Dark Kiss
Page 52
“The hard way.” Her grin faded and she got up from the table and moved to the glass barrier to look down on the rest of Crave. When she turned back to face me, again I was struck by how strangely familiar she looked.
“There’s something about you,” I murmured. “Something I…I can’t figure it out. I feel like I know you.”
“Is that what your gut tells you?” she asked. “You should listen to it. It’s telling you that you can trust me, that I want the best for you even though my methods might seem harsh. I know it’s a lot to grasp, but please try your best. You’re important to this, Samantha. More important than you even realize. You’re the center of it all. That’s why I needed to find you.”
“What do you mean, the center of it all?” I shook my head. “I just got dragged into this because Stephen kissed me.”
She looked weary suddenly, like she hadn’t slept in days. “You know that’s not true.”
She was right. There were no coincidences here.
“You’re the reason the other grays exist,” I said quietly. “You’re their leader—their boss. You’re the one in control here.”
“I am,” she said evenly. “So you can see why I need to know about your friend Bishop and that very special golden dagger Stephen told me he has in his possession. I know he’s looking for me—even now, at this very moment. If he finds me, he’ll kill me because he thinks he’s doing the right thing. But he’s not.”
My mouth went dry. I didn’t want her to know the truth about Bishop, but at the same time my gut was telling me that Natalie wasn’t simply the evil entity I’d expected her to be. There was more to this story, a vital seed of truth here, but the picture was still too blurry for me to see it clearly.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I finally said. “I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.”
None that I was prepared to share right now, anyway.
She moved away from the glass barrier and approached me. “You’re protecting him.”
I shook my head.
“I understand why you’re confused. Frankly, I don’t really care about Bishop that much, other than concern about my own survival. All I care about now is you.”
“But why do you care about me?” I searched for deception in her expression, but I saw none. She moved away from me to sit back down at the table.
“Have you discovered your psychic gifts since Stephen kissed you?”
My breath caught. “How did you know that?”
“It’s part of what makes you so special. You have gifts—gifts you’ve had since you were first born, but you haven’t been able to access them until now. Your soul cut you off from them like a lid on a box. Now that lid is gone, isn’t it?”
Before I’d been kissed, I was totally normal. Stunningly normal. But now I wasn’t. And it wasn’t just the hunger and the chills. It was everything else. Kraven couldn’t figure out why I could do the things I could—the visions, seeing the searchlights, my zapping ability, reading the minds of angels and demons, helping Bishop regain his sanity. Was it all related?
“I don’t know,” is what I ended up saying. “Maybe.”
Natalie nodded as if satisfied with that answer—or at least that I wasn’t trying to deny it. “I need your help, Samantha.”
“With what?”
“Right now, there’s a barrier preventing myself or any other supernatural being from leaving the city limits. We’ve been trapped like defenseless mice for a cat to pick off for entertainment. I think you already know that.”
I hadn’t tested the barrier theory, but I didn’t think she was lying about it. “It’s a big city. There’s more than enough room to move around here. I’ve barely left Trinity my whole life.”
“We’re still imprisoned here. I don’t know what Bishop has told you about me, but he’s wrong. He’s the one you shouldn’t trust, Samantha. He’s our enemy. Your enemy. But he needs you. He’s using you for your gifts, isn’t he?”
The song playing below shifted to something with a harder bass thump. I felt it through the bottoms of the tight boots I wore. I’d been so focused on my strange conversation with Natalie that I’d barely felt how much my feet had started to hurt.
I didn’t like her accusing Bishop of using me, but I couldn’t say she was lying. Bishop was using me. He’d even admitted it, which was why he’d made the deal to restore my soul to even things up between us. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“It’s very simple.” She studied me carefully. “I need you to bring his golden dagger to me.”
My heart was pounding right out of my chest. “What for?”
“It’s powerful, magical. It’s the key to leaving this city. And your newfound gifts will allow you to use it to help save me—save us all—before he finds me and kills me.”
I just stared at her, in shock from what she’d asked of me. Steal Bishop’s dagger. Save her life. Or she was going to die. We all were.
Bishop had said he wanted to talk to her.
After all I’d seen, I wasn’t even slightly convinced it would end there.
“Think about everything I’ve told you,” Natalie said. “Think hard. It’s very important that you make the right choice now. I mean you no harm, Samantha. I only want you to realize your full potential. I can help you do just that. I know you can feel the truth in what I’ve told you. Believe in me, Samantha. I can help you more than he can. I can help you accept what you are rather than what you were. You’re better now in every way.”
