Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) (35 page)

“I’ll kill nobody for you. I dig up your
dead bodies, but I don’t make them dead.”

Her expression hardens. “You’ll do exactly
as I say now, child. Stand up.”

I stand up as if there are strings
attached to my shoulders.

Her eyes are so cold they freeze me in
place. “You’ve made me very angry, Adam. You made me sacrifice my favorite
son. You’ve made me sacrifice you.”

“Sacrifice?” I frown, confused.
Frightened. “But I’m still here. I’m still breathing.”

“I wanted to protect you because I loved
your father. You took that from me. You gave me no other choice. I take
revenge toward those who’ve done me wrong. You’ve now done me wrong, Adam,
my sweet. So now you will kill my enemies one by one without hesitation,
without question. And tomorrow, when I’ve ensured he’s forgotten all about
his little visit down here, you will kill James. You will kill him as your
punishment so you have no one left alive who cares for you. No one who wants
to help you. Do you understand me?”

I stare at her with horror. “Mother,
no...”

“Say it, Adam. Say it!”

Just as the ashes wrapped around my
throat, now something invisible tightens in their place, leaving me cold and
empty and unable to fight. My mind fogs—the past unclear, the present hazy,
the future entirely at her command. “Tomorrow I will kill James. For you,
Kara.”

She smiles again. “That’s my good
boy.”

I will do whatever she tells me to. I have
no choice.

No choice.

She’s damned me every bit as much as she’s
damned my brother.

Chapter 34

Snap!

Both Bishop and Kraven let go of me at the same time and
staggered backward. It had all been so real. As if
I
was Bishop, experiencing every painful emotion, every horrible thought. I felt
his fear, his disgust and his inability to resist whatever dark magic his mother
and her friends had performed on him.

Symbols drawn in blood. The darkness and evil in the ashes
rising up and taking him over, clouding his memories, but leaving him conscious
enough of what he was doing. Just not
why
he did
it.

“It was supposed to be me,” Kraven whispered. “But that
selfish, murderous bitch didn’t care in the end, as long as it got done. She
made me forget being down there with them, but now I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it
all.”

Bishop’s expression was stone, but there was something in his
eyes that worried me. What he’d been forced to remember, forced to
see,
had unhinged him. I reached for him, hoping to
lend him some sanity, but there was no spark of energy this time when I touched
his skin. He looked down at where my fingers curled around his wrist, his
expression grim.

“Wasn’t sure when that would stop working. Guess it’s
tonight.”

“Bishop, no.” Guilt lanced through me. “I shouldn’t have done
it. I shouldn’t have done the memory meld. It must have messed this up.”

“I think it’s just a coincidence and was bound to happen sooner
or later. But my mind...” He pressed his hands to either side of his head and
swore under his breath. “It’s getting worse by the minute.”

Kraven had gone silent, watching us from the shadows as if we
were complete strangers. “How long do you have before you lose it
completely?”

“Don’t know. Not long.”

The demon’s expression was guarded, untrusting. “I don’t know
what to think right now. How do I know if any of that was real? Maybe you’re
lying to me, trying to manipulate me.”

I shot him a look. “I guess that’s something you’re going to
have to work out for yourself. But if you ask me, it was real. Totally real. And
if there’s somebody you should hate, it’s your mother.”

“Believe me, I’m way ahead of you on that one.”

“What happened wasn’t Bishop’s fault. And it wasn’t your fault,
either. You thought he killed you of his own free will to get some sort of
Heavenly reward. Well, guess what, James? You were wrong. And for a hundred
years you’ve hated the one person who would have done anything for you.”

He just stared at me bleakly before turning away and going into
the church without another word.

“So he chooses avoidance when faced with the truth,” I
muttered. “Not a huge surprise.”

“I need to talk to Connor,” Bishop said, his voice hoarse. “I
can’t get sidetracked by any of this. Not now. If what he said about your father
is true, then we need a plan in place to deal with it.”

He was right. The many problems between the brothers weren’t
going to be fixed in a few minutes. Even with the truth about Bishop still
playing like a movie in my head, I knew I had to stay focused.

“This isn’t over yet, you know,” I told him. “None of it, so
don’t lose hope. You can still be fixed.”

“There’s no fallen angel who’s ever been welcomed back to
Heaven.”

“You’re no normal fallen angel, Bishop.” I actually smiled at
that as I pulled him closer to me. What I’d seen had been horrible, but it had
set my mind at ease about him being evil. “Seriously, you’re the most
ab
normal guy I’ve ever met in my life.”

