Saint Or Sinner

by Cynthia Eden

  By Cynthia Eden

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are not intentional and are purely the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional.

  Copyright ©2018 by Cindy Roussos

  All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the express written consent of the author except for the use of small quotes or excerpts used in book reviews.

  Copy-editing by: JRT Editing

  (build 4)

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Saint Or Sinner

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About The Author

  Prologue

  “An angel has fallen.”

  Josephine Saint stiffened at those low, deep words, and her gaze slowly rose from the golden floor—real, actual gold that she’d been contemplating stealing—as she locked eyes with the man who’d summoned her for this not-so-fun chat.

  Lucas Thorne stared back at her, his handsome face intent, his eyes hard and unyielding. Once upon a time, Lucas—or Luke as he was known to his enemies and the tiny handful of friends that the guy amazingly possessed—had once been the ruler of the Bad Things in the world. All of the dark and dangerous paranormals who lived to inspire fear and loathing in the hearts of humans.

  Bad Things…like Josephine.

  But then Fate had stepped in and played some mind games and, bam—suddenly, Luke wasn’t the devil any longer. Now, he was in charge of the beings upstairs…the so-called “Light” paranormals. The goody-goody ones. The ones who typically got on Josephine’s everlasting nerves.

  When Luke just stared back at her, not saying anything else, Josephine realized she was probably supposed to respond in some way. So she mustered up a shrug and said, “Good for him.”

  Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

  Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Not. Good.”

  “No? Okay.” Another shrug. Whatever. “Is there a particular reason you summoned me here?” And it had been a summons. She was so tired of answering to the guy. You make one little deal that you maybe sign in blood, and suddenly, your life is basically over. Highly unfair. She’d been trapped in this particular deal for two centuries, and she wanted out. She’d thought that with Luke moving upstairs, maybe the deal would become null and void—please, please be null. But since he’d summoned her with a snap of his fingers—literally—and she’d found herself magically transported to this weird, gold-filled room, Josephine figured her hopes had very much been in vain. The deal wasn’t off.

  Luke stalked toward her.

  She didn’t stiffen. Didn’t back away.

  Unlike the other paranormals, Josephine didn’t fear Luke. He just mostly pissed her off.

  “Jo, Jo, Jo…” Luke shook his head. “Don’t you remember our contract? Our deal?”

  Like she could ever forget it.

  She glanced down at her left wrist. There, right above the blue line of veins—she had a tally mark. One black mark left. Because she only had one more soul to take before her deal was officially done with Luke.

  Then…

  Hello, sweet freedom.

  Luke caught her left hand. Lifted it up. “And to think…” His voice was rough and growly, and, probably—to some poor, confused women somewhere—sexy. Not to her, though. No way, no day. “We’ve been through so many kills together. How many did you begin with? Ten? Was it—”

  “It was twenty, and you damn well know it. You’ve had me killing someone for you every ten years for the last two hundred years.” Her arm had once been covered with the marks. But with each kill, a mark had faded.

  The kills—jeez, they hadn’t been easy. Because Luke didn’t send her out on easy cases. Obviously, he liked to torture her. He sent her after the worst of the paranormal scum out there. Monsters, in the truest sense of the word.

  “You’re just so good at your job.” His finger stroked over the tally mark. “I mean, your prey never sees the danger coming. You walk right up to them, and hell, the fools greet you with open arms.”

  No, they didn’t. “Have you already forgotten the werewolf?” Josephine hadn’t. “That crazy werewolf nearly ripped my arms off me. You didn’t tell me he was rabid. You didn’t tell me that he’d take one look at me and go freaking ballistic. You failed to mention that he hated vampires more than—”

  “Jo,” Luke sighed out her name. “I wanted to challenge you. We both know how you hate to be bored.”

  She would not growl at him. She would also not bite him. But her fangs had lengthened in her mouth. Typical vampire reaction. When pissed…the teeth come out.

  He released his grip on her wrist. “You have one more target, and then you’re done. Our deal will be over.”

  Her heart leapt in her chest. Yes, she was a vamp, and her heart still beat. She still breathed. She still had sex. She did everything that humans did. Except, well, she had a not-so-awesome liquid diet. Sucked, but that was her undead life.

  Her spine straightened. “Who is the target?”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Do you just not listen when I talk?”

  “Luke—”

  “The. Angel. The angel is your target.”

  Oh, no. No way freaking way. “I’m not killing an angel!”

  “He’s fallen.”

  So? “Yeah, he’s still an angel.”

  But Luke sighed again. A rather long and drawn-out sound. “I’m afraid he’s not, at least, not for long.”

  “Don’t be cryptic. It’s not cute.” It kinda was. “Just tell me—”

  “When angels fall, they change. It starts slowly at first, but the longer they are earthbound, the worse it can be.”

  Okay. He was still being stingy with the details. She rubbed her hands together. “So—what, exactly? Angels become human? That’s not so bad. It’s—”

  “It’s worse than bad. They don’t become human. They become destruction.”

