He stalked forward. Yanked open the bedroom door. And found Mateo standing in his hallway.
A rather blistered, ash-covered Mateo.
Sam lifted a brow. “Been visiting hell again, have you?” Shaking his head, he asked, “Why don’t you just give up that place and—”
“We have a problem.” Mateo’s voice was flat and cold. His gaze drifted over Sam’s shoulder, probably to find Seline.
The guy had always watched her a bit too much.
Sam shifted his body to block the view. “You’re damn right we do. Some bastard caller just busted into my house.” Mateo had been the one to put the charms and protections in place. It figured that he’d be the only one who could slip right past them.
Mateo’s jaw hardened. “You’ll have to stop him. No one else will be strong enough.”
He knew Seline could hear every word they said. “Stop who?”
“Azrael.”
Fuck. “What’s happened?” He didn’t let any emotion show on his face. Thanks to his time in heaven, he knew just how to camouflage his feelings.
“It hasn’t happened yet. It will happen.” Mateo exhaled and the scent of smoke deepened around him. “I’ve seen what’s coming. I know what he’ll do.”
“Yeah? Well then cut through the BS and tell me. Because I never fucking liked riddles.” And he didn’t like the hard gnawing in his gut, either. Even since his fall, he’d planned to get back at his uptight, rule-following ass of a brother. Then Az had started hunting him. Az the asshole.
Sam had thought he’d have to kill Az during those days.
But since his own fall, his brother had changed. Az had sacrificed. Nearly given his life in order to protect Seline.
So he’d let the guy keep living.
Had that been a mistake?
“His human will die tomorrow, and when she does . . .” Another long sigh from Mateo, only this one carried the scent of death. “He’ll break.”
Sam found he couldn’t speak.
“When Az breaks, he’ll go after anyone in his path. He’ll kill everyone, do anything.”
No, no, this was bullshit.
“She dies tomorrow,” Mateo said again, “and that fate won’t change. It can’t. So you and I damn well have to figure out a way to stop him.”
Az was fond of his human. No, more than fond. Sam had seen the way his brother looked at the woman.
The way I look at Seline.
And he remembered what he’d felt like when he lost his Seline. Remembered how desperate he’d been.
Desperate enough to take on hell and heaven.
“If you don’t stop him,” Mateo’s gaze searched his, “if you don’t kill him, we’ll all suffer.”
Sam still didn’t speak.
“Will you really just stand back, and let him destroy the world? All for one lost human life?”
Not just any human though. Not just any life.
A Fallen’s mate. Death couldn’t take her away, not without one hell of a fight.
“Many have said that Az is the embodiment of all that is evil.”
He’d heard the tales. “They say that about me, too.” Some tales were just stories to frighten children.
“With Az,” Mateo continued, “the chains of heaven held him in check.”
Sam knew that was true. Az had always clung so tightly to his control, because he knew well the beast that waited inside.
“There are no chains now.” Mateo’s gaze was stark. “There is nothing to stop him. The veneer of good will crack, and the true being that is Azrael will emerge.”
Sam glanced back over his shoulder. Seline was safe in the room, protected.
Seline—his life. “My brother is still chained.” Not with chains forged in heaven, but with a delicate chain that had been created on earth.
As long as his female lived, Az was bound to Jade.
But when she died . . .
Azrael’s dark side would definitely be coming out.
And it might just be one coming out party that the world couldn’t survive.
The world didn’t stop spinning for Jade. When Az slowed down his super speed, she found herself inside what looked like a bedroom. Gleaming wood surrounding her and—
And Az kissed her and the spinning continued. His tongue pushed into her mouth and his hand skated down her body.
The kiss was hard, almost brutal in its intensity, and she knew it was fueled by rage.
Jade didn’t want his rage. She’d had enough rage to last a lifetime. She turned her head away. “Az. Stop.”
He instantly stilled.
There was so much to say, and Jade was very much afraid there wasn’t enough time to truly say anything. Nothing that mattered, anyway.
Az drew in a deep, shuddering breath and stepped away from her. “I should . . . see about bandaging your arm.”
The arm didn’t hurt anymore. Actually, the deep wound was closing. Probably thanks to that angel blood still pumping through her body.
“Don’t worry about it,” she whispered as she lifted a hand to her head. That super speedy bit just didn’t work so well for her. “Az, I’m sorry.”
He blinked. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Yes, she did. Jade turned away from him. “Where are we?” She just threw out the question to buy herself more time. If Az had brought her there, then she knew it was a safe place. She trusted him.
He shouldn’t trust her.
“It’s one of Sam’s safe houses in New Orleans.”
Ah, Sammael again. The Fallen who liked to be prepared.
“While I was . . . following him a while back, I found this place.”
Glancing over her shoulder, Jade lifted a brow. “Following him?” She asked carefully.
“I intended to kill him.”
“Not very angel-like of you,” she whispered.
His head cocked and his gaze sharpened on her. “But then, I’m not an angel, am I?”
