by Cynthia Eden
Losing his brother would make her shifter suffer. She wouldn’t allow that. No one was hurting him any longer. Not while she was there.
It was time someone started to protect Tanner.
The ridges on her shoulder blades seemed to burn and itch again, but Marna ignored them. Right then, Tanner was all that she could think about.
“Put your hands back on him.” Kali’s voice. Sharp.
Tanner stared at Marna a moment longer; then he put his hands over Cody’s wounds. “Nothing’s happening.” Fury ripped through his words.
“Because you’re not making it happen.” Kali’s eyes were blazing with dark heat. “I’ve seen a healer work before. I’ve been walking this earth for three hundred years and been patching up the wounded for most of that time. You really think you’re the first to come my way?”
She barely looked twenty-one. Vampires . . . so tricky. And . . . Marna would have once thought . . . evil.
Once. But Riley was different. This Kali, she was different, too. Not mistakes as some of the angels claimed. There was far, far more to them.
Hope. Passion. Life.
“You’ve got to pull the power up from inside.” Kali put her hands on top of Tanner’s. “You have to want him to live more than you want anything else. You have to take your power . . .” Her gaze dropped back to Cody. “And give it to him.”
Jaw clenching, Tanner stared down at his brother. Cody wasn’t moving now. Barely breathing. “I’m . . . trying,” Tanner gritted. “Nothing’s happening.”
Fighting to keep her voice calm, Marna told him, “You can do this.” But if he didn’t do it in about the next thirty seconds, she’d make—
A faint glow appeared around Tanner’s fingers.
“Sonofabitch. ” Riley’s stunned voice.
But Tanner didn’t look his way. He stared at his hands, so did Marna, and she watched as, very slowly, Cody’s wounds began to heal. What had been slashed now slipped back together, mending, bonding, and it was one of the most amazing things she’d ever seen.
Then she felt Tanner’s body tremble against hers. Her gaze flew to his face. He was pale—no, white and sweat had beaded his upper lip. “Tanner?”
He didn’t answer her.
Then she understood, too late.
You have to take your power. That’s what Kali had said. Take it—
And give it to him.
But if he gave Cody everything, then what would be left?
Cody’s breath was coming easily now, the wounds almost closed. He could survive them now.
“Stop,” Marna told Tanner. But he didn’t. He just kept pouring his power right into his brother.
“Stop!” This time, Marna didn’t wait for Tanner to obey. She shoved him away from that bed, and he stumbled back a few feet. His sluggish movements told her just how weak he’d become.
She didn’t like him this way. She wanted him strong. He fell to the floor. His eyes began to sag closed.
Cody was fine, but what about Tanner? Marna lifted her arm toward the vampire. “Get your needle ready.” Because she was going to make sure Tanner was back to one hundred percent strength and power.
It was her turn to take care of him.
“It’s the blood.”
Tanner heard the words, muffled at first, but they pushed through his consciousness, and his eyes opened.
He was on a bed. A bed that still carried Marna’s scent, but she wasn’t around.
His brother sat in a chair just a few feet away, watching him.
Tanner leapt up. “You’re alive!” He ran to his brother and yanked him out of his chair. The bear hug he gave the guy could have crushed bones, but, hey, Cody was a demon, he could stand a little pain.
Especially since he was healed now.
I did that.
For once, he hadn’t destroyed or killed. He’d saved someone. How the hell was that for a change?
“Thanks to you,” Cody said. “I’m most definitely alive.”
Tanner stepped back and studied his brother. There was no sign of an injury that he could see. Hell, the guy didn’t even look pale. He’d been moments away from dying—I felt the cold touch of Death, that bastard, coming too close—but Cody was as good as new now.
Maybe even better than new.
“All my life . . .” Tanner gave a quick laugh. When was the last time he’d laughed? “I thought I was just a killer. I never knew I could—”
Cody’s lips firmed. “It’s the blood,” he said again.