His lips twitched. “Thanks. I think.”

Bishop went back into the church, but I stood out there for a
few more minutes trying to breathe. Trying to stay calm. Trying not to get
overwhelmed.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

It had been exhausting, but if there was one thing I’d done
right tonight, it was to show Kraven and Bishop the truth. What they’d do with
it after so many years of bad blood between them, I honestly didn’t know.

As I turned toward the door to go back inside and join the
others, something caught my eye. Somebody was walking along the sidewalk on the
other side of the road without sparing a glance toward the church.

It was Roth.

Despite our many issues, my heart ached for him. It was only
last night that Cassandra had been lost to the Hollow—torn right out of his
arms.

Is this what he’d been doing ever since? Walking the city all
alone?

I needed to talk to him, to tell him to come back to St.
Andrew’s to be with people who cared about him, who might be able to help him
with his grief.

Before he turned the corner up ahead, I started after him. I
was about to call out his name when a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

A scream caught in my throat and I spun around to
face...Jordan.

“Hey,” she said, her brows drawn together. “Where do you think
you’re going?”

“Uh...I need to—”

“You’re just going to leave me here with the Three Stooges? By
the way, for three hot guys, they are seriously weird, and not just because
they’re all supernatural. If you’re leaving, so am I.”

Roth was getting farther away and I couldn’t let him out of my
sight. I grabbed Jordan’s arm and started walking faster. Her long legs helped
her more than keep up.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I need to talk to Roth.”

The demon was fifty yards ahead of us and moving fast. “Doesn’t
look like he wants to talk to you.”

“I need to help him.”

“From what I’ve heard tonight, you need to be a little more
concerned with helping yourself.” She glanced to the left to see the outline of
downtown, including skyscrapers and office buildings. The glow from the sign on
the side of the massive St. Edward’s hospital lit up the night.

“Thank you for your opinion.”

Her gaze tracked behind us and there was something about her
expression. Something wounded and lost.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“He’s close.”

“Who’s close?” Then I grimaced. “Are you talking about
Stephen?”

She inhaled sharply. “Who else? He’s around, Samantha. I can
feel it.”

I hesitated, knowing this was a dangerous subject to get into
with Jordan. “It was rough for a couple days there, but I honestly don’t think
he’s going to try to hurt you again, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“I should hate him.”

“You have every right to feel that way.”

Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and I couldn’t
help but notice her eyes were now glistening. “I’m not like those girls who are
into guys who treat them like crap. I see it all the time, some of my friends
are so pathetic when it comes to loser guys who obviously don’t really love
them. They cheat on them, hurt them, treat them like garbage, borrow money from
them and never pay them back...and yet as soon as the guy texts, they’re all
excited again. Pathetic.”

“I have to agree.”

“I’m
not
like that.”

“Trust me, Jordan. I don’t believe you’re like that,
either.”

A tear slipped down her cheek and she angrily wiped it away.
“Then why can’t I hate him?”

My heart twisted. “I guess because real love’s not that easy to
destroy.”

“That’s really stupid.”

“Yeah, it is.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But
you need to prepare yourself. Things aren’t going to get better for him. His
soul is gone. He’s a gray—possibly the last one in the city. If the guys find
him, it’s their mission to kill him. He’s a threat and he can’t be helped.”

“There has to be a way,” she whispered.

“I wish there was.”

She looked directly at me as we continued to walk. “Do you
really mean that?”

I nodded. “I really do.”

And then I slammed right into Roth’s chest.

“Following me?” he asked when I realized what had happened.

He’d stopped walking, turned around to watch our approach, and
I hadn’t noticed a damn thing since I’d been discussing Jordan’s love life,
which was, quite possibly, even more complicated than my own.

I searched his face, my heart pounding hard. “Roth, I’m glad
you stopped. You need to come back to the church. The guys are worried about
you.”

“What about you, Samantha?” His face twisted into an unpleasant
smile. “Are you worried, too?”

His tone could easily be described as the opposite of
friendly.

“Actually, yes. I am. Look, I know what happened last night was
horrible. It was hard for all of us. But you need to—”

“Shh.” He pressed his index finger to his lips. “Do you hear
that?”

I stopped and listened. “Hear what?”

