Bishop had set out tonight to lose his soul—that was true. But it wasn’t because he felt sorry for himself and believed this was his one chance to go back to Heaven. It was because he knew destroying himself would open up a passageway to the Hollow.

And he wanted to take Natalie with him.

No, I had to be wrong. This was too crazy of a plan.

Then again, Bishop was kind of crazy to start with.

“Samantha, talk to me,” Kraven said after I went deadly silent for a moment, lost in my thoughts.

Funny, I think this was the first time he’d ever used my real name.

I turned my attention back to the tall, blond demon. That he was looking at me with concern etched onto his handsome face almost made me smile.

I had a plan now and I really hoped it would work.

“You know,” I began, “before all of this, the last time I got in major trouble was when I was caught shoplifting.”

Kraven looked surprised at the abrupt change in subject matter. “Thou shalt not steal. I approve. What did you take?”

“A scarf, a bottle of nail polish. Nothing major.”

“Why did you do it?”

“I saw something I wanted, so I took it.” I shook my head. “Also, because I was dealing with some family drama and it was a way to get attention. It was stupid.”

“We all make mistakes.”

“You, too?”

His jaw tensed. “Trust me…compared to some of the things I’ve done, shoplifting is no big deal.”

I pushed a slow smile onto my face. “I think you’re right. You’re not so bad. In fact, you’re kind of charming when you want to be.”

He eyed me cautiously. “Oh, yeah?”

I nodded. “And you try to hide it, but I think you sort of like me, don’t you?”

“Don’t flatter your—” His words cut off when I threw my arms over his shoulders and gave him a tight hug. He didn’t return it, instead standing there rigidly, until I finally let go of him. He just stared at me, stunned. “What was that for?”

“Good night, James.” I turned and walked out of the alley, sliding the dagger I’d just stolen from him into my leather bag. I guess I’d really taken him by surprise with that hug. He hadn’t felt a thing.

Maybe I was a better thief than I thought I was. This wasn’t a scarf or a bottle of nail polish, though. No, this was infinitely more important to me right now.

I made it an entire block before I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder, stopping me in place.

Crap.

A cold smile played on his lips while his eyes glowed red in the dark. “Cute trick, sweetness.”

I decided to play innocent. “What do you mean?”

“Give me back the dagger.”

“What dagger? Oh, you mean that shiny gold one?”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re devious and manipulative. You’re right, maybe I do like you.”

I tensed. “I need to borrow it.”

“Then you should have asked me nicely.”

“May I borrow the dagger? Pretty please?”

“No. Give it back.”

“I’ll return it later, I promise.”

I turned away from him, but he grabbed my wrist tightly. “I’m still trying to be nice, which isn’t all that easy for me,” he said. “Give it to me.”

I spun around to face him and pressed my free hand against his chest. “You need to remember not to get too close to me. I’m dangerous, remember?”

If he had any walls up, they didn’t get in my way this time—I was too driven to get away from him. The electricity came to me in an instant and flowed through my arm into the demon. He looked shocked—literally—before he flew backward and hit the window of a darkened office. It cracked as he slid to the ground unconscious.

Bishop had told me angels and demons needed to sleep and eat. By the looks of it, they could also be knocked out cold when necessary.

Kraven had done his Vulcan neck squeeze on me without a moment’s hesitation. This just evened things up between us.

“Sorry,” I said as I passed his still form, feeling guilty about what I’d had to do regardless of whether or not he deserved it.

I started running toward Crave, praying I didn’t arrive too late.

Natalie wanted me to bring her the dagger so I could help her escape the city. Well, I was bringing it to her, but for a different reason entirely.

I knew it was the only way I could kill a demon.

Chapter 22

I might have partially accepted that I was the daughter of a demon and an angel, but as I pushed through the entrance of Crave with the dagger weighing heavy at the bottom of my bag, I just felt human and scared.

Maybe I should I have told Kraven what I was and what I knew. Bishop had said not to, but the demon could have helped. He was part of this mission, too. But there was no time to go back and get him. For all I knew, he’d be unconscious for hours after the amount of power I’d put behind my last zap.

My searching gaze fell on a familiar face. Colin stood off to the side of the dance floor about twenty feet away from me. I almost waved at him, but I stopped myself. I’d hurt his feelings this morning. By the look on his face right now, I wasn’t sure if he’d ever speak to me again.

Colin looked away first, plastering a smile on his face as he talked to a pretty girl I recognized from school. Maybe he thought it would make me jealous, but instead I hoped he was interested in someone else. Someone safe. One thing I knew for sure was that I wasn’t safe anymore.