Wicked Kiss
Page 80
What were they arguing about now? Cassandra despised the demon as much as I did, but constant squabbling wasn’t going to help anybody right now.
They’d gone silent, but then I heard a quiet moan. My heart skipped a beat. If he was hurting her...
I pushed the door open all the way, ready to interrupt like I’d done at Ambrosia the other night.
Then I stopped when I saw them, and my mouth fell wide-open in shock.
They weren’t squabbling. And he wasn’t hurting her.
They were kissing. Passionately.
I must have gasped loud enough for them to hear, because they broke apart so fast it was almost comical. Cassandra’s hand flew to her mouth and her gaze shot toward me.
Guilt flooded her expression.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she managed.
Roth glared at me defiantly. “Yes, it is.”
She sent him a withering look. “Shut up.”
I hadn’t just seen things. They were kissing. Mouth to mouth. A demon and angel were kissing.
Roth met my surprised gaze full-on, and I sank into his mind like butter. He was currently wide-open, his walls one hundred percent down.
Damn angel. Why does she make me feel this way? I’m so screwed.
From the look on Cassandra’s face, the feeling was mutual.
They were falling for each other.
And here I’d been absolutely sure she was into Bishop with her touchy-feely-healy ways. Boy, was I wrong about that.
Normally, and despite my animosity toward Roth, I might think this was cute. But I knew the rules that forbade demons and angels from being together like this. I was the result of such a relationship—and it had destroyed my real parents. It had killed my birth mother.
My thoughts must have been written all over my face, because Roth swore. “Influence her to forget this.”
Cassandra shot him a look. “I’m not doing that.”
Now she has a problem using her angelic influence—which, for the record, I didn’t think would work on me, anyway. Before, however, with my mother and her impromptu trip to Hawaii, she’d had no second thoughts about taking the easy way out.
They were afraid I was going to tell on them. But doing that would doom them, just like telling anyone my secret about being a nexus would potentially doom me.
I knew all about keeping dangerous secrets.
“I won’t tell anyone.” It was the first thing I’d said since entering the room.
“How can we trust you?” Roth asked tightly.
“You’ll just have to.” Honestly, though, if I’d read anything malicious in his mind all bets would have been off. But he liked her. He didn’t want to, but he did, anyway.
Roth, the hateful demon, had emotional layers. Who knew?
“Where have you been?” Cassandra suddenly demanded, coming toward me to grab my arm. “We’ve been so worried about you!”
“I’m fine now,” I said, swallowing hard. “But you need to know something. Something bad.”
I told them about Zach. Roth’s expression hardened, but Cassandra’s eyes filled with tears.
“No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.”
“But it’s not a demon like you all thought,” I said, my voice hoarse. “It’s an angel. One who feeds on happiness and the will to live with a touch. It happened to Stephen, too. We don’t know how he’ll be when he wakes up.”
“This is terrible. I didn’t know it would be this bad.” Cassandra drew a shaky hand through her long, pale hair.
I looked at her, confused. “What do you mean? It sounds like you knew it was an angel.”
She nodded gravely. “I’ve been searching the city for her.”
“Her?” Roth said, every bit as surprised as I was about this. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I’ve been trying to find a solution to this problem myself, but I’ve failed. I was about ready to share the details of my true mission with the rest of you.”
So Cassandra did have a secret mission after all. And it was to find the bodiless angel who’d escaped from the Hollow.
“I wish you’d told us earlier,” I whispered, my throat tight.
“Me, too.” She blinked back tears.
They followed me down the hall toward the office at the far end where Connor had tied up the still-unconscious Stephen, the ropes tight at his wrists and ankles. Bishop and Kraven stood nearby. I lingered at the doorway as I filled Bishop in on everything—everything except Roth and Cassandra’s secret romance.
Jordan stood next to me, her attention fully focused on Stephen. She slanted a glance at me as I watched her carefully. “What?”
“Don’t you want to go home?”
“Not yet. I need to know what’s going on here.” She blinked. “And nobody’s kicked me out yet.”
“So Blondie’s an angel with secrets, huh?” Kraven said, rolling his eyes. “How utterly shocking.”
He had his smart-ass mask firmly in place. The fact that he’d saved Bishop from the Hollow hadn’t come up since it happened. It was one of many elephants in the already too-small room.
Roth thrust his chin at Stephen. “Why didn’t you just kill this loser?”
“Because he has Samantha’s soul,” Bishop said with a look toward me. Our eyes met. He was holding on to his sanity with both hands tonight, but I could see it was a struggle. I wanted to help him, but I held back. Since I was a large part of the problem right now, the least I could do was stay out of the way.
