“Another couple of minutes should do it,” he said. “I survived. This angel dude will, too.”

I couldn’t breathe. I needed to get away from here, away from the blood and death so I could clear my head. I turned away from the angel and demon and started to run as fast as I could.

Chapter 10

“Samantha!” Bishop called out to me after I’d run about a block. “Stop!”

I finally did. My lungs felt like they filled with ice every time I took a deep breath. I’d known what was coming and why it had to be done, so I wasn’t sure why it had freaked me out as much as it did. Maybe because I’d had a front row seat for the action this time instead of watching from behind a corner.

I’d crossed over a side street. No trees here. Just concrete and tall office buildings, most of their windows dark after a long workday. A car drove up through a tunnel leading from the underground parking, splitting the space between me and Bishop. It would have given me a chance to keep running, but I held my ground. I had a feeling I wouldn’t get very far.

Bishop crossed the street and stopped half a dozen feet away from me. A streetlamp shone above us, which made the scene feel marginally better than if we’d been in complete darkness. It was an illusion of security.

“You know I had to do that, right?” he said.

I let out a shaky sigh and nodded.

“I had Kraven wait back there for the angel to wake up. And he will wake up. He’ll be fine. Better than before. And he’ll remember why he’s here in the first place.”

“To help you hunt and kill monsters like me.”

Bishop’s jaw tightened. “We’re to patrol the city mostly at night—that’s when most of the grays who’ve lost their reason and humanity come out and threaten humans. We destroy them—there’s no saving them. Other grays, like Stephen, haven’t given in to their hunger enough to turn completely. I need to find the Source and talk to her.”

“And say what?”

“I’ve been told to give her the choice to retreat—to go back where she came from. If she refuses, I must send her there myself. Then I can figure out how to deal with the remaining grays, and I’ll have the team in place to assist me.”

His meaning couldn’t be clearer. “Deal with” would likely have a lot to do with that dagger of his. “Can grays that aren’t feeding, that are in control of their hunger…can you help them like you’re going to help me?”

He was silent for a moment. “It’s possible. But they would need to be willing to be helped. You are. However, I can’t guarantee they will be.”

Good point. Stephen said he liked himself better as a gray. If given the option to have his soul restored, there was a strong chance he’d refuse. “I always thought angels were supposed to be peaceful.”

He scanned the street. No more activity since we’d stopped to talk. This wasn’t a busy area at night. “We do what has to be done. We follow orders. We protect humans from supernatural forces so they never need to know they’re being protected.”

“You do this a lot?”

“It’s my job. And I was honored to be chosen for this mission.”

Yeah, honored. Thrown out of Heaven so hard that he landed on his head, and he was honored.

“Are they always this violent?” I asked, trying hard not to think of the kid with the chest wound whom I’d run away from in the park. “These missions?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“It’s a stupid ritual. Whoever thought of it is…stupid.”

His lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile, but his expression remained serious. “I’ll be sure to relate your opinion when I return. Maybe they can take it under advisement in future ritual creation.”

“You’re making fun of me.”

Tentatively, he closed the distance between us and took hold of my shoulders, his heat sinking into me. I tensed, but didn’t pull away. “I’m not making fun of you. What you did tonight, leading us here…you did it perfectly. Even Kraven can see how important you are. How…”

“Special?” I finished for him.

His smile widened. “Very special.”

“I’ve never felt all that special before.” Like, ever.

“Well, you are. To me you are.”

I swallowed hard. There was a strange longing in his voice, one I found all kinds of confusing. He’d drawn closer still and he held my shoulders gently. Being this close to him made my head spin. I pressed one hand against his chest to push him away, but suddenly realized something very important.

“You have a heartbeat.” I wasn’t sure why finding something so human about him surprised me so much—enough to knock away some of my previous fear and summon my curiosity again.

He nodded. “Of course. What did you expect?”

“I don’t know.” I remembered Kraven foraging through the Dumpster. “Do you need to eat?”

“Yes.”

“Sleep?”

“More than I’d like to with so much to do.”

“I see.” I didn’t really, but I was faking it as best I could. “Do you look like this where you come from? Same appearance, I mean. Just, maybe, with wings?”

He nodded again. “Except here, sometimes our eyes—”

“They glow.”

“It’s a little celestial energy. It’s what gives us our angelic abilities.”