Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) - By Michelle Rowen Page 0,91
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.”
When I drew closer, Bishop caught my wrist, keeping me from taking another step. He, like everyone else present, regarded Stephen now with shock.
“What are you, then?” Bishop asked.
He drew in another shaky breath. “I am...I was...an angel.”
Bishop’s eyes widened. “An angel?”
Zach and Connor exchanged a surprised look, but they didn’t budge an inch. Jordan shivered a few feet to my right, and Kraven watched all of this with interest. He rarely looked surprised about anything that ever happened, even the shocking stuff.
For me, I was stunned by this revelation. Stunned speechless, in fact. If my aunt had been an anomalous demon that hurt people, that made a twisted kind of sense. She’d been a demon. But an angel...
They were supposed to be the good guys.
“How did this happen?” I managed to say.
“I was expelled from Heaven,” the angel speaking through Stephen explained. “The