Wicked Kiss

Bishop wasn’t filled with patience tonight. He sheathed his dagger, then took me by my arm, sending a shiver of electricity racing across my skin. He then directed me out of the office and back into the sanctuary where Jordan had fled to.

Cassandra joined us.

Bishop nodded toward Jordan. “Can you help with her, Cassandra?”

The angel nodded, and approached the redhead who watched her with a tense, guarded expression.

“What do you want?” Jordan asked sharply.

“Look at me.” Cassandra smiled when Jordan did what she asked. “You need to go home now. It’s been a difficult ordeal for you, but it’s over. Everything is okay. You don’t have to worry. Everything you’ve seen tonight, all the strange and confusing things that have scared you—you’re going to forget them. They’ll be like nothing more than a fading dream.”

Jordan blinked. “What are you, crazy or something? Get away from me.”

Cassandra cleared her throat. “Um, it usually works much better than this.”

“You’re losing your edge, Blondie,” Kraven said. He’d also left the office, and now leaned casually against the back wall of the church.

“What are you doing out here?” Bishop asked.

“I follow the drama. It’s entertaining. Besides, Connor and Roth have Mr. Tall, Gray and Devious under control. Don’t get your feathers ruffled.”

I inhaled sharply as Bishop took my arm again. I’d been trying my best to ignore it, but his soul was doing crazy things to my head right now.

“You need to leave,” he said firmly.

“I can’t.”

“I can’t think when you’re here. And I need to be able to think.”

The events of the night swirled around me, making me dizzy. So much had happened I couldn’t process it all, but I didn’t want to leave. I slid my hand down my leg to feel the leather sheath strapped to my thigh.

Suddenly, I remembered what it had held.

My eyes bugged and I grabbed the edge of Bishop’s shirt. “Bishop...Stephen, he took my dagger earlier. He probably still has it.”

Clarity shone in his eyes, then he turned from me and stormed out of the sanctuary and back to the office. The rest of us followed.

Connor lay unconscious on the floor near the wall, which now bore an angel-sized dent. Roth lay on his back, gasping, the familiar, small golden dagger protruding from his throat.

The wooden chair the super-gray had been seated in was now in pieces.

Stephen had escaped.

Chapter 24

Cassandra let out a strangled cry and rushed to Roth’s side. She pulled the dagger out and immediately set to work at healing him.

Kraven went to check on Connor, but thankfully he was already starting to regain consciousness.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my chest so tight it was hard to breathe normally. “I forgot all about the dagger. I should have said something earlier. Now he’s gone.”

Bishop turned to me, and I expected to see anger in his eyes that I’d been so thoughtless, but there was nothing like that. There was frustration there, but it wasn’t directed at me.

“No.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “You’ve been through a lot. You didn’t forget on purpose. This isn’t your fault.”

“Sure it is,” Kraven said.

Bishop sent a glare at him. “Actually, if you’d stayed in here this could have been avoided.”

“Or I could be the one with the knife sticking out of me.” He shrugged. “Maybe you’d like that.”

“Maybe I would.”

“Ouch.”

The anger fell from Bishop’s gaze as he turned from his brother and, if you asked me, it was as if he regretted his harsh words. He kept my hand in his like he needed the contact to keep his mind clear.

The longer I was near him, the less clear my head became.

“Connor, take Jordan home and make sure she stays there,” Bishop instructed, his voice tight.

“Can’t,” Jordan said. “I have plans tonight.”

He looked at her with surprise. “You were kidnapped and imprisoned in a locked basement storage room by your obsessed boyfriend for nearly two days and you have plans?”

She glared at him. “I have a social life, you know. There’s a huge Halloween party tonight I can’t miss. I spent a ton on my costume.”

Bishop gave me an exasperated look, which almost coaxed a smile from me despite everything that had gone so horribly wrong.

I shrugged. “She says she has a costume.”

“I’m Cleopatra,” Jordan said, as if that explained everything. She cocked her head. “Wait a minute. I think I’m remembering something important.” Then she inhaled sharply. “When Stephen first found me, before he knocked me out, I told him about the party. He seemed...interested in going. As if it might make him feel normal again. He said we could go together.” Her eyes moved back and forth rapidly as if she was remembering the moment in detail. “I mean, obviously he was just playing games with me, trying to get closer so he could grab me. But still, maybe he’ll show.”

“Where’s this party?” Bishop asked, his voice measured and almost too calm.

“It’s Noah’s party.” Jordan looked at me. “You’re invited, too, right? He has the hots for you, FYI.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well, the feeling isn’t mutual.”