Avenging Angel

by Cynthia Eden

  Held her close.

  One taste wasn’t gonna be enough.

  Not nearly enough to satisfy him—or the beast he carried.

  Bastion turned away from the scene of the lovers, his hands clenched.

  Marna was lost to him.

  It shouldn’t have been this way.

  Not for her. Not for him.

  His wings beat against the air as he soared higher, higher into the sky. His heart raced, and his guts seemed to twist. And he wanted to destroy the shifter.

  Rage.

  Angels weren’t supposed to care about others. They did their jobs. They did their duty. There was nothing else.

  Rip. Him. Apart.

  How could she let the animal touch her? Tanner’s own brother had been the one to slice away Marna’s beautiful wings. Why would she allow the beast to defile her now?

  Humans lusted. They fucked. They took their pleasure when they wanted.

  Angels were better than that. Marna had been better. Until the shifter came to her.

  His wings beat faster against the air. Tanner would pay for what he’d done.

  Defiling an angel? Did the fool truly think there would be no consequences? There always were.

  Punishment would come.

  The fury deepened as he flew higher.

  The shifter would suffer.

  Just as Marna had suffered. And . . . just as I do.

  Tanner’s phone rang, a loud peal of sound that had him swearing. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay buried inside of Marna and go for another round of lovemaking.

  Maybe six more rounds?

  Never get enough.

  But the phone kept pealing at him. Swearing, he fumbled around the bed and found the jeans he didn’t remember ditching. Tanner fished out the phone—good thing he’d managed to snag it after his shift; then he tensed when he saw the number revealed on the screen.

  Jonathan.

  He glanced at Marna. Her eyes, so wide, were on him. Slowly, carefully, he withdrew from her body.

  A light gasp left her, and he caught the faintest scent of blood.

  Virgin.

  He’d just had sex with a virgin angel. There had to be some kind of special place in hell for a guy like him.

  If she only knew all the things I’ve done.

  Marna never would have let him touch her. Funny, because he would’ve traded the last remaining scrap of his soul for another chance to take her.

  The phone rang again, vibrating in his hand. Turning away from her, he lifted it to his ear. “Chance.”

  “You’ve got a real big problem,” Jonathan told him, voice low. There were shouts behind him. The sound of sirens.

  Frowning, Tanner headed toward the balcony. “And that’s new . . . how?”

  “A rookie cop was just rushed to St. Mary’s. The guy was left for dead in the street, and guess just who the hell was the last person he radioed in about?”

  “I didn’t—”

  “He was still conscious when the EMTs pulled up, and the guy ID’d you.” A low hiss of breath whispered over the line, followed by the scream of more sirens. “Man, you need to come in to the station, freaking now, and clear this mess up.”

  Tanner’s hand tightened around the phone.

  “Otherwise,” Jonathan said, “you’re going to find your ass on the Most Wanted list, and every cop in the area will come gunning for you.”

  The line went dead.

  Sonofa—

  “Tanner?” Marna’s voice. Soft. Worried. “What’s going on?”

  He turned away from the balcony. “Looks like I’m wanted for an assault on an officer.” Assault? Attempted murder?

  What. The. Hell?

  “That kid who pulled us over . . .” He yanked on his clothes. Checked for his badge. He’d kept it shoved in his back pocket after flashing it to the other cop. “He’s on the way to the hospital.”

  “What?” She jumped from the bed, giving him an eyeful that was enough to make his cock jerk up.

  Down, dumbass. Now wasn’t the time for wanting. Though she could sure make him want more than any other.

  “What happened to him?” she demanded as, with a wave of her hand, she had her clothes magically back on her body. Handy talent, only he liked it better in reverse, when those clothes hit the floor.

  “What happened?” Tanner repeated, gut clenching as he thought about the possibilities of just what could have gone wrong on that dark stretch of road. “According to the cop, me.”

