That would explain why lately I’d been attracting more attention than I normally did. And here I’d thought I was just having a really good hair week. “There was a boy at school this morning. He got too close to me and I nearly…” Well, I didn’t have to finish that sentence to make my meaning clear. It did nothing to remove the dark look on Bishop’s face. “And…and there’s also someone else.”
“Someone else you feel the urge to kiss?”
“Well, yeah. But…at least he doesn’t have to worry about his soul around me. He doesn’t have one.”
It took a moment before he understood that I was talking about him. My cheeks heated up. I couldn’t believe I was practically coming right out and saying it—like kissing him was all I could think about whenever he was this close to me.
“Then I guess I’m safe, aren’t I?” he said, the edge of a smile touching his lips.
My cheeks grew hotter.
I wondered if angels kissed, if they went on dates, or how things worked up there in Heaven. I’d always had an image of them being very clinical, very pure and untouched. Flawless. Then again, Bishop had already changed most of my preconceived notions about angels.
Another car finally drove up out of the underground parking and made a left onto the street. I watched it drive away.
“I should walk you home so I know you’re okay,” Bishop said. “I’ll catch up with Kraven and the other angel later.”
I nodded. “There’s just one problem.”
“What?”
I pointed past him into the night sky where I’d just spotted another beam of light. “I think I’ve found your fourth team member.”
He craned his neck to look then turned back to me with confusion. “You can see another searchlight?”
“Looks like.”
My time was up. I’d given him the hour, just as we’d agreed to. The question was, should I stay or should I go? I felt exhausted, but we were one team member away from me fulfilling my side of our bargain. And maybe a little piece of me—or not so little, really—wanted to stay with Bishop as long as I could tonight.
Which was ridiculous. This wasn’t a date.
And if I was going to date somebody, I certainly wouldn’t pick a part-time crazy angel here on a one-week work placement who couldn’t wait to get back home to his normal angel life.
If I had a hard time thinking about dating Colin and the problems that would cause with Carly, then that was a walk in the park compared to the complicated nature of being with Bishop.
An angel who seemed so human. Who could eat and drink and had a heartbeat. Who looked at me like he wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to—
“Samantha?” Bishop prompted.
Yeah, complicated. Definitely complicated.
“Let’s go get him,” I said firmly. “Then it’s done. There will be the four of you, just like Kraven said. My part will be over. Then it’s your turn to help me.”
“That was the deal.”
“It was.”
He nodded. “All right, show me where he is.”
“What about Kraven?”
He seemed to cringe ever so slightly at any mention of the demon’s name. “He’ll catch up. It might be a while before the other angel’s back on his feet.”
It was another reminder that what I’d witnessed earlier had been horrible, but temporary. “And you trust Kraven to supervise that? He seems like a major troublemaker.”
Bishop laughed darkly under his breath. “You have no idea. But for a demon, he’s actually not half as bad as he could be.”
“That’s not all that comforting.” Then I jumped a little when Bishop took hold of my hand and laced our fingers together.
He looked at me uncertainly. “Is this okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Fine. For now.”
More than fine.
This time he wasn’t meeting my gaze. It was probably for the best, given how out of control I’d felt toward him a minute ago. Honestly, the guy could make me forget just about everything, even the important stuff. Was it because he was beautiful and fascinating and exciting? Or was it something else entirely?
I wished I could read his mind. It really might help.
Chapter 11
Holding hands with Bishop definitely had its perks, not the least of which was the warmth it brought, a relief from the constant chill I now felt. Who knew a soul worked like a body’s thermal insulation?
“The searchlight’s moving this time.” I watched it as we walked toward it.
“He’s lost and wandering aimlessly, trying to find his way. That’s all. We’ll catch up to him.”
And we did. A few blocks away and we were on one of the busiest streets in Trinity, known as the Promenade. The Trinity Mall—the infamous location of my shoplifting incident—was located here as well as the rest of the shopping district. Everything had shut down for the night, but the sidewalks were thick with pedestrians, the streets filled with traffic.
I followed the beam of light through the crowd of people. It shone on the head of one person in particular. Human appearance, check. Teenage boy, check.
“Doesn’t Heaven or Hell have any girl warriors?” I asked aloud. How sexist was that? And why did they all look like they could be in my senior class?
“They do,” Bishop replied.
“I guess none signed up to be part of this mission of yours.”
“Guess not. Do you see him?”
“I see him.”
As soon as I locked eyes on this guy, the light switched off. I now had to work hard to keep him in view as we drew closer.
