Michelle Rowen - Dark Kiss

Kraven’s mischievous grin widened and his amber-colored eyes began to glow bright red. “Because it takes more than that to kill a demon.”

I couldn’t move. Fear crawled through my gut like a fistful of cockroaches. “A demon?”

“Impressed?”

I wanted this to be a movie on TV so I could press the off button and make it all go away. The cold feeling grew deeper, sinking so far inside me I didn’t think I’d ever feel warm again. I was sure all the color had drained from my already pale face.

Other than his eyes, there was nothing that made him seem anything other than human. He had a small freckle at the left corner of his mouth. His hair was the kind of blond color people got if they were normally light brown but spent the entire summer working outside in the sun. He looked so normal. Like a boy I might see at the mall, or the movies, or … eating garbage in an alleyway.

Unlike Bishop, there was no madness in his expression. Kraven was totally sane.

Which meant that I had to be the crazy one.

“Wh-what do you want from me?” I stammered.

“I want to do my job. The sooner the better.”

“What’s your job?”

“Why would I tell you my secrets?” Kraven brushed the front of his shirt, straightening out a wrinkle in the fabric, before his gaze, which had changed back to its normal amber color, returned to my face.

A cold line of perspiration slid down my spine and I took a deep breath before speaking. “I swear, I’m not what you think I am.”

“A hungry little gray with an appetite for human souls?” Kraven touched my hair and I swatted his hand away. Then he grabbed my wrists and pulled me closer to him.

Sabrina, a girl from my afternoon geography class, passed us and I craned my neck to track her. She was notorious for cheating off whomever was seated next to her, including me several times, and she had the As to prove it.

I’d never been so happy to see anyone before in my entire life.

“Sabrina, help me!” I shouted. “Please!”

She didn’t even glance in my direction.

“Why can’t she see me?” I struggled to pull away from him, but Kraven held me firmly in place.

He watched the girl disappear down the path. “Because I don’t want her to. I cloaked us so we could have a little chat all privatelike.” He looked at my mouth for a moment as if mesmerized by it. “Let’s get down to business, sweetness. How many have you kissed since you’ve been turned?”

“None!”

He raised an eyebrow and brought his mouth closer to mine. I could feel his hot breath on me as he spoke. “But you want to, don’t you? It’s a hunger you can’t resist, a raw desire, an … aching need. Tell me the truth. You want to, don’t you?”

“No.” I clenched my jaw, glaring at him for making it sound so dirty, but inside I felt sick and weakened. I’d ached to kiss Colin just now, and it had taken everything I had to pull myself away from him. I’d tried to ignore my cravings, feed them with food each time they’d appeared, but nothing had helped.

Kraven knew that. He shouldn’t have known anything about me, but he knew what I was feeling inside right now. And he saw the answer on my face even though I hadn’t said it out loud.

His smile faded. “Even if I believed you, it’s only a matter of time before you can’t control it any longer.”

He grabbed me by the throat so tight that I couldn’t breathe. I scratched and beat at his arms as hard as I could, but it didn’t do any good. He raised me off the ground so I was on my tiptoes.

No one could see that he was strangling me right in the middle of school grounds. I strained to get a breath, to scream, but I couldn’t. My fingernails dug into Kraven’s iron grip.

“Let go of her,” someone snarled.

Bishop had appeared a dozen feet away by the bench. My eyes widened, and the fear I’d felt the last time we’d been face-to-face came back in full force along with an almost giddy elation.

The demon finally tore his gaze away from me. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll kill you. Again.”

Kraven slowly set me back down on the ground, releasing my throat. I wheezed and gasped for breath. “You know, you’re a serious pain in the—”

Bishop launched himself at the demon, tackling him to the ground and slamming a fist into Kraven’s jaw. Before the next hit landed Kraven grabbed him and twisted his arm away. I recovered enough to leap back as they continued to fight. More students strolled past without glancing at them or at me.

“Some angel you are.” Kraven laughed as they finally pushed apart. “Can’t even take a lowly demon like me in a fight?”

“I can take you,” Bishop growled. “I can end you.”

“Thought we were supposed to be working together like good friends and business partners.”

“Still up for debate as far as I’m concerned. They shouldn’t have sent you .”

“Too bad. They did. Deal with it.”

I’d been a half second from running in the opposite direction, but froze in place at what I’d just heard.

“You’re a—an angel? ” My voice sounded pitchy.

Bishop’s gaze shot to me and he took a step toward me. “Samantha …”

I held up a shaky hand. “Don’t come any closer or I’m going to scream.”

He stayed put, his jaw tight and his fierce gaze focused on me.

On my bedroom wall I had a framed poster of an angel by a fantasy illustrator I really liked—it showed a peaceful, beautiful being of light. If anything, I would have guessed Bishop was a demon, like Kraven, from every horrible thing he’d done so far. Seeing him again had knocked every bit of confidence right out of me.

But those blue eyes of his—they were every bit as beautiful as they’d been last night and able to capture me with just a glance in my direction. It was impossible to even attempt to breathe normally at this point. “If you’re an angel, why are you working with a demon?”

His lips thinned. “It’s a long story.”

“Yeah, a really long story.” Kraven was studying me again. “Why’s she so different?”

“I don’t know.” Bishop kept his attention on me. “There’s something special about her. When she helped me with her touch—”

“Exactly what was she touching that was so memorable for you?”

“Watch your mouth.”

A smile tugged at Kraven’s lips and he leered at me in a way that made me feel naked. I fought the urge to cross my arms over my chest. “You’re a mystery, gray girl.”

“Her name is Samantha,” Bishop growled.

Kraven rolled his eyes. “If this is going to work, you really have to loosen up. Like, seriously.”

My mind reeled and my stomach twisted from all of this—from what I was feeling to what I’d just been told flat out. I couldn’t deny that I hungered for something I couldn’t name, and my cravings had been getting worse every hour since Stephen had kissed me on Friday night. When Colin had gotten too close, I’d wanted to kiss him so much that I’d practically attacked him in the hallway. But I hadn’t. I could control it. I had so far, and I’d continue to do so.

Kraven’s smile returned and he moved closer to me again. I froze as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “You know, you’re kind of cute. Maybe I won’t kill you if you make it worth my while.”

“Get your hand off me,” I snapped as my fear turned to anger. I grabbed his hand.

Electricity crackled down my arm. Kraven gasped in pain and staggered backward. I stared at him with surprise.

“What was that?” he managed to ask.

Good question. What the hell just happened?

Bishop glared at him. “Just stay away from her.”