  Marna blinked. “I don’t—”

  “He said I was the one who hurt him. And if I don’t get my ass down to the station and figure out what’s going on, then, baby, we could be in for a whole world of trouble.” Because Jonathan had been right. The cops would come looking for him.

  And they might find her. He’d rather not explain a dead woman right then. Or a not-so-dead woman. It looked like he had enough shit hitting the fan without adding that to the menu.

  Let the kid be all right. The thought whispered through his mind. The rookie had seemed like a decent sort. Naïve, but—but he didn’t deserve death.

  Tanner stalked toward Marna. He buried his hand in her hair—like silk—and tipped her head back. “Stay in the apartment. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

  “I can help—”

  “You can stay out of sight.” The whole damn thing had to be a setup. One designed to make him a target. “Someone is trying to pin this attack on me, so that means someone wants me out of the way.” Why?

  To get at Marna.

  “I was there,” she said, eyes searching his. “I know you didn’t do anything to that officer.”

  No, he hadn’t done anything. This time.

  She was staring up at him with those big, blue eyes, looking at him like he was some kind of hero.

  What will you do when she realizes just how like your brother you really are?

  He swallowed back the fury that wanted to build and brought his lips to hers. One taste. Fast. That was all he allowed himself.

  For now.

  “I’ll come back,” he promised. “I’ll figure out what happened, and I’ll be back for you.”

  Then, because there wasn’t anything left to say, he headed for the door.

  He’d taken only a few steps when . . .

  “Thank you.”

  Her words stopped him cold. His hand was reaching for the doorknob. “For what?”

  “Teaching me about pleasure.”

  She was gonna break him.

  “After all the pain . . .” She stopped, and he heard the faint inhalation of her breath. “I didn’t know that much pleasure was possible.”

  Helpless, Tanner glanced over his shoulder. “Baby, we’re just gettin’ started.”

  Her smile lit up her face. “Yes, we are.”

  And he realized that there had been something left to say, after all.

  The police station was swarming with activity when Tanner marched inside. But all that activity sure stopped dead when folks got a look at him.

  Every eye in the place turned to him. Every conversation—ended.

  Great. He’d managed to piss off too many people in the PD over the years—folks who were now only too eager to watch him burn. Just a few months back, he’d managed to anger even more cops when he’d donned a uniform and jumped into an investigation—one that had been headed by other officers. But that case had involved another angel and Brandt’s ex-lover. He’d had to get involved, or else those other cops would have wound up dead.

  He stepped on toes. He made enemies. But the humans just didn’t get it—he did it all to keep them safe.

  Now they were lining up to burn his ass. Too bad for them. He wasn’t in the mood for a bonfire.

  “What the hell are you looking at?” Tanner snapped. He’d brought in his weapon and still had it holstered on his hip.

  Two uniformed cops headed for him with eyes narrowed and we’ll-kick-the-shit-out-of-you expressions on their face
s.

  “Tanner Chance.” The captain’s bellowing voice stopped them all. Tanner glanced to the left and saw that Captain Jillian Pope had left her office. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring holes in every officer in the room.

  After a moment, that glare of hers turned to him. “In my office,” she ordered.

  Tanner began to cross toward her.

  “Your ass is gonna fry,” one of the uniforms muttered as he passed. A guy named Lawson Phillips. They’d clashed before. “You think you can turn on one of your own?”

  “I haven’t turned on anyone.” Tanner kept his voice flat. “It wasn’t me.” The fact that he was echoing words Marna had once said to him—well, yeah, that was damn fitting.

  “Unlike people, video cameras don’t lie.”

  That stopped him. He frowned at Lawson. “What are you talking about?” What video camera?

  Lawson’s smile was evil. “The next time you play a game of hit the cop, make sure his car video isn’t turned on, dumbass.”

  Oh, someone was begging for a beating. He could oblige.

  “Chance.”

