“You could say that.”

“How?”

“Bishop,” he said very softly after a long moment of silence passed between us, “was my brother.”

Without another word, he pulled his arm out of my grip disappeared into the night.

Chapter 13

Hold on. Did he just say that Bishop was his brother?

His brother?

I stood in the driveway staring at the empty street after Kraven had disappeared. I was in complete shock.

This was impossible. And yet…I’d sensed there was something between them. Something that went deeper than the expected animosity of a demon and an angel having to work together for a short time.

Bishop and Kraven had once been human. And they’d been brothers.

Yes, definitely in shock.

This was big. Too big.

Bishop hadn’t told me. But he knew, it wasn’t as if he’d forgotten. From the moment he’d seen Kraven in the alleyway, I’d sensed something—sensed that Bishop already knew him. It had been a subtle hesitation on his part, but it was there. I wondered how long it had been since they’d last seen each other.

How did one brother become a demon and the other an angel?

It hadn’t been a heartfelt family reunion between them. There was bad blood simmering just under the surface.

Brothers. Wow. I really hadn’t seen that coming. I mean, they didn’t even look very much alike. Same build, same height, both gorgeous, but totally different hair and eye colors.

But they were brothers.

I forced myself to turn away from the dark street and go to the front door. My mother was sorting through the mail as I entered the house. She glanced at me with a smile as I closed and locked the door behind me.

“He’s very cute,” she said. “Have you two been seeing each other long?”

I grimaced a little. “He’s just a friend.”

“Maybe for now. But boys don’t walk girls right to their front doors unless there’s some reason behind it. Trust me.”

She was right about that. Unfortunately the reason behind it was to get me here in one solid but shaky piece after having my neck snapped like a dry twig by an enraged demon. I shuddered and found myself touching my throat even though it didn’t feel injured in the slightest anymore—not even bruised.

“I remember my first serious boyfriend,” she said wistfully, not noticing my bleak expression. “The captain of the football team, if you can believe it. I was totally crazy about him, but then I was all about dating and being social in high school. You’ve been so serious with your grades lately—which trust me, I’m not knocking at all—I didn’t think you had time for boys.”

I was barely listening to her, still going over everything that Kraven had said to me a few minutes ago. “Am I adopted?”

It took a moment before I realized she hadn’t replied; she was just staring at me with surprise.

“What did you say?” she finally said. “Adopted?”

Hearing her say it out loud made me realize how ridiculous it sounded. I wished I hadn’t said anything at all. “Forget it, it’s nothing.”

“What on earth put that into your head?”

“Kraven…he said that we didn’t look anything alike. And, well, he’s kind of right now that I think about it. You’re a blonde. So’s dad—although he’s a bit darker. Not as dark as me, though.”

Bishop and Kraven had different coloring, but they were related. This had to be the same thing.

I’d been ready to put it out of my mind, if it wasn’t for the look of shock on my mother’s face. She appeared to be at a total loss for words.

“Well, am I?” I began again, starting to feel ill. “You’d tell me something like that, right?”

Finally, she composed herself, running a hand along her hair, currently up in a French twist. “Of course I would, Samantha. Something that important, you’d have a right to know.”

“Well…good.”

While she’d all but denied Kraven’s suspicions, it still didn’t set my mind at ease. She’d hesitated when I’d asked her if I was adopted, something that hadn’t occurred to me one single time in seventeen years.

I was probably just imagining things. After all, it had been a really tough day.

* * *

I didn’t sleep much that night. Instead, I stayed awake, staring at the scary shapes the shadows made on my ceiling and playing “worst-case scenario.” Not exactly the most fun game at three o’clock in the morning. My alarm clock couldn’t go off fast enough.

When it did, I had second thoughts about going to school. For a moment, I wanted to stay home and hide like Kraven had suggested. However, being that he’d been the one to suggest it was enough to prompt my butt out of bed and off to school. Hiding was for people who waited for others to save them. That wasn’t me. I would face my problems head-on.

I mean, I’d rather not, but I would if I had to.

My future was in Bishop’s hands now. Once he got his team organized and did what he had to do to find the Source of the grays, then he’d promised to help restore my soul.

I wondered if I’d ever see him again after that. After he went back to Heaven and life got back to normal for both of us. Maybe he’d forget all about me.

I didn’t think I’d ever forget about him.

The thought made something start to ache in the center of my chest.