Bishop

by Gabelman, Teresa

  “That’s the plan.” Raven smirked, then nodded toward the house. “Must be the landlord.”

  Bishop watched a beautiful blonde woman step out of the car, then head toward the steps, looking cautiously around. His eyes also scanned the area, then went back to her and noticed she had stopped and was watching him and Raven.

  “Are you Sloan Murphy?” Her shaky voice carried toward them.

  “No.” Bishop walked to her. She was short, her straight blonde hair ruffling in the breeze. Definitely a looker, and her body was perfectly proportioned in a short skirt, blouse, and nicely fit blazer. “You own this house?”

  “Yes,” she replied, then glanced up at it before looking back at him and then Raven. “It’s one of the properties I own. What seems to be the problem?”

  Sloan walked out at that moment and headed toward them. “I’m Sloan Murphy, VC Warrior.” He nodded in greeting. “You must be Savannah Livingston.”

  “I am,” she replied, sounding as confused as she looked. “Have the tenants done something wrong?”

  Bishop and Sloan shared a look. “How much do you know about the tenants?”

  “Just the normal information any landlord would know.” She opened the file in her hand. “I don’t know a lot of personal information, but their names are Cynthia and Tiffany Simmons. Sisters. Been here for six months. Cynthia works at a florist in Cincinnati, and Tiffany goes to school. Never late with their rent. Credit check was excellent. References all checked out.”

  “Were they the only ones living here?” Bishop asked, holding his hand out for the file.

  The woman hesitated for a minute before letting the file go. “As far as I know. They are the only ones on the lease. If anyone else was to live here, they would have to be added.” She frowned when Bishop looked up from the file. “I’m sorry, but what exactly is this about?”

  “Follow me,” Sloan said, leading the woman up the steps and into the house.

  Bishop and Raven followed. His eyes going directly to the woman’s legs in appreciation. Raven snorted, then nudged him out of the way as she blocked his view and went in front of him. Bishop chuckled, shaking his head. “What?”

  Rolling her eyes, she reached back and grabbed the file, smacking him with it. “Pig,” she hissed in a whisper.

  Before Raven could follow Sloan and the woman in, Bishop used his hand to keep the door shut. “What is your problem?”

  “Men.” Raven turned to face him. “That’s every woman’s problem.”

  “What in the hell has gotten into you?” Bishop cocked his eyebrow. “I was just admiring a beautiful woman’s—”

  “Ass.” Raven finished for him with a growl.

  “—legs,” Bishop corrected, then frowned. “You’re not my keeper, Raven. Never will be, so you need to check yourself before even thinking of checking me. Got it?”

  Raven tilted her head and stared at him. “Are you really that fucking stupid?”

  “You are definitely pissing me off.” Bishop sneered, his eyes narrowing. What the fuck was her problem?

  “Guess that answers my question. Fucking idiot.” She pushed his arm out of her way and slammed open the door but stopped. She didn’t even look over her shoulder at him. “Have you even offered Bonnie your blood to help her heal?”

  “What?” Bishop stopped, stumped.

  “Never mind.” She shook her head and continued. “I know many strong vampires who’d be happy to heal her as well as… you know.”

  Bishop actually reached out this time, stopping her, and he wasn’t too gentle. “No, I don’t fucking know.” Bishop’s anger soared, and he had no clue why. But the thought of any man giving his blood to heal Bonnie sent a killing rage through him. Why in the hell should that bother him so much? He looked at Bonnie as a… sister. Okay, that thought kind of made him sick to his stomach.

  Raven watched him closely. “I’ll be damned,” she whispered as a smirk formed on her face. “You don’t know if you're coming or going with her, do you? That sly little witch.”

  “Who?” Bishop was confused as fuck and it pissed him the hell off. “What are you talking about?”

  Before Raven could answer, there was a commotion coming up the basement steps. Bishop looked to see the woman, Savannah, rushing toward them, her face pale and body shaking. Sloan was coming up behind her.

  “Whoa.” Bishop reached out to steady the woman before she fell. She sank into his arms. “Slow down.”

  “I didn’t know.” Her beautiful blue eyes stared up into his.