  His head whipped back toward the captain. Her cheeks were flushed. “Inside. Now,” she demanded.

  This was gonna be ugly. If his face was on that video, how the hell was he supposed to talk his way out of this mess?

  “We’ll talk later,” he promised Lawson. The guy backed up a step.

  With one last glare at the uniform, Tanner headed into her office. She slammed the door closed behind him. Held up her hand. “I want your weapon, Detective.”

  With those words, Tanner knew he was screwed.

  When she heard the pounding on the apartment door, Marna tensed. Was that Tanner? Back already?

  But why would he be knocking at his own place? The guy had a key.

  Not Tanner.

  She crept toward the door.

  The pounding shook the wooden frame. “I know you’re in there!” A man’s voice shouted through that wood. “Now open the door!”

  Definitely not Tanner. Her hands flattened on the door. She glanced through the small peephole. Saw a tall, blond man. Her heart began to race. Like she’d forget him anytime soon. It was pretty hard to forget the face of the cop who’d shot you.

  Jonathan something. She couldn’t recall his last name, but she sure recognized Tanner’s partner.

  As she stared at him in growing horror, he held up his gun and pointed it at the door. “Open up,” he said, “or I’ll just start shooting my way inside.”

  She believed him.

  Captain Pope marched back and forth in front of Tanner, anger tightening her small body. She’d been promoted just six months back, but she’d already gained a reputation for being one of the hardest ass-kickers in the New Orleans PD.

  “You wanna tell me what the hell you were thinkin’?” she demanded, the South rolling hard in her words.

  “I didn’t do it.” His conscience was clear on this one. “I didn’t hurt that kid cop.”

  She scoffed. “You’re on the video. Big and bold as life.”

  His jaw clenched. “How is he?” Because he was worried about the kid. The guy had just been trying to do his job. And for that, some SOB had tried to kill him.

  No, not that. Tanner knew the killer had gone after the other cop deliberately. To pin the crime on me.

  “Officer Paul Hodges is in intensive care,” the captain told him, and her voice was grim. As grim as her eyes. “Too many internal injuries to count. He’s spitting blood. Barely breathing.”

  Hell.

  “I don’t even know how he’s alive.” She turned away. Headed toward her small window and stared down at the street. “But he is alive. And he was able to ID you.”

  “It’s a setup. I didn’t—”

  “Do I look like a moron to you?” She tossed a glare over her shoulder. “Even on video, I can tell one of my own kind.” And as he watched, the captain’s green eyes faded to black.

  Demon black.

  Tanner didn’t move. But he did sure wish that his gun wasn’t locked in her desk drawer.

  Not that he needed the gun to kill but . . .

  “Whoever that asshole was, he didn’t count on another demon watching that video.” She ran a tired hand over the back of her neck and paced back toward him. “Hell, that’s even if he knew that he was being recorded at all. My guess is he just used the glamour to fool that poor SOB he sent to the ICU.”

  Even more careful now, because Tanner wasn’t sure just how much he could trust his captain—if at all—he said in a disbelieving tone, “Demons?”

  Her eyes were still pitch black. Every part of ’em. Sclera. Lens. A demon’s true eyes were always black—some said to match their souls.

  Though Tanner didn’t believe that bullshit. His brother, Cody, was half-demon, and the guy wasn’t evil. Not even close.

  Cody had been the only one to escape that particular family curse.

  “Do I look like a freaking idiot to you, shifter?” the captain snapped.

  He almost smiled. Would have, if he hadn’t been knee-deep in paranormal hell. “No, ma’am, you don’t.”

  “Then let’s start shooting straight with each other, because if we don’t, there’s a roomful of cops out there I can toss your ass back to. Wanna see how fast they lock you up and throw away the key?”

  Like any cage could hold him.

  “Lady, don’t make me shoot you,” Jonathan told her, then paused and said, “again.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Jerk.