  She laughed.

  He didn’t.

  Oh, wait. Maybe he hadn’t been making a joke.

  “There haven’t been many angels who fell.” His voice was grim and so was his face, and now she was fully getting that this situation was bad. “One of them—the bastard was so strong that he almost killed me and my brother.”

  His twin brother, Leo. Josephine typically made a point to avoid Leo. He wasn’t the fun twin. Neither was Luke, actually. Hmm. There wasn’t a fun twin.

  Luke rubbed the side of his hard jaw. “Each fallen angel becomes something different, so I have no freaking clue what Malik will become.”

  Malik.

  “All I know is that the guy has an appetite for sin.”

  Wonderful.

  “And that if we don’t haul his ass back here, then the world as we know it could end.”

  She laughed again. And it sounded nervous, even to her own ears. “Little dramatic, don’t you think? I mean, even when you sent me after that crazy Fey King, you weren’t worried about the world ending—”
/>   Luke didn’t crack a smile. “There are few things stronger than a fallen.”

  Crap. Her heart was racing too fast, and her palms were starting to sweat. “Let’s reverse a bit, shall we?” To make sure she had all of the facts. “You want me to bring the guy—”

  “Malik.”

  “Yeah, I caught his name. You want me to bring him back? This is some kind of retrieval mission? Not a kill?” Just to be clear. Crystal.

  “If you can bring him to me before the change is complete, then, yes, Malik can live.”

  This was the first time she’d been sent to bring someone back. And not to say, take a head or a heart or something. “Do we have any kind of timeline here? I mean, what are we talking? Bring him back in a week? Two? Bring him—”

  “Sin is his drug of choice, Josephine. His appetite is unquenchable. Every minute he spends in the human world pushes Malik closer to the edge. You want to talk time? Bring his ass back to me within forty-eight hours. If you can’t catch Malik and haul him back in that time, then you must kill him.”

  Okay, new problem. “And how does one kill a fallen angel?”

  His hard jaw got even harder. “Any fucking way that one can.”

  She stared at him. Rather, glared. “You don’t make this easy.”

  “You don’t like easy. If you wanted easy, you never would have made a deal with me.”

  He knew exactly why she’d taken that deal.

  “You’ll figure out how to kill him.” Luke shrugged, as if unconcerned. “You always figure it out. Isn’t that part of your gift?”

  Being skilled at death wasn’t exactly a gift.

  He looked at his wrist. At a watch that wasn’t there. Jackass. “You’re wasting time. That forty-eight hours is already ticking down.”

  Her back teeth locked. “And…where, exactly,” Josephine gritted, “will I find Malik?”

  Luke glanced up at her. For the first time, a smile teased his sensual lips. “Where do you think you’ll find a fallen who is hungry for sin?”

  Sin City. Typical.

  “All right.” Now that she had her final target, Josephine figured she might as well get down to business. “Tell me his strengths. Tell me his weaknesses.” So she could use them all to her advantage.

  But Luke scratched his chin. “I’m afraid that’s the tricky part.”

  What?

  “I don’t know…exactly…what his strengths are at this point. Like I told you before, not many angels fall, and when they do, the results can be unpredictable.”

  Wonderful. Her final job kept getting better and better.

  Luke nodded, as if he’d reached some important conclusion. “You should be prepared for anything. And that brings me to my next point.”

  How many points did he have?

  “To bring Malik back here, you’ll need to chain him.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll need him contained, you see. So just take this…” And he held up a gold chain. Sparkly. Dammit. She had a wee weakness for sparkling things so she tried not to stare directly at it—the same way she’d been trying not to gawk at the golden floor beneath her feet.

  “Are you listening to me, Jo?”

  “Absolutely.” Like she had a choice.

  “Put it around his neck and when it’s in place, then you can contact me.”

  She snatched the necklace from him. It was heavy and warm, and her skin seemed to tingle on contact. So she wouldn’t be distracted by the charm, Josephine shoved the necklace—chain—into her pocket. “For the exchange, I give you the angel, and you take away my last mark?”

  Luke nodded. “The slate will be clean. You can finally have what you always wanted.”

  She couldn’t let herself dream. Not yet.

  Luke’s face tensed. “But if he changes, Malik can’t come back. You’ll have to kill him.”

  There was always a but where Luke was concerned. “And I’ll know that he’s crossed the point of no return because…?”

  Luke laughed. Not a reassuring sound. “You’ll know. Everyone will know. Trust me.”

  Nope, not even on her very worst day. Oh, wait, yes, I did. Been there. Done that. Still living with the mistake. Her temples were throbbing. “We are so done after this, Luke. Done. As in, don’t call me, and I will never, ever call you.”

  “You sure about that?” he murmured. “Our deal worked out so well before. You got what you wanted, didn’t you…Queen?”

