Broken Angel (Bad Things Book 4)

  “You hunted me…”

  “I wanted to protect you. I wanted that then, and it’s what I want now.” His voice was dark and intense. “Because I know you’re still out of my league. You will always be too good for me.”

  Good didn’t enter the equation, not if she bought the new demon lifestyle that she had—

  “I know you hate me for keeping you in this cell. I know you want to get out and run, but if that happens, Kale will have you. I can’t let him hurt you again. I won’t. I’d rather have you stare at me with fury in your eyes…than to ever see your body laying still and cold again.”

  “Rayce…”

  “It’ll be over soon.” He nodded. “I promise you that. He won’t be a threat.”

  But if Kale was as strong as the others seemed to fear…

  What if Rayce is the one to die?

  “And I’ll find a way to turn you back.” Rayce’s words held the ring of a vow.

  Her hands jerked in his grasp. He didn’t let her go, though. His hold just tightened, and the manacles warmed.

  “I’ll get your wings back.”

  Lila shook her head.

  “I will make a deal. I will do anything to get them back for you.” He slowly backed away from her. His hands fell from her wrists—from the manacles. Rayce righted his jeans and his stare swept over her. “I swear, Lila, I’ll find a way.”

  “There is no way.” That life was gone. She fixed her own clothing as quickly as she could.

  He’d turned and moved toward the door.

  “Don’t leave me again.” The words broke from her.

  Rayce glanced back. “When will you realize, I won’t ever leave you? You’re in my soul, Lila. The only good part that I have left.”

  He slipped from the cell. She heard the beep. The clang.

  A chill skated over her.

  Lila glanced down at her manacles. He’d been holding them so tightly before and…

  Was that a crack? On the manacle that bound her left wrist? She hunched her body, studying it. Sure enough, a spider-web-like crack slid along the surface of that manacle, streaking right across the Sanskrit.

  She pulled up her new power, pushing it hard. Pushing…

  The crack spread.

  And Lila smiled.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Rayce marched into Luke’s study, threw open the door, and nearly yelled, “I want a fucking deal!”

  The grandfather clock chimed.

  Luke turned toward Rayce. Only Luke wasn’t alone. The asshole Leo was there, too. And so was a woman…an African-American woman with long, straight black hair, gleaming eyes—eyes that seemed to shine with power. The woman was familiar to Rayce.

  The witch.

  Not just any witch, either. This was the same witch who had once been held captive with Lila and the muse.

  “Rayce.” Luke rose from behind his cavernous desk. “Just in time. I was wondering what could be keeping you busy so late at night…” His lips had twisted in the faintest smile. His gaze sparked knowingly.

  “Fuck off, Luke.” He wasn’t there to deal with him. Rayce stalked across the room until he was standing directly in front of Leo. “I want a deal.”

  Leo blinked. “Um, sorry, werewolf, but I think you’re talking to the wrong brother.”

  “You handle the ‘good’ paranormals, right? Lila is good. I don’t care what anyone else says. She’s good. And she needs her wings back. She needs her life back.”

  Leo’s face tightened.

  “This is certainly interesting,” the witch murmured.

  Rayce threw a fast, angry glance her way.

  She smiled. “I’m Cordelia, by the way. And I believe you’re the werewolf who took that lost angel to safety so long ago, aren’t you?”

  He gave a grim nod. “Rayce.”

  Cordelia glanced around, seemingly curious. “Where is the angel? I’d like to see how she’s faring.”

  Luke poured himself a whiskey. “She’s in my prison. You’ll see her soon enough.”

  Cordelia’s eyes widened.

  “She isn’t the reason you’re here, witch,” Luke added, voice grim. “I need your magic to work on a zombie I have.”

  Cordelia walked toward Luke. She snatched the whiskey from his hand and drained it in one gulp. “Zombie. Right.” Her eyes squeezed closed. “Dammit, but I knew when you called me in for payback, it was going to be a hard one.”

  Rayce turned back toward Leo. “Deal,” he snapped.

  Leo lifted one dark brow. “What is it that you think I can do?”

