Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) - By Michelle Rowen Page 0,46
not. But it’ll feel like it does for a little while. My mother swears by the stuff to get her through a long day. I think she’s one of Starbucks’s best customers.”
Cassandra got the canister of coffee down and looked at it, confused. Finally, I took it from her and helped make a pot of coffee, then fixed it for her like my mother would—heavy on the cream and sugar.
She sipped from the mug gingerly, then gave me a smile. “I like it.”
“Hooray.” I sat down at the kitchen table after grabbing some toast and peanut butter—the pieces piled high on my plate to help stave off my constant hunger. I had a cup of coffee, too, even though it wasn’t my drink of choice. Then I gave the angel a guarded look. “So off to do your mission today?”
“Of course.”
“The mission with the others or your supersecret one?”
She blanched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I shrugged. I wasn’t prepared to tell her I read her mind the other night. At least, a small piece of it. It would raise too many questions I didn’t want to answer right now. “If you say so.”
Cassandra’s real agenda for being sent here wasn’t my concern—at least, I didn’t think it was. Today, I had to get my bearings again. I had to find Stephen. I’d been so close at the mall yesterday—I had to find him before...
I took a gulp of the hot coffee and swallowed it down.
If he went through stasis, if he turned into a total sociopath instead of only a part-time jerk...
Then I was in serious trouble. Without my soul I was next on the list to either turn evil or die.
My attention was again drawn to the blond angel standing nervously by my kitchen sink. She gripped the counter behind her. Her skin was pale. This wasn’t the warrior I’d seen kick Roth’s ass on Saturday night. Something was wrong with her.
Concern welled inside me. “You okay?”
She blinked, as if my voice summoned her out of her deep thoughts. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. Of course I am.”
“You seem a little distracted this morning.”
“Sleep is important. I failed to get enough.”
“That’s all it is?”
She brought her coffee mug to the table and sat down across from me. “It’s different here. I—I feel different from when I’m home. The sleeping is one thing. The need to eat is another.”
“Okay.” She was starting to worry me. “What’s wrong, Cassandra?”
Her blue eyes raised to mine. “Emotions. They’re...troubling.”
“In general, or your emotions?”
“Mine.” She swallowed hard. “It’s like a sensory rush—a wave crashing over me. Too much all at once. I can barely process it.”
“Is that because you’re one of the hosts?”
She nodded. “It would be different for one who was once human. They’d already have experienced all of this. But for me...” Her cheeks reddened. “I need to be focused while I’m here. It’s so important that I don’t get distracted. But...it’s proving to be a challenge. Especially when I’m around him.”
Him.
My grip tightened on my coffee mug. The hot liquid burned my fingertips through the ceramic, but I didn’t let go. “I’m not following.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to follow if she was talking about Bishop. Jealousy poked its pointed head up and glanced around with a sour look on its face.
She forced a smile. “Forget it. It’s nothing.”
Was she trying to say she was falling for Bishop? That being around him made her feel things—confusing things?
My chair made an unhappy squeaking sound as I pushed back from the table. “I need to go to school.”
Cassandra looked alarmed at the suggestion. “Do you think that’s wise? A school would be filled with human souls. It could be dangerous for you.”
“Yeah, well, if I don’t go I’ll start failing my classes. You have goals, I have goals. Sometimes those goals are different.”
I didn’t know what was up with Cassandra’s melancholy angel act, but I knew it had something to do with Bishop.
The thought tied my stomach up into unpleasant origami shapes that looked a lot like two angels in love.
* * *
McCarthy High was only a few blocks from my house, its expansive grounds covered in big trees and grassy lawns, although the leaves had fallen from the trees by this time of the year and the lawns weren’t quite as green as they were when school started early last month. Winding paths led to the football field and the parking lot. This was my fourth year here. I was a senior.