Dark Kiss. Michelle Rowen

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СКАЧАТЬ I was slowly recovering from sticking my fingers in a light socket.

      “Ignore him,” Bishop said, throwing a look of pure disdain toward the demon. “Samantha, I had to find you again. After what you were able to do last night, I … we need your help.”

      “You need my help? You have got to be kidding me. I want nothing to do with you.”

      His gaze shadowed. “You’re different from the other grays—I don’t know why or how. But you are. How you found Kraven last night … there are others. I need you to help me find them before they’re lost forever.”

      My ponytail had come loose from the elastic and I redid it firmly. I liked Bishop’s voice; it was smooth and deep and it made me shiver. I hated that I liked anything about him, after everything I’d learned. “I want both of you to leave me alone.”

      “I know you’re confused, but this is important.”

      Emotion lodged in my throat, making it hard to talk without sounding choked. “You’re the one who’s confused, because I don’t care what’s important to you. I hate you, whatever you are. And I want you to stay away from me.”

      His gaze began to grow cloudy, like when I’d first met him. He pressed his fingers against his temples. “I don’t know what else to say right now.”

      My heart twisted. Damn it. I had an urge to touch him, to make it better since I knew I could, to erase that pain from his handsome face. But I held myself back. “Say goodbye. You were more than ready to say it to me last night.”

      “Hey, Samantha!” Carly shouted. “What are you doing out here?”

      My head whipped toward her. The shield making us invisible must have disappeared. I turned to look at Bishop and Kraven again, but they were gone.

      Just like last night, they’d vanished into thin air.

      “Hellooo? Earth to Samantha!”

      I composed myself and hitched my shoulder strap higher, and then walked toward her, willing myself to stop trembling. “What are you doing tonight?”

      “Me? Nothing. Why?”

      I bit my bottom lip. “I want to go back to Crave.”

      Carly crossed her arms. “Why?”

      “I want to see Stephen again.”

      She gave me a guarded look. “Are you sure about that?”

      “I am.”

      “I just thought … after the other night …” She frowned. “You’re not interested in him anymore, are you?”

      I gritted my teeth. “Oh, I’m interested, all right.”

      I was interested in getting to the bottom of what had happened to me and how I could fix it as soon as possible. And Stephen Keyes damn well better have some answers.

      chapter 6

      I’d burned all day with the need to get back to Crave and confront Stephen, but now that I was here I’d started to doubt myself. I guess I’d focused on my plan—weak though it was—as a way to keep from thinking too much about what had happened with Bishop and Kraven.

      I wasn’t convinced that I was some sort of soul-devouring monster now. No way. I was still me, nothing had changed that. But something was wrong. Really wrong. And I had to fix it.

      “Are you even sure the jerk is here?” Carly scanned the floor looking for him.

      “He told me he’s here every night lately, even weekdays. He’s taking a break from school right now, that’s why he’s back in town.”

      “Doesn’t he live near you?”

      “Two doors down.”

      “We could have gone there to check.”

      “I already checked. His parents don’t even know he’s in the city.” I’d called his house after school. I’d had a feeling he wouldn’t be there, but his mother’s reply that “he’s at school” was enough to convince me that if I couldn’t find him at Crave, I might not be able to find him at all. Besides, I didn’t want to chance being alone with him. I wanted to confront him in a public place.

      “Okay, so where is he?” Carly asked. “Let’s do this.”

      She thought my feelings were hurt and I wanted to lash out, and as my best friend, she was ready to back me up.

      Just like with my mother, I hadn’t breathed a word to her about what was really going on. I wasn’t sure what was stopping me, exactly. Carly, of all people, would probably believe there were angels and demons roaming the city.

      But still I didn’t speak up. She liked to protect me from people who might pick on me. Well, I’d like to protect her from people who might do worse than throw out a few insults. Cruel names might hurt feelings, but sharp golden daggers could kill.

      I did wish very hard that I could stop thinking about Bishop. He was constantly on my mind now. If he hadn’t shown up today, I had little doubt that Kraven would have killed me.

      It was an incredibly sobering thought. I owed my gratitude to Bishop for saving my life, and yet he’d threatened it himself just the night before.

      “I need to talk to Stephen on my own,” I said. “You should stay here and wait for me.”

      She eyed me. “Oh, I get it. So I’m just your chauffeur, huh? I don’t get a chance to tell him off, too?”

      “Believe me, I don’t think that. Although, I won’t say that you having a car isn’t a nice perk.” I couldn’t help but grin at her mock outrage. “This is just something I need to handle myself. Less embarrassing that way.”

      She considered this. “So what if he’s all schmoozy? All, ‘I really want to kiss your delectable lips again’? You’re just going to ignore it?”

      “That isn’t going to happen.” Even if Stephen was one hundred percent innocent, his reaction to me after the kiss spoke volumes. I mean, he’d called me kid. No, I had more important things to deal with than falling for some self-involved college guy right now, no matter how cute I’d always found him.

      It was funny how completely this had doused my crush on him. Like a bucket of water thrown on a lit match.

      Also, my immediate and overpowering attraction to Bishop—and the fact that I couldn’t get him off my mind—had shown me that my little crush on Stephen had been just that. Little.

      “You were really into him. What, are you interested in somebody else now?” she asked.

      There was a catch in her voice that made me direct my attention away from scanning the dark club to her again. “What?”

      She cleared her throat. “Jordan saw you talking to Colin in the hall this morning. She said you were standing really close.”

      I СКАЧАТЬ