  Bishop could understand the woman’s fear. This definitely wasn’t normal. Well, for them it was somewhat normal, but humans were definitely a different breed, especially a woman such as this. He continued to hold the woman, but his eyes rose to see Bonnie staring at him with a look in her eyes he had never seen before. Hurt, betrayal, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But what he didn’t understand was why. He wasn’t fucking stupid as Raven had called him, but he sure as hell was stumped.

  “Bishop, make sure Ms. Livingston gets home okay,” Sloan ordered.

  Any other time Bishop would be all over taking a beautiful woman home and even comfort her fears, but as his eyes once again met Bonnie, that wasn’t something he wanted to do, and that shocked the shit out of him.

  “I’ll take her,” Raven said, stepping forward, but Sloan stopped her.

  “You have training,” Sloan said, then nodded toward Bishop. “Go on. We’re finished here for now. I’ll fill you in when you get back.”

  His mind warred with him to refuse, but his sense of duty to the VC Warriors and Sloan had him turning the woman toward the door, but not before he once again noticed the confusing emotions on Bonnie’s face as well as Raven’s glare directed at him.

  “Stay with her,” he said to Raven, ignoring her glare. Jesus, women were going to fucking drive him insane if he wasn’t already there, and in an odd way, he wondered if he was actually losing his mind.

  She just gave him a snort, clearly pissed off.

  “Did you hear me?” Bishop gave her a narrowed look.

  “Oh, yeah. I heard you.” Raven’s sarcasm was thick. “I heard you real well. Loud and fucking clear.”

  “Steve, make sure my bike gets back to the warehouse,” Bishop said after dismissing Raven’s weird mood. “I’ll get myself back.”

  “No problem.” Steve gave him a wink that made Bishop want to punch him in the face. “Have fun.”

  Once away from the craziness going on inside with Raven bitching, Steve winking, and the hurt look on Bonnie’s face, he helped Savannah into her car. Walking around, he got into the driver seat, moving it back to fit his much larger frame.

  “Where am I taking you?” Bishop asked as he took the keys and started the car. When she didn’t answer, he glanced her way. She was staring at the house. “Ma’am?”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, then rattled off the address. “I’ve just never seen anything like that before. And then when they explained to me exactly what it was, well, I just can’t believe those two girls are responsible.”

  Bishop knew exactly where he was going. It was a very nice gated community. “I’m sure they know we’ve been there by now and won’t be back, so I don’t think you’ll have any problems with them,” Bishop replied, making a left-hand turn. “But you have Sloan’s information if you need us for anything.”

  “Thank you,” the woman said, and Bishop could tell she was staring at him.

  She finally looked away, and the rest of the ride was quiet. Pulling up to the gate, the security guard looked into the car to see Savannah.

  “Ms. Livingston, everything okay?” the man asked, looking at Bishop briefly.

  “Yes, Fred. Thank you,” she replied, and the guard opened the gate. “Just follow the road. It’s the first condo on the right.”

  Bishop pulled in and parked. Getting out, he went around and opened her door for her. “I’ll make sure you get inside.”

&
nbsp; Once at the door, she keyed in a code and opened the door. She turned to look up at him. “You can come inside.”

  The invitation was clear in her voice as well as her eyes. Damn, he actually had to think, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that it just felt wrong. Not many times in his life had he turned down an invitation from a beautiful woman like Savannah Livingston. Today was a first for him. The more he thought, the more he realized how long it had been since he’d had a woman, any woman. And didn’t that make his mood foul as fuck.

  “I need to be getting back,” Bishop replied, not really knowing how to turn down a fucking invitation for sex. And he knew if he went through that door, that’s exactly what was going to happen. Jesus, he was losing his fucking mind. Viktor would laugh his ass off if he ever found out.

  “Oh, okay.” She seemed taken aback by being refused, and by the looks of it, that didn’t often happen if at all. No, he was the fucking dumbass who was her first, he was sure. “Well, ah, thank you again.”

  “Ma’am.” He gave her a nod, then turned and walked away toward the gate. Four times he thought about going back, but each time he stopped himself and wondered if he needed to see Slade. Something was definitely wrong with him.

