Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) (21 page)

I followed him, still wary, but hopeful. He opened the
passenger-side door and pulled out a wrapped cloth. I drew closer to see, my
heart pounding.

“Is that my soul?” I whispered.

He unfolded it and I waited to see what was inside, but it was
only a cloth. And it smelled strange.

I frowned. “What is that?”

“Like I said, it’s something you need.” Then he grabbed me, his
arm an iron vice across my chest.

I fought back immediately, shrieking as he pressed the cloth
over my mouth and nose. I scrambled under the edge of my skirt to grab the
dagger and pull it free from its sheath, and then tried to stab Stephen with it.
He caught my wrist before I could make contact. His grip tightened until a
lightning bolt of pain wrenched through my wrist and I heard a sharp crack. My
cry of pain and fear was muffled by the cloth, and the dagger clattered to the
pavement.

He was strong—so strong. He’d broken my wrist like it was
nothing more than a twig.

All I smelled were harsh chemicals. I kept fighting against him
for a few moments longer before darkness welled up all around me, dragging me
down, down, down...

Chapter 20

Chloroform.

I was sure that’s what Stephen had on the cloth. I’d only seen
it in movies before. Now I’d experienced it in full Technicolor
unconsciousness.

I wasn’t sure how long it was until I started waking up. As
soon as awareness began swirling around me and I peeled my eyelids open a
little, the cloth was at my mouth again. I barely had a chance to struggle or
summon a scream before darkness welled up.

This happened twice more before I finally came to full
consciousness. My head ached. The world around me was blurry. My chest hurt when
I inhaled raggedly and hoarsely, followed by a dry, wheezing cough. My broken
wrist throbbed.

I lay on a hard floor in a small, dark room—small enough that
my claustrophobia kicked in immediately and my heart began to race. There was a
tiny window near the high ceiling that let in enough light to tell me it was
late afternoon. I tried to breathe, in and out, and may have let out a small
moan.

Apart from my headache and wrist, the next pain I felt was
sheer, unadulterated hunger.

“Finally. Thought you were never going to wake up.”

I blinked several times until I finally shifted my gaze in the
direction of the voice—also the source of my current hunger.

Jordan was crouched next to me.

“Get back,” I croaked out.

She shifted backward to give me some space. It helped a
little.

“Where are we?” I managed. “What are you doing here?”

Her expression was pinched as she looked around. “Where we are?
No idea. Some room with a locked door. What am I doing here? I’m guessing it’s
the same reason as you. You didn’t come here of your own free will.” A bit of
her bravado slipped away and I could see the fear in her green eyes. “I thought
you were dead.”

I rubbed my head with my good hand. “And you’re disappointed
that I’m not?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course not. I don’t like you, Samantha,
but I didn’t want you to die. There’s been enough death this week.” Her voice
quavered. “What the hell is going on?”

The room was no more than ten square feet. I hated being in
enclosed spaces so much. It made me feel trapped. Now I was
literally
trapped. “How long was I out?”

“A day and a half.”

I forced myself to sit up. “A day and a half?”

“It was yesterday morning when I was brought here. You were
brought in an hour later. And then...all afternoon. Night. Day again...it feels
like forever. He threw in a water bottle and a couple energy bars. I saved one
for you.”

I sat up completely. My head throbbed with the effort and I
brought my knees up in front of me, hugging them to my chest as I tried to sort
things through. I pressed my right hand against my chest. My wrist was
definitely broken.

Panic and anger swirled inside me at the thought that Stephen
had kept me unconscious for a day and a half.

Locked in a basement with Jordan.

I looked at her. “We need to get out of here.”

“Gee, what a fantastic idea. I hadn’t considered that before.”
Her sarcasm dripped. “The door’s locked. And it’s made of metal. There’s no way
out. I already broke three nails trying.”

“What about that window?” I looked up at it.

“Do you have a secret identity as Spider-Man I’m not aware of?
Besides, you’re small, but that window is still way too tiny to squeeze
through.”

I struggled to get to my feet. Jordan tried to help me but I
flinched away from her.

“What is wrong with you?” she snapped.

My stomach clenched as I tried to get control of myself. It
took a second. “Trust me, you don’t want to get too close to me right now.”

“You are so weird.”

