My cheeks grew hotter.

I wondered if angels kissed, if they went on dates, or how things worked up there in Heaven. I’d always had an image of them being very clinical, very pure and untouched. Flawless. Then again, Bishop had already changed most of my preconceived notions about angels.

Another car finally drove up out of the underground parking and made a left onto the street. I watched it drive away.

“I should walk you home so I know you’re okay,” Bishop said. “I’ll catch up with Kraven and the other angel later.”

I nodded. “There’s just one problem.”

“What?”

I pointed past him into the night sky where I’d just spotted another beam of light. “I think I’ve found your fourth team member.”

He craned his neck to look then turned back to me with confusion. “You can see another searchlight?”

“Looks like.”

My time was up. I’d given him the hour, just as we’d agreed to. The question was, should I stay or should I go? I felt exhausted, but we were one team member away from me fulfilling my side of our bargain. And maybe a little piece of me—or not so little, really—wanted to stay with Bishop as long as I could tonight.

Which was ridiculous. This wasn’t a date.

And if I was going to date somebody, I certainly wouldn’t pick a part-time crazy angel here on a one-week work placement who couldn’t wait to get back home to his normal angel life.

If I had a hard time thinking about dating Colin and the problems that would cause with Carly, then that was a walk in the park compared to the complicated nature of being with Bishop.

An angel who seemed so human. Who could eat and drink and had a heartbeat. Who looked at me like he wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to—

“Samantha?” Bishop prompted.

Yeah, complicated. Definitely complicated.

“Let’s go get him,” I said firmly. “Then it’s done. There will be the four of you, just like Kraven said. My part will be over. Then it’s your turn to help me.”

“That was the deal.”

“It was.”

He nodded. “All right, show me where he is.”

“What about Kraven?”

He seemed to cringe ever so slightly at any mention of the demon’s name. “He’ll catch up. It might be a while before the other angel’s back on his feet.”

It was another reminder that what I’d witnessed earlier had been horrible, but temporary. “And you trust Kraven to supervise that? He seems like a major troublemaker.”

Bishop laughed darkly under his breath. “You have no idea. But for a demon, he’s actually not half as bad as he could be.”

“That’s not all that comforting.” Then I jumped a little when Bishop took hold of my hand and laced our fingers together.

He looked at me uncertainly. “Is this okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Fine. For now.”

More than fine.

This time he wasn’t meeting my gaze. It was probably for the best, given how out of control I’d felt toward him a minute ago. Honestly, the guy could make me forget just about everything, even the important stuff. Was it because he was beautiful and fascinating and exciting? Or was it something else entirely?

I wished I could read his mind. It really might help.

Chapter 11

Holding hands with Bishop definitely had its perks, not the least of which was the warmth it brought, a relief from the constant chill I now felt. Who knew a soul worked like a body’s thermal insulation?

“The searchlight’s moving this time.” I watched it as we walked toward it.

“He’s lost and wandering aimlessly, trying to find his way. That’s all. We’ll catch up to him.”

And we did. A few blocks away and we were on one of the busiest streets in Trinity, known as the Promenade. The Trinity Mall—the infamous location of my shoplifting incident—was located here as well as the rest of the shopping district. Everything had shut down for the night, but the sidewalks were thick with pedestrians, the streets filled with traffic.

I followed the beam of light through the crowd of people. It shone on the head of one person in particular. Human appearance, check. Teenage boy, check.

“Doesn’t Heaven or Hell have any girl warriors?” I asked aloud. How sexist was that? And why did they all look like they could be in my senior class?

“They do,” Bishop replied.

“I guess none signed up to be part of this mission of yours.”

“Guess not. Do you see him?”

“I see him.”

As soon as I locked eyes on this guy, the light switched off. I now had to work hard to keep him in view as we drew closer.

“The kid over there,” I said. “Black hair, tall. Leather jacket. Hey, where’d he get that cool jacket?”

This guy was definitely not eating burgers out of Dumpsters or waiting patiently on park benches. Instead, he eyed the crowd around him with a keen and appraising look. I watched as he bumped into a woman who turned to glare at him.

He gave her a killer grin. “So sorry, ma’am. My fault.”

Her unpleasant expression shifted to a pleased one. He was extremely attractive, kind of like an actor from a glossy TV show or maybe a male model, with a slightly exotic edge to his tanned skin, dark eyes, and black hair long enough to brush his shoulders. Even though she looked like she was at least fifteen years older, she’d have to be blind not to notice his good looks.