Her lips thinned with distaste. “Neither. She was an angel.”

A wave of shock crashed over me. “A-an angel? Wait. My father was a demon…and my mother…was an angel?”

“Yes.”

“Were they human when they got together?”

“No. Your parents were already supernatural when they met—an angel and a demon.”

“Then…what does that make me?”

Her smile returned. “Special.”

Snap goes another puzzle piece.

I stood up so quickly I got dizzy. I needed fresh air, but I was frozen in place and couldn’t move. It was like there were lead weights in my shoes. I felt numb, but as I forced myself to breathe in and out, in and out, everything slowly became clearer and my heart stopped pounding so hard. It took a while.

“But angels and demons don’t like each other,” I said, remembering what little I’d learned from Bishop. “They hate each other.”

“Usually. Personally I despise angels.” She shrugged. “But you know what they say…love works in mysterious ways.”

How could she be so flippant about this? “What happened?”

She twisted her index finger through a long, dark piece of her hair. It reminded me immediately of my own nervous habit. However, this woman—this demon—didn’t seem like she got nervous very often. “The same thing that’s happening now. A team of angels and demons were sent to take care of a problem. Your parents met. Hate swiftly turned to something else—although, don’t ask me how. True love.” She said it drily as if she couldn’t quite believe it herself. “Problem was, it’s forbidden. Angels and demons can’t be together like that. Especially not in the human world.”

“Wh-why not?”

She gave me a slight shrug, her gaze running down the length of me. “Because there can be a price for such uncontrollable and unnatural passion. Angels and demons don’t breed with each other or amongst themselves. Unless they’re here in the human world. And true and passionate love plays a great role in making the biology click. You are an anomaly, Samantha. An extraordinarily rare result of a forbidden demon/angel love affair.” She gave me a bright, wide smile. “And you’re rather fabulous, if I do say so myself.”

“I’m an anomaly.” That was the same word Bishop had used to describe the Source, a demon who could devour human souls. Aka: my aunt. He’d wondered if she was the same one with the ability from years ago. Sounded to me like he was absolutely right about that.

“You’re a nexus,” she said. “It means the link, the connection. The offspring of a demon and an angel. You were born human—but a special human with gifts that draw from the powers of both Heaven and Hell. These gifts were held back by your soul.”

This was why I could do what I did with the other angels and demons. Finding them, repelling them, reading their minds. I had a connection to them, a deep connection that had been born in me. And it was only with my soul missing that I could properly access it.

The powers of Heaven and Hell—angel and demon—in me.

It was a hell of a lot to deal with for a Thursday evening.

“So I’m not really a gray,” I said quietly.

Her amusement faded. “I honestly thought that Stephen’s kiss would simply get rid of your soul and free up your hidden abilities. It was a surprise to me that you developed the hunger, too.”

I glared at her. “So it was just a hunch you had? And you went ahead and did it anyway? Without explaining anything to me first? Without giving me a choice?”

She grimaced and had the grace to look guilty. “I am sorry. I know the hunger is…unpleasant. But it didn’t even occur to me that it would cause a problem. For what it’s worth, I think it’s possible that your hunger will fade as your body adjusts to being without its soul.”

“Is that another hunch?”

“You’re not like the others, Samantha. You’re special.”

“Screw you,” I spat out. My anger was rising with every new piece of information I got. “You damn well should have asked me first. Because I would have said no.”

“The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.” But then her tone turned sharper. “But it’s done and there’s no going back, only forward. Because of what you are, I believe you have the power to use Bishop’s golden dagger as a key to open a temporary exit in the barrier Heaven and Hell created to trap us here.”

“Bishop…” I said his name out loud and my battered heart started to ache even more than it already did. I wished I knew where he was right now and if he was okay. I’d tried to be strong, but I wanted to go to him as soon as I could. I just wished he’d come to see me if he needed my help.

“He’s an angel, right?” A dim red glow lit up her eyes again as her expression soured. “He’s been using you for your gifts from the moment you met.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to do the exact same thing.” It did scare me that she knew what Bishop was without any confirmation from me.

“I’m trying to save both of us. Not just myself. Family comes first, Samantha. Always.”

I grabbed hold of the red sofa and squeezed it, as if it might act as an anchor for me. “Where are my parents? Why did they abandon me? Did they just leave me with an adoption agency and take off to Tahiti or something? Why has it been seventeen years and this is the first I’m hearing about any of this?”