by Cynthia Eden
“Don’t.” Terse. The only warning he’d give the demon.
Cole smiled. “A guy can look, right? What’s the harm in that?” Then he hurried forward and opened the door. The pounding beat of music spilled outside even as they swept into the club. Alcohol. Sex. Perfume. The smells swirled in the air as the bodies danced and gyrated on the small floor.
There were women up in the golden cage that swung lightly from the ceiling. A band screaming on the small stage.
“That way . . .” Cole pointed to the left. “Your . . . um . . . friends have already been shown to a private room.”
Good. “The woman was with them?”
Cole laughed with real appreciation then. “Yeah, she was.” He leaned toward Az. “Kind of hard to miss a handcuffed, pissed-off angel.”
Az saw Jade’s shoulders relax. “She’s alive.”
Cole glanced toward her and nodded. “But I doubt those guys with her will be once she breaks loose.” He shrugged. “So they’d better hope those cuffs keep holding her in check.”
Cole turned to stride back outside, but Az lifted his hand and stopped him. “There will be one more guest for our little private party.” He paused. “Be very careful around him. Bastion isn’t the kind you want to antagonize. Actually, you don’t want to touch him at all.”
“Great.” Cole sighed and shook his head. “Another Death Angel? Can’t any of you assholes just stay in heaven these days?”
“He’s not Fallen.” Not yet. But if Bastion stayed on the path he seemed to be taking . . . “He’s blond, my height, and—”
“And I think I’ll be able to figure out which guy’s the angel. Not my first ball game.” Cole spun away. “Fucking angels,” he muttered.
Az waved his hand, and the crowd parted before him. The dancers didn’t even realize they were moving back. It was as if a light wind blew right by them, ushering them subtly to the side, but he and Jade could now slide through the crush of bodies without any problem.
They avoided the once-again-bolted metal doors, though Az was sure that the hellhound had been . . . relocated. Instead, they took the winding hallway that led away from the crowd. When he arrived before the reserved room—the room that Sam kept especially for occasions when Other needed a private place to meet—Az didn’t bother to knock. He waved his hand and the door flew open.
Marna’s blue eyes widened with fear when she saw him. She was seated in a wooden chair, with her hands cuffed behind her. Tanner stood on one side of her while Cody paced near the back of the room.
The door slammed against the wall, jerking everyone’s attention toward him and Jade.
“Azrael.” Marna’s sharp voice.
“Why is she cuffed?” Jade demanded as she pushed forward. “She should be taking it easy, not—”
“Her wounds have healed,” Cody told her as he stepped toward her. Then he stopped and glanced over at Marna. “As much as they can heal.”
Marna laughed then. A bitter, tight laugh that Az had never expected to hear from the angel who cared too much. “He means the blood’s stopped—but my wings are long gone.”
Tears glittered in her eyes, shining like jagged diamonds.
“Uncuff her,” Jade snapped.
Tanner’s body stiffened. “I’m not real sure that’s a good plan, there, Jade.” His faint drawl had thickened. “One touch and—”
“She’s been hurt enough.” Jade strode closer to her. Az made sure he shadowed her moves. “Just let her go,” Jade said.
Marna’s gaze darted to him. The fear was still there. Fear and fury and . . .
Hope?
“There’s some kind of spell on the cuffs,” Marna said, her voice soft now, almost broken. “I can’t get out of them, no matter what I do.”
Jade’s attention jumped back to Tanner. “Get the key and get her out.”
But Tanner stood his ground. “You really that eager for her to kill you? The wings might be gone, but her powers aren’t. One touch, and you aren’t coming back.”
“The touch doesn’t work on me anymore. At least, Bastion said it didn’t.”
Marna’s eyes widened, and Az saw the hope die in her gaze.
He realized that she’d been planning to finish her mission. To kill Jade.
The hell she would.
Az strode forward. He crouched in front of Marna and made sure that their gazes held. “We found you in those woods. The two men behind you—”
“They aren’t men!” Her voice was stronger now, more caked with fury than fear. “One’s an animal, one’s a demon, and they’re both linked to the bastard who did this to me!”
