by Cynthia Eden
“They’re one of the few types of angels who can walk right among the humans,” Sam said, eyes hardening.
“They walk with them,” Marna said. “The better to punish.” Her voice had lowered.
“Know your enemy.” Sam’s advice. “From the sound of things, you need to get to know him pretty fucking fast.”
Tanner cast a searching glance at Marna. The guy out there killing hadn’t come at either one of them directly. Not yet, anyway. He’d gone after the shifters. That cop, and—
“An angel couldn’t kill so freely. Only death angels are supposed to take lives. This guy isn’t a death angel”—Marna was definite—“so you’re wrong, Sammael. This isn’t one of ours.”
Ours.
“It’s someone else,” she insisted. “A demon, a—”
“Punishment angels can become corrupted, too, you know. All angels can be tempted.”
Marna’s gaze found Tanner’s.
“And we can all fall,” Sam finished softly. “I think that’s a truth you’re beginning to understand.”
Too late though. They’d sent Cody out to hunt for the killer, but how was he supposed to fight an angel? Tanner yanked open the door. He spared one glare for Sam. “Spread the word. Make sure the twisted freaks in this town who fear you know that she’s off-limits. They’re not getting her blood.”
Marna slipped through the doorway.
Sam inclined his head. “I’m already spreading that word. I think the dead demons and vamps I’ve left will make the fools think twice before any other attacks.”
Sam’s emotionless voice as he talked about killing reminded Tanner of the guy’s words from just moments before.
Not evil. Not good.
Clenching his teeth, Cody hurried after Marna. He didn’t like talking to Sam. Didn’t like it at all because—
He’s too much like me.
Not good.
And with more evil growing inside each day.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tanner knew the bars that his brother would visit. You didn’t live in this town as long as he had without discovering the darkest of demon hells.
Once upon a time, Tanner had pulled Cody from one of those hells. Dragged his unconscious body out even as he raged at his brother.
The guy had been a screwed-up seventeen-year-old. So sure his dad was a twisted fuck because he’d had the colossal bad luck of being born. Tanner had tried shoving some sense down the guy’s throat. He’d had to break Cody’s addiction first and get him off the drugs that just confused his mind and made him even more desperate.
But I got him clean. And Cody had stayed clean.
“Tanner, slow down!” Marna called sharply, and Tanner realized he’d been running.
They were at the mouth of a narrow alley. Just a few more turns and they’d be—
He froze.
Marna bumped into his back. “I didn’t say stop,” she muttered, pushing back. “I just said—”
Tanner’s nostrils flared. “Blood.” Not just any blood either. Demon blood had a stronger scent than others. Almost like ash.
And shifter blood . . . it smelled of animal.
Only one guy in town had that mixed scent of beast and demon.
Fuck.
Tanner raced down the alley, shouting Cody’s name, but his brother wasn’t there. There was just a too-big pool of blood, looking black in the darkness.
Tanner bent next to the blood and his claws scraped the pavement.
“It’s . . . his?” Marna asked as she pressed closer.
Tanner’s gaze followed the trail of blood as it snaked around the corner. “Like bread crumbs.” A trail of blood splatter to follow.
And he could follow it. He had Cody’s scent. He could follow that blood trail all the way back to his brother—and to the fool who’d hurt him.
Was it one of the angel-blood-addicted paranormals? Or the actual punishment angel that Sam had suggested? Either way, no one was getting away with hurting his brother.
No one.
Tanner rose in a fast ripple of power. He caught Marna’s shoulders, pulled her close, and stared in her eyes. “When I shift, the panther’s gonna hunt.”
She nodded. “It’s Cody’s blood, isn’t it?” Marna didn’t give him time to answer. “I understand. We’ll find him. He’ll be okay.”
She didn’t understand. It wasn’t about finding Cody.
Tanner kissed her. Deep. Fast. Hard.
It was about destroying the one who’d attacked his brother.