“The kid over there,” I said. “Black hair, tall. Leather jacket. Hey, where’d he get that cool jacket?”
This guy was definitely not eating burgers out of Dumpsters or waiting patiently on park benches. Instead, he eyed the crowd around him with a keen and appraising look. I watched as he bumped into a woman who turned to glare at him.
He gave her a killer grin. “So sorry, ma’am. My fault.”
Her unpleasant expression shifted to a pleased one. He was extremely attractive, kind of like an actor from a glossy TV show or maybe a male model, with a slightly exotic edge to his tanned skin, dark eyes, and black hair long enough to brush his shoulders. Even though she looked like she was at least fifteen years older, she’d have to be blind not to notice his good looks.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said.
“Have a nice night.”
“You, too.” As she walked away, she was grinning.
She didn’t happen to notice he’d slipped his hand into her purse during their exchange and stolen her wallet.
“Did you see that?” I asked Bishop with shock. “Not really lost and wandering aimlessly, is he?”
He squeezed my hand tighter. “We can’t lose him. Come on.”
We picked up our pace and followed the pickpocket down the street, past the crowd and around a corner. The other two had been lost, confused and grateful for anyone who noticed them. This kid seemed like he knew the city like the back of his hand.
He stopped in front of a store window with a display of glittering jewelry, his hands shoved into the pockets of his black leather jacket, which looked new and expensive. Bishop slowed as we approached him, and I sensed his wariness. This boy was different from the others.
“Hey,” Bishop said.
The kid glanced at us with disinterest. “Hey yourself.”
“Saw what you did back there.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“You stole that woman’s wallet.”
An edge of unfriendliness glittered in his dark eyes. “So what? Are you a cop?”
“Do we look like cops?” I asked.
He flicked a glance at me. “She was rich, I could tell. She’ll survive just fine.”
“Is that what you’re trying to do, too?” Bishop asked. “Survive?”
“Aren’t we all?” His gaze moved to me again and swept the length of me. “Why don’t you do yourselv
es a favor and leave me alone now?”
Bishop finally, and a bit reluctantly, let go of my hand. “Because I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t feel like talking.”
Something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. I’d been positive he was the right guy, but now I wasn’t sure. I didn’t feel anything from him, even when I met his eyes and concentrated. But maybe I wasn’t close enough.
Or maybe I’d tagged the wrong person. The real one could still be out there in the crowd.
“Where are you from?” I asked. Bishop shot a glance my way. He probably thought I’d just be the silent, well-behaved finder of searchlights. It just showed how little he knew about me. Staying quiet had never been one of my greatest strengths.
“Around.”
“Around Trinity? Or somewhere else?”
He gave me a tight smile and turned away. “Great talking to you. I’m going now.”
“Where?” I asked. “Do you have somewhere to stay? Do you have any friends?”
His shoulders tensed as he glanced back at us. “Don’t follow me.”
He started walking.
I grabbed Bishop’s arm. “Maybe I was wrong about him.”
“You weren’t.”
“How do you know? You said you couldn’t tell what Kraven was until you saw the imprint.”
“Gut instinct. He’s a team member—I’m guessing a demon. Remember how I told you Kraven wasn’t as bad as he could have been?” He kept his focus on the departing pickpocket in the leather jacket. “Well, this one just might be.”
That sent a chill right down my spine.
Bishop began trailing after the kid. “You should go home now. You’ve done everything I asked and I know you hate what I have to do now.”
For a moment, I considered my options. I could go home and try to forget everything, but just because it wasn’t easy didn’t mean I should run away with my tail tucked between my legs. This wasn’t over until my soul was restored, until my hunger was gone once and for all and I could focus on my normal life again.
So I didn’t go home. I followed Bishop as he trailed after the boy with the bad attitude.
As Bishop rounded the next corner, the kid was waiting for him. He grabbed hold of Bishop and threw the angel into an open space, a parking lot in front of a large grocery store. Bishop slammed into a car, setting off the alarm.
Two people wandered past, but they didn’t seem like they could see us or hear the blaring noise. I’d be willing to bet, even with his decreased abilities, that Bishop had managed to cloak us.
“What do you want from me?” the kid demanded.
“To talk, for starters. You could have made this easier on yourself.” Bishop leaped up from the ground, his eyes blazing with anger. He kicked the car hard, which somehow managed to shut off the alarm.
“It was just a damn wallet. I needed the money, okay? Now you need to leave me alone or I’m going to hurt you.” He cast a cold look over his shoulder. “Or her.”
Bishop wasn’t wasting any time. He pulled the golden dagger out of the sheath strapped to his back. “You’re not hurting anyone tonight.”