“A bastard who’s got angel blood.” This came from the demon doc who Az knew must have spent hours trying to help Marna. “He’s like you, so before you start looking down that perfect nose of yours at us animals, remember that. Angels can go bad, too.”
She never looked away from Az. “I know that. I’ve seen bad angels with my own eyes.”
He refused to feel shame. “Bastion is looking for you.”
Her lashes lowered to conceal her gaze. “He can’t take me home.”
No, the rules didn’t work that way. You had to fly into heaven on your own steam.
“He can take care of you, though. He can help you.” Az exhaled. “So can I. You aren’t going to be alone down here.” He’d make sure of it.
A tear leaked from her eye. “He-he liked hurting me.” She took a deep breath. “He was . . . laughing while he cut me.”
Tanner backed away from her, fast. Az looked up and realized that the shifter’s claws had burst from his skin. Rage drew deep lines on his face, and Az knew that fury was directed right at Brandt.
“We’re going to stop him,” Jade told her. Her hand lifted, as if she’d touch Marna’s shoulder, but she hesitated. “He won’t hurt anyone else.”
Marna’s head rose as she focused on Jade. “If he’s really like us . . .” Her gaze swung to Az, “Then how can you kill him?”
The small bag tied to his waist felt too heavy, and so did the gun he’d tucked into the side of his belt. “Even angels can die. He’ll go down. Trust me.”
She swallowed and Az knew Marna was trying to hold on to her control. Without the magical protection of her wings, she’d be feeling the full brunt of human emotions. The angel probably felt as if she were breaking apart from the inside.
He’d felt that way. Still did.
Jade’s hand touched Marna’s shoulder. The scent of flowers flooded the room then. Az rose to his feet. He didn’t need to glance back to know that Bastion had joined them.
The tears trickled down Marna’s cheeks faster now. “Don’t . . . look at me.” Her stark whisper.
Az knew that she was ashamed for Bastion to see her this way.
In the next moment, Bastion couldn’t see her at all. Tanner had stepped in front of Marna, shielding her. “Who the fuck are you?” His gaze slanted to Az. “Don’t remember you saying that anyone else would be joining this little party.”
No, he hadn’t said that. “Bastion is here for Marna.”
Tanner glanced over his shoulder at the sobbing angel. “Maybe Marna doesn’t want to go with him.” His claws were still out, but Az noticed the shifter carefully kept them from Marna’s line of sight.
“I can’t go!” Marna bit out the words. “Bastion, it’s too late.”
In a flash, Bastion was standing toe-to-toe with Tanner. “You don’t want to come between us,” he told the shifter. His wings brushed the top of the room. He was letting all of them see him—just as he was.
But Tanner didn’t look particularly intimidated. “I know how this works,” Tanner said as he barred his sharp canines. “Unless my name turned up in that fancy book upstairs that used to belong to Azrael here, you can’t touch me.” He smiled. “Unless you’re looking to see those wings of yours burn right off. ’Cause killing someone not marked for death, that’s a falling offense, right?”
“It was for me,” Sam s
aid from the doorway, his voice lazy but lethal.
Bastion stiffened. “Sammael.”
“Long time no see huh, Bastion?”
Jade’s gaze swept the room. “Well, isn’t this just the big old angelic reunion.” She shoved Tanner. Her elbow caught him off guard and made the shifter stagger. Or maybe he wasn’t caught off guard. Maybe that blood was still making her stronger than she should be. “Give me the keys to the cuffs.”
Tanner’s eyes narrowed on her. “Don’t have them.”
“I do.” Cody lifted a small, golden ring from his pocket. “But I want her promise first.” It wasn’t surprising that the demon would be the less trusting one. “No one dies by her touch tonight.”
Sam strolled forward. “Seems like a fair enough trade for your freedom, Marna.”
Bastion didn’t speak.
“I-I promise,” Marna spoke softly.
Tanner turned. Cody tossed him the key. Az thought the shifter’s eyes softened when he glanced back at Marna. A mistake, that. Marna might seem weak now, but she wouldn’t be that way for long.