  “You can give Lila back her wings.”

  Sadness flashed on Leo’s face. “No. I can’t.” His laughter was rough. “Don’t you think I would have done that if I could? I owe, Lila. I want to help her. That’s why I’m here.” He squared his shoulders. “Kale is closing in, and I’ll stand between him and Lila.”

  I’ll stand between them any day of the week.

  “I thought I could change fate,” Leo added. “But if I can’t, then no one can.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Luke announced. He’d gotten another glass of whiskey. He cast a hard glance toward the witch. “Don’t even think about it.”

  A growl rumbled from Rayce. “I know something can be done. A sacrifice made. That’s the way this shit works, right?” He pointed at Luke. “You had to sacrifice, and you got your Mina. Julian went through fucking hell, but he got Rose. If you sacrifice, you get what you want.” His breath heaved out. “I’ll sacrifice.” His gaze shot back to Leo. “I’ll trade anything for her. Even my wolf. Take it—take the beast and just…give Lila her life back.”

  What could have been pity flashed in Leo’s eyes. Pity, from that bastard? Rayce stiffened.

  But then Leo started speaking, and he really wanted to kill the bastard.

  “I tried to find Lila. I knew…” Leo’s eyelids flickered as his voice roughened with what sounded an awful lot like guilt. “I knew Kale was out there. I didn’t…I didn’t tell Luke that Kale was looking for her, though. I didn’t tell him what they’d become if they got together. I thought I could fix everything. Make it all better. But this time, I was powerless.”

  This wasn’t the shit he wanted to hear. “Deal.”

  But Leo shook his head. “Aren’t you listening to me? I don’t have one to offer you. I can’t help her now.”

  No. “You saved her life. You and Luke—you saved her at the cabin. I saw you. You worked together then. You can do something now.”

  “We are doing something.” Luke’s voice was low. “We’re keeping her alive. And we’re going to destroy Kale.”

  But Lila will stay an ice demon then. “She can’t be caged after he’s gone.”

  Silence.

  Maybe they hadn’t heard him. His claws extended. “She won’t be caged after he’s gone.”

  “If she has control of her powers…” Luke began.

  Rayce whirled on him. “No. Lila will not be caged.” He wouldn’t allow it.

  Luke just stared back at him.

  On this, we will battle.

  “Um…” Cordelia cleared her throat. “How about you show me the zombie and I see just what I can do?”

  Luke lowered his now empty whiskey glass. He started to lead Cordelia from the room.

  “Lila needs some fucking pillows,” Rayce shouted. “A bigger bed. Soft covers. She should get biscuits and bacon for breakfast. She likes those.”

  Luke glanced back at him. “Wolf, you have it bad.”

  Did the guy think Rayce didn’t realize that shit?

  But Luke’s gaze had turned considering. “You’d really trade your wolf for her?”

  For Lila to be free? Safe? So that she could fly again? In a heartbeat. “I’d trade anything.”

  Luke smiled, and the guy suddenly looked far too satisfied. Too late, Rayce remembered how Luke did enjoy his schemes and his tricks. “Remember that promise.”

  Then Luke was gone. The witch had followed him out, a
nd Rayce was left standing there with Leo. His gaze raked the so-called Lord of the Light. “Why didn’t you take care of Kale long before now?” Why let this happen?

  Leo lifted his chin. “I tried, once. I knew he was an angel that had fallen. I thought…” His lips twisted. “I thought I might be able to help him. Luke didn’t seem to care about the guy, and I still considered Kale to be one of mine.”

  “What happened.” Not a question. A demand.

  Leo’s gaze turned distant. “He told me if I ever came near him again, he’d let a plague loose on the land.” His lips hitched in a humorless smile. “Plagues were big back then. And he was talking end-of-the-world apocalyptic shit. I thought he was lying. I mean, no way could he be that strong, but then he showed me.”

  “Showed you?”

  “He turned a human into the walking dead.”

  Fuck. Wayne.