They’d gone silent, but then I heard a quiet moan. My heart skipped a beat. If he was hurting her...
I pushed the door open all the way, ready to interrupt like I’d done at Ambrosia the other night.
Then I stopped when I saw them, and my mouth fell wide-open in shock.
They weren’t squabbling. And he wasn’t hurting her.
They were kissing. Passionately.
I must have gasped loud enough for them to hear, because they broke apart so fast it was almost comical. Cassandra’s hand flew to her mouth and her gaze shot toward me.
Guilt flooded her expression.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she managed.
Roth glared at me defiantly. “Yes, it is.”
She sent him a withering look. “Shut up.”
I hadn’t just seen things. They were kissing. Mouth to mouth. A demon and angel were kissing.
Roth met my surprised gaze full-on, and I sank into his mind like butter. He was currently wide-open, his walls one hundred percent down.
Damn angel. Why does she make me feel this way? I’m so screwed.
From the look on Cassandra’s face, the feeling was mutual.
They were falling for each other.
And here I’d been absolutely sure she was into Bishop with her touchy-feely-healy ways. Boy, was I wrong about that.
Normally, and despite my animosity toward Roth, I might think this was cute. But I knew the rules that forbade demons and angels from being together like this. I was the result of such a relationship—and it had destroyed my real parents. It had killed my birth mother.
My thoughts must have been written all over my face, because Roth swore. “Influence her to forget this.”
Cassandra shot him a look. “I’m not doing that.”
Now she has a problem using her angelic influence—which, for the record, I didn’t think would work on me, anyway. Before, however, with my mother and her impromptu trip to Hawaii, she’d had no second thoughts about taking the easy way out.
They were afraid I was going to tell on them. But doing that would doom them, just like telling anyone my secret about being a nexus would potentially doom me.
I knew all about keeping dangerous secrets.
“I won’t tell anyone.” It was the first thing I’d said since entering the room.
“How can we trust you?” Roth asked tightly.
“You’ll just have to.” Honestly, though, if I’d read anything malicious in his mind all bets would have been off. But he liked her. He didn’t want to, but he did, anyway.
Roth, the hateful demon, had emotional layers. Who knew?
“Where have you been?” Cassandra suddenly demanded, coming toward me to grab my arm. “We’ve been so worried about you!”
“I’m fine now,” I said, swallowing hard. “But you need to know something. Something bad.”
I told them about Zach. Roth’s expression hardened, but Cassandra’s eyes filled with tears.
“No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.”
“But it’s not a demon like you all thought,” I said, my voice hoarse. “It’s an angel. One who feeds on happiness and the will to live with a touch. It happened to Stephen, too. We don’t know how he’ll be when he wakes up.”
“This is terrible. I didn’t know it would be this bad.” Cassandra drew a shaky hand through her long, pale hair.
I looked at her, confused. “What do you mean? It sounds like you knew it was an angel.”
She nodded gravely. “I’ve been searching the city for her.”
“Her?” Roth said, every bit as surprised as I was about this. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I’ve been trying to find a solution to this problem myself, but I’ve failed. I was about ready to share the details of my true mission with the rest of you.”
So Cassandra did have a secret mission after all. And it was to find the bodiless angel who’d escaped from the Hollow.
“I wish you’d told us earlier,” I whispered, my throat tight.
“Me, too.” She blinked back tears.
They followed me down the hall toward the office at the far end where Connor had tied up the still-unconscious Stephen, the ropes tight at his wrists and ankles. Bishop and Kraven stood nearby. I lingered at the doorway as I filled Bishop in on everything—everything except Roth and Cassandra’s secret romance.
Jordan stood next to me, her attention fully focused on Stephen. She slanted a glance at me as I watched her carefully. “What?”
“Don’t you want to go home?”
“Not yet. I need to know what’s going on here.” She blinked. “And nobody’s kicked me out yet.”
“So Blondie’s an angel with secrets, huh?” Kraven said, rolling his eyes. “How utterly shocking.”
He had his smart-ass mask firmly in place. The fact that he’d saved Bishop from the Hollow hadn’t come up since it happened. It was one of many elephants in the already too-small room.
Roth thrust his chin at Stephen. “Why didn’t you just kill this loser?”
“Because he has Samantha’s soul,” Bishop said with a look toward me. Our eyes met. He was holding on to his sanity with both hands tonight, but I could see it was a struggle. I wanted to help him, but I held back. Since I was a large part of the problem right now, the least I could do was stay out of the way.