Tanner reached behind her and a moment later, Az heard the soft snick as the cuff was released.
Just that fast, Marna was up, out of the chair—and she had her right hand punched into Cody’s chest as she slammed him into the nearest wall.
“I thought we had a deal!” Tanner shouted as he lunged forward to help his brother.
“We do.” Marna didn’t spare him a glance. “I’m not killing him. I never said anything about not hurting him.” A pause. “Or you.” Her smile held a cruel edge.
An eye for an eye. Angels were too acquainted with the old ways.
“They helped you,” Jade reminded her. “They’re the reason you’re not still lying in a pool of your own blood in the woods. And by the way, Brandt was hunting out in those woods. If he’d found you—instead of them—what do you think would have happened?”
Marna frowned and took a step away from Cody. That small movement was all Tanner needed. He grabbed her hand, twisted her, and then trapped Marna within his embrace.
She screamed.
“Easy,” he said, holding her carefully. “I’m not gonna hurt you, but that’s the brother I actually like.”
She shuddered in his arms.
Az grabbed Bastion’s hand when the angel tried to step by him. “You don’t want to do that.” Az glanced deliberately at Bastion’s dark wings. “Killing a shifter will cost you too much.”
Bastion managed a nod, and Az could see him trying to pull his control back. Az didn’t move, though, not until he was sure no one in that room was about to die.
It took them all a few moments to calm back down. Az did think it was interesting, though, that Marna didn’t once try to use her Death Touch on the shifter. Seemed like a good sign. She bit him, she scratched him, but she didn’t kill him.
Sam shut the door and secured them all in the room.
“Looks like the team’s all here,” Jade murmured. “Well, most of the team. Where’s Seline?”
“Somewhere safe, with a hellhound making sure she stays away from Sunrise.” Sam’s answer was instant. His gaze cut to Bastion. “I wasn’t about to let a Death Angel near her.”
Bastion’s gaze narrowed.
“And I can’t help but wonder . . .” Sam sauntered closer to them. Knowing his brother, Az suspected that Cole was now standing guard outside of the closed door. “Just how many angels does it take in order to stop one hybrid shifter?”
“It only takes one,” Az said, meeting his brother’s gaze. “Because this fight is mine.”
“It never hurts to have backup.”
And it never hurt to protect the man you’d wronged too many times before. “Brandt is mine. I know how to take him down.”
The others weren’t speaking. It was Jade who cleared her throat. “I just . . . need to know.” She looked at Tanner—who was still holding tight to Marna—and Cody. “How’d he wind up being the son of an angel?”
Cody’s lips tightened, then he said, “Our father wanted an unstoppable son. The bastard liked to experiment.”
“No,” Tanner cut through his words, “he liked to think he was God.”
The silence beat heavily in the room.
“What kind of angel was she?” Sam finally asked as his head tilted to the left. Ah . . . Sam would be the one to ask that question. Since Seline had been a hybrid, too, one with a powerful angel side, it made sense that Sam would want to know about the angel type that had created Brandt.
He understood just how dangerous a hybrid like Brandt could be.
“I don’t know,” Tanner said, meeting Sam’s eyes with a level stare. “Brandt is my half-brother. His mother . . . she died before I was born.”
“Killed by father’s tender hands—and claws,” Cody added.
“Huh.” Sam cast his assessing gaze toward Az. “I’m guessing their father’s on the hit list, too?”
“The father’s dead,” Bastion spoke without looking away from Marna. “He was dispatched years ago.”
“By my hand,” Jade told them, voice flat.
“Interesting.” Sam nodded, and Az saw the spark of admiration flare in his eyes. “Some humans can be surprisingly strong.”
“And some angels can be surprisingly weak.” It was Bastion who spoke. “And Lailyn was weak.” He offered his hand to Marna. “We need to leave here. You’re not strong enough for the battle that’s coming.”
Tanner’s arms tightened around her.