  “I watched the surveillance video from the patrol car. The techs on scene played it back, and I saw you. You were with Tanner when that cop questioned him.”

  She’d worried that the officer might have seen her, but she’d never even thought about a camera in the squad car.

  “I don’t have time for this crap.” The cop glanced over his shoulder, then back toward the door. Marna still had her eye pressed to the peephole. “I’m giving you to three, then I’m going to start firing. Once folks realize who you are, do you really think they’ll care that I emptied a few bullets into a killer?”

  Wasn’t he a charmer?

  “One.”

  Marna whirled away from the door. If she let him in, wouldn’t he just shoot her then? Probably, so letting him in didn’t exactly make sense to her. The fire escape was right outside the balcony. She could get out that way.

  “Two!” he shouted..

  She shoved open the balcony doors. Hurried outside.

  “Three!” He fired.

  Fired?

  So much for waiting.

  Marna glanced back and saw him kick in the door. His bullet had taken out the lock, making it easier for him to bust inside. His gaze met hers. He had his gun up.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way,” he called out to her. The faint lines on his face had tightened. “It doesn’t.”

  There was no other way for it to be.

  Marna grabbed for the fire escape.

  And the thunder of another bullet chased after her.

  “Some demons are so strong when it comes to glamour magic”—the captain sat on the edge of her desk and lifted one brow-—“that they can change every aspect of their bodies. When humans look at them, the fools see only what the demon wants them to see.”

  Yeah, he knew this bit. So Tanner finished, “And in this case, some demon wanted that kid to see me?”

  She nodded. “Looks like you’ve got yourself one powerful demon for an enemy.” Her head cocked to the right. “Know someone like that? Someone strong enough with glamour magic that he could copy your face and body? That he could be your twin?”

  Tanner made sure to keep his expression blank. “No. I don’t know many demons.” He offered her a tight smile. “Demons and shifters aren’t exactly close.”

  “Really?” One dark brow rose. Her nails tapped on her desk. “That’s odd, especially since the gossip I heard said that your own brother was a demon.”
r />   Someone had been talking too much.

  “A demon gifted with a high level of glamour power.” She gave a low whistle. “Now, that same gossip also told me that you had two brothers.”

  “Brandt is dead.” She would know about him. In the paranormal world, everyone had known about his panther-shifter brother. Hard to ignore a sadistic alpha bent on raising hell.

  And slaughtering everyone in his path.

  “So the stories go.” Captain Pope rolled her shoulders. “But the stories also say that your family has a history of being some twisted fucks.”

  True. So much for sugar coating. Tanner rose. “You shouldn’t listen to so many stories.” Time to leave. Either she could throw his ass in jail or—

  “And maybe you’re trusting the wrong person. Maybe fate didn’t just screw you with one sadistic killer of a brother. Maybe you’ve got two who want you dead.”

  Tanner kept walking. “You’re wrong. I know Cody.” He’d protected his brother over the years. Taken punishments meant for his younger brother, over and over.

  So much pain.

  Cody wouldn’t turn on him.

  And he sure wouldn’t turn on the only family he had left.

  “We never know people nearly as well as we think.” Now a note of sadness had entered her voice. “We usually find out the truth far too late.”

  He already knew the truth about Cody.

  “We could clear this up quickly enough,” the captain offered. “Let me talk to Cody. Let me find out just what he’s capable of.”

  Not a good idea. “My brother isn’t in the city.” He’d gone back to his place in the swamp. The guy craved his solitude. Being in the city just drove him crazy.

  “So where is he?”

  He could hear the rumble of voices on the other side of the door. “He’s got a makeshift clinic in the swamp. He helps out there.” Did she catch his not-so-subtle emphasis on help? Because Cody wasn’t a killer. He was a doctor. Tanner exhaled. Time to make a move. “What happens now?” If he walked out of that door, was he gonna have to beat off the uniforms who came gunning for him? He’d just like to know, so he could be ready for the fight.