Tanner spun away. He started to run, and with every movement, the beast inside stretched and growled. Bones popped. Snapped. When he bounded past the corner, he hit down on all fours.
And he kept running as the beast took over fully.
He’d find Cody, and he’d tear apart the bastard who had thought to hurt him. Angels weren’t immortal. They could bleed. They could die. You just had to use the right weapon against them.
His claws were the perfect weapon.
Marna ran behind him. The thud of her footsteps followed him. The blood trail led away from the lights of the bars and back into the darkness. Past the Square, deeper and—
Marna’s footsteps stopped. Even with the rage pumping through him, he heard that telling sound. He’d been so focused on the blood trail, he hadn’t let any other scents hit him, but now—
The panther’s head swung back around. Marna had frozen. She stared at him with wide eyes. And then she looked down at her chest. A blooming circle of red appeared right in the middle of her breasts. Her mouth opened as if she would scream.
But Tanner’s roar drowned out the sound.
Marna fell to her knees. The knife that had been plunged into her, from back to front, slid out with a slosh of sound that enraged the beast and had the man inside screaming.
Then he saw the bastard who’d hurt her. Saw his face—and everything stopped for him.
Standing there, smiling, holding the bloody knife—no, lifting that fucking knife to his mouth and licking the blood away—that asshole was Cody.
Cody smiled, and his teeth were stained with her blood. “You were right. It is so easy to get addicted. Especially when the blood is so sweet.”
Tanner roared his fury. Marna was trying to rise. Her hands pushed against the dirty brick wall, and her body shook.
Tanner leapt forward. Brother or no brother, Cody had just signed his own death warrant. I didn’t want to believe it.
He should have believed it.
Tanner knew just how much evil was in their bloodline. I should have believed it.
Not a punishment angel. Their killer was just a twisted prick of a demon.
My brother.
Cody turned and raced away. He laughed as he fled into the cracks that passed for alleyways. The panther rushed to Marna’s side. His head pushed against her shoulder. He couldn’t comfort her like this. Couldn’t hold her. Dammit.
Her hand lifted. Rubbed against his head. “It’s . . . okay. ” Her voice was weak, but her gaze was strong. “This won’t . . . stop me for long.”
A knife wound to the heart couldn’t kill her, but it could hurt her. It had.
I’ll make him pay.
Cody had set him up. Left a trail of blood for him to follow and all the while, Cody had been hunting them. Waiting for his moment to attack.
Now it’s my moment.
He rubbed his head against her shoulder once more. His brother’s laughter drifted on the wind. So close. He couldn’t let him get away. Wouldn’t.
Time to make sure Cody never hurt Marna again.
He spun away from her and leapt into the air. He’d have Cody on the ground before his brother ever had a chance to scream.
My only family. He’d always thought Cody had escaped the curse that seemed to mark them.
Why hadn’t he seen the evil before? Why?
Marna rose slowly and kept the heel of her palm pressed against her chest. That knife wound had hurt. Burned her w
ith a white-hot agony.
And Tanner had roared with such fury. She hadn’t seen her attacker, but she’d recognized that voice.
Cody.
She sucked in a breath. The hot ache in her chest had begun to ease. Now she just needed to force her legs to move so that she could follow Tanner. She wouldn’t let him face this nightmare alone.
She wouldn’t let him be the one to kill Cody.
Her hands fisted. The demon had come after her. Taken her blood. Laughed while she’d fallen into the dirt and grime.
Power began to lick through her. That power gave her the strength to stand upright. To put one foot in front of the other and run.
Rage could fuel her so well, but would it be enough power to kill? Maybe.
She was about to find out.
Tanner tracked the bastard. He followed that scent of ash and animal, and he rounded the last tight turn in the dark, knowing that his brother’s death was at hand.
He flew through the air, his jaws open, ready to rip and tear.
His brother was on the ground. Blood surrounded him. Cody saw him coming toward him and hope lit his eyes.
