“Bishop didn’t sense her grayness right away. All he sensed were those big, brown eyes of hers. And she might be short, but she’s got a killer set of legs.” At whatever dark look Bishop shot him, Kraven shrugged. “What? It’s the truth. Funny, though. Always thought you liked blondes better than brunettes. Or...wait. Maybe that was me. I forget.”
“I sensed there was something between you,” Cassandra said, “but I wasn’t sure what it was.”
Bishop didn’t reply for a moment. “I’m affected by her.”
“Duh,” Kraven said. “The fallen angel falls hard for one of the monsters he’s supposed to put a dagger into. It’s textbook, really.”
“It’s not that. It’s my soul—because of what she is, it binds us. And the kiss only made it worse. This is—it’s nothing more than a simple inconvenient addiction.”
Even though I was only observing this, his words felt like someone had reached into my chest to tear out my heart.
An inconvenient addiction.
Was that really all this was?
“Inconvenient, definitely, but there’s nothing simple about this.” Cassandra came forward to touch his shoulder gently. She gazed up into his face. “I can help you. I want to help you.”
He didn’t pull away from her as she rubbed his arm. “I can handle it. You don’t have to be concerned.”
“Us, concerned?” Kraven’s lips quirked. “Personally, I’m all for you two hooking up again. I’d like to see what happens when the rest of that soul’s sucked out of your mouth. Oh, and you should probably keep in mind that some other places she might want to put those pretty little lips of hers might be a problem, too.”
Bishop’s glare shot to the demon. “Shut your mouth.”
“I should be telling you the same thing.”
“Be quiet, both of you,” Cassandra snapped, clearly frustrated. “Honestly, how do you get any work done while squabbling so—”
Snap!
I was back at the mall and I staggered away from Jordan and Julie, bringing a hand to my forehead. They were both staring at me.
“What was that?” Jordan asked sharply. “Did you just have a mental meltdown or something?”
“I—I’m fine.”
She pushed her fingers into her hair to yank her long bangs back from her face as if they were annoying her. “I didn’t ask if you were fine. I don’t care if you’re fine. But you just checked out for a moment there. Blank city.”
I barely heard her. I was reliving what I’d just seen through Bishop’s eyes. He denied to both Kraven and Cassandra that he felt anything toward me more than an inconvenient addiction.
Between speaking with Stephen, losing him in the crowd, and then overhearing the conversation between the angels and demon, I could barely remain vertical. Even though I was in the middle of the mall surrounded by people, I’d never felt so scared and alone.
An inconvenient addiction.
He was an angel of death who’d been alive for...I didn’t even know how long. I knew nothing about him. All I had were words. And those words were giving me no comfort today. None at all.
“You are a very beautiful girl.” A woman with a clipboard approached us.
I forced myself to look at who was talking and to whom.
The middle-aged woman with long auburn hair and blue eyes, wearing a black designer suit, swept her gaze over Julie.
Julie pressed her hand against her chest. “Me?”
“Yes. Let me take a look at you.” The woman grasped her chin, tilting her head from side to side. “Exquisite. I’m a modeling scout. I think you might have what it takes.”
“Really?” she said with excitement.
“Yes. My name is Eva. And you?”
“Julie. Julie Travis.”
Eva took her hand and squeezed it. “A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Travis.”
She handed Julie a card before she walked off, sending a casual glance over her shoulder at me and Jordan as she went.
Julie beamed. “Can you believe that? A modeling scout thought I was exquisite.”
“It’s probably one of those agencies that charges a lot of money for your portfolio and don’t do much else,” Jordan said.
Julie gave her a sharp look. “That’s not nice.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s true. I mean, it’s just the mall. Do many people usually get discovered here?”
“You’re mad that she didn’t even notice you.”
“I’m already signed with a real agency in Manhattan. I don’t need some Trinity-based agency to represent me.”
“Whatever. It’s not like she gave Samantha a card.”
“I don’t want a card,” I said.
A strange tingle went down my arms, like an unseen breeze. I frowned and glanced around to see what caused it, but there was nothing.
Stephen said that just before stasis, the cold increased. But this wasn’t cold...more like a bit of electricity charging the air.
Weird.
Jordan gave me an appraising look. “She’s way too short. I mean, look at her. She’s practically a hobbit.”
I’d had more than enough of these two for one day. “I’m leaving.”
I had to find Stephen. I’d do another sweep of the mall first. Maybe he hadn’t left yet.