As Az expected, Keenan immediately stepped in front of the vampire as if to shield her.
This time, though, Azrael could see—and understand—the emotion glittering in Keenan’s eyes. “You truly do love her.”
Emotions. He’d never tasted them until he burned. Sam . . . he knew his brother had never been like the other angels. Angels weren’t supposed to feel. They were just supposed to serve. But he’d seen the flash of rage too many times in Sam’s eyes. He’d known the fall was coming, long before Sam slaughtered those men.
My fault. I should have stopped him.
The Fall had initially washed away Az’s memories, but every day, he recalled more of his past. When he thought of Sam, the guilt gnawed in his chest.
“You’ll never hurt her,” Keenan yelled at him.
Az’s blood stained the ground. “I don’t want to hurt her.”
True enough. He didn’t, not anymore. But Keenan wouldn’t be forgetting just what Az had tried to do to the vampire before. There would be no forgetting—or forgiving—from Keenan.
Keenan blinked, then his eyes narrowed as he studied Az.
Once, he and Keenan had been . . . not friends, but—almost. As close as angels could get to friendship. Then Azrael had tried to kill Keenan’s vampire—the little female currently glaring so fiercely at him as she peered over her lover’s shoulder.
A mistake. He just hadn’t understood how Keenan felt, not then.
Even now, he didn’t fully comprehend, but he could still recognize love when he saw it staring back at him.
“I thought returning to heaven was best for you.” Az admitted his arrogance. He hadn’t seen that arrogance, not while he’d been in heaven, but it had been there, just beneath the surface. When had the emotions begun to slip past his guard? Like a poison, they’d worked under his skin, but, again, he hadn’t realized, not until the fire burned his flesh. “I thought I knew how to save you.”
“You thought wrong.”
The vampire wasn’t speaking. He could see the lines of strain on her face. Still new to the undead world, she wouldn’t have adapted so well to her daytime weakness.
Her weakness would be Keenan’s.
“So I did.” Azrael turned away. His battle was not with Keenan or the vampire.
Sammael. A true brother of his blood. When he’d fallen and woken in that cemetery, a witch had found him. She’d tended his wounds, fed him, and told him that hell would come calling.
One brother would die.
He hadn’t even known who he was then. She had. “Hello, Death. I saw you fall.” Her hands had clasped a darkened mirror.
He hadn’t trusted the witch, with good reason. She’d been the one to turn him over to Rogziel.
I’ll find you again.
He’d be sure that hell called on her one day soon, too.
Az stepped forward and found his path blocked by Keenan. “You’re not going anyplace.”
He didn’t want to hurt Keenan. “I’ve got a millennium on you. You don’t want to get in my way.” Blood loss or not, he could still take Keenan out. He didn’t have to play by angel rules any longer. He could fight as dirty as he wanted. He was leaving. Even if he had to go through Keenan in order to get away. “Rogziel is hunting Fallen.” He probably had Sammael right then. “I’m stopping him.” I’m the only one who can kill Sammael. Rogziel didn’t get to end his brother’s life.
“You’re so full of shit.”
Az blinked at the vulgarity. Keenan had truly fallen far.
“You think I believe a word you’re saying? You just want to find Sammael and attack him.”
It was a bit more complicated than that . . . and he wasn’t explaining his plans to the Fallen and his vamp. “Sorry, Keenan, but I have to go.” And he blasted out a path with his power. Not at Keenan. A blaze of fire that charged toward the vampire.
Nicole screamed, and the sound cut into Azrael. Keenan lunged to her aid, jumping in front of her to protect her body from the flames.
Clearing Azrael’s path. He let the fire circle them, but didn’t let it touch Nicole’s skin. After all, he didn’t want to hurt the vampire. Not anymore.
Not that he expected Keenan to believe that.
Keenan pushed his power at the flames, forcing them out, and Azrael smiled as he pumped up his power and disappeared.
Sam glared down at Tomas, rage boiling in his blood like acid. A punishment angel had been close enough to attack Seline. She’d been alone, unprotected, and all because of this prick.
“Please,” Tomas gritted, and Sam knew the angel had never begged before. Not even when the vamps had pinned him to the ground and ripped open his jugular. “Sierra’s human. She doesn’t—she doesn’t even understand what’s happening.”
“And you want me to die for her?” Who the hell did Tomas think he was talking to?
Tomas stared back at him. “I’m planning to kill for her. I was hoping you’d be willing to kill, too.”
Sam hesitated as he met Tomas’s gaze. Despite those words, Sam didn’t trust him.
“Um . . . who’s Sierra?” Seline’s voice was soft behind him. Her fingers seemed to burn right through Sam’s shirt.
“His charge.” Sam didn’t drop the weapon. “Before he fell, Tomas here was a guardian angel, and he was supposed to guard her.”
“She’s psychic,” Tomas whispered. “Her destiny . . . Sierra was going to see things. Change the world. I was supposed to protect her.”
Yes, yes, he knew this story. “But you wanted her too badly, huh?” Guardians were always closer to falling than most angels. All that time being around humans and seeing the emotions.
Tempting.
“You understand want, don’t you?” Tomas demanded as he slit his eyes back at Seline. “You let the enemy get f**king close.”
“No, he did not just say that to me,” Seline snapped.
Sam smiled. “You must want to die.” Fair enough, he could accommodate the guy.
Sam sliced with the claw. Not deep or hard enough to kill, not yet, but just enough to cut open the skin.
“Save her. ” Tomas wasn’t fighting. Interesting. Tomas was powerful, in his way. “Kill me, fine. I probably got that coming to me. But save her.”
“Rogziel really has her?” Seline demanded, an edge breaking the words.
Tomas nodded, and the move made the slice on his throat widen. “Don’t even know . . . ah . . . jeez, ease up! How he got her, but he’s keeping her at that house until I get back.”