by Cynthia Eden
“Until?” she pushed. Anger had heated her blood. Selling the blood of my kind. And she’d thought she owed this guy?
He exhaled heavily. “I gave her a small transfusion. Within the hour, all of her withdrawal symptoms from the drugs were gone. She was normal, closer to normal than she’d ever been before in her whole life. She didn’t hear voices. Didn’t want to hurt herself. It was like she was glowing on the inside.”
His gaze rose to catch Tanner’s stare. “Her father’s a human. A rich one. You know the half-breeds are always hit worse by the darkness.”
Tanner didn’t speak.
Cody’s shoulders straightened, and his chin lifted. “He forced me to take the money. Said I’d saved her life, that I had to take it. And I—I thought I could use the cash to help someone else. To buy more equipment.”
But Marna could guess what happened next. “Word spread about how you’d helped her.”
A grim nod. “Soon everyone wanted angel blood. It . . . healed the demons, but it also did more.”
“Sonofabitch.” Tanner turned from him and stalked toward Marna. “No wonder you wanted me to take her blood. You knew just what it could do.”
“It could save you!”
It had. Marna lifted her hands. Turned them over and stared at the thin veins beneath her skin. All the hunting and all the death, just for her blood?
Marna took a deep breath and asked the question she feared, “What more does it do?” To make so many desperate . . .
“It ramps up a supernatural’s power. One dose can make a level-three demon closer to a level six. It’s like a shot of pure—”
“Magic,” Tanner finished as his hand caught hers. His fingers traced over the veins inside her wrist. Marna shivered.
Cody kept talking, saying, “But then my supply ran out, and folks out there started getting desperate. They wanted more.”
“Because it’s addictive,” Marna said as Tanner’s words from before echoed in her mind. He’d warned her upstairs. But wasn’t power always addictive? Especially to the supernaturals.
“No wonder there are so many folks coming after me,” Marna muttered. “I’m a freaking walking buffet for them.” Because she was the weak angel in town.
It sucked having that tagline attached to her. I’ve got to do something. She had to amp up her own power, just like—
Her chin rose. “I need to see Sammael.”
Tanner blinked, but it was Cody who gave a low whistle and said, “Ah, Sammael? Are you sure about that? He killed two vamps just last week for—”
“For what?” Marna snapped at him, because she could guess their crime. “For trying to take his special blood?”
Cody’s lips clamped together.
“Maybe he didn’t feel like bleeding,” Marna said. And neither did she. “Sammael and Az are the most powerful Fallen I know. They can show me how to protect myself.”
“You mean they can teach you to kill.” Why was Cody suddenly so chatty with her? He’d been the quiet one, before.
Tanner’s gaze just searched her face. “Is that what you really want? To be like them?”
To be able to kill with a touch. No, she’d never wanted that. She liked touching Tanner and finding pleasure, but if she wanted to stay alive, there wasn’t a choice. “It’s what I have to do.”
He gave a grudging nod. “Then I’ll take you to him.” His head swung back to Cody. “But first, I want you to give me a list of every demon in this town with high-level glamour power.”
“Glamour?” Cody rubbed a hand over his bruised throat. “All demons can work glamour.” His gaze flashed to black. “Even me.”
“You can do a whole lot more than just work it,” Tanner murmured and there was a curious lack of emotion in those words. “Can’t you, bro?”
“Yeah, I can.”
Then, as Marna watched, stunned, Cody’s features began to shift. To harden. His shoulders stretched. He grew taller. More muscled. The line of his jaw flared, and he became—
Tanner.
Her heart slammed into her chest.
“I can definitely do a lot more,” the new Tanner said, and it was only then that Marna finally realized just how dangerous Cody truly was. She’d thought he was fairly harmless. She’d never seen any power flares from him. He’d worked as a doctor. Patched her up, but—
But his power had just been lurking inside. And, too late, she saw him for what he was.
One very, very dangerous demon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
For as long as Tanner could remember, Cody had been able to steal faces.
Stealing faces. That’s what they’d called it when they were kids. Cody had learned the trick by accident. He’d been trying to shift into a panther. How many times had he tried? Over and over, only the shift had never worked. He’d been so angry. So tired.
Their father had been yelling at him. Getting ready to swipe out with his claws because Cody was such a “fucking failure!”
Then the change happened.
Cody had taken their father’s face. Become him in an instant.
Cody couldn’t shift into an animal. Couldn’t become the panther. But he could borrow the face and body of any person he saw.
Their father had been pissed when he’d seen the change. Pissed—and far from impressed. Turning into another person didn’t amp up Cody’s powers.
Animals were what mattered to him. Panthers had the power.
Cody’s little trick had been useless to the old bastard.
Tanner had taken the attack that his father launched. He’d been the one to scream when his father’s claws had sunk into his back while Cody shifted back to his own form.
Tanner took a breath and stared at Cody. The guy was an exact copy of him. Even had his voice. “Enough.”
With a shrug, Cody’s own face and form slowly appeared again.
Most demons could manage basic glamour. Cloaking their eye color was second nature to them. Had to be—the eye trick was an adaptation necessary for their survival. But with Cody, that adaptation went up to a whole different level.
