Wicked Kiss

“Don’t try to pretend you were a good guy, James,” Bishop said darkly. “You weren’t.”

He snorted. “Nah, I was as badass as they came back then. But I was also young and stupid. I didn’t even get a chance to try to redeem myself for the things I did. I might have succeeded.”

Bishop hissed out a breath. “Whether you believe this or not, I wish I could go back and change what I did.” Again, he averted his gaze from his brother as pain slid through his eyes.

A small muscle in Kraven’s cheek twitched. His dark gold hair had fallen into his eyes and he swiped it back. His amber eyes held the same pain I saw in Bishop’s. “Like I’d believe a damn thing you say.”

“It’s the truth. Believe it or don’t believe it. Right now, I don’t care. There are bigger things to deal with in this city tonight than our feud.”

“Feud?” Kraven snapped. “You think this is as simple as a feud?”

Bishop straightened his shoulders and wiped the pain from his face before he turned to Kraven again. “It’s ancient history.”

“Doesn’t even bother to apologize,” Kraven said, flicking a glance at me. “How do you like that? Total son of a bitch.”

My chest felt so tight listening to all of this, I could barely breathe. I understood Kraven’s outrage, and I also believed that Bishop regretted what he’d done. “You two need to talk about this later.”

The demon shot me a dark look. “And here I thought you were drooling to learn the truth about my brother. Maybe you’re scared to know it now. Might change how you feel about the two of us. Might make you like me more.”

“You don’t even give me a chance to like you,” I snapped. “Before you go and say something to make me hate you again.”

“Ouch.”

“But...I know there’s still good in you, Kraven,” I continued, forcing myself to stay calm. “You proved that by saving Bishop earlier.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, bite me, sweetness. Seriously.” Then he returned his gaze to Bishop. “By the way, I know she’s a nexus.”

My stomach dropped.

Bishop froze. “What?”

“Angel and demon parents. I think you’ve been acquainted with nexi in the past as one of Heaven’s lapdog assassins. Killing them, anyway. Not whispering sweet nothings in their ears.”

Bishop’s expression darkened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So I guess that makes three that should be put on your kill list, right? A dangerous angel-demon hybrid like sweetness here, and two rule-busting renegades like the romantically inclined Cassandra and Roth.”

Bishop stared him down. “Are you finished running your mouth?”

“Oh, I’m just getting started.”

Bishop stormed toward Kraven, grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him down on the hood of my mother’s car hard enough to make me shriek. “No, you’re definitely finished. It’s over. I’ve tolerated you long enough. Your hate has made you blind—you keep us from getting to that house and helping those who need help because you’re so consumed by your own self-pity. You destroy anything you touch—just like old times. I see that now. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Screw you,” Kraven spat out. “What do I care what you think? You’re crazy. You’re losing it.”

“How about this, James? Make a threatening move toward Samantha and I will kill you. And this time there won’t be any deals or rituals to resurrect your sorry ass again.”

I couldn’t help but agree with the demon. Bishop had every right to be angry with him, but there was something erratic about his behavior now, something crazed flashing behind his gaze. Something dangerous.

“Bishop, let him go,” I said, my voice shaky. “Please. We don’t have time for this.”

When he looked at me, Kraven shoved Bishop back from him.

“You think you can kill me? Not if I kill you first. You can’t even handle being leader as it is. You can cut yourself up as much as you like, you can hold hands with gray-girl all day long, but soon it won’t help. You’re going to be completely bat-shit insane soon, no matter what quick fix you have in place. And I’ll be happy to sit back and watch the show with popcorn in hand.”

Bishop’s fists were clenched at his sides. “I’ve felt guilty for killing you all this time. When I saw you for the first time in that alley with no memories...knowing I had to stab you...”

Kraven’s eyes glowed red in the darkness, betraying his anger, his pain. “You did it without any hesitation. Both times.”

“You don’t know what’s going on in my head.”

“I don’t want to know. I hate you.”

Kraven grabbed Bishop’s shirt and slammed him against a brick wall so hard that the surface cracked. Bishop shook it off and launched himself at the demon, grabbing him hard. They started to fight in earnest now, years of anger and pain built up to overflow tonight. Two immortal beings raging against each other, able to hurt, to draw blood, to break bones, but not kill each other. Not without the dagger.

“Stop it,” I growled. “Both of you.”

It was so cold I swear my skin was turning to ice. My hunger hadn’t stopped for a moment. It had only increased, doubling every minute, even though we were far enough away from the house that it shouldn’t have bothered me, and there was enough distance between me and where Bishop and Kraven were fighting.