Brandt’s eyes narrowed. “Wanna bet, brother?”
Az—where are you? He must have heard the explosion. He’d be rushing in, any minute, with gun literally blazing. He’d better be. She just had to stall Brandt long enough for her angel to arrive.
“Th-they’re Other proof,” she whispered to Brandt. “You have to find the key to unlock them.” She tried to look weak and defenseless. While he searched for the keys, Az could have more time to burst in and—
Brandt just laughed. “I don’t have time for a f**king key.” Claws burst from his fingertips. “I’ll just cut off his damn hand.”
He lifted up his claws and sliced down.
“No!” Jade screamed as she dove for Tanner. She slammed into him, and they rolled across the floor.
Rolled, until they came up against the still form of Cody.
The demon’s neck was twisted. His eyes closed.
And the sickeningly sweet scent of flowers hung in the air around him.
Jade sucked in a fast breath. “Az!” She screamed his name as loud as she could. “Get that angel ass of yours in here!” Hurry!
Brandt’s fingers sank into her hair, and he wrenched her head up. “The angel’s not coming.”
Her blood chilled. The screams from outside had nearly died away now. She hoped that meant all of the humans had gotten out.
As for Az . . .
“Did I ever tell you,” Brandt asked as he tilted up her head and forced her to meet his gaze. “Just how my father killed my mother?”
She didn’t want to know this story.
“He cut off her wings.”
Like Brandt had cut off Marna’s wings?
“Then he ground them up until they were the finest dust. It felt like silk on my fingers.”
She swallowed the bile in her throat. He’d touched that dust?
His expression tightened as he stared at her. “I learned then that wings are full of magic. Full of power.”
She did not like where this was going.
“When I saw the pretty little angel coming for you in the swamp,” he said, “I knew I had to get her wings. I just couldn’t let that power go to waste.”
It felt like he was about to rip her hair right out of her head. “Let me go,” she managed.
But he didn’t. Not even when Tanner lunged up at him. Brandt just drove his fist into Tanner’s jaw and the shifter fell back.
“That fine powder . . . some call it Angel Dust. It can kill demons, and it can trap angels.”
No.
His lips kicked up in a grin, and she knew that Brandt was enjoying her fear.
“If you surround them with the dust, angels can’t move. They’re trapped in a prison, one made of their own power.” His grin slipped away and shadows chased into his eyes. “My father trapped my mother in the dust. Then he used his claws to cut out her heart.” He leaned toward her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Just like I’ll cut out your Fallen’s heart.”
Fear was choking her. Not Az.
“Unless you come with me now.” He eased away from her. “Come with me, and I won’t take his heart tonight.”
He could be bluffing. Totally bullshitting about the Angel Dust.
But his eyes told her he wasn’t. And if Az had been free, he would have been in that room by now. He would have come to help her.
“D-don’t . . .” She made sure her voice held a weak, trembly edge. Brandt always felt stronger when she was weak. She wanted the guy to think he was in control. Right until the moment she ripped that control away from him. “Don’t hurt Az.”
She caught the faint hardening of his eyes and knew she’d made a mistake. He always hurt those she cared about.
Jade reached over Tanner’s body and fumbled in his pockets. He groaned beneath her, and his eyes began to open. “Jade?”
Her fingers curled around the key.
“Stay down,” she whispered, but she knew Brandt would hear. With his shifter ears, there’d be no way for him to miss her order.
She pulled back. Her hands were shaking as she unlocked the cuff on her wrist. She dropped the key onto the floor.
Brandt caught her arm and yanked her away from Tanner. His gaze darted between them.
“Don’t,” Jade said, voice hardening despite her efforts to play weak.
But Brandt just smiled. “Death should have come for him long before.” His claws sliced down as Jade yelled and grabbed at his arms.
Tanner lunged up in the same instant. His hands caught Brandt’s wrists, and he held those razor-sharp claws away from his face.