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?”
“I’m the future. Your future.” He looked at her. “You called me a monster before, but I’m way better than that.”
She gaped at him. “You can take someone’s soul by—by kissing them?”
“That’s right.”
Her shocked expression soured. “That sounds really lame.”
He gave her a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll change your mind.”
Stephen was still in love with Jordan. Don’t ask me how or why, but he was. I’d seen it at the mall. That was my confirmation. Even though he’d gone through stasis, there was still something there when it came to his feelings toward the redhead.
She had a soul. She was close to him right now, trapped and vulnerable. And yet, he didn’t make a move to feed on her because it would kill her if he did.
That meant something very important to me.
“Stop this, Stephen.” He still held me effortlessly against the wall as if I weighed no more than a teacup Chihuahua. With his increased strength, he could break my spine with the smallest twist. And he could do the same—or worse—to Jordan.
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to stop. This is it, Samantha. This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life. My reason to exist.”
“And what reason is that? You’re stuck in this city like all the others. You’re trapped as much as I am in this room.”
He cocked his head. “Natalie said that you have the power to cut a hole in the barrier with your boyfriend’s dagger.”
My stomach clenched. I’d hoped he’d forgotten about that little hypothesis, my aunt’s quest to escape from Trinity so she could spread her evil far and wide. “She was fooling herself. I can’t do that.”
Stephen glanced at Jordan again, who hadn’t gotten up from the ground yet. “Samantha’s the daughter of a demon and an angel. That gives her special powers that I need.”
“Shut up.” Any mention of what I was put me into immediate panic mode as if the words themselves had power.
He grinned. “It’s a secret, though, so shh. Don’t tell anyone.”
Jordan’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Are you serious?”
My gaze shot to her. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar.”
Her face was so pale her freckles stood out more than th
ey normally did. “Demons and angels...but those things don’t really exist.”
“Wrong,” Stephen said. “They’re prowling the city right now, on a hunt for things like me. Although, I’m pretty hard to kill now. Nearly impossible, really.” He raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t come to rescue you yet, have they, Samantha? Thought they’d taken you as a pet.”
Bishop had found me when Kraven was forced to kiss me. But his tracking ability wasn’t reliable anymore.
Did he even know I’d been missing for a day? Had Cassandra noticed the house was empty, or had she thought I’d gone to bed early again last night and left first thing this morning?
I’d told Bishop I wanted nothing to do with them, and with him. And he’d agreed to give me my space. To say I regretted our last conversation would be a monumental understatement.
I did need him. And I wished desperately he was here.
Mostly so he could kick Stephen’s ass and introduce him to that handy golden dagger of his.
My empathy toward Stephen Keyes was at an end.
“What do you want with us?” I demanded, trying my best to remain calm when I felt anything but. “Or did you just want to talk to us all day?”
He looked over his shoulder at Jordan again, who was finally pushing back up to her feet. “Every soul I take makes me stronger. Strength means power. Power means I can have anything I want—become a true leader, respected and feared. But the others like us...they bore me. Most are too weak to survive stasis, anyway.”
I glared at him while holding my injured wrist protectively against my chest. “Too bad. You can have everything, but you’re all alone. Boo hoo. Maybe you should buy a goldfish to keep you company.”
Jordan reached for something on the ground—a loose brick I hadn’t noticed before—and slowly crept up behind Stephen. My breath caught as she swung it forward to bash him in the head, but he turned just in time and yanked the brick out of her grip. Then he grabbed her throat and slammed her up against the wall directly beside me.
Too close. I couldn’t be this close to someone with a soul right now. From the claustrophobia, to the pain, I’d become too weak. Hunger crashed over me and I literally whimpered.
Stephen’s expression shifted to one of victory.
“See, Samantha? You can pretend to be all high and mighty and above these earthly needs, like someone worthy of hanging around with Heaven and Hell’s best. But at your core, you’re exactly like me. And it won’t be long before you change to something much more interesting. We’ll get along better then.”
“What?” Jordan choked. “Samantha’s not...”
Stephen smiled. “Yes, she is. I made her myself. I took her soul in a kiss that she was begging me to give her. She’s wanted me since she wasn’t much more than a kid. Right, Samantha?”
“And now I want to kill you,” I growled.
He laughed at this and the sound sent a shiver racing down my spine. “I took her soul because her demon aunt asked me to. I actually felt bad about it at the time. Just a kid.”
I tried to kick him, but his grip increased on my throat. Jordan’s, too, since she let out a hoarse scream.
“Don’t hurt her,” I managed.
He didn’t loosen his grip on either of us. “You want to know my plan? It’s this. I’m going to leave you two alone for a while. It won’t be very much longer before you can’t hold back, Samantha. You’ll take Jordan’s soul, and you’ll take it all.”
“What?” My throat closed with horror at the suggestion.
His cheeks tightened. “If I did it myself, I’d kill her. And I want her to live. I want her to be...improved. There’s room for both of you at my side in the new world if you survive stasis.”
He flung both of us to the side and went to the door. “I’ll check on you later.”
He left.
I scrambled to the far corner of the room, which still wasn’t far enough away from Jordan to help clear my head.