“How many others in New Orleans can do what you do?” Tanner wanted to know.
Cody’s lips tightened, and Tanner realized he wasn’t gonna like the answer even before his brother said, “None. You’re looking at a one-hit wonder, bro. No way can the others manage what I do.”
“There has to be another!” Marna said at once. “There has to be.”
Damn right there did. Tanner kept his stare on Cody. “You find out who the other demon is.”
“I’m telling you, there is no other—”
“Because he took my form,” Tanner said. “He took my face, my body, and he tried to kill a cop.”
Cody’s mouth hung open in surprise.
“And he took my form,” Marna said, voice tight. “He went into an alley, and he killed two shifters, all while he was using my face.”
But Cody was shaking his head. “Th-there’s no other! Just me!” His hands trembled at his sides. “Don’t you think I’ve looked for others? Do you think I want to be the only freak out there? It’s not just about demon power. It’s about the shifter blood in me. I can shift, but only into other people. No one else can do that!”
“Someone else has to be doing it.” Tanner was adamant. Because if there wasn’t someone else. Fuck, no . . . it’s not him.
Cody couldn’t be setting him up.
But...
But he could be after Marna’s blood, a sly voice whispered in his mind.
Now that Cody knew just how powerful it was, just how much people would be willing to pay for it, had he been tempted?
Money had driven plenty of people to murder.
Not him. Tanner wouldn’t believe it. Not yet.
“Find him,” Tanner said again, and he knew by the tense expression on Cody’s face that his brother understood what he was saying—and what he wasn’t.
“It’s not me,” Cody whispered.
Tanner nodded, but he saw the flash of fear on Marna’s face. He might be willing to trust his brother, but why would she? Why should she?
He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Trust me.” She didn’t have to trust Cody.
She nodded, and for just a second, time seemed to slow for him. Did she realize what she was doing?
“But what’s gonna happen with you?” Cody wanted to know then as he rocked forward nervously on the balls of his feet. “Your captain is dead. You can’t just go waltzing back to the station now.”
No, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be heading back, not until he was sure the other cops weren’t about to turn on him, too. “We’re staying low.” He hunted better in the dark anyway.
“I hope you make that damn low,” Cody told him. “Because as long as you keep staying with her . . .” An incline of his head toward Marna. “You’re at the top of the supernatural hit list.”
Bring it.
“I’m getting off that list,” Marna said as her fingers tightened around Tanner’s. “I’m going to see Sammael right now, and I’m getting off that list.”
Easier said than done.
And the truth was . . . he didn’t want her to get that deadly power back. If she killed when she touched, would she pull away from him? Be afraid to touch him?
But if she wanted to see Sammael, he’d take her to the Fallen. Hell, there probably wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for her.
“Twenty-four hours,” he told Cody with a hard stare. Because it was time to move. “We each do our hunting, then we meet back here.” Plenty of time to kill.
And killing was exactly what he had planned.
Cody nodded.
Twenty-four hours.
His brother turned away. Tanner kept his gaze on him, and knew that while they were apart, he’d be doing more of his own digging. And if he found out that Cody was stealing his face again . . .
Could he put his brother in the ground?
Tanner glanced back at Marna.
He just might have to.
He’d lost their scent. Dammit. The angel had disappeared, running too fast with her shifter.
After all of his plans, his careful schemes, they’d vanished into the swamp.
Why couldn’t he find them? He could always find anyone, at any time. That was part of his power.
But...
He couldn’t find her.
Was something happening? He stared down at his hands. He’d washed the blood away in the water. His new trinkets were stowed in the bag near his hip. New weapons, courtesy of his last victim, that would come in handy soon.
Over the years, he’d learned to be creative with his kills. Sometimes, simple bullets did the trick. Other times, more exotic methods were needed.
Especially when he wanted to make his prey scream and beg for mercy.
Not that he was the merciful sort. No, he was far more into retribution and pain.
He glanced up and his gaze swept the thick vegetation once more.
Where was she?
And why the hell wasn’t she appreciating all that he was doing for her? He’d taken care of the two shifters in that shit-forsaken alley. Gotten rid of the cop who could ID her. He knew the kid must have seen her in that SUV.
Well, he’d almost gotten rid of the young cop. A quick trip to the hospital would finish the job now. He’d be making that trip, after he disposed of Cody and Tanner.
He’d even taken out that asshole tonight, for her. He hadn’t wanted the panther to decide to try for Marna again. So he’d eliminated Russell. Made the bastard suffer for his crimes.
He was doing everything for her, but she—
She just kept running from him.
Didn’t she realize what was happening? She was getting weaker, but he kept getting stronger. He could show her the way. He’d teach her everything she needed to know.
If she would just stop hiding from him.
He slipped back through the swamp and headed for his car. The fire trucks had finally cleared out. The firefighters and uniforms on scene had been so clueless. They hadn’t even found the bodies in the swamp. Not that there had been much to find, not after he’d taken care of things.
Captain Jillian Pope had already disappeared. Unless Tanner talked, no one would ever know what had happened to her.
She wasn’t the first he’d let disappear into this swamp. It was such a good dumping ground. The gators that liked to come out at sunset were always so hungry.
