“We can take my mom’s car,” I said, grabbing the keys before I left. “But I can’t drive.”
“Why not?” Cassandra asked.
“No license. I’ve been meaning to get around to it.”
“I can drive,” Bishop said, taking the keys from me.
“You have a license?”
“Well...not technically. But that’s never stopped me before.”
“Good enough for me.” I climbed in the backseat. Cassandra got in the passenger side. “Just—promise me not to hurt the car.”
“I’ll try.”
“Try, like, really hard. Despite dealing with angels, demons and otherworldly death vortexes, you haven’t seen my mother when she’s angry.”
“I could grab a different car,” he offered. “I’ve hot-wired them before.”
“Stealing cars,” I said under my breath wryly. “Why am I not surprised?”
“I preferred to think of it as borrowing.” He flashed me a wicked grin that made my heart race even faster before he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway.
I didn’t want to think about how this night would end, but I knew that everyone at that party was currently at risk. If we didn’t do something to stop the bodiless angel, it would be a massacre.
As we neared the house, I felt the harsh stirrings of my hunger. It cramped my stomach. “Wait. Don’t get any closer.”
Bishop must have heard something in my tone that alarmed him. He pulled up to the curb and backed up twenty feet. “Better?”
“Yeah, a little. This house—it’s the same one where I had a hunger freak-out before. When I was with Kraven.” I recognized the neighborhood immediately. Even from where we were—a block away—I could see my mom’s real-estate sign out front.
This was where the Halloween party was being held.
“What is it?” Bishop asked. “What’s triggering your hunger here?”
“I don’t know. Although...maybe...” I got out of the car when he and Cassandra did, sending a wary gaze down the street.
“What?”
“It’s stupid, but my mother said this house is haunted. That’s why she was having a hard time selling it. Maybe I can sense the ghosts? Does that make any sense?” Noah had arranged for his Halloween party to be held in an allegedly haunted house. If I was my normal, everyday self I would have thought that was really cool.
“We’ll check it out. You—” Cassandra gave me a concerned look “—wait here by the car.”
I hated that I’d have to hang back and not be a part of this, but with the way that house made me feel, I knew there wasn’t any other answer.
Something else approached from the shadows nearby. It took a moment for me to realize it was Kraven.
“Good party,” he said. “You’re missing all the fun.”
“You took Jordan home?” Bishop asked.
“I did. She’s a charmer. And by that I mean she’s a total bitch.”
“But she’s safe.”
“Debatable. She’s already here at the party—must have gotten into her costume in record time. I gave her the evil eye when I saw her ten minutes ago, and got the middle finger in return. Like I said, charming.” He swept a glance back toward the house. “I know this is a problem area, based on gray-girl’s reaction the last time we were here.” He eyed us. “Why are you here?”
“I had a vision,” I explained. “The angel that killed Zach is coming here.”
“Visions.” He raised an eyebrow, scanning me. “Right. Forgot you could do that. You’re like a veritable toolbox of supernatural handiness, aren’t you? No wonder my brother doesn’t want to see you dead. Yet.”
There was something off about him, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Something crueler and ruder than normal.
“What’s your problem?” Bishop asked, a hard edge of unpleasantness in his tone.
This made Kraven laugh. The cold sound shivered down my spine.
“My problem. You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happened earlier tonight. Crazy stuff, right?” He glanced at each of us in turn. “I keep coming back to the moment I saved your ass, brother.”
I had wondered if they’d forgotten about that. I sure hadn’t. The moment when Kraven saved Bishop from being swept into the Hollow right after Zach was burned into my brain.
Bishop studied him with his arms crossed over his chest. “If you have any problems with me, we can deal with them later.”
Kraven shrugged. “Nah. I want to deal with them now.”
I looked at Bishop to get his reaction to this; there was a look of deep annoyance on his face. He turned to Cassandra, and unstrapped his sheath and dagger from under his shirt, then handed it to her.
“Go,” he said. “We’ll catch up to you. Survey the party and see if there are any problems. If there are, you know what to do.”
Cassandra flicked a glance at me, her gaze worried...and there was something else there. An edge of sheer determination and resolve.
She was good at her job. This was what she’d been sent here for—to deal with this lost angel. After that, I knew Cassandra would be able to focus on helping the guys with the continuing gray situation—as well as dealing with whatever was going on with her and Roth.
The sooner this bad angel was destroyed, the better. I just hoped Cassandra would be able to think of a way to reason with her.