“Me not caring about your opinion. But thank you for attempting
to give it to me anyway. Do you think you can fix everything with a few words?
You’re a teenager, barely out of diapers. You could never understand how I feel.
And I don’t really want you to try. Okay?” His cruel grin stretched. “But I am
really glad you followed me, even if you brought a friend. Won’t matter in the
end, I suppose.”

“And I thought the
other
demon was
a jerk.” Jordan eyed Roth with distaste. “Color me wrong.”

I frowned. “You’re glad I followed you? What are you talking
about?”

“He said you’d follow me.” Roth shrugged. “And here we are.
Right where I said I’d bring you.” He turned around in a slow circle. “Okay,
she’s here. I did what you asked. Let’s get on with it.”

I suddenly realized where we were. It was a grocery store—or at
least, it used to be. It had closed down, the sign broken, the parking lot a
large expanse of concrete and dark emptiness.

I’d seen this place before—it was in my vision.

My throat tightened. “What’s going on? Who wanted you to bring
me here?”

A lone streetlamp still worked and cast a long shadow as the
figure approached from the darkness. Other lamps along the street were broken or
flickering.

“Beautiful star,” Seth said, a smile wide on his face. “You’re
here. I’m glad.”

Part of me relaxed at seeing it was only him. The other part
didn’t relax at all. Just the opposite. Especially after him having a starring
role in my after-death experience. “Seth...what are you doing here? You know
Roth?”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the demon. “It’s a very
recent development, but yes.”

I scanned the length of the fallen angel. His clothes were
dusty and torn, just like usual. His beard seemed even thicker than the last
time I’d seen him, the night we’d been at Ambrosia. The strange marks on his
arms I’d noticed before had grown even darker and larger. They also trailed up
his throat now.

“Um, who is this dude?” Jordan asked, scrunching her nose.

“This—this is Seth,” I said. “He’s a fallen angel who’s been in
Trinity a long time. Seth, this is Jordan.”

“Charmed,” Jordan said as insincerely as possible. She eyed
Seth as if he was something she’d found stuck to the bottom of her shoe. “Can we
wrap this up? I really want to get back to my car and go home. I suddenly feel
the need to have a long shower.”

“Seth, what’s going on?” I asked. “You never stick around very
long to answer my questions, but I have a lot of them. Why did you want Roth to
bring me to you? What do you need to tell me? Have you seen something that might
help us?”

“Help,” he murmured. “Yes, that’s what this is about. I’m glad
to see you’re better now. All fixed. All improved. Much more useful to me this
way.”

A churning had started inside me. There was something going on
here. Something worse than it seemed. Why couldn’t I figure out what it was?

Probably because of the one thing I’d always valued most about
myself—my ability to be a realist. Even now that I knew that there were strange
and magical things in this world happening all the time all around us, I refused
to totally accept it. I needed proof. Needed evidence to support the data.

I thought I’d be a writer one day. Maybe a nonfiction one where
facts counted more than fantasy. But that’s where my head had been for seventeen
years. And right now, it wasn’t doing me any favors.

I had to think beyond what my eyes told me.

Right now, it had to be my gut I listened closest to.

“I dreamed about you,” I said, my mouth dry. “When I was dead
for twenty minutes. My unconscious mind conjured you up in particular—all clean
and well-dressed and totally sane. Why you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Seth replied.

“That makes two of us, hobo guy.” Jordan tapped her foot.
“Samantha, come on. Let’s go.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Roth told her.

She gave him a withering look. “You really are a jerk, aren’t
you?”

“You have no idea.”

“What’s your deal, anyway? Are you working for this
weirdo?”

“You could say that.”

I frowned at Roth. “What does that mean? If you know Seth, why
wouldn’t you bring him back to meet the rest of the team? He could help
Bishop—they’re both fallen angels with souls to deal with.”

“It’s strange, really,” Seth mused, stroking his beard
absently. “Almost funny.”

I tensed. I’d decided to listen to my gut and right now it was
telling me something very important. Seth didn’t sound all that crazy tonight.
And Seth
always
sounded crazy—except in my
dream.

I looked directly at him. “What’s strange?”

“Why did you assume I was an angel?”

I tried to say something immediately in reply, but faltered.
“Well, you told me you were.”

“No. I never said anything like that at all.” He cocked his
head, studying me. “You made assumptions based on your dealings with the other
angel, the one who occupied your thoughts so much that you barely even noticed
me.”

“I sensed your soul.” I frowned, trying to remember what had
been said during the first couple of meetings with Seth outside of Crave.