fooled in this city and didn’t realize there were dark things lurking around the corner.
But that was irrational. Of course some people would notice something amiss. Especially those who were hypercritical. That would definitely be Jordan.
“And then there’s Stephen,” she continued, as if she didn’t particularly care it was me to whom she was spilling this info. “I mean, I don’t know exactly, but there’s something bizarre going on with him. He tells me that it’s over, but—he got this look in his eyes yesterday...” She shivered. “I know he doesn’t mean to hurt me. I know it. I need to see him again.”
As much as I desperately needed to find Stephen again, he and Jordan coming face-to-face was a bad idea. I didn’t think she’d survive another confrontation without triggering his hunger past the point of no return. “Not a good idea.”
She glared at me. “I forgot for a second that you were drooling all over Stephen.”
Just when I started to let my guard down around her she had to unsheathe her claws and draw blood. “That’s not true. Look, Jordan, I know you don’t like me, but you have to trust me on this. Stephen is bad news and you need to stay far away from him.”
“I forget. Why am I even talking to you right now?”
She walked away before I could say anything else.
No, the two of us would definitely not become friends. Ever.
The rest of the day was a blur. I couldn’t concentrate at all. I kept going through what Stephen had told me about stasis, what happened with Bishop and the thought that the modeling agent could have somehow stripped away the happiness from Julie so much that she had to kill herself.
But, no. That couldn’t be it. What happened to Julie was a tragedy, a senseless tragedy. That was all it was.
If nothing else, school was a distraction. Because when I got home, there was nothing to keep my mind off my problems.
After a couple hours of feeling shut out and hopeless, the walls began to close in on me. I couldn’t stay here and do nothing while everyone else was doing something.
I decided to go to Crave again. It was a good enough place to restart my search.
At just after seven o’clock I left the house and walked two blocks toward the bus stop at a clip.
“Going somewhere?”
I’d noticed him already, but he’d stayed silent and I’d tried to ignore him, hoping he’d go away.
“Out for a walk,” I replied tightly.
Kraven picked up his pace to walk next to me. “I’m stalking you. I know you like that word.”
“Suits you.”
“A job’s a job.”
The bus came along right when I arrived at the stop and I got on it. Kraven followed close behind me.
I took a seat at the back, as far from the handful of passengers as I could get. The demon took a seat across from me.
I eyed him warily. “Bishop’s busy tonight?”
“Giving Blondie his full and undivided attention. Jealous?”
Something inside me tightened unpleasantly at that. “Why would I be jealous?”
He casually stretched his arms across the seats and leaned back. “Oh, no reason, I suppose. True love dashed into the rocks below the cliffs of Teenland. It’s a heartbreaker. All I can do is witness it and shake my head sadly.”
I ignored the commentary and fell silent for a few minutes, staring out the window as the city lights rushed past. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I twisted in my seat to look at him. “What’s the latest on the gray situation?”
“About five-two, never smiles. Quite miserable, really.”
I glared at him. “Other grays. Not me.”
He waved a hand flippantly. “Totally under control. In that ‘hard to find, we have no real idea what we’re doing, we’re going to be stuck in this city forever’ kind of way. Heard you witnessed a suicide yesterday.”
I cringed. “At the mall.”
“Friend of yours?”
“Acquaintance.”
“You don’t seem too broken up by it.”
“I’m broken up.” My throat thickened. “Nobody should go that way.”
He shrugged. “I’d like to push a few people off a high cliff if I had the chance.”
“Like Bishop?” I asked, watching him carefully for his answer. In the memory meld I’d seen how close they once were. That was probably my biggest surprise. By the way they interacted now, I would have thought they’d always been enemies.
Kraven had been willing to do anything to help Bishop restore his sight. And I believed at that time he’d meant every word.
He rolled his eyes then