He laughed. “Stupid humans, milling about this city. They think they’re the top of the food chain. But they’re not. Why can’t you get it through your head, Samantha? You’re one of us. You’re part of the new order.”

“Oh, my God. The new order? What is this, some sort of gray power thing? You’re sick.”

“You’ll feel differently after you’ve evolved to the next level.” He raised an eyebrow at my blanched look. “You know it’s inevitable, don’t you? You must feel it drawing closer by the hour.”

His words made me ill. I kept quiet, hoping that my glare would suddenly turn into something capable of killing him where he stood.

“Stasis is like a wave in the distance, taking its time to arrive,” he continued, “but when it gets closer you realize it’s more like a tsunami. Natalie thought the less we fed, the more it stayed at bay. But it’s just the opposite. The more you feed, especially closer to stasis, the more you delay it, but it’s not forever. When it gets here you’ll lose yourself completely. There’s no other choice.”

His words sent a fresh ripple of jagged fear through me. “You lost yourself?”

Stephen nodded. “Monday night. At Ambrosia. I lost it. I had to get out of there. Funny thing was, I left so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. Once you lose it, you don’t care about meaningless things like that. All you think about is feeding. And your victims? They’re still drawn to you, even in that mindless state. Easy pickings. I fed a lot that night. And I woke up the next morning better than ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Jordan demanded. “I don’t understand any of this. What the hell are you?”

“I’m the future. Your future.” He looked at her. “You called me a monster before, but I’m way better than that.”

She gaped at him. “You can take someone’s soul by—by kissing them?”

“That’s right.”

Her shocked expression soured. “That sounds really lame.”

He gave her a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll change your mind.”

Stephen was still in love with Jordan. Don’t ask me how or why, but he was. I’d seen it at the mall. That was my confirmation. Even though he’d gone through stasis, there was still something there when it came to his feelings toward the redhead.

She had a soul. She was close to him right now, trapped and vulnerable. And yet, he didn’t make a move to feed on her because it would kill her if he did.

That meant something very important to me.

“Stop this, Stephen.” He still held me effortlessly against the wall as if I weighed no more than a teacup Chihuahua. With his increased strength, he could break my spine with the smallest twist. And he could do the same—or worse—to Jordan.

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to stop. This is it, Samantha. This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life. My reason to exist.”

“And what reason is that? You’re stuck in this city like all the others. You’re trapped as much as I am in this room.”

He cocked his head. “Natalie said that you have the power to cut a hole in the barrier with your boyfriend’s dagger.”

My stomach clenched. I’d hoped he’d forgotten about that little hypothesis, my aunt’s quest to escape from Trinity so she could spread her evil far and wide. “She was fooling herself. I can’t do that.”

Stephen glanced at Jordan again, who hadn’t gotten up from the ground yet. “Samantha’s the daughter of a demon and an angel. That gives her special powers that I need.”

“Shut up.” Any mention of what I was put me into immediate panic mode as if the words themselves had power.

He grinned. “It’s a secret, though, so shh. Don’t tell anyone.”

Jordan’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. Are you serious?”

My gaze shot to her. “Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar.”

Her face was so pale her freckles stood out more than they normally did. “Demons and angels...but those things don’t really exist.”

“Wrong,” Stephen said. “They’re prowling the city right now, on a hunt for things like me. Although, I’m pretty hard to kill now. Nearly impossible, really.” He raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t come to rescue you yet, have they, Samantha? Thought they’d taken you as a pet.”

Bishop had found me when Kraven was forced to kiss me. But his tracking ability wasn’t reliable anymore.

Did he even know I’d been missing for a day? Had Cassandra noticed the house was empty, or had she thought I’d gone to bed early again last night and left first thing this morning?

I’d told Bishop I wanted nothing to do with them, and with him. And he’d agreed to give me my space. To say I regretted our last conversation would be a monumental understatement.

I did need him. And I wished desperately he was here.

Mostly so he could kick Stephen’s ass and introduce him to that handy golden dagger of his.

My empathy toward Stephen Keyes was at an end.

“What do you want with us?” I demanded, trying my best to remain calm when I felt anything but. “Or did you just want to talk to us all day?”

He looked over his shoulder at Jordan again, who was finally pushing back up to her feet. “Every soul I take makes me stronger. Strength means power. Power means I can have anything I want—become a true leader, respected and feared. But the others like us...they bore me. Most are too weak to survive stasis, anyway.”