His lips thinned. “Here in the human world he could have been an angel or a demon—or a human. I couldn’t tell for sure.”

Something occurred to me. I remembered Bishop’s initial hesitation when we found Kraven in the alley. “Do you know him? Like, from another time?”

He looked at me sharply. “Why would you ask me that?”

I was surprised by his reaction and actually took a step away from him. “I don’t know. It just seemed like it to me. I figured that might be why you might dislike each other so much.”

He turned his gaze to the direction we were walking. “Angels don’t hate demons, but we have a natural aversion to each other. It can’t be helped.”

That wasn’t exactly a direct answer. “Then why work together? Why not just team up with other angels?”

He didn’t speak for a moment. I got the distinct feeling that my questions were making him uncomfortable. Well, that made two of us. But I needed answers so I could figure out how I fit into all of this and how Bishop might be able to help me.

“It wasn’t exactly in my mission parameters to discuss the situation with one of…” He trailed off before flicking a glance at me, his blue eyes guarded, but I knew what he meant.

“One of the bad guys,” I finished for him. A shiver went down my spine—this time it wasn’t a pleasant one. “But you know I’m different, right? You said that already. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have asked me to help you, no matter what I could do. I mean, you have that knife of yours…” This time I was the one to trail off. Some things really didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

He watched me carefully and there might have been a little bit of regret in his expression. I wasn’t sure. “You’re afraid of me now.”

I swallowed hard. “Do you blame me?”

“You don’t need to be. I mean you no harm, Samantha.”

His deep, beautiful voice sent waves of warmth through me, even when we weren’t touching. It made me want to believe him. But while words might be warm and beautiful, actions were even better. “Okay. Then prove it.”

His eyes held mine. “How?”

“Let me hold your dagger.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think that’ll help?”

“It might. I mean, if you let me hold something so important, something that could actually kill you, that might give me a bit more confidence.” The more I spoke, the more sense it made. At least, to me. “Consider it a symbol of trust between us.”

He held my gaze steadily, while his scent—still spicy and delicious and potentially addictive—kept me close effortlessly. It was all I could do to try to keep my expression neutral.

Finally he pulled the dagger out of its sheath. I eyed the hilt with surprise as he held it out to me.

“Really?” I said.

He nodded. “I want you to trust me, Samantha.”

I thought about my horrible nightmare, when I’d used this knife to kill Bishop before the shadows pulled me apart. My stomach twisted. “Aren’t you afraid I’m going to stab you?”

A glimmer of humor lit up his eyes. “Not really.”

“So you don’t think I’m dangerous?”

A smile played at his very distracting lips. “Oh, you’re dangerous, all right. But not when it comes to something like this. Despite everything, you’re a teenage girl. I’m going to take a wild guess that you haven’t had much experience with weapons. However, I have. A lot of it.”

Despite my lack of experience, he thought I was dangerous to him? That annoying shiver returned, spinning around me and landing right in the center of my stomach. I finally reached out to take the dagger from him. My fingers brushed against his as I did, sending that strange electric sensation through me again. No nightmarish visions this time, thankfully. The knife felt heavy and I held it at my side, close to my leg so anyone who drove past us on the street wouldn’t be able to see it. And actually, yeah, it did make me feel better.

I looked at him again with astonishment that he’d agreed to this. This weapon was incredibly important to his mission and he was letting me—a so-called gray—take it for a test drive.

But he was right about one thing—it would take a lot of motivation and strength for me to be able to stab someone in the chest with it. But hurting him was the last thing on my mind right now.

“You are different,” he said after a moment, studying me as we passed under the light of a streetlamp. “Different from anyone I’ve ever met. I wish I knew why.”

Ever? I found it difficult to breathe for a moment. “Is that a compliment or an observation?”

He grinned. “Both.”

Focus, Samantha, I told myself. I couldn’t let myself be distracted by this beautiful, dangerous angel on his mission from Heaven. He was a means to get my soul back; that was the only reason I was here right now. I already had enough painful bee stings racked up this year, I didn’t need another one.

I wished I knew what he was thinking. He kept saying things that made me believe he thought of me as more than just a friendly neighborhood soulless monster. He watched me out of the corner of his eye as if he wasn’t sure how to deal with me being near him.

But he didn’t try to put distance between us. In fact, he was a little too close right now—so close I could feel the warmth from his body. My head felt cloudy again.

I inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. “So if I’m helping you, then I’m sort of on your team, right?”