I rubbed my head with my good hand. “And you’re disappointed that I’m not?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course not. I don’t like you, Samantha, but I didn’t want you to die. There’s been enough death this week.” Her voice quavered. “What the hell is going on?”

The room was no more than ten square feet. I hated being in enclosed spaces so much. It made me feel trapped. Now I was  literally trapped. “How long was I out?”

“A day and a half.”

I forced myself to sit up. “A day and a half?”

“It was yesterday morning when I was brought here. You were brought in an hour later. And then...all afternoon. Night. Day again...it feels like forever. He threw in a water bottle and a couple energy bars. I saved one for you.”

I sat up completely. My head throbbed with the effort and I brought my knees up in front of me, hugging them to my chest as I tried to sort things through. I pressed my right hand against my chest. My wrist was definitely broken.

Panic and anger swirled inside me at the thought that Stephen had kept me unconscious for a day and a half.

Locked in a basement with Jordan.

I looked at her. “We need to get out of here.”

“Gee, what a fantastic idea. I hadn’t considered that before.” Her sarcasm dripped. “The door’s locked. And it’s made of metal. There’s no way out. I already broke three nails trying.”

“What about that window?” I looked up at it.

“Do you have a secret identity as Spider-Man I’m not aware of? Besides, you’re small, but that window is still way too tiny to squeeze through.”

I struggled to get to my feet. Jordan tried to help me but I flinched away from her.

“What is wrong with you?” she snapped.

My stomach clenched as I tried to get control of myself. It took a second. “Trust me, you don’t want to get too close to me right now.”

“You are so weird.”

“Yeah, I’m weird. But take my word for it, okay? Stay back.” I got to my feet on my own and turned in a circle. It looked like a storage room, cleared of any storage so the room was completely empty. Just white walls. Ceiling-set lights. That small window. Two trapped girls. “Do you have a cell phone?”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. “My cell phone! I could just call someone for help.” She glared. “He took it away from me, of course. First thing he did.”

I scowled at her. “You’re not helping.”

“Why is Stephen doing this?” Her earlier smart-ass tone had been replaced by raw pain and confusion. “Why would he do this to me?”

“Maybe you should have left him alone.”

“Nice. And let you have him?”

A cold line of perspiration slid down my back. Being in this tight spot with no idea how to escape was starting to freak me out. “Believe me, I don’t want him. There’s only one thing I want from Stephen and it’s definitely not his body.”

Jordan’s bottom lip wobbled. “He’s a monster.”

“Did he kiss you?” I asked with alarm when the thought occurred to me. At her look of confusion, it took all I had in me not to reach forward and shake her. “Did he?”

Her eyes sparked with fury. “No. He was too busy knocking me unconscious to do any making out. Not that I’d ever kiss him again after what he’s done to me. Bastard.”

“Good.”

“Oh, I see. You’re the only girl that psycho can kiss now. Is that it?”

“Save your jealousy, Jordan. It’s not helpful right now.” I went to the door, pressing my left hand flat against its smooth, cool surface. There was no handle or lock on this side, only flat metal.

Then I started to pound on it. “Stephen! Let us out of here!”

Jordan grabbed my shoulder. “What are you doing?”

I literally shoved her away from me. Her soul was like a tempting second skin she wore, and the last damn thing I wanted to do right now was lose what little control I had left and attack her. “What did I tell you about not getting close to me?”

She frowned deeply. “Stephen said the same thing to me when he brought me in here.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. I figured he just doesn’t like me anymore.”

“I think he might like you too much,” I mumbled. Then I pounded on the door again until my left fist hurt. It was a very sharp reminder that my nexus abilities did not extend themselves to super strength, at least, not when a demon or an angel wasn’t involved. No, a big metal door was more than enough to keep me trapped. And my only ability as a gray was my current and growing need to devour Jordan’s soul.

It was my worst fear come to life. No way to escape my hunger. What happened with Colin would only be foreshadowing if I didn’t find a way out of this room.

“Stephen’s one of them,” Jordan whispered.

She wrung her hands anxiously. “The ones who hurt people, who can absorb their energy somehow. It weakens them—can kill them. The murders in the paper, the ones where the victims have no sign of trauma, only those strange lines around their mouths. The police don’t know why, but I do. I saw it before, and Stephen’s one of them. He’s got us in here and he’s going to kill us.”

I looked at her, stunned that she figured it out—even if she had no idea what she’d figured out. “I don’t think his plan is nearly as simple as killing us.”