of these things.”

“Yes.”

She inhaled shakily. “He kissed you, but he won’t kiss me.”

My eyes narrowed. “Don’t sound so disappointed. Believe me, this is not something you want. It’s horrible. This hunger, it’s...the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with.”

I’d already given in to it three times. It couldn’t happen again or I knew I’d lose myself completely.

She hesitated. “But you’re something else, too. Your parents...”

“My birth parents, you mean.” I chewed my bottom lip. She knew, so there was no reason for me to try to keep denying it. “I didn’t know the truth about myself until very recently.”

“What does it mean?”

“Only that I’m more confused about my personal identity than ever before.”

She paced in small lines, back and forth, her arms crossed over her chest. “Doesn’t that trump the whole gray thing? Isn’t that some sort of power that you can draw from to help you?”

I wished it was that simple. I really did. “What I am underneath, it’s got nothing to do with this. It’s like they’re separate things. Who my real parents are isn’t going to make anything easier.”

Her skin had paled to a ghostly white. “And now Stephen wants you to infect me.”

I pulled my knees up to my chest and started to rock myself. My mind flashed back to kissing Colin in the hall, how I’d had zero control then when I’d always been able to stop myself before. What happened to Stephen—it was going to happen to me. Soon. Or I was going to drop dead like that woman in the street the other night who’d disintegrated before my very eyes.

“I don’t know how long I can deal with this, Jordan. I’m losing it. It’s scaring the hell out of me.”

She got to her feet and took a couple steps closer to me. Before I knew it I’d risen to my feet as well, unconsciously drawn to her soul.

“You’re not kissing me,” she said uneasily, holding up her hands to try to keep me back.

“Trust me, Jordan, you’re the last person on earth I’d ever want to kiss. And it’s not just because you’re a girl. I’m sure Stephen would rather change you himself, but if he kisses you he’ll—” I swallowed hard. “He’ll kill you.”

“Stephen...” she whispered, then shuddered. “Have you kissed anyone?”

I nodded. “Two.”

“And did you kill them?” she asked breathlessly.

“Not yet.”

She started to tremble. “Oh, my God. This isn’t happening.”

My vision was narrowing by the second. Jordan had stepped away from me, but the scent of her soul was driving me crazy. I watched her like a wolf might watch a small, scared rabbit in the forest.

She attempted to look brave and assured. “Just...try to control yourself. You’re stronger than this!”

My thoughts were spinning away from me like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz. I tried to grasp onto them before they all blew away. Then something important occurred to me. “Wait. I wasn’t hungry when I was unconscious. It’s only when I’m awake.”

Her eyes were wild, panicked. “You want me to knock you out?”

I nodded crazily. “Do it.”

And then Jordan disappeared and all I could see was her soul—shiny and tempting. The cure to my pain, the answer to my hunger. She scrambled for something as I drew closer, closer. Then I grabbed her shoulder, my right hand still useless, and pulled her closer.

She screamed, and swung something toward me.

Sharp pain slammed through my head as she successfully rendered me unconscious.

* * *

My head was screaming when I woke up this time. But along with the pain, a shaky clarity had returned.

My hunger, however, hadn’t gone anywhere.

“If I hit you again you’re going to get a concussion,” Jordan warned. “A fractured skull. Or a clot. Or an aneurism. Or...something really bad!”

I groaned, and looked across the room at her crouched in the opposite corner, clutching the brick tightly. “Or maybe I’ll get amnesia and forget all about this.”

The pinprick of light through the tiny window told me it was still day—but the sunlight was fading. I hadn’t been out for long this time. One of the fluorescent lights set into the ceiling flickered now, as if ready to go out completely. It cast spooky shadows through the room.

“He hasn’t checked on us again,” she said, casting a furtive glance at the door.

“He will.”

“When?”

“When it’s done. When you’re changed. When I’ve...fed.” The words tasted as bad as they sounded. There was a security camera up in the far corner I hadn’t noticed before. I gestured at it. “He’s watching us.”

Jordan moved into the camera’s line of sight and gave it the finger. “Screw you, Stephen! I hate you for this!”

“Ditto,” I murmured, then cringed. “Ow, my head.”

Her expression now was fierce and determined. Her anger toward Stephen had given her some extra strength. “Stay right where you are. I’ll use this again.”

I flicked a wary glance at her and her brick. “Feel free. But that’s only a temporary answer. My hunger...it’s worse than ever. I need to feed.”

“Not on me.”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a choice soon. If I go into stasis here...a brick’s not going to stop me.” I fought to come up with a plan of action, but I was tired and weary, hungry and in pain. I didn’t want to give up, but I was worried my strength wouldn’t last much longer.

“What about those angels and demons Stephen mentioned? You know them?”

“You could say that.”

“Where are they?”

“Not here.”

