Seline didn’t speak, but Sam heard the soft whisper of her steps as she crept down the staircase.
Az’s gaze drifted to her. “I came for you.”
The guy wanted to die. Slowly. Painfully.
Then Az lifted his hand and said to Seline, “I can offer you safety.”
Sam attacked. In an instant, he was across the room. His fist plowed into Az’s perfect face. “And I can offer you an ass-kicking.”
Az stumbled back, but he didn’t fall. His chin lifted. “You can’t kill me. I remember that part. The touch doesn’t work on angels, even Fallen.”
“That’s right . . .” Sam growled, fists ready to attack. “That’s why you had to work so hard to try and kill me a few months back.”
Az’s brows lowered.
“Oh, what? Don’t remember that part?” Another drive of his fist. Damn but it felt good when Az backed up. Weakness. “You teamed up with a coyote shifter so that he could kill me and Keenan. Guess being Fallen was too much of a sin for us.”
Az shook his head. Blood dripped from his lip. “Rogziel . . . he said . . . Fallen should burn.”
Of course. Fucking Rogziel. “And you were ready and willing to serve your own brother up to him?”
Sam didn’t see the blow coming, not until it was too late. And Az didn’t pull his punch. Sam tasted blood in his mouth, and he was pretty sure that his brother had broken his nose.
Good thing he was a fast healer.
“You’ve killed!” Az yelled, his face darkening with fury. Ah, yes, fury. Now that he’d fallen, Az would be feeling. If he wasn’t careful, those feelings could break him apart.
Sam would make sure his brother wasn’t careful. Break.
“You had your orders . . . you were only supposed to take the souls slated for Death.” Once again, Az’s gaze darted to Seline. “Do you even know how many he slaughtered?” The question was fired at her.
Sam didn’t look at Seline. “They deserved to die.”
“Who were you to judge? It was war, they were fighting. We don’t get the luxury of picking sides. We follow—”
He grabbed Az and lifted him high into the air. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see them raping the women and killing the children. You didn’t see them just wipe the blood away, as if that took the stain off their hands. Over and f**king over again . . . I had to watch.”
Az didn’t fight. “You think you’re the only one who ever saw innocents suffer? We do not punish—”
“No, twisted pricks like Rogziel are supposed to do that, right?” Screw that. “Those men deserved to die.”
“You didn’t make the deaths easy.” More censure. What else was new?
“Why should I? They made their victims suffer, so I made them suffer.” Fair enough.
Seline’s footsteps tapped across the floor.
“And after you fell, you didn’t learn to control yourself, did you?” Az was pushing, obviously determined that Seline would learn all of Sam’s sins.
His brother didn’t understand. There were too many sins for her to ever learn them all. “No, I didn’t stop. I hunted those who needed punishment, and I made sure they got it.”
Not always with death. Sometimes he’d let his prey live, but with the scars to remember him by.
“You see . . .” Az shoved against him and landed agilely on his feet. “He’s really no different from Rogziel. Power mad. Determined to deliver his brand of justice.” His gaze raked Seline. She stood just a foot away now, her body tense. “He’s using you. He saw what you can do with the hound, and he wants to—”
The building trembled around them. “Az . . .” He couldn’t use his magic to kill his brother. The powers-that-be had been real specific about the rules of engagement between angels. The death touch wouldn’t work—that only worked on humans and most Other. And no mortal weapon could kill an angel. Those weapons just weren’t strong enough.
He could kick Az’s ass easily, but Az would heal from just about anything.
Just about.
“He can’t kill me,” Az said, and Sam saw the shadow of his brother’s lost wings shift behind him. “He can’t kill Rogziel. But you . . .” He smiled at her, and the sight enraged Sam. “You can kill any angel or Fallen you want. All you have to do is summon your hound.”
The puzzle pieces clicked into place for Sam. “You knew her mother, didn’t you?” Sonofabitch. “You made the connection in New Orleans.” That was why Az had been desperate to get Seline. He’d found a weapon to use.