Not the first. Jillian wouldn’t be the last, either. With his power growing, why stop? There were so many in this world who deserved what he would give them.
But not his angel.
She deserved to be at his side. Fighting with him.
Soon, she’d see that. He’d make her see it. Once Tanner Chance was dead at her feet, she’d finally understand, and she’d be grateful for all that he was giving her.
Normally, Marna knew, it wasn’t easy to get an audience with Sammael. Though he was a Fallen, the guy kept an army-load of demons at his beck and call. Those demons spent most of their time guarding the big boss.
Hoping to cut through that demon line, Tanner took her to the back door of Sammael’s club, Sunrise, and he flashed his badge.
She thought the badge bit might work, but the demons just laughed.
When Tanner pulled out his claws, they stopped laughing.
“Sammael,” Tanner snapped. “We want to see him, now.”
His body was partially blocking hers, but Marna felt the eyes of the demons as they raked her.
“You don’t demand to see anyone—”
Tanner grabbed the demon by the throat and lifted him a good foot off the floor. “Yeah, I do. Sammael.”
Marna’s breath rushed out. The demon he was lifting had to weigh about three hundred pounds—and it looked like that weight was all muscle.
Tanner held him with one hand. With his other, he pointed to the demon still blocking the back door. “You.” A smaller demon—though not by much—with tattoos that circled his arms and neck. “Let your boss know we’re here.”
The heavy metal door behind the guy slid open. “He already knows.” Sammael sauntered out. He raised a brow when he saw the demon squirming in Tanner’s grasp. “Want to let Tommy go?”
Tanner dropped him. Tommy surged right back up with a wild yell, coming at Tanner with his hands fisted.
Tanner punched him in the chest, and the guy toppled back down. Before the demon could get back on his feet, Sammael lifted one hand. “Enough.” Lethally soft, but packed with power. “As fun as watching a beat down is, I don’t have the time for it now.”
The demon froze. Marna hurried forward and made sure to move into the thin stream of light that spilled out from a nearby window. “I need to talk with you.”
“And you brought your guard . . . cat with you.” Sammael smiled, a chilling sight. “How charming.”
“Listen, Sam,” Tanner began, surging forward.
“No, you listen. I’m not one of your dumb criminals that you can chase down.” He shrugged, then lifted his hands in front of him. “I’m Sammael. All-fucking-powerful Fallen. And I can kill you as soon as look at you.”
Marna’s heart stopped.
But then a woman’s hand, fingers tipped with a blood-red polish, slid over Sammael’s shoulder. “Easy. You know you wanted to visit with her again.”
And Marna’s heart started racing in a double-time beat. Sammael’s face softened as he turned to stare at the woman behind him. Marna knew who she was, of course; every angel knew.
Seline O’Shaw.
Seline O’Shaw had been in heaven, for a very brief time. Half succubus, half angel, Seline was now a legend in heavenly circles.
It had taken a little matter of dying for Seline’s angel side to come out and take over. Only once she’d entered heaven, Sammael hadn’t been ready to let her go. He’d fought everyone in his path, been willing to sacrifice his life—just t
o get back to her.
After that, everyone had known that the mighty Sammael had a weakness.
Her.
Seline stared at Marna with sad eyes. “I’m sorry about your wings. ”
Marna rolled her shoulders. After weeks of numbness, the scarring was actually starting to itch a bit. Weird. “And I’m sorry about . . .” What? The fact that Seline had chosen to come back to earth? To stay with a man who most angels thought was becoming a true devil? She cleared her throat and decided not to say anything.
Seline’s slightly wicked smile told Marna that she understood. “Let’s go inside,” Seline said, “so we can talk in private.”
“Beats standing around with our asses out in the open,” Tanner muttered, but he tossed Marna one more glance. His expression seemed to say, You okay with this?
She nodded and then followed him inside. The door closed behind them with a bang that made her jump. She glanced up and found that Sammael had moved to look at her.
Frowning, he said, “My dear lost angel, we aren’t the ones who jump. We’re the ones who make everyone else want to shit their pants.”
If only.
They walked down a long corridor. Music beat. Pulsed. They didn’t head out into the main section of the bar, but instead followed a twisting staircase upstairs. Marna glanced down. Saw all the bodies. The couples making out. Heat and lust seemed to pour from the people on the dance floor.
No wonder a succubus had been hiding there. It would have been the perfect place for Seline, before she’d changed.
Marna’s gaze tracked up a bit as she climbed the stairs. Wait . . . was that a golden cage, hanging from the ceiling?
“Want to give it a try?” Seline murmured.
Tanner growled. Marna didn’t speak because . . . maybe. There were two women in that suspended cage right then. Dancing. Gyrating their hips.
She bumped into Tanner’s back. He caught her hand and steadied her. His gaze searched hers. So bright. “Marna?”
She realized that he’d barely glanced at the dancing women or the throng below. And . . . his attention always seemed to be on her. On what she was doing and feeling. She wasn’t wildly sexy like the others there, certainly not like Seline who seemed to ooze sex appeal. When it came to sexy, no one beat an ex-succubus. They were made for sin.