by Cynthia Eden
Jade. Alive. Happy.
“I let you into her mind with that vision. You know what she wants.”
She’d begged him to shoot. But he’d been too afraid of hurting her.
“You know what you desire.” Mateo sighed. “Now let’s see just what happens . . .”
Az still had the gun. Still had the chance to save her.
To save them all.
“I’m not a monster,” he whispered. No matter what he’d seen or . . . done in those dark images. He wasn’t . . .
“Prove it.”
He would. Or he’d die trying.
I am not a monster. And he wouldn’t let the darkness in him break free. He wouldn’t hurt those he loved.
He’d sacrifice himself first.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Az raced around the graves. He turned to the left. His body shook and his heart seemed to burst through his chest.
He pushed forward with a furious blast of speed and saw them. Brandt—with his hands wrapped around Jade’s struggling body. The bastard’s claws were out. Killing close.
But it hadn’t been the claws that killed her in Az’s vision.
Tanner was on the ground, covered in blood, and not moving. But the shifter wasn’t dead. Not yet.
No one was.
Not. Yet.
Az froze and stared at Jade. So beautiful. His frantic heartbeat began to slow. The shaking left his hands.
The center of his focus narrowed just to her. Brandt had his mouth close to Jade’s ear and Az heard him growl, “He never was as powerful as me.”
My cue. Az took a deep breath. She won’t die. “No,” Az said quietly, and Jade’s desperate gaze flew to his. “But I am.” He looked away from Jade and held Brandt’s blazing stare.
You’re dying tonight.
Az lifted the gun and pointed it at Brandt. “Let her go.”
Brandt’s eyes narrowed, and he made no move to free Jade. “You’re not going to shoot her.” Brandt’s voice mocked him as Jade twisted and shoved against her captor.
Such a fighter. She was the strongest woman he’d met. Human or Other. She made him want to be stronger.
To be better.
I will be. He wouldn’t be the monster from the vision. He’d be the man that she needed him to be.
Brandt held her easily in his grasp. “You did this,” he told her, voice snarling. “You should’ve just been happy with me.”
Never would have happened, bastard.
Jade strained against him. “And you should have left my parents alone, you sick freak.” Her head turned back to Az. Her eyes held his. So many emotions shone in her stare. Determination. Love. Fury. No fear as she said, “Shoot.”
Brandt laughed. “He won’t—”
Because Az didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to protect her. To keep her safe and keep her happy.
But he’d watched this scene before, and he was damn well getting a different ending. “I love you,” he told her, the words halting.
Her lips parted in surprise. “Wh—”
He would try to hurt her as little as possible. With his angel blood in her, he wasn’t sure what the bullet would do to her. I’m sorry, Jade.
Aiming carefully, Az fired. The bullet tore through Jade’s shoulder, ripping past flesh and muscle. She didn’t cry out, just watched him with eyes that saw straight into his soul.
The bullet drove through her—and sank into Brandt’s chest. Brandt staggered back, releasing Jade.
She fell to her knees. “Thank you,” she whispered as blood and a sliver of smoke spilled from her wound.
Brandt hadn’t fallen to the ground. He was still on his feet and staring in shock at Az.
Guess I missed his heart. But he hadn’t wanted to risk aiming at any other location on Jade. If Brandt had moved her, had so much as jerked her a few inches . . .
My shot would have killed her.
Brandt’s bones began to pop and crack as he started his shift. The guy thought he’d heal. That he’d attack and get stronger.
Not happening.
Az leapt forward. He pressed the gun right against Brandt’s heart. “I’m not losing her, and I’m not fucking losing my sanity either.”
Brandt grabbed for the gun. Az had seen this scene before, too. Only he hadn’t been struggling with Brandt. He’d been battling Sam.
Change fate. He would do it.
Another bullet exploded from the gun. Brandt’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back. This time, he hit the ground.
Brandt’s claws retracted. His fangs turned back into a man’s teeth. And his blood thickened on the earth.
“Jade?” Brandt whispered her name. “I’m . . . I’m sorry . . .” He broke off, gasping, and stared up at the sky.
Smoke rose from his chest. The brimstone bullets were burning him, from the inside out.
“Wanted . . . different . . .” Az could barely hear Brandt’s words now. He felt a touch on his arm and found Jade standing beside him. She stared down at Brandt, her body stiff, but her lips trembling.
“Guess . . .” Brandt’s breath wheezed out. “Can’t change . . .”
Sometimes, you could.
Brandt stilled.
Az didn’t move. What if this were just another vision? What if Mateo was jerking him around?
Be real. Because he didn’t want to live in a world without her. That truly would be hell.
Jade wrapped her left arm around him. “It’s over.” Her breath blew lightly on his neck. Her scent—sweet strawberries—filled his nose. She was warm against him. Soft, silken, alive.
He pulled her close. Held her as tight as he could. He’d been given something special tonight. A second chance he would have gladly traded his soul for.
Over her shoulder, he saw Sam walk out from behind a crypt. His brother stared down at Brandt’s unmoving body, then he waved his hand. Flames engulfed Brandt, a white-hot fire that would destroy all traces of the shifter.