“Yeah, I’m weird. But take my word for it, okay? Stay back.” I
got to my feet on my own and turned in a circle. It looked like a storage room,
cleared of any storage so the room was completely empty. Just white walls.
Ceiling-set lights. That small window. Two trapped girls. “Do you have a cell
phone?”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. “My cell phone! I could just call
someone for help.” She glared. “He took it away from me, of course. First thing
he did.”

I scowled at her. “You’re not helping.”

“Why is Stephen doing this?” Her earlier smart-ass tone had
been replaced by raw pain and confusion. “Why would he do this to me?”

“Maybe you should have left him alone.”

“Nice. And let you have him?”

A cold line of perspiration slid down my back. Being in this
tight spot with no idea how to escape was starting to freak me out. “Believe me,
I don’t want him. There’s only one thing I want from Stephen and it’s definitely
not his body.”

Jordan’s bottom lip wobbled. “He’s a monster.”

“Did he kiss you?” I asked with alarm when the thought occurred
to me. At her look of confusion, it took all I had in me not to reach forward
and shake her. “Did he?”

Her eyes sparked with fury. “No. He was too busy knocking me
unconscious to do any making out. Not that I’d ever kiss him again after what
he’s done to me. Bastard.”

“Good.”

“Oh, I see. You’re the only girl that psycho can kiss now. Is
that it?”

“Save your jealousy, Jordan. It’s not helpful right now.” I
went to the door, pressing my left hand flat against its smooth, cool surface.
There was no handle or lock on this side, only flat metal.

Then I started to pound on it. “Stephen! Let us out of
here!”

Jordan grabbed my shoulder. “What are you doing?”

I literally shoved her away from me. Her soul was like a
tempting second skin she wore, and the last damn thing I wanted to do right now
was lose what little control I had left and attack her. “What did I tell you
about not getting close to me?”

She frowned deeply. “Stephen said the same thing to me when he
brought me in here.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. I figured he just doesn’t like me anymore.”

“I think he might like you
too
much,” I mumbled. Then I pounded on the door again until my left fist hurt. It
was a very sharp reminder that my nexus abilities did not extend themselves to
super strength, at least, not when a demon or an angel wasn’t involved. No, a
big metal door was more than enough to keep me trapped. And my only ability as a
gray was my current and growing need to devour Jordan’s soul.

It was my worst fear come to life. No way to escape my hunger.
What happened with Colin would only be foreshadowing if I didn’t find a way out
of this room.

“Stephen’s one of them,” Jordan whispered.

She wrung her hands anxiously. “The ones who hurt people, who
can absorb their energy somehow. It weakens them—can kill them. The murders in
the paper, the ones where the victims have no sign of trauma, only those strange
lines around their mouths. The police don’t know why, but I do. I saw it before,
and Stephen’s one of them. He’s got us in here and he’s going to kill us.”

I looked at her, stunned that she figured it out—even if she
had no idea what she’d figured out. “I don’t think his plan is nearly as simple
as killing us.”

“You’re not looking at me like I’m crazy. Why aren’t you
freaking out?”

My heart was going a thousand beats a minute, but I was doing
everything I could not to let it show on the surface. “I am freaking out,
believe me.”

“I checked out the modeling agency. But—but that woman...”

“She wasn’t the reason why Julie killed herself,” I finished.
“I know. I checked her out, too.”

She looked shocked. “You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I was trying to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed.”

The mix of surprise and gratitude in her eyes both froze off
quickly. “That wasn’t smart. Since now we’re going to die, anyway.”

“Yeah, well, you’re welcome. And we’re not going to die.
Stephen, he...he has another reason for keeping us here. And I think we’re going
to find out what it is very soon.” There was the sound of a lock turning and the
door began to creak open. My mouth went dry with fear. “Like...right now.”

I staggered back from the door and, for the first time since I
came to, felt for the knife at my thigh. Only the leather sheath remained.

“Asshole,” I muttered. He’d broken my wrist when I pulled out
the dagger to defend myself. Of course he hadn’t given it back.

Stephen entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He studied us each in turn before casually leaning against the
wall. “So we meet again.”

I eyed the door, knowing it was my only escape. The key must be
in his pocket. “Planning to knock me out again?” I asked icily.

“Not right now. Maybe later.”

“You need to let us out of here,” Jordan said, her voice
breaking.

I watched for his reaction to her, and was surprised to see
there wasn’t one. His face remained cold and impassive.

“You’re not going anywhere. Not yet.”

“Start talking,” I snarled. “What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want something?”