Tanner blinked. Then he rubbed a hand over his face. How had he gotten back up to the bedroom? He remembered the glow from his fingers. Marna’s voice, telling him to stop.
He hadn’t stopped. She’d stopped him.
Cody cleared his throat. “I told you, angel blood can amplify a demon’s powers. It . . . looks like that same amplification is true for all supernaturals.”
Tanner’s gaze narrowed.
“Because you took Marna’s blood, you tapped into the dormant genetics your mother passed to you.”
Marna had helped him to become this way?
“I don’t know how long the changes will last. Probably until the blood in you gets diluted, but since you just got a fresh supply—”
Tanner held up one hand. “Wait, I just got a what?”
“You’ve got to understand how dangerous this is. Why you can’t heal again.” Cody’s voice and face were grim as he said, “When you heal, you give your own life force. If you give away too much, you’ll be the one who dies. That’s how . . .” He glanced away and rubbed a hand over his face. His shoulders were tense as he muttered, “I never told you. I didn’t want you to hate me.”
Now what the hell was the guy rambling about? Cody was alive. Tanner was alive. He could freaking heal. Shouldn’t they be doing some celebrating?
Cody lowered his hand. “You tried so hard to protect me, but there was one day you weren’t there.” Cody glanced back at him. “I should have told you. Years ago. I know. It’s just that you were the only family that ever mattered to me. I couldn’t . . .”
Tanner’s heart began to beat faster. He didn’t like this, and the punch in his gut told him that dislike was about to get one hell of a lot worse. “Told me what?”
Silence. Cody swallowed and his gaze kept holding Tanner’s. When had those lines appeared on Cody’s face? When had he stopped being the kid that Tanner protected and turned into the demon who stood before him?
Then Cody spoke. “One day, you were gone—off training with Brandt—and our father came at me.” His hand lifted to his chest. “He drove his claws into my heart, and he left me to die.”
“What?” And his brother had neglected to tell him this damn important fact? “You almost died?”
“But . . .” A rasp of breath, then, “Your mother was there. Katherine found me.” Cody swallowed and still held Tanner’s stare. “Her hands were glowing, and she put them right on my chest. My whole body seemed to pulse with power when she touched me, and Katherine kept telling me, ‘It’s gonna be all right.’ ”
Tanner could barely remember his mother. Only glimpses. Flashes. The impression of someone good.
She loved me. He’d held tight to that one truth. Always.
“But helping me made her weak.” Cody’s voice broke. “Just like helping me today made you weak.”
“I don’t feel weak.” He felt stronger than ever before.
Cody shook his head. “That’s only because your angel gave you blood. Without her, you’d still be in a coma.”
He stiffened.
“There wasn’t an angel around to help your mother. There was only our father. He found us. Saw what she’d done, and when he attacked, Katherine was too weak to fight back.” Pain whispered beneath his words. “And I was too scared. I stood there, and I watched her die.” A stark confession.
Tanner felt as if his own heart had been clawed out then. He remembered coming back in and seeing the shifters carrying his mother’s bod
y away. He’d screamed and punched at them.
But she’d already been gone.
“If Marna hadn’t given you blood today, you would’ve been too damn weak to protect yourself. You have to understand what’s going on.” Now Cody’s words came faster. “I know you think this new power is some kind of gift. That it makes you better because it came from her.” Cody shook his head. “But it doesn’t. It makes you weak. Vulnerable. Just like it made Katherine weak. And you’ve got to promise never to use it again.”
“Did she . . .” Tanner stopped, cleared his throat. His mother had been gone so long. So why did he hurt so much? “Did my mother say anything . . . ?” Hell, why was he even asking?
The floor creaked behind him. Tanner looked over and found Marna standing in the doorway. She’d been there, of course, the whole time. Her scent had come to him like a soothing touch the minute she’d stepped into the doorway.
“She said your name.” Cody brushed past him. “It was the last thing she said.”
She loved me.
Cody was beside Marna now. He stood near her, but didn’t touch her. “I’m sorry.” Shame lurked in his words. “If I’d been stronger . . .”
