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position.
    “Samantha’s different,” Bishop said calmly. “She isn’t ruled by
her hunger.”
    Kraven snorted at that, and I shot a dark look at him.
    “Something funny?” Cassandra asked.
    “No, ma’am.” He put his laced-up boot-clad feet over the back
of a pew bench and crossed his ankles casually. I braced myself, expecting him
to share what happened earlier at Crave, but he kept his mouth shut.
    Shocker. But I’d reserve my gratitude for later.
    Bishop raked his hand through his short, dark hair, his gaze
flicking to me for a weighted moment before returning to Cassandra. In the
shadowy light of the church, I wasn’t sure if his eyes were glowing or if it was
the candlelight.
    “Samantha’s important to us,” he continued. “She has a special
psychic ability—she can see the searchlights. I can’t because I’m damaged from
my fall.”
    “I did hear about what happened,” Cassandra said, her brows
drawing together. “I’m pleased you seem very capable despite the misfortune
that’s befallen you.”
    “Doing the best I can.”
    “You must be very angry.”
    “Someone sabotaged me, sabotaged this entire mission. Now I’m
forced to deal with the consequences of having this soul. Can’t say I’m happy
about it.”
    “Nor should you be. What happened to you is unfair.”
    “That’s putting it mildly.” He snorted humorlessly, reminding
me uneasily of his brother. “I hold out hope that it’ll be corrected when the
mission is complete and I’ll be pulled back with the others.”
    “One should always have hope.” Cassandra turned to eye me
curiously. “So you have supernatural intuition. It’s rare, but not unheard of.
Perhaps you’re mentally stronger than other humans.”
    “I do pretty well in school,” I said as lightly as I could.
“Mentally, that is.”
    Cassandra and the others could never find out what I really
was. If demons and angels were forbidden to be together—to such an extent that
this love had destroyed my mother and sent my father into the Hollow after her—I
knew if anyone learned the truth I’d be in even worse trouble than I already
was.
    “Samantha isn’t what I expected,” Cassandra finally said. “When
they briefed me about grays, I thought they would all be the same.”
    “I know.” Bishop crossed his arms over his chest. “We were told
we’d find mindless creatures driven by their hungers—created by an anomalous
demon who devoured souls. That much was true. But it’s not always like that for
those who’ve been kissed—and I believe it’s not only Samantha who’s different.
We’ve taken to eliminating only those who’ve completely lost their control and
their reason. Anything else would be murder.”
    Something heavy inside me lightened at this confirmation, a
part that was worried he and the others were indiscriminately slaying grays
across the city.
    “Is that why you’re here?” I asked her. “Because all the grays
haven’t been wiped out of the city yet? Because the barrier’s still up? Are you
like...like some sort of quality control agent sent to assess how things are
progressing?”
    When I got nervous, I started talking and asking questions. I
was surprised I’d been able to hold my tongue this long.
    “Yeah, Blondie,” Kraven spoke up. “Just what are you doing
here?”
    “I have a mission, of course. Part of it is to assess how the
team is succeeding...” She paused. “Or failing.”
    “What is your main mission?” Bishop asked.
    She swept her gaze over the four of us before she said
anything. “We know the Hollow is not acting as it normally does.”
    Just the sound of its name spoken aloud made an unpleasant
shiver race through me.
    “Are interdimensional gateways to supernatural graveyards ever
that reliable?” Bishop’s expression had relaxed and his tone felt almost too
light.
    Bishop had as snarky a sense of humor as Kraven did, only he
usually kept it under wraps as leader. However, he seemed different