“Basic deduction. You dragged both of us here and locked us up.
You haven’t hurt Jordan.”

He shrugged. “I knocked her out. Didn’t get to the chloroform
in time. Had to slam her head against a cement wall. I’m sure that hurt.”

I glanced at Jordan to see her flinch at the reminder. I
finally noticed that there was dried blood along her right temple. I narrowed my
eyes at Stephen. “What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”

He held my gaze steadily. “Sometimes you have to make tough
decisions.”

I grabbed his shirt with my left hand, furious now. “Let us out
of here.”

He eyed my grip on him before he smirked. “Nah.”

Then he took hold of my shirt, balling the material in his
grip, and shoved me backward with inhuman strength. Jordan’s scream pierced
through the small room as I went flying backward and hit the wall. I fell flat
onto the ground and lay there dazed and gasping for breath.

Grays didn’t have strength like this. The super-gray who’d
broken Cassandra’s back had. The realization made my blood run cold.

“You’ve gone through stasis.” I forced out the words as I tried
to sit up.

“My evolution was quicker than I thought it would be.” Stephen
towered above me, his cinnamon-brown eyes glinting. When I tried to get up, he
pinned my shoulder to the ground with the heavy sole of his shoe. “Don’t make me
hurt you more than I have to. Stay down.”

I didn’t take direction very well. I struggled, but the
pressure only increased as he shifted his weight to my collarbone.

“No angels here to heal you. I suggest you don’t move unless
you want me to break some more bones, Samantha. For what I need from you...you
don’t have to be in one piece.”

I stopped struggling. He leaned over and yanked me up, slamming
me into the wall hard enough to knock my breath out of me.

“Let go of her!” Jordan shrieked. She was fighting him now,
clawing at his arm. But, while she was tall, she wasn’t any stronger than a
typical seventeen-year-old girl. Not compared to something like Stephen.

He shoved her away from him. She stumbled and fell to the
ground.

Stephen glared at her. “Stay down.”

He had me raised off the ground, my feet dangling. While he
hadn’t broken any bones this time, I’d definitely sprained my shoulder. The pain
only fueled my anger and helped my claustrophobia take a backseat.

“Does it make you feel like a man to beat up two girls like
this?” I asked. “You’re a pathetic lowlife. You always have been.”

His hateful smirk returned, making his handsome face very ugly.
“Wrong. I’m an example of the highlife, the best yet. Do you know what it feels
like after going through stasis? I thought losing my soul was a good thing in
the beginning. It gave me confidence all of a sudden. It made girls look at me
more than they already did—and every one of them wanted me. That extra something
we have, it’s to draw our victims closer. Gives us a chance to feed. And they
like it, even when you’re draining every last bit. You know that, right?”

I didn’t say anything. He didn’t need the confirmation.

“It tastes better now, taking a soul,” he said. “And we take
the whole soul, every time.”

Repulsion shot through me. “Now when you kiss them, you can’t
change them into another gray. You kill them.”

He laughed. “Stupid humans, milling about this city. They think
they’re the top of the food chain. But they’re not. Why can’t you get it through
your head, Samantha? You’re one of us. You’re part of the new order.”

“Oh, my God. The new order? What is this, some sort of gray
power thing? You’re sick.”

“You’ll feel differently after you’ve evolved to the next
level.” He raised an eyebrow at my blanched look. “You know it’s inevitable,
don’t you? You must feel it drawing closer by the hour.”

His words made me ill. I kept quiet, hoping that my glare would
suddenly turn into something capable of killing him where he stood.

“Stasis is like a wave in the distance, taking its time to
arrive,” he continued, “but when it gets closer you realize it’s more like a
tsunami. Natalie thought the less we fed, the more it stayed at bay. But it’s
just the opposite. The more you feed, especially closer to stasis, the more you
delay it, but it’s not forever. When it gets here you’ll lose yourself
completely. There’s no other choice.”

His words sent a fresh ripple of jagged fear through me. “You
lost yourself?”

Stephen nodded. “Monday night. At Ambrosia. I lost it. I had to
get out of there. Funny thing was, I left so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. Once you
lose it, you don’t care about meaningless things like that. All you think about
is feeding. And your victims? They’re
still
drawn to
you, even in that mindless state. Easy pickings. I fed a lot that night. And I
woke up the next morning better than ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Jordan demanded. “I don’t
understand any of this. What the hell are you?”