Then his mother wouldn’t have died? “He never kept his women around too long.” Forever hadn’t been a concept their father understood. Since he hadn’t been the sharing sort, he viewed death as the only option for getting rid of his unwanted mates.
The bastard really had been born without a soul. And to think, most supernaturals believed shifters had two souls. Those of beasts and men.
Maybe he only got the soul of the beast. Maybe that was why his father had only known fury and violence.
Shoulders hunched and steps slow, Cody crept from the room. After a moment, Marna came inside and quietly closed the door. “You scared me,” she said.
He didn’t move toward her. Tanner felt raw inside. Dangerous.
My mother died for Cody.
“Do you blame him, for her death?”
Tanner shook his head. She was always trying to save the pack. “She died when I was seven. He was only four then.” Just four, and he’d taken claws to the heart. “Saving others . . . that’s who she was.”
She’d never walked away from anyone in pain.
Marna studied him a moment, then said, “I think you’re a lot like her.”
No, I’m like him. Marna was close enough to touch now. Why did he feel that touching her would make her dirty? She deserves better. “You weren’t supposed to give me your blood again.”
“And you weren’t supposed to start seizing right in front of me.” She gave a little shrug. “I guess fate had other plans for us.”
Fate could be a cruel bitch. He’d known that since his second birthday. “Did Kali see you?”
A nod. “Who do you think ran the transfusion?”
Shit. “Then I’ll make sure she doesn’t talk. She won’t—”
“How are you going to make sure?” Her hand touched his arm. Her fingers were so light against his skin. “She’s already gone. With you and Cody out of danger, she slipped away.”
Fuck. His muscles tightened. “Then she could be selling you out right now. Telling everyone where to find angel blood.” They had to find her. They had to—
Marna gave a slow nod. “She could be, or she could have just been going out to help someone else. That’s what she does, you know. She helps. And she drinks her blood from a bag, not a live source.”
Ah . . . that was his Marna, being too trusting again. “Is that the story she gave you? Baby, how many times do I have to tell you? A lie from a supernatural sounds like the sweet truth from an—”
“Angel?” she finished with raised brows.
He turned away from her. Headed to the window. Someone had opened it, letting in a spill of light from the stars and moon.
A rustle of sound teased his ears. Like wings . . .
A shadow moved closer to the cabin. “Your blood,” he said slowly, staring out at that shadow, “makes me see things I shouldn’t see.”
The floor creaked beneath her feet. “Like what?”
Tanner glanced over his shoulder at her. So beautiful. “Like the shadows of wings that were cut from your back.”
Her lips parted in surprise. Tanner stepped away from the window and headed closer to her. Moving to protect. “And like that asshole angel who’s coming toward us right now.”
“Someone’s coming? But—”
But he was already there.
Tanner saw the angel fly right through the window opening, twisting his body easily, fluidly, and then landing on his feet. The angel’s eyes were only on Marna. For a being that was supposed to be stone-cold when it came to emotions, that golden stare was sure burning hot.
Tanner stepped a foot to the left and blocked his view. “Hello, again, asshole.”
Bastion’s gaze snapped to his face. A muscle flexed in the angel’s jaw. “Can you do nothing but take from her?”
Tanner’s shoulders stretched. He hadn’t intended to take her blood again. Not like that detail had been written down in his game plan. “Can you do nothing but be a pr ick?”
Bastion lunged forward. Because he’d wanted to attack since he’d first watched Bastion stare at Marna with lust in his eyes, Tanner swiped out with his fist. The punch slammed right into the side of the angel’s face—
Even as Bastion shoved his hand against Tanner’s chest.
“No!” Marna’s scream.
The touch burned him, as if he’d been branded, cutting into skin and stealing his breath. In that burning instant, Tanner realized that the bastard had just given him the Death Touch.
Except he wasn’t dying. Tanner glanced down at the hand that still rested against his chest, and when he looked up once more, he knew his smile held an evil edge. “My turn.” Then he lifted his claws.