“There’s something about you,” I murmured. “Something I…I can’t figure it out. I feel like I know you.”
“Is that what your gut tells you?” she asked. “You should listen to it. It’s telling you that you can trust me, that I want the best for you even though my methods might seem harsh. I know it’s a lot to grasp, but please try your best. You’re important to this, Samantha. More important than you even realize. You’re the center of it all. That’s why I needed to find you.”
“What do you mean, the center of it all?” I shook my head. “I just got dragged into this because Stephen kissed me.”
She looked weary suddenly, like she hadn’t slept in days. “You know that’s not true.”
She was right. There were no coincidences here.
“You’re the reason the other grays exist,” I said quietly. “You’re their leader—their boss. You’re the one in control here.”
“I am,” she said evenly. “So you can see why I need to know about your friend Bishop and that very special golden dagger Stephen told me he has in his possession. I know he’s looking for me—even now, at this very moment. If he finds me, he’ll kill me because he thinks he’s doing the right thing. But he’s not.”
My mouth went dry. I didn’t want her to know the truth about Bishop, but at the same time my gut was telling me that Natalie wasn’t simply the evil entity I’d expected her to be. There was more to this story, a vital seed of truth here, but the picture was still too blurry for me to see it clearly.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I finally said. “I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.”
None that I was prepared to share right now, anyway.
She moved away from the glass barrier and approached me. “You’re protecting him.”
I shook my head.
“I understand why you’re confused. Frankly, I don’t really care about Bishop that much, other than concern about my own survival. All I care about now is you.”
“But why do you care about me?” I searched for deception in her expression, but I saw none. She moved away from me to sit back down at the table.
“Have you discovered your psychic gifts since Stephen kissed you?”
My breath caught. “How did you know that?”
“It’s part of what makes you so special. You have gifts—gifts you’ve had since you were first born, but you haven’t been able to access them until now. Your soul cut you off from them like a lid on a box. Now that lid is gone, isn’t it?”
Before I’d been kissed, I was totally normal. Stunningly normal. But now I wasn’t. And it wasn’t just the hunger and the chills. It was everything else. Kraven couldn’t figure out why I could do the things I could—the visions, seeing the searchlights, my zapping ability, reading the minds of angels and demons, helping Bishop regain his sanity. Was it all related?
“I don’t know,” is what I ended up saying. “Maybe.”
Natalie nodded as if satisfied with that answer—or at least that I wasn’t trying to deny it. “I need your help, Samantha.”
“With what?”
“Right now, there’s a barrier preventing myself or any other supernatural being from leaving the city limits. We’ve been trapped like defenseless mice for a cat to pick off for entertainment. I think you already know that.”
I hadn’t tested the barrier theory, but I didn’t think she was lying about it. “It’s a big city. There’s more than enough room to move around here. I’ve barely left Trinity my whole life.”
“We’re still imprisoned here. I don’t know what Bishop has told you about me, but he’s wrong. He’s the one you shouldn’t trust, Samantha. He’s our enemy. Your enemy. But he needs you. He’s using you for your gifts, isn’t he?”
The song playing below shifted to something with a harder bass thump. I felt it through the bottoms of the tight boots I wore. I’d been so focused on my strange conversation with Natalie that I’d barely felt how much my feet had started to hurt.
I didn’t like her accusing Bishop of using me, but I couldn’t say she was lying. Bishop was using me. He’d even admitted it, which was why he’d made the deal to restore my soul to even things up between us. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“It’s very simple.” She studied me carefully. “I need you to bring his golden dagger to me.”
My heart was pounding right out of my chest. “What for?”
“It’s powerful, magical. It’s the key to leaving this city. And your newfound gifts will allow you to use it to help save me—save us all—before he finds me and kills me.”
I just stared at her, in shock from what she’d asked of me. Steal Bishop’s dagger. Save her life. Or she was going to die. We all were.
Bishop had said he wanted to talk to her.
After all I’d seen, I wasn’t even slightly convinced it would end there.
“Think about everything I’ve told you,” Natalie said. “Think hard. It’s very important that you make the right choice now. I mean you no harm, Samantha. I only want you to realize your full potential. I can help you do just that. I know you can feel the truth in what I’ve told you. Believe in me, Samantha. I can help you more than he can. I can help you accept what you are rather than what you were. You’re better now in every way.”
