Wicked Kiss

“Gray-girl’s curious charm doesn’t seem to be lost on many,” Kraven drawled, amused. “Hobbits are hot.”

“It’s not at his house,” I said, remembering what Kelly told me in the school hall yesterday. “He found another place?”

“Yeah, an abandoned house in a private area on the far east side of the city—at Oak and Peters. Thinks it’ll add a spooky touch. Figures it might be busted, but that’s supposed to make it more exciting.” She crossed her arms. “I’m going.”

I watched Bishop carefully for his reaction to the stubborn redhead. “Connor, like I said, take Jordan home safely. What she does after that is entirely up to her.” He shifted his gaze to his brother. “Kraven, go with Roth to this party and keep an eye open for our gray friend. Connor can meet you there later.”

“And if we see him?” Connor asked.

“Detain him. Any way possible.”

Connor’s eyes narrowed and there was a hard set to his jaw. “With pleasure.”

They didn’t wait. They left, Jordan sending a glance back toward me, but no goodbye. It would have been easier for her if the angelic influence had worked. Whatever made her different, that gave her the supernatural intuition, had prevented her from being influenced.

She would remember everything she’d seen, everything she’d learned.

It was dangerous information for a seventeen-year-old. I should know.

When they left, Bishop looked at Cassandra. “You’ll go with Samantha back to her house. Wait for her outside the church, all right?”

“All right.” Cassandra glanced at me, then left the two of us alone.

“And where will you go?” My chest clenched at the thought of saying goodbye to him again.

“The others want me to stay away from you. I think we’ve already proven how dangerous it can be when we’re too close.”

I swallowed hard. “Yeah, very dangerous. So where are you headed?”

He held my gaze. “To your house.”

My brows rose. “What?”

He snorted softly at my surprised reaction. “I honestly don’t care what anybody says, I’m not letting you out of my sight right now. Understand?”

I just nodded, stunned he was even suggesting this. He could have easily let Cassandra take me home and joined the others at the house party.

But he wanted to stay with me.

He took hold of the small dagger now lying on the top of the empty wooden desk. He wiped the blade on his jeans to clean it of Roth’s blood.

“I believe this is yours.” He handed it to me. When I took it from him, our fingers brushed against each other.

I returned it to its sheath under my skirt. “Thank you. I’m sorry about what happened—”

“Don’t apologize. And Kraven’s wrong. It wasn’t your fault. What Stephen did to you...” His expression darkened. “I could have killed him for that.”

“Killing isn’t always the answer.”

“I know that.”

I swallowed hard. “I saw you kill Kraven. In your memory.”

He turned away, but I caught his arm.

“It wasn’t you,” I said firmly. “It couldn’t have been. There has to be some other explanation why you’d do that.”

When his gaze met mine again, this time it was stormy. “It’s funny, you seeing that memory.”

I laughed this time, a dry, humorless sound. “What’s so funny about it?”

“Because...a lot of the details are a blank for me. But I guess, somewhere in my head it’s all still there, crystal clear.” His brows drew tightly together. “What happened with Kraven...he was my brother. We had our problems, sure, but—I remember the cold certainty that came over me that night. The knowledge that he had to die and that his soul was bound for Hell...but—” he rubbed a hand over his mouth and looked away from me “—I don’t know why I couldn’t stop myself from killing the one person who ever gave a damn about me.”

I stared at him. This was the confirmation I’d been looking for. “You can’t remember why you did it? Seriously?”

He gave me a wry look. “It doesn’t excuse what I did.”

“But in a way it does. It tells me you weren’t yourself at the time.”

“But I still did it. Nobody else. You saw that yourself.”

I tried to figure it out, but failed miserably. “No matter what you might have done, you’re still an angel. Your soul was not dark and heavy enough to become a demon, so as horrible as it was, it must have been the right thing to do at the time. You told me yourself—killing Kraven and sending him to Hell is what helped you become an angel. There has to be a reason for that.”

“There was.” He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “There was somebody on my side. Somebody who put in a good word for me—somebody who also sent people to Hell whenever he got the chance.”

“Who?”

He searched my face as if waiting for me to recoil from him with disgust and horror over all of this. But I’d been in training lately to handle a lot of bizarre stuff. I could handle more. I was like a pack mule for supernatural craziness now.

“My father,” he finally said.

I blinked with surprise. “Your father?”

He nodded slowly. “Just like your birth mother—my father was an angel. That got me a chance when otherwise I know I would have been damned.”