Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) - By Michelle Rowen Page 0,107
His dark beard was trimmed short, not long and scraggly. Now I realized he was at least ten years younger than I always thought he was. If he was even thirty I’d be surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“In your after-death dream?”
“Yeah.”
He shrugged. “I guess you wanted me here.”
I studied him, trying to figure out what didn’t seem right. Then it clicked. “Wait. You sound totally sane.”
“I am sane here.” He glanced around. “Other places, not so much.”
I looked down at the table he sat at to see that there was a game of chess set up. “I’ve dreamed about chess before.”
“You were playing it?”
“Yes, I mean, I think so. But I don’t know how to play chess. Checkers, now we’re talking. But chess is complicated.”
“You’re right. It’s very complicated.” He waved a hand. “It’s your move, by the way. I’ve been waiting a very long time for you to get here.”
I sat down across from him and looked at the board before meeting his brown eyes. “How can I play if I don’t know how?”
“You know more than you think you do.”
“You said that to me before, but seriously, I don’t know.”
“Then I’ll teach you. Be happy to. Only...” He glanced around. “We don’t have much time left.”
“I’m dead.” I said it flatly, shocked that the idea of it didn’t trouble me as much as I thought it might. Just like before, I still felt numb. “And I’m dreaming.”
“You are.”
Maybe it was because I felt better here. More whole. There was no hunger, no cold. But still, there was something missing. Something that felt empty in my chest.
Bishop. My hands began to tremble and I pressed them tightly together. “I can’t stay here.”
“First, make your move.” He nodded at the board.
One piece glowed with a soft blue light, drawing my attention. “What’s that piece called?”
Seth looked down the board. “That’s the bishop.”
My breath caught. When I put my hand on it I felt it hum pleasantly against my skin. The piece knew where it wanted to go; all it needed was my help to get there.
I pushed it forward two spaces. “Is this okay?”
“Yes.” Seth smiled, leaned forward, and made his move, knocking over my bishop with his piece. He snatched it off the board and placed it to the side. “Check.”
“Check? What does that mean?”
His lips curved. “It means I’m winning.”
I blinked at him. “Why am I dreaming about you, Seth? Why now?”
“Time for you to go.” He stood up from the table and the chess board shimmered away so there was nothing left on the table. A moment later, there was no table, either.
My panicked gaze shot to his. “But where can I go if I’m dead?”
He drew closer and patted my cheek. “It won’t be much longer now. Angel, demon, light, dark. Even gray. Their destiny is already decided. Soon. Very soon.”
“But I don’t understand.”
“You do. You just don’t want to yet.”
“Wait, I don’t—”
But then the wasteland slipped away. Seth vanished. And everything went black again.
A moment later, my eyes shot wide-open and I sat bolt upright, gasping for breath.
I was in the dark living room again, on the couch where I’d died. I frantically searched the shadows to find Bishop.
He was there. Sitting with his back against the wall, his eyes glazed. Only the light from the moon and streetlamp shining through the window allowed me to see him.
“Bishop...” I began.
“Couldn’t save you, couldn’t heal you. You died in my arms.”
“I’m not dead.”
He shook his head back and forth. “I hear you, but you’re not here. Memories haunt me now—like they always have. Always, forever. I’m okay with that, when it’s you. Haunt me, Samantha. Haunt me till the end. The very end.”
His voice was low and hollow. The sound of it sent a chill straight through me. And his words, his tone—he’d completely lost his mind.
My heart broke for him, for his pain, knowing that I was the one to cause it.
“Couldn’t save you,” he muttered. “Couldn’t save you. It was too late. I failed you. I failed you and now you’re gone.”
My body ached as I gingerly pushed myself up to a sitting position.
“I’m not dead,” I said again, stronger this time.
When he laughed, the sharp sound cut through the dark room. “Saw you die. Watched you die. You’re gone and now you haunt me.” He inhaled raggedly and squeezed his eyes shut. “Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.”
I shakily got to my feet and moved toward him. He opened his