I inspected the results in the mirror. Not exactly a supermodel, but not too shabby. It gave me a bit more confidence at the thought of facing Stephen and this mystery woman.
Bishop would likely be mad that I’d decided to go to Crave again, but what choice did I have? I wanted answers and I’d been given the opportunity to get more than I already had. I couldn’t say no to that.
Carly picked me up right at eight o’clock, and she looked hot, too, in a red dress that hugged her curvy body. Ten minutes later, we arrived at Crave.
As we walked toward the club from the parking lot, I noticed a man sitting on the curb with a cardboard box in front of him and a sign asking for spare change. His face was dirty, his black hair matted and messy, and his beard wasn’t much better. His fingernails were caked with grime. He watched me through pale eyes as Carly and I moved past him, close enough to see a handful of coins in the box.
“Greetings on this lovely evening, young ladies,” he said.
I felt an immediate surge of empathy for the guy. Some of the people I’d come across during my brief impersonation of a street kid were down on their luck like this and looking for a break or a kind word. Both, if they could get it.
After fumbling in my purse for a five-dollar bill, I dropped it into the box. He smiled as he watched it flutter to the bottom.
“Thank you.” His teeth were whiter than I would have expected, given his otherwise unkempt appearance. “Beauty bright like the stars above, it shines in her eyes. Eyes that have seen too much—more than they should. But she’s lost and can’t find her way. Who to trust…who to trust?”
His ramblings made me think of Bishop and my heart clenched.
“You’re welcome,” I said. “Go to the mission on Peterson. They’ll give you a good meal and some help if you need it. Although, you probably already know that.” This guy had to have been on the streets for years by the looks of it.
He crossed his legs, squinting up at me. “So many speak with forked tongues. But the moon is high in the sky and it won’t be long at all until the tides rush in and sweep everything away. Beware, for the time grows closer with every night that passes.”
“Um, Sam?” Carly looked uncomfortable. She teetered on her treacherously high heels. “Let’s go somewhere a bit saner, shall we?”
“Yeah, okay.” I began to move past the man, but his hand shot out to grab my wrist.
Electricity zapped up my arm and, with a yelp, I yanked my hand away from him.
His eyes were wide. “I’ve waited, watched…so many years. And here you are. Finally. Like a beautiful star sent to save us all.”
Save everyone? At the moment, I could barely save myself.
Carly took hold of my arm and began dragging me after her toward the entrance. I stared over my shoulder at the crazy homeless man who’d touched me. That felt a lot like the same electricity as when I touched Bishop.
Who was he?
“Okay, that was creepy,” Carly said after we entered through the main doors to Crave.“Yeah.” My throat suddenly hurt and I felt sick inside. I’d felt sympathy for a homeless man who rambled about lies and tides and stars.
Was he like Bishop—an angel who’d been damaged from entering Trinity? But touching me hadn’t cleared his mind. I’d seen in his eyes that he’d felt the shock, too, but he hadn’t started speaking coherently afterward.
It was nothing. Some static electricity and an overactive imagination, that was all.
“You okay?” Carly asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I cleared my throat and tried to compose myself. “Other than being eternally cold and hungry, I’m just fine.”
“Talk first. Eat second.”
I nodded. Last night with Stephen, I’d had a feeling I’d be seeing him again soon. I just hadn’t known how soon it would be.
Carly led the way up the spiral staircase to the second floor lounge, not missing a step. Of the two of us, only I seemed nervous about this. I wished when Stephen had kissed me that he’d given me a little of the confidence he seemed to have given my best friend.
I expected that Stephen would look at me with anger or distaste after his standoff with Bishop last night, but the moment he saw me enter the lounge all he did was smile.
Smile. At me. And it was as amazing a smile as I’d ever seen on his face. One that once would have made my heart flip. But my heart only seemed to do flips for one guy now—and it sure wasn’t Stephen.
Still, it didn’t exactly set me at ease. I’d been lured off the dance floor last Friday night by a smile just like that.
He glanced warmly at Carly as he approached us. “Thanks for handling this. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem.” She actually gave him a hug before looking at me. “I’ll let you two talk.”
“No, wait a minute—” I began.
But she’d already wandered off to join a couple of other kids sitting on a long red couch to the left of the stairway.
Stephen’s gaze moved to me again and his grin finally slipped a little. He actually looked awkward all of a sudden. “I’m really sorry about last night, Samantha.”
My brows went up. “You’re sorry?”
“Yeah. I handled it very badly.”
“Do you mean before or after you sucked the soul out of my best friend?” My words were cold as ice.
“Soon you’ll realize that all of this is for the best,” he said. “But I understand why you’re upset. Like I said, I handled things badly. I try to be confident, always have, but despite my best efforts, sometimes I come off like I’m a total…”