Dark Kiss (Harlequin Teen) (19 page)

Come to think of it, I had yet to see one of these mindless zombielike grays Bishop had told me about. Carly seemed just like me—rational and levelheaded. And not running around kissing anybody with lips.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

I didn’t have to think about it long. “Of course I do.”

“More than anybody?”

I nodded. Twelve years of being best friends had to count for something.

“And you want the whole truth about what’s going on in this city right now?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then you’re going to get it tonight. Stephen was worried I wouldn’t be able to convince you to come back. He knows he made a really bad impression on you. I don’t think he’s half as cool as he tries to pretend to be.”

“This is not news to me.”

“So come on, come to Crave with me again tonight.” She grinned. “Tuesdays are half-price chicken wings night.”

I let out a shaky breath and ignored my stomach rumble. “That does sound tempting.”

“Thought it might. This hunger—it’s not that easy to deal with, is it?”

“You feel it, too?”

“Oh, my God, yes. You should have seen what I ate at lunch. I went to McDonald’s. I think they’ve put up a wanted poster for me as the girl who gulped down four McChickens in one sitting. And two large fries.”

“Wow. Impressive.”

The only thing that tempted me to return to Crave tonight was the promise of answers. Real ones, this time, not half-truths and shiny sales pitches from Stephen. I needed Bishop to restore my soul, but in the meantime, I might as well do a little research of my own. It could help him, too, if this led me to the Source.

“Fine,” I finally said. “I’ll go.”

She gave me a tight hug then unlocked the driver’s side door to her Beetle. “I’ll pick you up at eight. Dress up. I think we should try to look really hot tonight.”

I frowned at her. “What, you’re just leaving me here? The least you can do is give me a ride home.”

“You live three blocks away.”

“What’s your point?”

She laughed. “Fine, lazy. Get in.”

Best friends till the end—that had always been our philosophy. Both of us were now missing our souls thanks to a kiss from Stephen Keyes. And so far, nothing seemed like it had changed except our increased desire for chicken wings and fast food.

That was a huge relief.

Maybe Bishop was wrong about grays. Maybe he’d been given some lousy information and this mission was a big waste of time and effort—something had totally been blown out of proportion. Maybe everything was going to turn out okay, whether or not my soul was successfully restored.

No, I didn’t think it would be nearly that easy, either. All I knew for sure was that I’d be getting some more answers tonight. I just wished the questions weren’t getting so damn scary.

Chapter 14

There was no sign of Bishop or the others after school or into the evening. Even if I’d wanted to contact him, I had no idea how.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him. From what I’d learned about him and Kraven, to hoping he could help Carly, Bishop was constantly on my mind. Also, I liked being near him—the warmth he gave me, the sound of his voice, his tall and strong presence that made me feel safe and protected
.
I even liked the way he challenged and aggravated me sometimes.

I missed him more than I ever would have expected.

Instead of focusing on that, I worked on getting ready to go out. I dressed as if it were a Friday night, with a short black skirt, black tights, a sparkly tank top, high-heeled knee-length boots and my thin, knee-length leather jacket. My winter coat would have to wait for a less fashionable occasion. I took extra time with my makeup, going heavy with the black eyeliner, and then I brushed every last tangle out of my hair so it hung in a fairly orderly manner all the way down to my waist.

I inspected the results in the mirror. Not exactly a supermodel, but not too shabby. It gave me a bit more confidence at the thought of facing Stephen and this mystery woman.

Bishop would likely be mad that I’d decided to go to Crave again, but what choice did I have? I wanted answers and I’d been given the opportunity to get more than I already had. I couldn’t say no to that.

Carly picked me up right at eight o’clock, and she looked hot, too, in a red dress that hugged her curvy body. Ten minutes later, we arrived at Crave.

As we walked toward the club from the parking lot, I noticed a man sitting on the curb with a cardboard box in front of him and a sign asking for spare change. His face was dirty, his black hair matted and messy, and his beard wasn’t much better. His fingernails were caked with grime. He watched me through pale eyes as Carly and I moved past him, close enough to see a handful of coins in the box.