  Leo nodded. “That’s right. I heard all about the new buddy you brought back from your trip to Colorado. And it’s a good thing you did. He has to stay contained. Paranormals are immune to this particular bitch of a curse, but if Wayne bites a human, he’ll spread his plague. It just keeps going and going and going. When I confronted Kale before, he infected one thousand humans to prove his point to me. One thousand.”

  Sonofabitch. “You just let him?”

  “I couldn’t stop him. So I made a deal with him.”

  This was just going to turn from bad to worse. “Does Luke know about this deal?”

  Slowly, Leo shook his head. “As if Luke needs another reason to want me dead.”

  “Tell me. Tell me every single detail of that deal.”

  Leo blanched. “How about you agree to keep those claws away from me first?”

  “No deal.”

  ***

  Luke led the way to his prison. Having his own prison cells on the island had certainly come in handy over the years.

  If these walls could talk…

  Perhaps it was a good thing they couldn’t.

  He opened Wayne’s door and let the witch walk in first. She gave a startled jerk when she saw Wayne. The guy was currently chained to a chair that rested in the middle of the cell. Wayne had been a bit helpful during the earlier interrogation, but there was still more that Luke wanted to learn from him.

  “He took a bullet to the heart, to the head, and then he was beheaded.” Luke ticked off the points. “But good old Wayne just can’t seem to stay dead.”

  A black ooze dripped from Wayne’s mouth.

  “And there are still some questions I just can’t seem to get the guy to answer.” That pissed him off.

  Cordelia frowned. “You can’t compel him?”

  No, because I don’t think he’s a paranormal, not exactly. It was more like the guy was…infected? Diseased?

  “Get him to talk,” Luke ordered her.

  But she didn’t move.

  Wayne jerked against his bonds.

  “Are we even, if I do this?” Cordelia asked.

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Yes, fine, whatever. Work your magic. Make him talk.” When all else failed, Luke always enjoyed turning to witchcraft.

  Witches were the way to go.

  She started chanting. She walked slowly around Wayne. Sparks danced on the floor in her wake.

  “Don’t get close to his mouth,” Luke advised her. “I think he’s a biter.”

  She looked back at him, frowning.

  Luke smiled.

  ***

  “I didn’t have a way to stop him, not then,” Leo said grimly. “So I…made a deal. Kale hated being alone. He said he’d been alone too long. But he didn’t want a human mate. Didn’t want a vampire or a werewolf or anything like that. He thought they weren’t…good enough.”

  Rayce’s jaw locked.

  “So I may have told him—”

  “May?”

  “That if another angel fell, she would be his.”

  Rayce lunged at the bastard.

  Leo raised his hands. “Why do you think I was trying to get her back so desperately? If I could get her back before she lost her wings, then she would be safe. I thought I could find a way to keep her in heaven. The deal didn’t have to be met. But…it didn’t work that way. Luke had other plans. He sent you, and you were the one who found her, not me.”

  “You should have told him what was happening!” Could he take the guy’s head? It would be—

  “Kale knew I wasn’t keeping my part of the bargain. That’s why he changed that poor bastard Wayne. To remind me of what he could do.”

  Great. So they had a freaking plague locked in a prison cell. “Luke needs to know.”

  “I always understood…Kale was playing me. He left the humans alone because he wanted his promised fallen angel.”

  Lila. He won’t have her.

  “But in the end, I realized he wanted her because she’d make him stronger. Strong enough that he could fight me. Fight Luke. And take the world he wanted.” Leo’s face was haggard. “That’s why he fell, you see. It was his choice. He wanted to feel everything, but when he hit earth, the ice consumed him and for so long, nothing but the cold was all he knew.”

  “Lila didn’t have a choice.”

  “If we can kill him, maybe she will…”

  Rayce snarled and rushed for the door. Secrets—they were what destroyed everyone. Secrets Leo kept from Luke. Secrets Luke kept from everyone.

  He was so sick of the damn secrets.

  ***

  “Where is Kale?” Luke asked the zombie.

  Wayne was a smart zombie. A thinking zombie. Okay, perhaps he wasn’t a zombie at all. The guy just—He won’t die.

  “Coming,” was Wayne’s low rasp.