I thought Jordan was crying for a moment, but when she pulled her hands away from her face, she looked mad as hell.
“Explain to me right now what the hell is going on here!” she demanded.
I tried to breathe shallowly as possible as I gave her a bleak look. “What part don’t you understand?”
“All of it!”
I studied her for a moment, her furious expression, the sparking anger in her eyes. “I think you understand more than you realize.”
“What does this have to do with Julie’s suicide?”
“Honestly?” I thought about it. “Nothing, directly. But in a way, everything bizarre that’s going on in this city is related.”
If Connor had been right in his hypothesis about the new demon in town, everything bad going on in Trinity was related to the Hollow and how it had become a two-way swinging door, rather than Heaven and Hell’s dumping ground. It had a case of bulimia now, purging what it had once swallowed down.
Jordan raked a shaky hand through her long, tangled red hair. “I thought I was going crazy, but it’s all true. Stephen’s a monster. And you’re...you’re a monster, too. Was he lying about that?”
I swallowed hard. “Depends on your definition of monster.”
She glared at me. “You’re one of these things that can steal a soul with a kiss.”
My chest tightened. “Afraid so.”
“And Stephen’s the one who changed you into one of these things.”
“Yes.”
She inhaled shakily. “He kissed you, but he won’t kiss me.”
My eyes narrowed. “Don’t sound so disappointed. Believe me, this is not something you want. It’s horrible. This hunger, it’s...the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with.”
I’d already given in to it three times. It couldn’t happen again or I knew I’d lose myself completely.
She hesitated. “But you’re something else, too. Your parents...”
“My birth parents, you mean.” I chewed my bottom lip. She knew, so there was no reason for me to try to keep denying it. “I didn’t know the truth about myself until very recently.”
“What does it mean?”
“Only that I’m more confused about my personal identity than ever before.”
She paced in small lines, back and forth, her arms crossed over her chest. “Doesn’t that trump the whole gray thing? Isn’t that some sort of power that you can draw from to help you?”
I wished it was that simple. I really did. “What I am underneath, it’s got nothing to do with this. It’s like they’re separate things. Who my real parents are isn’t going to make anything easier.”
Her skin had paled to a ghostly white. “And now Stephen wants you to infect me.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest and started to rock myself. My mind flashed back to kissing Colin in the hall, how I’d had zero control then when I’d always been able to stop myself before. What happened to Stephen—it was going to happen to me. Soon. Or I was going to drop dead like that woman in the street the other night who’d disintegrated before my very eyes.
“I don’t know how long I can deal with this, Jordan. I’m losing it. It’s scaring the hell out of me.”
She got to her feet and took a couple steps closer to me. Before I knew it I’d risen to my feet as well, unconsciously drawn to her soul.
“You’re not kissing me,” she said uneasily, holding up her hands to try to keep me back.
“Trust me, Jordan, you’re the last person on earth I’d ever want to kiss. And it’s not just because you’re a girl. I’m sure Stephen would rather change you himself, but if he kisses you he’ll—” I swallowed hard. “He’ll kill you.”
“Stephen...” she whispered, then shuddered. “Have you kissed anyone?”
I nodded. “Two.”
“And did you kill them?” she asked breathlessly.
“Not yet.”
She started to tremble. “Oh, my God. This isn’t happening.”
My vision was narrowing by the second. Jord
an had stepped away from me, but the scent of her soul was driving me crazy. I watched her like a wolf might watch a small, scared rabbit in the forest.
She attempted to look brave and assured. “Just...try to control yourself. You’re stronger than this!”
My thoughts were spinning away from me like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz. I tried to grasp onto them before they all blew away. Then something important occurred to me. “Wait. I wasn’t hungry when I was unconscious. It’s only when I’m awake.”
Her eyes were wild, panicked. “You want me to knock you out?”
I nodded crazily. “Do it.”
And then Jordan disappeared and all I could see was her soul—shiny and tempting. The cure to my pain, the answer to my hunger. She scrambled for something as I drew closer, closer. Then I grabbed her shoulder, my right hand still useless, and pulled her closer.
She screamed, and swung something toward me.
Sharp pain slammed through my head as she successfully rendered me unconscious.
* * *
My head was screaming when I woke up this time. But along with the pain, a shaky clarity had returned.
My hunger, however, hadn’t gone anywhere.
“If I hit you again you’re going to get a concussion,” Jordan warned. “A fractured skull. Or a clot. Or an aneurism. Or...something really bad!”
I groaned, and looked across the room at her crouched in the opposite corner, clutching the brick tightly. “Or maybe I’ll get amnesia and forget all about this.”
The pinprick of light through the tiny window told me it was still day—but the sunlight was fading. I hadn’t been out for long this time. One of the fluorescent lights set into the ceiling flickered now, as if ready to go out completely. It cast spooky shadows through the room.
“He hasn’t checked on us again,” she said, casting a furtive glance at the door.
“He will.”
“When?”
“When it’s done. When you’re changed. When I’ve...fed.” The words tasted as bad as they sounded. There was a security camera up in the far corner I hadn’t noticed before. I gestured at it. “He’s watching us.”
Jordan moved into the camera’s line of sight and gave it the finger. “Screw you, Stephen! I hate you for this!”
Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) Page 21