  Not even waiting for the gate to open, Bishop jumped it and took off in a jog heading toward the warehouse where his bike better be. His mind kept going to the woman with a body that would bring any man to his knees, and he wasn’t even getting hard. Holy fuck, his dick was broken. Okay, that made him chuckle, realizing how stupid of a thought that was… or was it? He frowned as he kicked his speed up a little bit.

  Thinking of Raven’s attitude, he had a feeling she knew something, but what? What in the hell was going on? Not really wanting to jog with a hard-on, he kept the woman from his mind, thinking of anything else, but fear for his dick made him continue with thoughts of her legs, ass, and large tits in that button-down white shirt showing a healthy amount of cleavage. Glancing down, he cursed. Nothing. Suddenly, Bonnie’s image came to mind, confusing him even more. His cock jerked, making him trip to a stop. His eyes widened as he stared down at himself while cars passed by. A car horn blared, and he glanced up at his surroundings. Cursing, he took off, determined to get to the bottom of what in the hell was going on. Raven knew exactly what his and his dick’s problem was. He was sure of it.

  “Jesus!” he growled, his eyes glowing black. If Raven didn’t have answers, Slade better because no fucking way in hell would he live life with a broken fucking dick.

  Chapter 6

  “You should be resting,” Raven said as she and Bonnie walked into the warehouse.

  “No way am I missing your first night of training.” Bonnie held her ribs, secretly wishing she was still in bed, but she didn’t want to miss this. Not on her life. She had a feeling some asses were going to get kicked, and she wanted to be there to support the ass-kicker.

  “I asked Bishop to give you some of his blood so you can heal,” Raven said absently as she set down her bag.

  Bonnie gasped. Her stomach swirled with panic as she reached out, stopping Raven in a bruising grip. “You did what?” she hissed, then bent slightly. “Ouch, that fucking hurt.”

  “You heard me.” Raven grabbed a chair and walked her over toward the mats. “Sit down before you do more damage.”

  “Raven, you can’t ask Bishop things like that about me,” Bonnie said as she sat down. She continued to stare at Raven, her eyes wide in panic.

  “Why is that, Bonnie?” Raven put her hand on her hip, glaring down at her. “Afraid your little spell is weakening because you’re hurt. Well, you’re probably right.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bonnie looked away from Raven quickly. “Spells don’t work on full-bloods. And why would I do a spell on Bishop? I have no reason to do a spell on Bishop. Plus spells wouldn’t work on Bishop anyway, like I said.”

  “You ramble when you lie.” Raven smirked, then narrowed her eyes at Bonnie as she knelt down. “I’ve been around enough demons, witches, and magic to know when someone is under a spell.”

  “I didn’t put a spell on Bishop,” Bonnie whispered as a few trainees jogged by staring at them. “And I don’t ramble or lie. Magic doesn’t work on—” Bonnie shut her mouth since she began to ramble again about something she had already said multiple times. She’d also said Bishop’s name fifty times, or at least it seemed like that many.

  Raven snorted. “But you put a spell on yourself, didn’t you?”

  Bonnie shook her head, clamping her mouth shut.

  “Afraid you’re going to ramble?” Raven chuckled as she knelt down on Bonnie’s level. “Don’t know why you did it, but I know you put a spell on yourself so Bishop doesn’t find you attractive or something to that effect. I know you’re in love with him. I’ve seen it. I also know he has feelings for you, or at least I saw it before you did the spell. Why, Bonnie?”

  Bonnie remained silent. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. She was sweating like crazy, and she honestly felt like throwing up. Dammit, this wasn’t good. No one was supposed to find out ever, or at least until she killed her father or he killed her.

  “You’re wrong,” Bonnie said, then clamped her mouth shut again.

  “No, I’m not, and I’m not letting up on it until I learn the truth.” Raven stood slowly. “And I can be a real pain in the ass, witch.”

  “You going to chat all night, or do you think you can find time to join us?” Jax said from the mats.

  Raven continued to stare at Bonnie, who glanced at Jax, then pointed his way before looking at Raven. “He isn’t talking to me.”