Was she supposed to be afraid of him? “I should never have brought you into this mess.” By helping her, he’d lost the one thing he wanted most.
That big trip back upstairs.
“I chose to help you.” The wooden floor creaked beneath his feet.
“And I knew the minute I saw you,” she stared down at her hands, realizing that she’d clenched them into fists, “that I would use you.”
The words fell into the room and were followed by thick silence.
Her heart raced too fast, and she forced herself to lift her chin and face him. “That’s why I’m sorry, Azrael. You came to my aid, and I—selfishly—knew just how powerful you were. I tried to play on your emotions. I wanted you to be willing to fight for me. To do anything for me . . . because I realized you were the muscle I needed to destroy Brandt.” She swallowed. He wasn’t talking, and she was just digging one very big hole for herself. “I didn’t care what you wanted or what kind of life you might have. I just wanted to use you to kill the nightmare stalking me.”
He deserved this truth. They had the bullets now. She could take them and face Brandt on her own. Az could walk away.
Maybe even get his heaven back.
“You played on my emotions?” He repeated, voice quiet. “How?”
Now this was her shame. “By seducing you.”
She waited for his rage. Instead, he just laughed.
“Uh, Az?” Did he laugh when he was really pissed?
Slowly, his laughter faded. “I was using you.”
That hurt, but the truth often did.
He stalked toward her. “A human. One being hunted. Pursued.” His head cocked to the right as he studied her. “Helping you was going to be my first step toward redemption.”
“Instead I just led you deeper into hell.” What had he called her? His temptation.
She wanted to be more, but knew now that would never be. “You need to walk away from me,” she told him. “You’ve already crossed too many lines.” Fighting other angels, cheating
death. “If you want that redemption, then leave me.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I want you to have the chance to get the things you need. I want you to be able to go back home.” Jade licked her lips. “I won’t let you trade your dreams for my life.” That didn’t seem like a fair exchange to her.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “There is no trade. Heaven is gone. I won’t be going back.”
Her heart ached. “If you had the chance—”
“I’m not leaving you.” His mouth took hers. Rough, hard, but without the rage of moments before. Just wild heat and hunger and a passion that burned her from the inside out.
Her hands came up and pressed against his chest. She leaned into his kiss, helpless to back away this time. Desire quickened within her.
One more time.
Just once more, before the end game. Once more.
His lips lifted from hers. “I was . . . afraid.” The confession was gruff, and the last thing she expected.
Jade could only stare up at him.
“Bastion took you when I should have been protecting you. If you’d died . . .” His gaze seemed to darken. “I’m not sure what I would have done.”
The cold whisper of fear chased over her skin again. She kept being told that Az was dangerous. That she shouldn’t be with him.
She’d had one monster for a lover. Seen just how wicked he could be. Evil hid so easily behind a handsome face.
When she looked at Az, she saw another handsome face.
Was it one that hid evil?
No. The certainty was soul deep. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.”
He wasn’t leaving her. She wouldn’t leave him. Maybe . . . maybe they could make this work. Hope was small, fragile, but stubborn inside her, growing even when she knew better.
It had been years since she hoped.
But maybe . . .
Her fingers slid down his chest. Found the snap of his jeans. He’d given to her. This time, she’d be the one to give to him.
Pleasure.
The snap gave way beneath her fingers. She carefully slid down his zipper. Her eyes were on Az’s as she knelt before him.
“Jade?”
She shook her head and wanted to offer him a smile, but the moment was too tense.
He wore no underwear and his cock sprang toward her, thick and full. Her fingers curved over him as her knees hit the floor. She stroked him, pumping him gently from base to tip and Az flexed against her, the sensual move almost helpless.
She didn’t want him helpless. Never that. Never him.
Her head bent forward, and she licked the tip of his cock. The flesh was firm, salty because he was so ready for her, and the head of his erection bobbed eagerly toward her mouth.
Her breath blew lightly over his flesh.
“Jade.” No question this time. A heated demand.
Her mouth opened over him and she took his flesh inside. She licked him and let his cock slide over her tongue. Her cheeks hollowed as she drew him in deeper, and he thrust into her mouth.
When Jade swallowed, he growled his pleasure.
Her hand curled around the base of his erection so that she could keep the control as she tasted his flesh. Back and forth, his cock slid over her tongue. She sucked him. Licked him. Learned the feel of his cock and grew wet as she savored him.
Her nipples were hard now, aching. Her hips moved restlessly because the need was tightening within her.
His fingers were in her hair, sinking deep and holding her as she held him. But she couldn’t seem to get enough of him. His flavor was hot and wild and it was driving her crazy.
She wanted more. She wanted him to come and—
Az pulled away.
Breath panting, she stared up at him. His eyes were blazing with need. His cheeks stained with a surge of hot color.
“In . . . you.” That was all he said. In the next second, he had her pinned on the floor. A rug protected her back as he yanked off her jeans and tore away her panties. Then his cock was there, pushing up between her legs. She was slick and ready and in one hard thrust, he’d embedded his length balls-deep within her.
