Snap!

Carly slid her hands over Bishop’s shoulders and was gazing up at his face.

He flicked a glance at the other side of the lounge. Natalie waited a dozen feet away, watching them carefully, her legs long and lean under the short skirt of her tight, midnight-blue dress. Her lips twisted into a dark smile of approval.

“Kiss me,” Bishop said.

“Okay.” Carly smiled at him and tightened her grip on the front of his T-shirt, drawing his face closer to hers. Her eyes fixed on his mouth.

Snap!

There was no time to waste. Heart thundering, I took the stairs two at a time until I got to the top and, ignoring everything and everyone else in the lounge, I made a beeline for them. Just before their lips touched, I grabbed hold of Carly’s arm and wrenched her away from Bishop. I guess I was stronger than I looked because she staggered back toward the glass barrier where she stared at me with shock.

“Wh-what the hell?” she stammered. “Where did you come from?”

“That seems to be the question of the week.” I stood in front of Bishop, blocking him in case she got any more ideas. I felt his angry gaze burning into my back. He was close enough that I felt his breath warm against my skin. “Stay away from him.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I heard you’ve been all over Colin this week. Isn’t it only fair I go after the guy you’re interested in?”

I glared at her. “Don’t try to justify this.”

“I thought we were best friends.”

“I thought so, too.” My heart ached. She had a glazed look in her eyes and I knew I couldn’t get through to her right now. She didn’t understand this was wrong.

Bishop finally spoke, a low growl. “Damn it, Samantha. You shouldn’t be here.”

I forced myself to turn enough to look at him and my chest tightened. The last time I’d looked into his eyes, I’d desperately wanted to kiss him again.

Nothing much had changed since last night. I still did.

A little of the steely resolve faded from his gaze and his dark brows drew together. I guess my emotions were written all over my face.

The girl who’d tried to ignore romance because she was trying to avoid painful stings had basically made a permanent move right into the beehive.

“I shouldn’t be here?” I let out a shaky breath and tried to sound calm. “But I love this club. I come here almost every night lately. Good times.”

When in doubt, scared to death, and fighting a truly fatal attraction, it was best to tap into a little sarcasm.

“This isn’t your business.” Despite his words, something slid behind his eyes. Something vulnerable. He hadn’t expected me to come here, to try to stop him. He thought this was the end for him. Seeing me again had shocked the hell out of him.

But he wasn’t looking anywhere else. He’d asked Carly to kiss him, but now his gaze was only on me.

“I guess we’re not exclusive, you and me, huh?” I desperately tried to sound flippant. It didn’t work very well. “You want to see other people. I get that. I mean, I don’t blame you. Last night…it shouldn’t have happened.”

The same pain I felt twisted in his expression, and his gaze slid to my mouth.

Our kiss—it hadn’t just been addictive to me.

I couldn’t kiss him again. If I did, I could destroy him completely. So, of course, it was all I could think about now.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said again firmly.

“Neither should you.”

He hissed out a frustrated sigh and raked a hand through his dark hair. “I’m exactly where I need to be.”

I’d kept Natalie in my sight since I’d come up here, afraid to turn away from my aunt in case she managed to escape. But she hadn’t even tried. She watched my exchange with Carly and Bishop with growing interest.

Stephen was also there, standing close to Natalie like the good and obedient minion he was. Other grays were up here as well, eight of them—six guys and two girls who were all watching us with vacant expressions. The other times I’d been here they seemed like regular kids. Tonight, they didn’t.

I realized that their eyes had all turned to black.

I turned my widening gaze to Bishop’s.

His expression was grim. “Leave now, Samantha. This doesn’t have to involve you.”

He sounded commanding, but there was the slightest catch in his voice. I didn’t have to be able to read his mind to know what he was thinking right now. He knew if I walked away it would be the last time we ever saw each other.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” I said quietly, for only him to hear.

His jaw clenched and he gave me an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “Please, just go.”

“I can’t do that. There’s another way.”

“No, there isn’t.”

He didn’t know that I had the dagger. I had other plans for tonight. And I wouldn’t let him die like this, no matter what.

Natalie finally approached. Her gaze moved between me and Bishop. Carly stepped back, now giving me a sullen look. “It seems rather dramatic over here. Everything okay?”

“Never better,” I lied.

I looked into her eyes and tried to read her mind, but it felt different from the others. With them, I could feel when they had walls up. With her I felt nothing. And I sensed nothing.

“Did you bring me what I asked you to?”