Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers)

by Michelle Rowen

  She scrambled to her feet as I moved closer to her. My wrist and shoulder were still in pain, but it was a distant echo now. My hunger had steadily moved to the forefront, impossible to ignore. Impossible to fight.

  “I can take you,” she managed shakily. “You’ve never intimidated me before. I mean, look at you. You’re the size of a hobbit.”

  Normally, I’d resent that. I wasn’t the size of a hobbit. Five-two wasn’t that short, but compared to statuesque aspiring models like Jordan...

  Size didn’t matter. Not in a case like this.

  I’d made it across the room, so close now that she gasped and raised the brick over her head, ready to smash it down at me like she had before.

  But this time I stopped her, snatching the makeshift weapon away like taking candy from a very tall baby. It was time to end this. Stephen had won. And once this was over, when he came in here after watching me devour his girlfriend’s soul through that security camera and turning her into a gray, I was going to kill him.

  My vision blurred at the edges as I reached for her.

  And then the door burst inward.

  “Get them apart,” Bishop instructed sharply. “Now.”

  There was no argument. The next moment, I was wrenched away from Jordan. I fought hard against the very strong person who held me.

  “Missed you,” Kraven growled into my ear. “Glad to see you’re still in one piece, gray-girl.”

  My struggling only made my wrist and shoulder hurt worse, but I was still in a daze, unable to focus on anything except my hunger. “Let go of me!”

  “As hot as it would be to see you kiss another girl, I’m going to have to decline your request.”

  Only Bishop and Kraven had entered the room. Zach and Connor were nowhere to be seen. My breath came fast and shallow, my attention now focused on Bishop. He scanned Jordan, checking if she was okay while she cowered in the corner, staring at the rest of us in shock.

  Then his gaze moved to mine. And locked.

  He was so beautiful, it took my breath away. And even though I’d only been apart from him for a short time, every fiber of my being reached out to him.

  “Samantha...” He began moving closer to me, as if hypnotized by whatever he saw in my eyes.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Kraven growled.

  I managed to slip out of the demon’s grip bonelessly, dodging him as he tried to grab me again. Bishop and I moved toward each other, meeting in the middle of the room. I didn’t hesitate for a second. I wrapped my arms around him as he pulled me against him and crushed his mouth against mine.

  From the broken-down door to the kiss, it had all happened in a matter of seconds.

  The taste of his lips only ignited the fire inside me more. I burned for him—I always had. And his mouth on mine...it was perfection.

  But I didn’t have a chance to kiss him longer—or to start to feed. Kraven was there, grabbing me by the shirt to violently yank me back.

  He looked disgusted. “You two are a couple of addicts, aren’t you? Pathetic. Get away from her. I mean it.”

  Bishop made a strangled sound, as if he was fighting the urge to kiss me again with every ounce of strength he had. The way I was feeling right now—this utter abandon—I knew I’d take it all.

  Bishop might be going steadily crazy, but he was still sane enough to listen to his brother.

  He gave Kraven an agonized look. “Do it. Just do it and get it over with.”

  I didn’t know what he meant. I still saw the world through that gray daze, those with souls in the room brighter and more beautiful than anything else.

  So hungry, please...

  But the one who didn’t have a bright and beautiful soul captured my face between his hands and forced me to look at him instead of the dark-haired, blue-eyed angel.

  “Third time’s a charm,” Kraven mumbled. Then he kissed me bruisingly hard, forcing me to remain still with one hand now gripping my long hair, the other circling my throat.

  No...I want Bishop...not Kraven, not...not...

  But I only fought it for a moment. Then my thoughts cut off and I was kissing him back every bit as hard as he kissed me. My hunger slowly, very slowly this time, began to ease. My arms slid over the demon’s shoulders to cling to him, otherwise I knew I’d collapse to the floor in a heap.

  I had to kiss him—there was no choice for me. It was the only way I could regain my control.

  Bishop grabbed Kraven’s shoulder. “Enough.”

  Finally, the demon broke off the kiss, leaning back a few inches to look into my eyes. “Are you back?”