“Greetings on this lovely evening, young ladies,” he said.

I felt an immediate surge of empathy for the guy. Some of the people I’d come across during my brief impersonation of a street kid were down on their luck like this and looking for a break or a kind word. Both, if they could get it.

After fumbling in my purse for a five-dollar bill, I dropped it into the box. He smiled as he watched it flutter to the bottom.

“Thank you.” His teeth were whiter than I would have expected, given his otherwise unkempt appearance. “Beauty bright like the stars above, it shines in her eyes. Eyes that have seen too much—more than they should. But she’s lost and can’t find her way. Who to trust…who to trust?”

His ramblings made me think of Bishop and my heart clenched.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Go to the mission on Peterson. They’ll give you a good meal and some help if you need it. Although, you probably already know that.” This guy had to have been on the streets for years by the looks of it.

He crossed his legs, squinting up at me. “So many speak with forked tongues. But the moon is high in the sky and it won’t be long at all until the tides rush in and sweep everything away. Beware, for the time grows closer with every night that passes.”

“Um, Sam?” Carly looked uncomfortable. She teetered on her treacherously high heels. “Let’s go somewhere a bit saner, shall we?”

“Yeah, okay.” I began to move past the man, but his hand shot out to grab my wrist.

Electricity zapped up my arm and, with a yelp, I yanked my hand away from him.

His eyes were wide. “I’ve waited, watched…so many years. And here you are. Finally. Like a beautiful star sent to save us all.”

Save everyone? At the moment, I could barely save myself.

Carly took hold of my arm and began dragging me after her toward the entrance. I stared over my shoulder at the crazy homeless man who’d touched me. That felt a lot like the same electricity as when I touched Bishop.

Who was he?

“Okay,
that
was creepy,” Carly said after we entered through the main doors to Crave.

“Yeah.” My throat suddenly hurt and I felt sick inside. I’d felt sympathy for a homeless man who rambled about lies and tides and stars.

Was he like Bishop—an angel who’d been damaged from entering Trinity? But touching me hadn’t cleared his mind. I’d seen in his eyes that he’d felt the shock, too, but he hadn’t started speaking coherently afterward.

It was nothing. Some static electricity and an overactive imagination, that was all.

“You okay?” Carly asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I cleared my throat and tried to compose myself. “Other than being eternally cold and hungry, I’m just fine.”

“Talk first. Eat second.”

I nodded. Last night with Stephen, I’d had a feeling I’d be seeing him again soon. I just hadn’t known how soon it would be.

Carly led the way up the spiral staircase to the second floor lounge, not missing a step. Of the two of us, only I seemed nervous about this. I wished when Stephen had kissed me that he’d given me a little of the confidence he seemed to have given my best friend.

I expected that Stephen would look at me with anger or distaste after his standoff with Bishop last night, but the moment he saw me enter the lounge all he did was smile.

Smile. At me. And it was as amazing a smile as I’d ever seen on his face. One that once would have made my heart flip. But my heart only seemed to do flips for one guy now—and it sure wasn’t Stephen.

Still, it didn’t exactly set me at ease. I’d been lured off the dance floor last Friday night by a smile just like that.

He glanced warmly at Carly as he approached us. “Thanks for handling this. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” She actually gave him a hug before looking at me. “I’ll let you two talk.”

“No, wait a minute—” I began.

But she’d already wandered off to join a couple of other kids sitting on a long red couch to the left of the stairway.

Stephen’s gaze moved to me again and his grin finally slipped a little. He actually looked awkward all of a sudden. “I’m really sorry about last night, Samantha.”

My brows went up. “You’re
sorry?
”

“Yeah. I handled it very badly.”

“Do you mean before or after you sucked the soul out of my best friend?” My words were cold as ice.

“Soon you’ll realize that all of this is for the best,” he said. “But I understand why you’re upset. Like I said, I handled things badly. I try to be confident, always have, but despite my best efforts, sometimes I come off like I’m a total…”

“Dick?” I finished for him. “I’m just randomly picking words out of the air. Tell me if you think I’m close.”