Hope? He’d give the guy hope. Tanner attacked. In one lunge, he had his teeth over Cody’s throat. Death would be fast. He could give his brother that much.
Cody took her blood. Stabbed her. Hurt her.
“Wh-what are you doin’, bro?” Cody whispered. Tanner hadn’t bitten him yet. Not yet. “H-help me . . .”
The scent of blood was so strong. Tanner pulled back and stared down at his brother. A knife was in Cody’s hand. And his brother . . . aw, fuck, his brother’s stomach looked like it had been hacked open.
Had he done that to himself? Was Cody really that far gone?
The panther inhaled deeply.
The blood on that knife . . .
It wasn’t Marna’s blood. It was only Cody’s. And his brother was on the ground, barely moving because his wounds were so severe. But he’d been laughing just moments before, hadn’t he?
“I . . . f-found . . . th-the other . . . f-freak,” Cody whispered and blood dripped from his mouth.
As the panther, Tanner’s sense of smell was far more acute than it was in his human form. As he inhaled again, he realized there was no trace of Marna’s blood on Cody. There should have been. He’d watched Cody stab her with his own eyes.
Now he was supposed to kill him.
Footsteps thundered toward them. Tanner looked up and saw Marna stumble around the corner. Her hair flew out around her. Her eyes—had they ever looked so dark before?
She saw him, saw Cody, and her face hardened with fury even as she put a hand to her chest.
He could see the blood on her shirt.
“F-found him,” Cody whispered again. “G-got to me . . . wearing b-bastard’s face.”
What bastard? Tanner couldn’t ask right then. Sometimes, being in the panther’s body sucked. He leapt off his brother and tried to catch another scent in the air. Someone else had to be there, someone else—
But the only other scents were older.
Ash and blood.
Marna began to stalk toward Cody. Tanner leapt between them, positioning his body.
Marna froze, and her lips parted in surprise. “Tanner, what are you doing?” She’d sure healed fast. The attack would have killed most folks. All humans—and most supernaturals he knew wouldn’t be walking around so soon after taking a knife to the heart.
He hadn’t even known she could heal this fast.
Her eyes were almost pure black, he could see that, even in the darkness. Sam hadn’t been lying. The rage was building inside of her. Hell, if someone had just shoved a knife into him, maybe he’d be feeling the rage, too.
But it wasn’t Cody.
The panther snarled, trying to tell her that.
Marna’s eyes widened. “You’re protecting him? After what he did to me?”
Not Cody.
Screw this. He had to shift back. Had to change so he could make her understand. He let the burning transformation sweep over him. Barely heard the crunch and pop of his bones. He needed to speak. The man had to take over. He had to—
Mid-shift, when he was most vulnerable, that was when the bullet hit. It came hurtling toward him and thudded into his chest. One hit. Then another.
Silver. He could feel the hot scorching inside of his flesh.
Another thud. A lancing pain hit his knee and Tanner fell.
The shift kept burning through him, but it had slowed now, thanks to that silver. The one firing on him knew exactly what he was doing. He knows all my weaknesses.
Tanner’s hands slammed onto the ground. He still had his claws out, but they were no good against bullets. Tanner tilted back his head and saw Marna rushing toward him. Her mouth was open and she was screaming—
“Stop!”
A tremble seemed to shake the ground beneath him. He blinked, then looked up again.
A bullet had frozen in the air. A bullet that was just inches from his forehead. As he stared, the bullet dropped to the ground.
Marna reached him, but she didn’t help him up. She positioned her body in front of his. Her hand lifted. Pointed to a nearby rooftop. “I see you.” Her voice was darker. Far harder than he’d ever heard before. And from her hand, a blast of fire erupted, rushing right up to that building.
A scream sounded.
She’d made a hit. Good for her.