  I nodded, holding his gaze. I stared into the depths of those amber-colored eyes. Same shape as Bishop’s. Different face. Similar lips. Different kiss.

  She’s okay. But barely this time.

  Kraven’s thoughts. His walls were down, so I could piece through his mind. I didn’t know what I was looking for until I found it.

  She doesn’t hate me. She can say she does, but she doesn’t. No girl kisses like that if she doesn’t like it. He hates it so much, hates that I have this power over her. He hates that I can taste her when he can’t. She could fall for me. She’s halfway there already. And when she does...such sweet revenge. I can watch him suffer before I finally shove that dagger through his heart.

  Chapter 22

  I broke our gazes and stumbled back from him.

  A frown creased Kraven’s brow, as if he didn’t expect this kind of reaction after such a seemingly passionate kiss.

  “What’s wrong, sweetness?” he asked, his frown deepening.

  “Don’t kiss me again,” I whispered. “Ever.”

  A glimmer of clarity lit in his eyes. And the next moment his mental wall crashed down, locking me out.

  I turned to face Bishop standing there rigidly, his jaw tense. Then I threw my arms around him. His heart pounded against mine as his grip tightened around me.

  “I told you I’d find you,” he said.

  I nodded, currently speechless. That had been close. Too close. I reached down to take his hands in mine, feeling that incredible electric spark between us. He let out a quiet groan as he squeezed his eyes shut, and I knew his clarity was returning.

  But, just like mine, it wasn’t at one hundred percent anymore. Not even close.

  He opened his blue eyes, which held much more sanity than had been there before. He cupped my face between his hands, his skin warm against mine. His thumb moved over my bottom lip and his expression darkened.

  He hates that I can taste her when he can’t.

  Kraven thought that a minute ago, and by the look on Bishop’s face he might have been right.

  “So let me guess,” Jordan’s voice trembled out from her corner, where she was currently huddled in a tight ball. “These are the guys you called here through that meditation thing you did.”

  With effort, I tore my gaze from Bishop’s to look at her, relieved that she seemed unhurt. “You got it. Jordan. Meet Bishop and Kraven.”

  “What are they?”

  “Helpful Boy Scouts,” Kraven said, cocking his head. “Well, look at you. Almost dinner for our gray-girl here.”

  The demon offered her a hand, but she ignored it and shakily rose to her feet on her own.

  “Back off,” she snarled.

  Kraven just looked at her blandly. “Charming.”

  Along with my restored clarity, my anxiety returned. I gestured at the security camera. “Stephen probably saw you get here and escaped.”

  “He didn’t escape,” Bishop said.

  My eyes widened. “Did you—?”

  “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He led me out of the room. The door had been ripped right off its hinges. Bishop noted my stunned observation of this. “I’m stronger than I look.”

  I was breathless as we moved away from my previous prison. Jordan silently trailed after us, but she was recovering and her gaze was watchful and fierce. Jordan might be a lot of things, but she didn’
t take well to playing the victim.

  Kraven was the last to leave the room. I faced forward so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes again.

  Now I knew for sure that his breezy exterior was only a mask he wore to throw people off. Underneath, he was every bit as dark, scary and devious as I would have expected a demon to be. His murderous, vengeful thoughts had chilled me down to my bones.

  His hate for Bishop had been palpable. It made my skin crawl, even now.

  “Kraven wants to kill you.” I said it loud enough for only Bishop to hear.

  His jaw was tense. “I know.”

  “You do? What are you going to do about it?”

  He kept his attention fully on the dark hallway before us. “Let me worry about my brother.”

  Easier said than done. I already worried, even before I’d read Kraven’s thoughts. But what I’d seen in Bishop’s memory—that betrayal of one brother by the other in such a brutal, final way...I couldn’t say Kraven’s desire for vengeance wasn’t justified.

  Still, I truly believed what had happened back then had other causes. Bishop may have done the horrible deed himself, but he’d been used by someone or something else.

