Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) - By Michelle Rowen Page 0,92
soul inside me, it drove me crazy. It was torture, every day I existed here in the mortal world. I wandered, trying to find a place for myself, but there was nothing but pain and misery. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I had to end my suffering. I—I set myself on fire, hoping the flames would purge my pain. That death would give me silence and peace. The Hollow claimed me.”
“That was stupid,” Kraven said without emotion at this horrific tale. “A fallen angel or an exiled demon can’t kill him or herself with fire. Or a bullet. Or a hungry shark. That soul inside you takes on a life of its own and retains your consciousness, even if the body’s been destroyed.” His lips thinned. “But I suppose you’ve already figured that out, haven’t you?”
Stephen’s face held endless misery. “I have nothing left except my hunger. When I move through those here in this world, it gives me temporary relief.”
“But you’re hurting them,” I said, my throat tight. “You have to stop.”
He nodded. “Tonight I will ease my pain once and for all. It’s why I’m here. Why I was released from his kingdom. I do what he tells me.”
“What who tells you?” I asked.
“The only one that matters. The only one that knows the truth.” His eyes locked with mine. “You know, but you don’t. You can’t see, not yet. But you will. You will see everything like I do. Like he wants you to. Soon, very soon.”
I shivered.
Bishop met my gaze and his expression was bleak and haunted. This was a fallen angel, just like him, one whose soul had driven him insane. But this angel had chosen suicide as his only way out, which only made things worse.
He composed himself quickly and turned away from me to face Stephen again. “What do you mean? What are you going to do?”
Instead of replying, Stephen let out a strangled moan and dropped to his knees. Connor and Zach finally lost their hold on him and seemed uncertain of what to do with this most recent development.
“Bishop?” Connor asked.
“Don’t touch him again,” Bishop warned. “Not yet.”
Stephen’s eyes lost the opaque sheen and returned to their normal color. Again, I felt that strange crackling sensation slide over my skin. It made my heart race knowing it was caused by a bodiless fallen angel with a touch of death.
I exchanged a look with Jordan, who was rubbing her bare arms. She’d felt it, too.
“That was seriously freaky,” she said, her voice trembling.
Jordan was what Cassandra originally thought I was. A human with supernatural intuition. She saw what others didn’t. She sensed the invisible. She saw the unseen.
I guess we did have way more in common than I’d originally thought.
“Too much pain,” Stephen groaned. “Make it stop. Please, make it stop.”
My gaze shot to him as he crawled toward Zach, reaching a hand up beseechingly. “I hate what I’ve become. I hate that I hurt her. I’m sorry, Jordan. I’m sorry for everything. I want it to end. Please, kill me.”
“Stephen, no!” Jordan gasped out. “What’s wrong with you?”
“The angel—” I grabbed her arm to keep her from moving closer to him. “He took Stephen’s will to live—just like what happened with Julie. Bishop, do something! He’s going to hurt himself!”
Connor and Bishop both moved quickly to grab Stephen and they pulled him back up to his feet. But now Stephen, loose from being restrained, used that super-gray strength of his to fight, shoving Connor with enough force that he flew back, landing hard on the pavement.
“You’re not hurting anyone else tonight.” Bishop grabbed the back of Stephen’s shirt.
“Kill me then,” Stephen begged.
“Sorry. It’s not that easy.” Bishop slammed the gray into the wall of the warehouse hard enough to knock Stephen out. He sent a look in my direction and raised a dark eyebrow. “Too violent for you?”
I fought to breathe normally, and repressed a nervous laugh. “I’ll allow it.”
The barest of smiles moved across his lips. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”
“Go team,” Kraven said drily. “So what happens now? When he wakes up? Do we have a suicidal gray on our hands?”
Bishop shook his head. “My bet is it passes. The will to live, happiness in general, is not a measurable entity. It’s an emotion, a mental state. It’s possible when he wakes up he’ll be back to normal. We’ll take him to St. Andrew’s and monitor him.”
Stephen was incapacitated. Jordan and I had escaped.