Brandt wouldn’t be able to withstand the fire now—he was already gone. Only the empty shell of his body remained. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Not ever again.
Az pressed a kiss to Jade’s temple.
“I told him you could handle things,” Sam said with a nod. “I knew Mateo was just being a paranoid asshole.” His brother sauntered past the fire.
His brother.
“Ouch,” Jade said as she pulled back a bit. His fingers had accidentally brushed her wounded shoulder. “You need to ease up a bit there, Fallen.” She offered him a half-smile that made his heart ache. The smile lit her eyes and made her dimple wink. “I’m wounded.”
He brushed back a lock of her dark hair. “I’m sorry.”
She pushed her hand over the wound. “Hey, I’m the one who told you to shoot. We had to take him out. Who knows what would have happened if—”
Az kissed her. Not a hot, wild kiss, though he knew that would come later. It had to. No, this kiss was soft. As gentle as he could be. He kissed her with tenderness and with love.
Because he knew exactly what would have happened.
He’d be seeing those images for years to come. Every time he closed his eyes, he’d see her die in his nightmares.
And he’d see his own destruction.
We can change.
Slowly, his lips left hers. She tasted sweet. Fresh. Like life.
Paradise.
Her lashes slowly lifted. “You saved me.”
Az shook his head. That hadn’t happened. Not at all. “Wrong, sweetheart. You were the one who saved me.” She’d stopped him from losing everything.
She was the bravest woman he knew. The one who’d reached right into his dark soul and made him need, made him want.
More than just death.
More than heaven.
Jade was everything.
The fire had died away. Faint ashes drifted up toward the sky.
Carefully, he inspected her shoulder. The brimstone bullet had gone right through he
r. “I want to get you to a doctor.”
Bones began to crunch behind him. He turned, keeping his hold on Jade—Az didn’t think he’d be able to let her go anytime soon—and saw Tanner fighting to shift on the ground. Fur rippled across his skin. His face elongated. His eyes widened. His legs shortened, reshaped, and the hands that grabbed at the earth became claws.
It was a slow shift, and one of the most savage that Az had ever seen. But shifts were meant to be savage, and powerful. After a time, Tanner’s human body was gone. In its place stood a trembling, black panther. The panther parted its jaws to roar, but fell to the ground. The beast’s form melted away until only the man remained.
Tanner hadn’t held the shift long, but it appeared the brief shift had done the trick for him. His wounds were closing.
They’d all survive. All live to face another day.
“I’ll take care of the cat,” Sam said as he stalked toward Tanner. “You hold tight to your lady.”
He already was. Az lifted Jade into his arms. Her head fell against his shoulder and her light scent drifted around him.
He swallowed.
“We need to get out of here”—Sam continued as he bent over Tanner—“before the humans come to find out why fire has been lighting this place up.”
With Brandt’s body gone, only the ash and scorched earth remained to mark his passing. The nearby tombs had been smashed, and rubble littered the area.
When the humans arrived, Az knew they’d invent some explanation for what had happened this night. They always did. Leave it to the humans to be the ones who actually covered their tracks.
This cemetery already had a reputation. When the mortals discovered the wreckage, they’d blame it on the ghosts that were said to slip from these graves. Or perhaps the scorched earth had come from a voodoo ritual gone wrong. Either way, no one would ever think of angels.
They never did.
Yes, the humans would tell stories to explain this night away. And more tourists would come to see the destruction left in his wake.
Sam slung Tanner over his shoulder. Tanner growled and Sam just laughed. “Yeah, you can thank me later,” he said.
Az strode from the rubble. He passed an old, faded statue of an angel. She was looking down at the graves. Sorrow was etched onto her face.
Angels weren’t supposed to feel sorrow.
But they did. They could even regret the loss of a killer’s life.
Can’t . . . change.
Things could have been different for Brandt.
Things will be different for me.
He heard voices then. Excited, high-pitched voices that he knew belonged to humans. The other shifters had long since run away. If they wanted to keep living, they’d keep running.
His gaze met Sam’s, and he nodded. Together, they lunged straight up and over the high stone wall that surrounded the cemetery. When Az’s feet touched down, his knees didn’t buckle. Sam landed beside him a bare second later.
Then they rushed forward together, moving fast into the night. Human eyes couldn’t track them any longer.
And only ash was left in their wake.
From his perch atop his family’s crypt, Mateo watched Azrael and Sam vanish into the darkness.
The Fallen had done it. Stopped the promised prophecy of destruction. Saved the damsel. Let the world live to face another day.
Mateo glanced down at the gun he held in his hand. He opened the chamber, and two bullets fell into his palm. Brimstone bullets. He’d made them at his apartment, made them when Azrael had been too distracted by Jade to notice his movements.
If necessary, he’d planned to use those bullets. He and Sam were . . . friends, of a sort, but if Sam had gotten between him and Azrael, one of those bullets would have been for him.
The other would have been sent right into Azrael’s heart.
Mateo knew too much of hell. He didn’t want it slipping into this realm. He wanted the humans—and even the so-called monsters who dwelled on this earth—to keep living as they were.