I longed for Bishop to come bursting in here in a blaze of glory. I’d never been the damsel in distress type, the girl who dreamed of a guy sweeping in to save her in the nick of time like they did in corny movies. Besides, if I looked at this objectively, I wasn’t the damsel in distress in this situation—Jordan was. I was the scary thing hiding in the shadows ready to leap out and devour her.

“I always knew,” Jordan whispered.

I stayed in the opposite corner to her, a good ten feet away from the orbit, wishing it would make things easier. “Knew what?”

“That there were things bigger than me in this city. Supernatural things. I always believed.” She actually smiled, a pained, scared expression. “My mom, she likes to go to psychics for readings. Does it every week. I think she does it instead of going to a shrink. With a psychic, she can blame all of her problems on otherworldly activity. But I don’t think she really knows it’s all real.”

“But you do.”

She hugged the brick to her chest as if it was a comforting teddy bear. “I felt it. I always thought I was a little bit psychic. Like, with ghosts and stuff. Nobody believed me when I was a kid, so I stopped talking about it. It faded to nothing for ages. Lately, though, it’s been getting worse.”

Something about what she said felt important. Really important. “Since when?”

“The last few weeks.”

I pressed up against the wall. If Jordan really had psychic abilities, they’d been triggered back into action at about the same time Bishop and the rest of the team had come here and the barrier was put in place to keep all supernaturals contained in this city-size zoo. “Jordan Fitzpatrick, psychic medium to the stars.”

She laughed drily under her breath. “You would not believe how much some of them can make. And I’m sure most of them are total frauds.”

“I’m sure.”

She blinked and her smile faded quickly. “I loved him.”

I didn’t need a map to keep up with her sudden change in direction. “I know you did.”

Her eyes grew glossy. “When he dumped me, I didn’t understand. I thought it was because he was in university and I was still in high school. But I thought what we had...even though we hadn’t dated for very long—I thought it was real. I fell for him so fast. He was so wonderful, but then I knew he had secrets he didn’t want to share with me. I tried to learn the truth, but all he did was push me away.”

I went totally silent. It was like she was talking about me and Bishop. “Some secrets can be scary.”

“Stephen didn’t scare me. Not then. He does now. He never did anything to hurt me before. Even when...I guess he was changed. I thought he was cheating on me. And the stupidest thing was I would have forgiven him. I would have taken him back, even after I heard he was seen making out with...” She looked at me, and clarity shone in her green eyes. “That was the time. When he kissed you. That’s when it happened.”

I nodded, the lump in my throat too thick to swallow past.

“That jerk,” she snarled. “He should have told me! I could have helped him before it got this bad. And now he’s out there killing people? He’s a killer, Samantha. The boy I love is a killer.” She looked at me strangely. “Why are you crying?”

“Damn it.” I pushed away the tears streaking down my cheeks with my good hand. I hadn’t meant to let myself weaken like this, but it happened. The more she talked about Stephen, the more I thought about Bishop and how much I cared about him even after witnessing some of the horrible moments in his past.

She looked at me with an incredulous expression. “I seriously need you not to flake out on me right now.”

I shook my head, which had begun to cloud up again. I couldn’t pull myself out of this hole I’d found myself in. It was only getting deeper. “I can’t concentrate.”

Her expression only grew more fierce. “You can. Now, just figure it out. From the sound of it, you’re oozing supernatural energy from your pores. You’re half demon and half angel, which is completely ridiculous, but I’m going with it, anyway. So figure out a way to get us the hell out of here so I don’t have to bash your brains in.”

My thoughts raced, and again I kept coming back to Bishop and that connection we had—how he was able to find me, even if it was unreliable lately. But I still had mind melds with him, as strong as ever. “There’s only one way I can think of. I need to contact somebody.”

“No cell phone, remember?”

“No, not by phone.” I closed my eyes. “I—I think there could be another way. But it might not work. In fact, I’m pretty sure it won’t.”

She let out a frustrated snarl. “Stop being such a damn pessimist and start trying.”

Words to live by, courtesy of Jordan Fitzpatrick, my high school nemesis.

In my dream about Bishop, the one where we were playing chess before things got disturbingly homicidal, he’d said something to me—that I could control our mind melds. I hadn’t believed it at the time since they were so random, so unpredictable. They came out of nowhere like being flattened by a truck.

Then something Jordan said tweaked something in me. She’d said I was half demon and half angel. But this wasn’t totally accurate. I was the daughter of an angel and a demon. I was a nexus. I was the connection, the center point, the combination of the energies of Heaven and Hell.

If you asked me, that sounded way more powerful.

I’d always doubted this power, taken what came to me when it came. Seeing the searchlights was something I didn’t control. It just happened. Zapping the demons and reading their minds took effort. Other times it was effortless. If they didn’t fight me...it was effortless.

But maybe I was the one making things difficult.

I was certain my mind melds with Bishop were because I’d taken part of his soul—and it was still inside of me. That’s why I could see his memories if I looked in his eyes. Bishop’s soul was a bridge between us and had been ever since the kiss we shared. I needed to find that bridge and walk across it.

And I needed to do it right now.