Tanner used his claws and dug the bullets out of his body. He ignored the pain. What did it matter? He needed to get Marna and Cody out of that alley. Needed to sew up his brother before Cody bled to death right there.
And Marna—Marna was walking away from him. Stalking toward that now burning building. An empty warehouse, its roof blazed in the night and lit the sky. Firefighters would be called to the blaze. There was no freaking missing the way that fire was churning. Before the rescue squad arrived, they’d have to be long gone.
“No more,” Marna said as her steps quickened, and, at her back, he could see those strange, shadowy wings once more as they stretched out behind her.
He tossed the bloody bullets to the ground. Pushed to his feet. She wasn’t going in alone—
“T-Tan . . . ner . . .”
His brother’s voice. So weak. He glanced back. Cody’s face was ashen. The scent of blood was so thick around him. Blood and . . . flowers.
Death angel.
“Stay the hell away from my brother!” Dammit. He spun back around, torn. “Marna!”
She didn’t stop. She was almost at the blazing building now.
“Marna!” If he left Cody, Tanner knew that his brother was dead. The angel of death would take him. And if he didn’t go after Marna . . .
What would happen to her?
He had to choose. He couldn’t save both. There wasn’t a way. He couldn’t—
I can sure as shit try. He grabbed Cody. Slung him over his shoulder. Tried to rush after Marna, but his wounds slowed him down. Can never heal fast enough from silver. Never—
Marna disappeared into the smoke. She’d gone into that damn inferno. He tried to move faster. He yelled her name again.
And the windows of the building exploded out as the flames flared even higher.
Marna was beautiful by firelight. He watched her through the flames, loving the way they licked around her form. She’d pushed out with her power and blocked the fire from touching her body.
Could fire ever hurt something so beautiful?
Her eyes were black now, and they burned with a dark fury. She couldn’t come up to him. The ceiling would collapse on her before she ever got there. So he could sit back, watch, and wait.
The fire wouldn’t hurt him, either. His scream had just been to lure her closer to him. To make her see . . .
She couldn’t count on the shifter. When the chips were down, he wouldn’t choose her. He’d choose his brother, even when it looked like his brother was nothing more than a killer.
For th
e shifter, blood was all that mattered.
Marna needed to see, he was more than that. He’d done everything for her. Would keep doing everything.
“I want you at my side,” the words slipped from him.
Her head jerked up. She could hear him over the flames. Good.
She tried to step toward him—toward the stairs—but a chunk of burning ceiling fell down and crashed near her feet. He’d planned this blaze so well. He’d gotten very good at controlling the fire. From the outside, it had looked as if a giant explosion had rocked the building, sending glass and debris flying. The cops, when they finally came, would think a detonation of some sort had gone off.
They’d never realize the blaze had been the result of a supernatural just playing with some fire. Oh, how he did enjoy the burn.
“Who are you?” she shouted.
His smile dimmed. Why hadn’t she realized who he was yet? “I’m the one who’s giving you justice.” What she deserved.
He was giving them all what they deserved.
His hand lifted. He’d touched her before. Did she remember? He wanted to touch her again.
“Marna!”
But that shifter just kept getting in the way.
She turned at the roar of her name, but she didn’t leave the flames. Maybe she liked the heat as much as he did.
A wall crashed down. Not because of the flames, but because Tanner Chance had kicked it down. “Marna!”
He’d left his brother behind. Left him to die, and now he was coming after Marna.
Unexpected.
Annoying.
Tanner leapt across the flames and didn’t even gasp when they licked against his skin. But by now, that shifter should be used to pain. He had enough scars on his body to prove it.
Maybe he even liked the pain.
Tanner caught Marna’s hand. “We have to get out of here!” The crackling fire tried to drown out his words.
She shook her head and pointed up.
To me.
But Tanner pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her, and started carrying her out.
Fool. Playing the hero. Marna didn’t need rescuing. The fire would never hurt her.
But Tanner would. He’d destroy her. Unless the shifter was destroyed first.