Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers) by Michelle Rowen

city. Police were stumped. There was no
cause of death that could be determined, no sign of murder or disease. It was as
if the victims had just stopped living. The only clue that the deaths were
connected was the strange black lines around their mouths.
    I forced myself to stop reading the article and flipped to
another about three teens who’d committed suicide on Friday night. They didn’t
go to my school and I didn’t recognize the names, but it also sent a chill
through me.
    There was no good news in Trinity to be found today, it would
seem. It wasn’t just me who was in trouble in this city. Everybody—even those
not touched by the supernatural—was at risk.
    Studying was my strong point. It got me good grades. It should
be able to help me get the answers I needed to help myself and other people at
risk right now. I went on the internet and searched for more information about
nexi, the spawn of angels and demons.
    I found nothing helpful. At all.
    After a full half hour of staring at the screen, a scream of
frustration rose in my throat, but I forced it back down and tried to think
rationally. Who my birth parents were was something I had no control over. I
needed to refocus my energy and attention on what I could control: my goal of finding Stephen and retrieving my soul.
I’d deal with what it meant to be a nexus after I did everything I could to fix
my immediate problems, lose my hunger and have the chance to be close to Bishop
(or anyone else, for that matter) without...difficulties.
    I grabbed the landline to call Stephen’s house, which was only
two doors down from my own. My cell phone had taken up permanent residence in my
nightstand drawer. Grays had a weird supernatural vibe that messed with the
signal and made phones like that completely useless to me.
    His mother picked up. I shakily asked if she’d heard from him
lately and where he might be. She had no information for me—and yet again, she
said she was sorry. This wasn’t the first call I’d made to the Keyes residence
in the last week. I’m sure his mother thought I was obsessed with her son. I
was. But not for the reason she might think.
    Discouraged, I hung up after saying a hurried goodbye. I stood
in the center of my bedroom, my fists clenched at my sides, feeling utterly
helpless and alone.
    I hated feeling that I had no control over my life anymore.
    Cassandra told me to stay home and let the “professionals”
handle this. Well, I’d decided I wholeheartedly disagreed. I would go to the
church and get my answers, even if it was just to grill Bishop about his
mysterious past.
    Just as I’d pulled my coat on and started for the front door,
the phone rang. I almost ignored it, but something drove me to pick it up.
    I picked up the phone. “Hello?”
    “Samantha.”
    I froze. He’d only said my name, but I knew the voice. My grip
on the receiver tightened. “Stephen?”
    “I need to talk to you.”
    My words tripped over themselves in a hurry to escape my mouth.
“Where’s my soul? Where’s Carly’s soul?”
    “I have to see you in person.” There was a short hesitation.
“Look, I know you hate me...”
    I had to slump down in the nearest chair since my legs gave
out. “I just want to be normal again.” The words bubbled up my throat before I
could hold them back. I knew very well that it couldn’t ever happen. Even if I
wasn’t a gray, being the secret daughter of an angel and a demon had made me
abnormal from the day I was born. It didn’t matter that I’d only recently
learned the truth.
    “Meet me at the Trinity Mall,” he said. “On the fourth floor by
the railing. It’s busy there today so you don’t have to worry about me doing
anything threatening, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
    I stood up and pressed my back against the wall for support.
“Everything about you is threatening, Stephen.”
    “Don’t bring one of your new friends.”
    “Why wouldn’t I bring all of them? You’re the bad guy