  Kraven didn’t know that. Or if he did, he still blamed Bishop solely for what happened.

  I followed Bishop up a flight of stairs, through another torn-open doorway and then we were outside. The cold bit into me, but I welcomed the fresh air. The cool breeze made me shiver. The sky was dark now. Clouds covered the stars and moon.

  As I always did at this time of the day, I scanned the horizon for any sign of a searchlight. But there was nothing to be seen.

  “Stephen!” Jordan gasped.

  My gaze shot to where she was staring in shock—the super-gray himself was being restrained by Zach and Connor. Connor held Stephen’s arms tightly behind him, while Zach pressed the golden dagger to Stephen’s throat.

  He hadn’t escaped.

  Stephen’s gaze tracked to us and narrowed.

  “They got to me before I changed your girlfriend.” I couldn’t keep the outrage from my voice. He’d try to force me to do such a horrible thing. He’d knocked me out and imprisoned me for more than a day.

  I was surprised that instead of anger or rage in return, he just looked grim.

  And was that...raw disappointment I saw in his eyes?

  Some super-gray. For a sociopath, he seemed to have a lot of emotions to sort through.

  Maybe love is the hardest emotion to destroy, I thought.

  Oh, please. Give me a break.

  “Why, Stephen?” Jordan’s voice quavered. “Why would you try to hurt me like that?”

  “I never wanted to hurt you.” He struggled against Connor’s grip on him, nearly breaking it.

  “Hold still,” Connor snarled.

  Zach’s gaze flicked toward me and his green eyes warmed a fraction. “Glad you’re okay, Samantha. I was worried about you.”

  I let out a shaky laugh. “That makes two of us.”

  “Move again,” Bishop warned Stephen, “and we’ll kill you.”

  Stephen fixed him with a wry look. “But then you won’t get Samantha’s soul back. Are you willing to take that chance?”

  Bishop’s expression only turned colder as he drew closer to the gray. “Where is it?”

  Stephen snorted. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Bishop slammed his fist into Stephen’s stomach.

  I slapped my hand over my mouth, unprepared for the sudden show of violence.

  Stephen barely flinched from the hit. “That kind of tickles.”

  Jordan paced in short, frantic lines, wringing her hands. I swept my gaze over the building where Stephen had locked us up. It was an abandoned warehouse in an industrial section of town, and we now stood in an empty parking lot. I never came here, so I didn’t know precisely where we were. Beyond the warehouse, a half mile away, I could see the lights of the city.

  “Hit him again,” Kraven suggested. “And don’t hold back this time.”

  Bishop glared at Kraven over his shoulder. “I wasn’t.”

  “If you say so.”

  As Bishop was about to do just that, I found myself at his side, grabbing hold of his arm to stop him. He looked at me with surprise in his blue eyes.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t want to sound like an after-school special here, but violence isn’t the answer.”

  He looked down at my firm hold on his arm, his muscles tensing under my touch. “Let me do what I have to do.”

  “He won’t talk until he’s ready, no matter what you do to him.”

  “We disagree about that.”

  I snorted softly. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  Bishop gave me a wry look. “So what would you suggest? He’s gone through stasis. He’s different now, worse than before. And after what he did to you...” The madness sparked in his eyes again, despite my continued grip on him. “I want to tear him apart.”

  “Samantha, you’re hurt,” Zach said, then looked at Kraven. “Cover me.”

  Kraven switched places with the angel. Connor still held Stephen prone from behind, and Kraven now gripped the gray’s throat. “Don’t move. I’m not nearly as nice as the rest of these boys. And I haven’t ripped out any throats lately.”

  I didn’t think he was bluffing.

  Bishop’s brows had drawn together at Zach’s words. He scanned my face. “Is he right? Are you hurt?” He hadn’t noticed how I’d been favoring my right wrist, but now his attention dropped to it and his eyes glowed blue. “It’s broken. That bastard broke your wrist.”

  The craziness growing in his gaze worried me. “Relax. That’s the worst of it.”