Despite how blasé everyone was being about this life-changing experience, I harbored a high level of rage over what he’d done to both me and Carly. It would take a whole lot of convincing to make me see it any differently.

“Yeah.” A grin played at his lips. “I was a total, unforgivable dick to you. Carly let me know in no uncertain terms that my behavior Friday night was unacceptable. She’s very protective of you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” I couldn’t keep looking at him—it was making me ill. “She said there was supposed to be someone else here tonight. Someone who might be more open with the truth than you’ve been. That’s the only reason I came back—because trust me, it wasn’t to see you again. When do I get to meet this person?”

“How about right now?” someone else said. There was a beautiful girl near the glass barrier overlooking the rest of the club, watching our uncomfortable exchange. She looked about the same age as Stephen, nineteen or so, and had dark hair and brown eyes.

If she was the one Bishop was looking for—the Source—she could be a demon who was able to devour souls. An anomaly, he’d said. One who was now able to create more who could do the same thing and had gotten Heaven’s and Hell’s attention in so big a way they’d slapped a quarantine over this entire city and sent a team of angels and demons to find her.

She approached and extended her hand to me. “Samantha Day. I’m very glad to finally meet you.”

I eyed her hand with trepidation, but made no move to shake it. I wasn’t feeling much like being polite tonight. “Who are you?”

“A friend.”

Terrific. Yet another person who liked to avoid direct questions. Finally, I forced myself to shake her hand. No spark, no electricity, nothing there but a normal handshake. I met her gaze, trying to at least appear to be brave right now. There was something about her eyes—she seemed kind of familiar to me.

With the way my week had been going, maybe I’d had a vision about her, too, and I just couldn’t remember it.

“Do I know you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “We’ve never met before. My name is Natalie.”

“So you’re the one with all the answers?”

“First, I wanted to apologize for how things have gone so far. Stephen has been…” She glanced at Stephen, who stood next to Natalie with his arms crossed over his chest, looking more uncomfortable with every moment that passed. “Like you already said, a total dick.”

I stifled a nervous laugh at that before sobering immediately. A chill moved down my spine. “You were the one—the one who asked him to do that to me on Friday night, weren’t you?”

Natalie held my gaze. “Yes, I asked him to kiss you.”

Fear slithered through me, and I took an involuntary step back from her. At first glance, she looked so normal, so pretty…so harmless. But she wasn’t. “I—I don’t understand. Why me?”

She glanced around at the half dozen other kids up here, minding their own business. Except for Carly, who cast curious glances over her shoulder every few seconds.

“There was no other choice.”

“He stole my
soul.
” Anger bubbled up in my voice, even though I was trying very hard to remain calm.

She shook her head. “It might be hard for you to believe, but he actually set you free from it.”

“No, he took it without asking. That’s stealing. And now I’m cold and hungry all the time and I can’t get it back. Explain to me how that’s so damn
freeing.
”

She wasn’t giving me the same shiny “this is awesome, trust me!” look Stephen had given me last night. She observed my stress and anger and recognized it, rather than dismissing it. “Please hear me out, Samantha. That’s why I hoped Carly could convince you to come back, despite your previous problems with Stephen. This is difficult for you, I know that. And I completely understand why you’re so upset.” She nodded at a nearby table. “Let’s have a seat. Stephen, give us some privacy please.”

Stephen nodded and wandered off without any argument.

Another surprise. Before, I’d thought Stephen was the one in control here. Now I clearly saw that it was Natalie—a girl who looked like a pretty, dark-haired college student wearing a tight black dress and four-inch designer heels.

I’d give her a chance. One chance, that’s all.

I tried to summon up some of Carly’s newfound confidence and took a seat across from her.

“Ask me anything you want to know,” she said.

I exhaled shakily. “Why me? Why did you ask Stephen to kiss me on Friday night?”

She didn’t shift her attention away from me for a moment. “Because you’re special, Samantha.”

I made a sound then that sounded like half hiccup, half hysterical snort. “So I’ve been told this week. I don’t feel that special.”