Hell didn’t belong here.
Azrael had possessed enough darkness in his heart that he could have bridged the gap between the worlds. A dangerous foe. A dangerous ally.
But Azrael had fought the darkness. For a human. The vision of what could have been—that vision had been enough to strike fear into the Fallen’s heart. Az had changed fate, because he hadn’t been willing to let his human die.
Humans.
Most Other thought humans were weak. Prey. Little more than food . . . or toys to play with when boredom struck.
They were wrong. Humans were the strongest beings to walk this earth.
After all, they were the ones who could break angels, and one human woman—just one—had brought a Fallen to his knees.
He tucked the bullets into his pockets. He would keep them close, because Azrael and Sam weren’t the only Fallen with darkness in them. So many more . . .
Angels were falling more often these days. Giving in to temptation.
Was a war really coming? He didn’t know, but, just in case, he’d be ready.
And he’d make sure hell kept waiting.
Dawn came. The faint light slipped through the blinds and spilled onto Jade’s bed. She stretched slowly but then her body stiffened as she realized—
I’m in my bed.
She really was back in her own bed. She didn’t have to be scared anymore. Didn’t have to keep running. Keep glancing over her shoulder.
It was over.
Jade looked down at her shoulder. Only a thin, red line remained to show where she’d been shot. The bullet had burned like fire—maybe it had been—but her shoulder didn’t even ache now.
Her head turned to the right. Az lay beside her. He was fully clothed while she was naked. She was under the covers. He was on top.
She frowned at that. Hardly acceptable behavior.
Jade pushed up to better see him. His lashes cast deep shadows beneath his eyes. She could actually see his eyes moving behind his closed lids. Moving quickly.
What was her Fallen dreaming about?
A smile lifted her mouth as she leaned toward him. She’d kiss him and find out—
“No!” The snarl burst from him and froze her. “Jade, no!” His hands fisted in the bedcovers and deep lines suddenly bracketed his mouth. “Don’t leave me . . .” A lost whisper.
Oh, no. This wouldn’t do. Jade put her hands on either side of his face. “Az, wake up.”
He tried to pull away from her.
“Az, it’s okay.” She raised her voice even as she leaned closer to him. “I’m right here.” Her lips feathered over his. “Everything’s okay.”
He gasped beneath her mouth, and in the next instant, his hands were curling tight around her. His tongue pushed inside her mouth, and he kissed her with a wild desperation that made her heart race in her chest.
Her legs straddled his hips, and there was no missing the growing arousal pressing against her.
When her head lifted from his, her breath was ragged and her sex was wet. “Bad . . . ah . . . bad dream?” Jade managed to ask in a voice gone husky with need.
His eyes glittered at her. “The worst thing I can imagine.”
Her right hand slid down his chest and pressed over his heart. “Want me to help you forget it?”
“I won’t ever forget it.”
She frowned at him. “Az?”
His gaze searched hers. “Did you mean it?”
Her knees tightened around him. “Um . . . I’m not sure that I’m following you.”
“You said you loved me. Back at Sunrise. I heard you.”
Right. That. She straightened her shoulders. Hard to look dignified when you were sitting astride an angel. “You said you loved me, too.” Maybe it had been the adrenaline talking. They’d been in a life-or-death situation. Maybe . . .
Please love me. Her lips pressed together so that she wouldn’t let the words escape.
“I di
d.” His voice was deep, rumbling.
“And did you mean it?” Wait. Why was she trying to push this back on him? Pull up those big girl panties. “No, just . . .” She exhaled. “Yes. I meant what I said. I love you, Az.” She’d told two men that she loved them in her life.
One had burned and was probably in hell.
As for the other—she wanted Az to stay with her. Forever.
“Can you have a life with me?” She didn’t know how this worked. Hadn’t ever even thought this far ahead. She’d tumbled fast and hard for him, and now he was all that she could see when she imagined her future.
But an angel . . . and her?
“I can’t have a life without you.” His quiet words seemed to sink right into her heart. “You are what makes me whole in this world.” His fingers curled around her hips. “When I’m with you, I want to be more than a monster that others fear.”
“You aren’t a monster.” She’d kick the ass of anyone who said so. “You’re strong. Brave.”
But sadness had slipped over his face. “One day,” he said quietly, “I’ll prove I’m good enough for you.”
No, he didn’t understand. “You don’t have to prove a thing to me.” She loved him just as he was.
The sadness didn’t leave his eyes. She didn’t want him to look that way. It was time for him to be happy. The guy deserved some happiness.
“Do you love me, Az?” Jade asked him.
“I didn’t know what love was until I found you.”
Oh. Okay. That was—great. Jade blinked quickly because her eyes had just gotten all misty on her.
“It ripped into me,” he said as he stared deeply into her misty eyes. “Tore me apart on the inside.”
Um, not sounding so great. Her brows lifted.
“It destroyed who I was.” Az’s face was solemn.
Again . . . what he was saying definitely fell into the not so great category.
“And I’m glad,” he said, voice rough. “Because I don’t want to be him anymore. I want to be someone who can love. Who can be happy. With you.”
Now that was what she wanted to hear.