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So damn unfair.
This searchlight didn’t lead us too many blocks away from the abandoned church. It was practically deserted in this neighborhood, compared to where we’d found Roth on the busy downtown sidewalk in the shopping district. Abandoned, empty, lonely—depressing, really. A good chunk of Trinity was like this now, as if any life that had existed before had died off, leaving a shadowy ghost town behind.
The light led us to another boy, not that I was all that surprised about his gender. He was an inch or two shorter than Bishop, which still meant he was at least six feet tall, with cocoa-colored skin and dark eyes. Attractive, of course, no big surprise there, either. He wore ill-fitting khaki pants and a green button-down shirt. His black hair was so short it was nearly shaved.
He had his arms crossed and he trudged along the sidewalk, headed slowly toward downtown.
“That’s him?” Bishop said.
The sound of his smooth, deep voice sank into me and made me shiver. I wanted to forgive him, even while memories of his betrayal still swirled all around me.
My conflicting emotions toward Bishop weren’t helpful right now. All they could do was distract me.
“Yeah,” I finally said. “I don’t get it, though. Why would they tell Kraven there’s supposed to be four of you and then send another one?”
“No idea.” He didn’t sound happy about that.
I had a flash of what happened last time with Roth and the worry over us making a mistake and actually killing some innocent kid. “Just make sure to check him first. Don’t just, you know, do it.”
“I will. You can leave now.” He paused. “If you want to.”
I eyed him sideways while we kept walking and I drew my coat closer to block the chill. Since we weren’t exactly walking hand in hand, I felt the cold night all too well. “And miss all the excitement?”
He kept his tense attention on the kid. “I know you don’t like this part.”
“Bishop, the day I start to like witnessing someone get stabbed through the heart is not a day I’m looking forward to.”
He shook his head. “You’ve been so brave about all of this.”
That made me snort humorlessly. “That’s not exactly a word I’d use to describe myself.”
He finally met my gaze and my heart betrayed me by skipping a beat. I guess it had already recovered from being broken. Fickle heart.
“I just wish I understood how you can do this,” he said.
He had no idea what the truth really was—that I was a…a nexus, like Natalie said. Since I wasn’t ready to share that at the moment, he’d just have to keep guessing.
Bishop pulled me to a stop. The kid had also stopped walking and turned to face us.
“Are you following me?” he asked.
“Us?” I was the first to speak. “Um, maybe. Hi there. How are you tonight?”
He looked at me like I might be a bit crazy. “This is a bad neighborhood, you know. Dangerous at night.”
“Your point?”
“What do you want with me?”
Bishop stepped forward. “We know you’re lost and we want to help you.”
The kid’s eyes weren’t as dark as I thought they were at a distance. They were a medium brown, flecked with gold. They tracked back to me and his brows drew together. “Do I know you?”
“Me?” I pointed at myself.
“Yeah, you look familiar.”
Bishop and I exchanged a glance. “It’s all yours,” I told him, waving my hand and stepping backward.
That earned me the barest hint of one of his rare but amazing smiles. It worked like a lightning bolt right to my heart. My heart honestly couldn’t make up its mind about the angel—it was either broken or doing backflips.
Bishop turned back to the kid. “Have you dreamed about Samantha? Is that how you know her?”
“Dreamed about her? Actually…yeah, I have. Is that strange, or what?”
“Not strange. It was a sign that we’re here to help you right now.”
The boy frowned, but then his attention shifted to something behind us and his eyes widened with fear. “I’ve dreamed about something like that, too.”
I turned to look and a gasp caught in my throat.
A large man was barreling down the sidewalk. He wore a dark blue business suit, which was wrinkled and dirty. I could smell him from ten feet away—like something rotten found at the bottom of a garbage can. His face was so pale white it seemed to glow like the moon in the darkness.
And his eyes—they were black and glazed, with no emotion or intelligence in them. Only hunger.
They were like Carly’s eyes had been. It was enough to freeze me in place with horror.
Bishop shoved me out of the way as the man stormed toward us, and then Bishop was tackled to the ground, landing hard on his back. I shrieked, thinking that this monster was going to hurt Bishop, but I couldn’t figure out what to grab or kick to help him.
But the angel had been chosen for this mission for a reason. I’d only seen a glimpse of his fighting skills before. Tonight I got to see more. He slammed his fist into the man’s face and used the leverage to flip him onto his back. The man fought back, but Bishop had taken full control of the situation.
“Can you understand me?” Bishop demanded. “Can you still think clearly enough to answer me?”
A line of drool slid out of the man’s mouth as he powered forward, fighting hard and wildly against Bishop, but not making any indication that he understood what he was asked.