Fear flashed over Bastion’s face. He stumbled back, his eyes wild as he looked for an escape. Fool. Didn’t he know just how much the beast liked to hunt? Tanner stalked forward. His claws were now ripping from both hands. “This is gonna—”
“Tanner!” Marna’s voice froze him. Then she was there, putting her body between him and the angel. “Don’t.” Her gaze dropped to his claws, and she shuddered. “Don’t. Don’t make him like me.”
It pissed him off that she even said the words. But, with care—because it was her—he lifted his hand and caught her chin. “Baby, I won’t touch his wings.”
She blinked and a faint furrow appeared between her brows.
“But I am gonna kick his ass. That angel needs to stop lusting after you, and I’ll make sure he does.” Time for Bastion to realize that she’s mine. He wasn’t giving her up to anyone or anything.
Even an angel who might be better for her.
Mine.
Because he did believe in forever.
“I’m not afraid of you, shifter,” Bastion shouted. “You think because you’re high on angel blood that you’re some kind of threat?” A sneer twisted his face. “You’re nothing, you’re—”
Marna stepped to the side. “A little ass beating.” Her gaze turned to Bastion. “Because no one calls Tanner ‘nothing’.”
Fuck but he could love her. Could?
The angel tried to fight. Tanner slammed his fist into Bastion’s stomach. When the guy doubled over, Tanner kicked out. Punched. Tanner didn’t use his claws though because, well, he didn’t want to get any angel blood on Marna.
And you want to show her you can have control.
Bastion caught Tanner’s fist in one hand. Froze the blow. Ah, so he was gonna fight back.
“I’m not as weak as you think,” Bastion muttered. Then he hurtled Tanner across the room.
When he smashed into the wall, Tanner laughed at the impact. Now, things could get interesting. He leapt back to his feet and charged across the room. His right shoulder plowed into Bastion’s stomach, and he took that angel down old-school, football-tackle style. He might have even
heard a bone or two crunch. Sweet music.
Tanner rose easily and stared down at the groaning angel. “I think you’re starting to—”
Bastion’s legs swept out. Nice move, but predictable. Tanner dodged easily. Grunting, panting, Bastion climbed to his feet. Aw, was the angel’s nose bleeding? Too bad.
“Okay.” Marna grabbed Tanner’s arm. “Enough fun.”
Not really, but for her, he’d stop. He’d proved his point. I can kick your ass, angel. Any day of the week, and if the angel wanted, twice on Sunday.
Bastion swiped the blood away. “You’re . . .” He grabbed his nose, cracked it, and put the bones back in place. “Messing with fate.”
Tanner shrugged. “Then fate shouldn’t mess with me.”
Bastion’s teeth ground together. His gaze, bright with anger, lit on Marna. “You’ve given a shifter resistance to the Touch. What do you think will—”
“Times are changing.” While Bastion’s voice had been heavy with emotion, Marna’s was cold. Quiet. “Angel blood is being traded on the streets here in New Orleans, and I’m betting in other places, too. We’re starting to be the ones who are hunted.”
His eyes widened. “Wh-what?”
“Tanner isn’t the only one that you’ll find hard to kill. The secret’s out,” she said, her shoulders rising and falling in a sad shrug, “so that means angels are on hit lists.” Her lips pressed into a tense line, and after a moment, she said, “So make sure you spread the word. We all need to stay on guard. It’s not just about us taking them anymore.”
It was about angels being the prey.
And angels being killers. Tanner’s gaze swept the angry angel once more. “One of your kind is killing in New Orleans,” Tanner said.
But Bastion’s smile mocked him. “Death angels kill every day. That’s not—”
“No.” Marna’s voice. With more heat. “We take souls. We follow the orders we’re given. We take those who are meant to die.” Her gaze held Bastion’s. “This is different. We think—we think it’s a punishment angel, and he’s taking the forms of other people to kill.”
Bastion’s smile faded away.
“He took my form,” Marna said, “and killed two shifters.”