  “Great, wonderful, but exactly how fast and when may I expect his arrival?”

  “Tracking…me…”

  This was new. More info than they’d gotten before. Luke had to admit he was impressed. Cordelia’s magic had actually worked. “Say that again.”

  Wayne glanced down at his own stomach. “Tracking…me.”

  “Tell me you’re kidding.” Could a zombie joke?

  The zombie looked up. Black dripped from his lips.

  “I don’t think zombies kid.” Cordelia stood a safe distance back, tapping her foot. “My money says a tracker is in the guy’s gut, and your Kale? He’s following that signal right to you.”

  Shit. Sometimes, he forgot about how technology could be a bitch. He missed the old days. “Can you heal him?”

  “No way. This is beyond my pay scale.”

  Then they were done there. He whirled and took her elbow, escorting her out and making sure the zombie didn’t get close enough for a bite. Paranormals were usually immune from most infections—if this is an infection—but he didn’t want to take chances. Because of chances…well, that’s how vampires had come to be. “Head back to the dock,” he told her as their steps clipped over the stones. “You’ll find my boat waiting for you. The captain will take you back to the mainland—”

  “You don’t…you don’t really have the angel chained up, do you?” Cordelia asked, cutting through his words. Worry tinged her voice.

  Luke slanted her a glance. He wasn’t sure how much he could trust her. Sure, he’d made deals with Cordelia before. It was thanks to him that her beloved husband Thomas was still walking around. She owed him plenty.

  But…

  “I absolutely do.” He smiled slowly. “Want to see?” Then he sauntered away from Wayne’s holding area and made his way to Lila’s cell. Her footsteps hurried behind him. They didn’t speak again, not until he was in front of Lila’s door. He motioned toward the small slat that would let Cordelia peer inside the cell. “Why not say hello to your old friend?”

  Cordelia crept forward. “Angel?” she called.

  He winced. “Wouldn’t call her that. Bit of a tricky subject right now…”

  She pressed her hands to the door. “Angel?”

  Luke waited.

  Cordelia glanc
ed back at him. “Is this supposed to be funny? Some sort of prank?”

  He stiffened.

  “She’s not in there. No one is…”

  Luke hurriedly opened the door, nearly ripping it off its hinges. There was no way Lila could have gotten out. No way. No one escaped his prison. But he rushed inside, and he saw the broken manacles on the stone floor.

  “I don’t like being caged.”

  He whirled back around. Lila stood just beside the doorway.

  Fuck me—

  She lifted her hands and blasted pure ice at him. And as she did…Cordelia—that tricky witch—started chanting some spell and Luke found himself rooted to the spot. The ice rose around him, freezing him even as he tried to call forth his fire.

  But Lila had iced him. He didn’t even get a chance to roar his fury.

  Through the ice that surrounded him, he could see her. She turned to the witch. Hugged the other woman. “I knew I could count on you.”

  Fucking hell. He’d just been played by Cordelia. And an ex-angel.

  The humiliation.

  “Let’s get out of here…” Cordelia’s voice was sharp. “Before he breaks that ice.”

  Yes, you’d better run…

  The ice began to crack.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Okay, we need to get out of here, now.” Cordelia grabbed Lila’s hand, not seeming to realize that ice had just shot from that same hand. Or, well, maybe she just didn’t care. “No way was I letting some asshole keep an angel in a cage again.”

  They raced down the narrow corridor. But instead of going back to the main house, Cordelia lifted her hand and blasted at a nearby wall. Her magic left a very nice sized hole there. Impressive.

  “Come on!” Cordelia yanked on her again.

  But Lila hesitated. “It’s not safe out there.” Yes, she’d so enjoyed delivering that ice slap to Luke, but Lila knew the danger that Kale presented was all too real. If she left the island, he would find her.

  Rayce’s fear had been too strong for her to ignore. It hadn’t been a trick, hadn’t been some betrayal…he’d literally thought she would be in mortal jeopardy if she left that place.

  “Oh, jeez, but I do not have time for your Stockholm shit right now.” Cordelia was surprisingly strong as she hauled Lila through the hole.