The kid barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding me, right? You think you can cut me with that?” He pulled his own knife out of a holder at his waist. “Think again.”
Panic gripped me at the sight of the other knife. It wasn’t all gold, glowy and supernatural, but it was still sharp and deadly.
“You’re lost.” I stepped forward, trying to bring some sort of control back to this situation before things went too far. The ritual was bad enough without extra conflict. “We’re here to help you.”
He moved so fast I wasn’t able to scramble away from him in time and he grabbed a thick handful of my long hair to hold me in place, my back crushed up against his chest. I let out a shriek of pain because it felt like he was literally going to yank it out of my scalp. “Maybe your boyfriend needs a louder warning to leave me alone. Drop the knife or I’ll cut her.”
“I told you we wanted to help you,” I managed to say.
“I don’t want your help.”
“Let her go,” Bishop growled. There was dark fury in his eyes.
I grabbed hold of the kid’s arm to keep the knife away from me, but he was strong, really strong. Then I tried to summon the same ability I’d used to zap Kraven when I’d felt threatened. I did manage to touch part of that power, as if reaching into a shallow pool of water that I never knew existed within me, but it didn’t work. Nothing happened. It was as if I hit a wall and I didn’t know why.
“I know it must seem really bad for you.” I wanted to keep him talking so Bishop had a chance to stop this. “But you’re not alone anymore.”
“I am alone,” he snapped. “And I’ll protect myself no matter what I have to do.”
“Have you dreamed about me?” I blurted out. The other angel had said it earlier, so it was worth a shot.
He froze at my words. Bishop drew closer, his eyes still glowing blue. Someone got in the car right next to us, the one that’d had its alarm blaring a minute ago, and drove away as if he didn’t see our standoff only a few feet away.
“You have, haven’t you?” I continued, craning my neck a little so I could see him out of the corner of my eye. “Maybe it’s faded a bit, but you have. You knew I was coming. You know I’m here to help you.”
He shot a look at Bishop. “Drop the knife. I won’t say it again.”
I focused on that invisible wall I’d felt, the one that seemed to surround this kid. With a part of myself I’d never even known existed—a sixth sense, I guess—I managed to find a crack in it and I again sought that pool of power within me.
“Let me go.” My teeth were clenched together so I barely got the words out. “Now.”
This time, thanks to that crack in his wall, the zapping worked. He let go of me and staggered back as if he’d been electrocuted, his eyes wide with shock.
“What just happened?” he snarled.
“You let her go,” Bishop said, striding forward.
And then he plunged his dagger into the kid’s chest.
I screamed. It seemed to be my usual reaction to seeing someone get stabbed. The calmness I’d felt a moment ago ripped away, leaving me panicked and uncertain. “Why did you do that? We didn’t check his back to make sure he was the right one!”
“He’s the one. You proved it yourself by repelling him.”
The kid dropped his knife then looked down at the dagger in his chest, which Bishop then yanked back out. He fell to his knees on the hard pavement.
His stunned gaze moved to me. “I did dream about you last night. How did you know that?”
A shiver coursed through me. “Lucky guess.”
He fell face forward to the ground. Bishop crouched at his side and looked up at me, his expression grim as he took in the shock on my face.
“Stay,” he said firmly. “See what happens next. It’ll prove I’m not just doing this to be cruel, even though this one might have deserved it.”
I just nodded, shivering. I moved back until I felt a pickup truck behind me, which helped support me so I didn’t crumple to the ground, as well. Bishop rolled the dead kid onto his back. I gagged as his leather jacket fell open to show the bloodstain from the knife wound in the center of his chest, soaking through his shirt. Bishop wiped his dagger against his black jeans to clean it off.
Angel. Warrior. Killer. At this moment, I was terrified of him. It took a minute for my natural instinct of fear to back off.
Just a ritual. I kept repeating it to myself. It’s just a horrible but necessary ritual.
More people arrived and departed from the grocery store, oblivious to the murder scene right in front of them. At the moment, the “I” in CSI stood for invisible.
I had no soul right now, so why did I care? I thought a soul gave a human morals, humanity and an ability for goodness. But now I wasn’t so sure. I’d lost mine and I still felt the difference betwee
n right and wrong. I hadn’t suddenly turned into an unrepentant monster. I felt everything that happened vividly, even when it was happening to someone else.
The kid stayed dead for a long time. Even Bishop began to look uncertain.
I gave him a sharp look. “Don’t start doubting this now.”
“He is the right one.”
“You didn’t check him first.”