  Oh, no, he had not just thrown that title at her. She flipped him off as she spun on her heel. Then Josephine wondered how in the hell she was going to get out of his place. She didn’t see an exit anywhere.

  “You have an advantage,” Luke called after her.

  “Against someone who has unknown strength?” Finally, some good news. “Wonderful to know. Excellent—”

  “Others are hunting Malik, too.”

  That wasn’t an advantage. That was competition. She hated competition. Amateurs getting in her way just annoyed her.

  “Word has spread about his fall,” Luke added. “And angel wings are very valuable. The feathers have magic in them.”

  This job sucked.

  He seemed to consider things. “Of course, angel blood is also very, very powerful, too. But if I were you, I’d try to keep my fangs off Malik.”

  Now she turned and glared back at him. “I want to hunt.” He’d been the one to throw out the forty-eight hours on her. She was working against the clock while Luke was being all chatty. “Yet you’re still talking and wasting time.”

  “Don’t you want to hear about your advantage?”

  “All I’m hearing is you telling me that I can’t bite my food. If I can’t play with my prey, then how will this be any fun?” It wouldn’t be fun. None of the cases were ever fun. Nightmarish? Definitely. Not fun.

  “He has one very, very big weakness.”

  Then Luke should just spit it out and say—

  He shrugged. “But I think you’ll figure that out, soon enough.”

  He wasn’t going to tell her the weakness? What. The. Hell?

  “Good-bye, Josephine. Bring me back an angel.” Then Luke snapped his fingers, and the golden room vanished.

  ***

  The vampire vanished. She’d been screaming something at him right before she’d gone poof. Something about fucking.

  One of his favorite things, usually. But it had sounded as if Josephine had said—

  Fuck off?

  Fuck you?

  Fucking bastard?

  So hard to be sure.

  Footsteps rushed toward him. The sweet scent of—

  Luke smiled. “Hello, my love.” He raised his hand toward his Mina. The one individual that he’d gladly give his very soul to protect.

  Her fingers locked with his. “Did you tell her about Malik? Will your hunter find him?”

  “Absolutely. Josephine never fails.” He tried to sound utterly confident.

  But Mina was nibbling on her lower lip. “I heard the others talking about him…um, did you happen to mention to her about his…” Mina cleared her throat. “You know, his issue?”

  Luke gave her what he hoped was a tender smile. “I like to think of it as Malik’s weakness.”

  She stared at him. A cute furrow appeared between her brows. “Did you tell her?”

  Luke cleared his throat and shrugged. “Didn’t quite get around to it.”

  Mina gaped at him. “You didn’t mention that the angel is obsessed?”

  “Oh, I think Josephine will figure it out…”

  “Luke.”

  “What? I almost told her.”

  “You should have mentioned it first! You should have told her that Malik is obsessed with her! That’s dangerous! She needs to know. She has to be prepared!”

  “Dangerous?” He blinked. “Nah…that’s her advantage. And like I said, I’m sure Josephine will figure things out on her own. I gave her forty-eight hours.” Plenty of time.

  But his precious
Mina stared at him as if he were insane. He wasn’t. Hadn’t been for ages.

  Mina stepped closer to him. “What happens when the forty-eight hours is up?”

  If Malik wasn’t back where he belonged by then…

  The angel would die. “My hunter has never missed a target. Death is truly Josephine Saint’s gift.” And it was a gift that just kept on giving.

  Or at least, it had, for two hundred years.

  “What if he can’t be killed? Did you think of that? What if Malik changes, and he can’t be killed?”

  Well, that would be unfortunate. Especially for Josephine. But Luke was still betting on his vamp. “There’s more to her than meets the eye.” After all, he’d made certain of that fact.

  They’d made a deal.

  Sealed it in blood.

  Josephine might look like sweet sin, but the woman was a monster straight to her core.

  Chapter One

  The music was too loud, the voices too grating, the perfume too thick…and the club too packed. Josephine stood just inside the doorway, feeling the bouncer practically breathing down her neck. She’d just popped into the place, transported magically in a way that made her stomach knot, and she figured her prey had to be close by.

  Unless Luke was messing with her. He did love his games.

  “Lady,” the bouncer growled, “how the hell did you—”

  She turned toward him. Josephine gave the hulking guy a wide smile, being careful not to show her sharp canines. Then she fluttered her lashes at him. “I’ve lost my friend.”

  His granite-like face softened. His gaze dropped, darting down to her breasts. Hey, asshole, eyes up! She snapped her fingers.

  He looked up, blinked.

  She decided to use a little compulsion on him. She had a way with that particular power. In fact, she could generally get most humans to do anything she wanted. So she put her hand on the guy’s bearded cheek. “I’m searching for my friend, Malik.”

  “Wh-what does he look like?”

  She had no clue. Because, of course, Luke hadn’t bothered to describe the angel. That would have been too helpful for the jerk. “I think he has wings.”

  The bouncer frowned. “What?”