This ritual was brutal and ridiculous. Was it really the only way they could get here and avoid ending up having the disorientation like Bishop had? Sucked either way, if you asked me. Either you were a clueless kid wandering the city about to get a knife through the chest or you were a crazy kid wandering the city uncertain of what to do or where to go next.

If this was supposed to be a slick mission involving both Heaven and Hell, I would have expected something much better planned out and controlled. There were too many things that could go wrong. Even class field trips were better organized than this.

“Can you do me a favor?” I took hold of the kid’s hand. He’d dreamed I’d help him. I would try my very best to do just that.

“What?” he asked.

“Can you show my—my friends—” I couldn’t think of another word to describe Bishop and Kraven at the moment “—your back? They need to see if you have a certain mark.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the two boys. “My back?”

“It’s not as weird as it sounds,” Kraven said. “Well, mostly.”

“Uh, okay.” The kid stood up from the bench and raised the back of his shirt up so we could see the imprint he had. It was a lot like Bishop’s—feathery, open lines, some shading. Still huge, but not as dark and ominous as Kraven’s.

Another angel.

“Disappointing,” Kraven murmured. “But, whatever.”

Bishop nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Thank you. You can sit back down.”

He did, and he looked at me again. “You’re going to help me. You promise?”

I nodded, my throat too thick to swallow properly. I felt ill at what was to come.

Bishop glanced at me again and our eyes met and held. “You can go now. We’ll handle this.”

“No.” The kid gripped my hand, keeping me from getting up. “Stay, please.”

Just like with Kraven, when I looked into his eyes I had an effortless connection with this kid. He was scared, but he was trying to be brave. And he’d been telling the truth. He’d been waiting here, knowing deep down that help would be on the way. That someone was looking for him.

“You’re brave,” I told him.

“Am I?”

“Yeah.” I tried to smile, but it was shaky. “It’s going to be okay. I swear it will.”

While I was more than convinced this was all real, it didn’t mean I wanted to accept it. My brain kept trying to deny everything I’d been told and everything I’d seen since last night with Kraven and…the knife…

The knife that Bishop now pulled from the sheath while the kid kept his attention on me. Fear swelled inside me.

“Heads up,” Kraven said and began whistling loudly as a pair of people strolled past us on the nearby path. They didn’t even glance in our direction.

“Are we shielded?” I asked nervously.

Kraven grinned. “We are now.”

“Bishop, wait…” I began. There had to be another way to do this.

But Bishop took hold of the kid’s shoulder and pushed him back against the bench.

Finally, the kid turned to look at Bishop, his gaze hitting the now-glowing knife. “What are you—?”

It was the last thing he said before the dagger met its mark.

Everyone in a two-block radius would have heard my scream if we hadn’t been shielded. But no one could hear me. No one could see this.

“Look away, Samantha,” Bishop snapped, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t look away from the boy who’d just been stabbed in the chest right in front of me. His grip on my hand grew tighter, nearly tight enough to break my bones, before it slackened and fell away. His eyes closed and he slumped backward.

This wasn’t real. It was just a ritual that would actually help the kid. Even knowing that, I was still trembling like a leaf. I got to my feet, staggering back from the body.

It looked so real. It was one thing to know in your head that something was a supernatural ritual and that the kid would bounce back. It was another thing to be two feet away from somebody who just got a knife through their chest.

The kid looked dead. Really dead.

Maybe Bishop had been wrong and this had been a mistake and it was my fault because I had led Bishop and Kraven here. I’d heard the horrible sound as the knife sliced into flesh and bone.

“Hey,” Kraven said, frowning at me. “It’s okay, you know. Same thing happened to me and I recovered quickly, better-looking than ever.”

I must have looked really bad if he of all people was offering me words of comfort.

The demon reached for me, but I scooted away. “Don’t touch me.”

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Chill out, gray girl. Give it a minute and you’ll see it’s no big deal.”

“No big deal,” I repeated shakily. “This is a big deal. You…you’re both nuts if you think this is remotely normal.”

“This isn’t normal,” Bishop agreed, watching me with concern. “Not to you. Not to us, either. You should have left.”

“You’re right…I—I should have.”

But I kept staring at the kid. Bishop closed his hand around the dagger and pulled it out. The blade was covered in blood that looked black in the surrounding darkness. My stomach lurched and I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle a whimper. This time Kraven actually touched my arm. I looked up at him to see he was frowning at me, but not because he looked angry.