  “I could try to heal you. I’m sure I could do it. I’m stronger than I was before, but I—I just need to concentrate.”

  “No, Bishop,” Zach said sharply. “In your current state, healing would take every last ounce of life energy you’ve got left. And then some. I’ll do it.”

  Every last ounce he had left? Not a good idea then.

  I glanced over at the other angel. “My shoulder, too. And, uh, while you’re at it, I’m dealing with a bit of sprain in my left ankle.”

  Zach glanced at Bishop warily before he shifted the golden dagger under his arm, and placed his hands on me, sending his momentarily painful healing energy through my injuries one by one to heal me up as good as new.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Much. Thank you.” I was relieved the dull throbbing pain was finally gone.

  Bishop fisted his hands at his sides and his gaze returned to Stephen. “I strongly suggest you help us out here.”

  “Or what?”

  Bishop sent a frustrated glare in my direction. “Being nice isn’t working.”

  “That was nice?” I cleared my throat, half amused at his minor attempt at calm negotiation. “Believe me, I’m not suggesting we give him a free pass, but beating him into a pulp isn’t going to get my and Carly’s soul back. We need to learn more about stasis, too. I don’t think it turns a gray totally evil.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Bishop replied.

  “Yeah, well, Stephen’s still in love with Jordan.”

  Jordan gasped. “He’s...what? How could he feel anything for me with the way he’s treated me?”

  Zach had returned to grip Stephen’s shoulder and hold the dagger to the gray’s chest. Kraven moved back a few feet to give them space.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?” I said, focused on Stephen now. “What you felt before, it’s stronger. But it’s more obsessive now. More crazed.” I swallowed hard. “Still, you’re not completely lost.”

  He laughed, a dry sound. “You’re right. I’m just a friendly puppy. Have your friends let me go and we’ll talk it through over coffee. All is well.”

  “Stubborn, though,” I said, glaring. “We can do this my way, Stephen. Or we can do this Bishop’s way. My way hurts less.”

  The breeze picked
up. And a strange crackling energy slid over my skin, making me shiver.

  “What was that?” Jordan gasped. “Did you feel that?”

  “Feel what?” Bishop asked.

  “That sensation.” She frowned deeply, her expression haunted. “I felt that at the mall, I swear I did. Samantha, that was the same feeling I got just before Julie lost it.”

  I stared at her. She’d felt it, too. Now I remembered that I had felt something at the mall, but hadn’t thought anything of it at the time.

  “What is it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

  There was fear in her eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “You need to kill me,” Stephen whispered. “It’s too much. I’ve hurt too many people.”

  I whipped my head in his direction. He’d slumped a little in Connor’s grip, like he was losing his strength.

  “What game are you playing now?” Bishop said carefully. “You want me to kill you?”

  “He’ll do it,” Kraven said, his arms crossed. “If you say pretty please.”

  Stephen drew in a shaky breath. “They can’t see me. Nobody can. It’s like I don’t exist. But I do. I’m here. I was there for so long, but now I’m back and all it does is hurt. He never should have let me out.”

  I inhaled sharply. “Look at his eyes. They’re not right.”

  Stephen’s eyes were normally a cinnamon color, a medium rusty-brown. Right now they were glazed over with a sheen of white.

  “Do you see me?” he whispered.

  I flicked the briefest of glances at Bishop to register his confusion matched my own, before I returned my full attention to Stephen.

  But this wasn’t Stephen. Not right now. Clarity dawned for me, growing brighter with every second that ticked by.

  “I see you,” I said firmly. “What do you want?”

  “I want it to stop.”

  “What is this?” Bishop asked. “What’s going on?”

  “This...I’m sure it’s the new demon,” I said. “The one that escaped the Hollow. The one driving people in Trinity to kill themselves. That’s who you are, isn’t it? Somehow, someway, you’re able to drain the will to live from those you touch.” Realizing this made me want to run in fear. But I stood my ground.

  Stephen’s spooky eyes stayed on me. He nodded, his expression etched with despair. “Yes. But you’re wrong about one thing...I’m not a demon.”