  “No, but I am.” Raven gave her a warning look. “Tell me or I tell him. I’ll give you till the end of training to decide. It’s wrong, Bonnie, and you know it.”

  “And to think I came here to support you,” Bonnie called out after her as Raven started jogging to warm up. She gave Bonnie a backward wave as if dismissing her.

  As it turned out, she wasn’t the only one who wanted to watch Raven’s first training session as a VC Warrior. Everyone other than Sloan and Bishop was there. Charger had just walked in and leaned against the wall, watching from the shadows.

  After warm-ups, they began drills. Raven did them with ease, no problems at all. Bonnie could tell some of the trainees were talking about her, a few making remarks that Bonnie could hear. She knew Raven heard because her golden eyes had become black, but that was the only indication. Other than her black eyes, Raven was cool, calm, and collected. That was until the sparring began.

  Bonnie actually stood up and moved closer so she could watch. She’d heard Raven was badass, but now she was going to see firsthand. The first round Raven sat out watching. Bonnie looked on. It was easy to spot the assholes in the trainee program. Katrina was going with a guy and doing really well until she got a good sweep, taking him to the ground. When she stood to let him up, he swung out, hitting her hard in the jaw, sending her crashing into the wall.

  Glancing at Blaze, she saw the anger on his face, but he remained where he was, not saying a word. Damn, that had to be hard for the Warrior. Katrina shook it off and went back in and continued for a few more minutes. When it was time to switch partners, Raven walked over and stood directly in front of the guy who’d hit Katrina.

  “Oh shit,” Bonnie said when she saw the smile on the guy’s face. She glanced at Raven to see her smile was bigger. Nervous energy made Bonnie jittery. She looked over at Charger, whose expression was deadpan as he stared at Raven.

  Jax gave the command to begin, and Bonnie realized the guy never had a chance. Raven was all over him with punches, kicks, sweeps, and hell, Bonnie didn’t know what else. It was a total massacre and a sight to see as everyone stopped to watch. Jax commanded them to stop and Raven did. She went to find another partner, but the guy punched out, not expecting Raven to catch and stop the punch. There were gasps and excited curses from the other trainees. Raven shook her head at him, grabb
ed him by the shirt and head-butted the asshole, knocking him out cold. She stepped over his body, searching for her next partner, but no one would even look her in the eye except Katrina, who walked up to her giving her a high five.

  Glancing at Charger, she watched as he turned and walked out of the warehouse with a proud grin on his face. Damn, bet he hated losing Raven, she thought, then continued to watch the rest of the training. Jared had to actually walk the guy off the mat after he woke up.

  “Guess you learned a lesson,” Jared was saying as the guy wobbled his way toward her. “Don’t piss off a female who’s more badass than you.” Jared winked at her as he passed with a huge smile.

  Bonnie grinned, seeing the large goose egg knot on the guy’s forehead. Raven didn’t even have a red bump that she could see. Soon the training was over, and Bonnie considered transporting her ass out of there before Raven could start on her again, but after what she saw tonight, she really didn’t want to piss her off.

  “You ready?” Raven said after coming out of the back, her hair wet and hanging down her back.

  Bonnie nodded, noticing all the guys staring at Raven. “I think you’ve scared the shit out of all of them,” Bonnie whispered as they walked out.

  “Good.” Raven nodded but then grinned. “Just the way I like it.”

  “Charger looked pleased,” Bonnie added as they walked out to the parking lot. “He had a big old proud grin on his face when he left.”

  Raven shrugged, tossing her bag in the back of the car. It had started snowing again, and Bonnie was freezing. Raven didn’t seem fazed, but vampires rarely were by the weather. Once they were inside the car, Raven started it and turned on the heat. “You need anything before I take you back? I have a meeting at the warehouse in about half an hour.”

  “No, I’m fine,” Bonnie said, happy that Raven must have forgotten about their earlier conversation. “But thanks.”

  “Don’t be thanking me yet.” Raven backed out of the parking spot. “You have until we get to the compound to tell me what in the hell you think you’re doing messing with Bishop.”