It wasn’t enough.
Her heels pressed against his back as she arched up against him. Each downward thrust sent his body sliding against her clit and the sensation had her moaning.
He pushed up, separating their bodies just enough so that he could palm her breast. His fingers plucked the nipple, then his mouth found her.
His tongue licked her even as his hips pounded down against her sex.
More, more, more.
The whisper wasn’t just in her mind. She was pleading, demanding.
He rolled, repositioning their bodies, and Jade found herself staring down at him. Her hands flattened on his chest as she rose up, then brought her hips back down almost frantically. She just couldn’t get enough. The pleasure was close, just out of reach, and she stared into his eyes and his cock filled her, every single inch of her and—
She came on a blast of pleasure that shook her whole body. Az kept thrusting into her, and the deep push of his cock into her just made the pleasure intensify. She wanted to cry out but couldn’t catch her breath. Her nails sank into his chest as she rode out the wrenching climax.
His eyes flashed to pure black when his release hit him. His body tightened, turning to steel beneath her touch, and he shoved even deeper into her. When he climaxed, she felt the hot surge in her core, and the pleasure whipped right through her.
Her heartbeat raced too fast. Jade gasped as she stared down at him. There’d never be another lover for her like Az. Never be someone that could make her scream, make her come so hard . . .
Because she’d never love another the way she loved him.
The truth terrified her, but she’d suspected it for some time now.
She’d given her heart to her Fallen. Her head lowered toward his, and she pressed a light kiss to his mouth. Not wild and desperate any longer. Softer, heavy with emotion.
He was so strong beneath her. So powerful.
Her head slowly lifted.
And Jade realized that the darkness hadn’t faded from his gaze.
“I would have hunted him down.” Az’s words were gravel rough.
She held his gaze.
“I’d already gotten a tracking spell from Mateo. I was coming after you.” His hands were around her hips, loose, but an unbreakable hold. “Brandt never would have gotten to you. I would have found you, and I would have made sure you were safe.”
He was still trying to protect her.
“You can’t . . .” He was already firming again in her, and she wanted to lift up her hips and feel the delicious slide of his flesh within her. Wanted to, but . . . “You can’t always save the world.”
“I’m not interested in the world.” He thrust up into her and her sensitive flesh responded with a ripple of pleasure. “Only you.”
Only you.
The words seemed to bind them, but then, she’d been bound to him from the very first moment she’d seen him.
She just hadn’t realized how deeply she’d fallen.
Past heaven. Past hell. Into the arms of an angel who’d burned.
Brandt stared down at the blood drops that stained the earth. Jade’s blood.
The panther began clawing up from the inside, maddened with fury.
He’d thought the angel had been protecting Jade. Her lover, her protector.
But the distinctive scent of an angel still drifted in the air around him even as Jade’s blood littered the ground.
Hurt.
Jade must have been trying to come back to him. She’d sought him out. She must have remembered that he’d used this area for a base once before.
Jade never forgot anything. For a human, her intellect was fascinating.
One of the many reasons she was his.
She’d sought him out, been coming to him, but the angel had
found her first.
He’d stopped her. Hurt her. Taken her away.
Claws burst from Brandt’s fingertips.
He would forgive Jade. She’d be punished, but forgiven because she’d tried to do the right thing. She’d tried to come back to her mate’s side.
But the angel . . . there’d be no forgiveness for him. Brandt would slice the skin from his body, one slow strip at a time.
The angel thought he knew of hell? Not yet, he didn’t.
But soon . . . soon.
And Brandt began to follow the drops of Jade’s blood. It was a perfect trail that would lead him back to his mate.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Midnight. That, of course, meant that Sunrise was packed. The line to get inside the club stretched for several blocks.
Az wasn’t exactly the standing-in-line type.
Jade’s gaze was on the pack of human and Other waiting for eager entrance. “Uh, do the humans even realize what’s going on in there?”
Because most of the folks waiting to get in were human. Scantily clad women. Swaggering men.
If they weren’t careful, they’d wind up being prey for the Other tonight. But perhaps that was what some wanted.
“They think they’re getting excitement. They don’t realize the guy who’ll be waiting at the bar actually is a vampire looking for a bite.” Humans could find an excuse to explain away just about everything. And for those who saw beneath the masks and into the true hearts of the monsters . . . there were ways to make them forget what they’d seen.
All it took was a little magic.
There was plenty of magic and Other things for sale in Sunrise.
“Come on.” He caught her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. The bouncer at the door was a demon, one of the demons that Sam usually kept very close. Az knew this particular demon was even considered to be a friend of his brother’s.
When Cole saw him coming, he arched a dark brow and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a big, no-neck, bulging muscled mass of a demon took Cole’s place at the door.
“I was told you’d be coming by.” Cole unhooked the silken rope that blocked the line from rushing up those infamous steps that led to Sunrise. “Right this way.”
Az let Jade go in before him. He saw the assessing gaze that Cole slid over her. The demon’s eyes lingered a bit too long on her ass.