“Lailyn?” Az repeated the name. It was familiar. An image of a small, dark-haired, fair-skinned angel flashed through his mind. He hadn’t seen her too much, because she’d been a . . . guardian.
“She was sent to watch over Vincent Dupre. To help guide and protect him.” Bastion’s lips twisted in what would have been disgust, if he’d been human. If he’d been plagued by emotions.
Of course, he wasn’t. So the angel pretended.
“She traded heaven for a chance to redeem him. Lailyn thought she could save him, by staying by his side and offering him a life with her.”
“But some people just can’t be saved.” Az spoke the truth that all the angels should already know. Even those blinded by the human emotions. Guardians were the ones tempted the most by those emotions. They were around the humans so much, it was easy for them to be tempted . . . to want what was right in front of them.
So close, but so far from what they were meant to have.
“I saw what he did,” Bastion said. “When he drove his claws into her chest and cut out her heart, I was there, watching, and I could do nothing to help her.” His gaze fell to Tanner’s hands, no, to Tanner’s sharp claws. “All animals know is violence and pain.”
Slowly, Tanner’s arms fell away from Marna. His claws didn’t recede. But they also didn’t so much as scratch her delicate skin.
Bastion took Marna’s hand. “I’ll keep you safe,” he promised her. “Until this is over . . . then we’ll figure something out.”
She nodded, but Az wondered if Bastion could see the doubt in her eyes. But in the next moment, Bastion pulled her close against his chest. His wings began to wrap around her.
“I’m not like him.” The words seemed torn from Tanner.
Marna glanced back at him. Her lips trembled.
Then she and Bastion vanished.
Brandt stared at the line of humans waiting to gain entrance into the club. They were so stupid. Sheep, offering themselves to the monsters who were hungry for a bite.
He’d assembled his pack. A dozen strong shifters waited behind him, ready to attack on his order.
Jade was in that building. In that club with the desperate, avid humans. He could still smell her blood. Her wound hadn’t closed completely, not yet.
You should never have hurt her.
Whenever Brandt closed his eyes, he saw the image of his claws sinking into her chest, again and again. It was an image that haunted him.
Because
I saw the old bastard do the same thing to my mother.
He’d been three, and she’d smiled at him even as the blood trickled from her lips.
I love you. Her last words.
And his mother had died. Left him. Left him all alone with the sick fuck of a father who liked to torture him.
He’d been seven when his father had first used his claws to strip the skin from his back.
Not even old enough to shift, much less to heal from the wounds.
“You’ll be strong, boy, you’ll be stronger than them all. Take the pain. Don’t fuckin’ cry, don’t ever fuckin’ cry.”
He hadn’t. Not since his mother’s eyes had closed. He’d cried then.
The torment from his father had been never-ending. The alpha had ruled the pack with an iron fist, and Brandt—he’d been like a whipped dog. Too afraid to move, to strike back in any way.
But Jade struck for me.
She’d killed the alpha. Given Brandt freedom.
Now Brandt wanted to give her everything. Why, why wouldn’t she let him?
He’d never meant to hurt her. Those chest wounds had been the angel’s fault, too. He hadn’t realized it in the heat of the moment, but Brandt was now sure that Azrael had deliberately used Jade as a shield to protect himself.
The angel had sacrificed her.
Now he’d hurt her again.
Azrael deserved hell, and Brandt would be the one to give it to him.
But first, he’d have to kill a few humans.
Because they were in his way.
“Someone has been visiting Mateo,” Sam murmured as he gazed at the spot where Bastion had been moments before. “I’d recognize that get-me-the-fuck-out-of-here spell anywhere.”
Az grunted. “Mateo sold me out to Bastion when we paid the witch a visit today. Mateo gave Jade to him. And she nearly died.” The thought still had his gut clenching in remembered fear and fury.
“Really?” Sam sounded mildly curious. “Mateo doesn’t usually work with angels. He finds them . . . annoyingly dull.”
“I guess if the price is right, he’ll work with anyone.” Az pulled out his gun and began to load in the bullets. The gold veneer on the bullets seemed to shine. From magic? Or hellfire?