Sometimes, you could.
Brandt stilled.
Az didn’t move. What if this were just another vision? What if Mateo was jerking him around?
Be real. Because he didn’t want to live in a world without her. That truly would be hell.
Jade wrapped her left arm around him. “It’s over.” Her breath blew lightly on his neck. Her scent—sweet strawberries—filled his nose. She was warm against him. Soft, silken, alive.
He pulled her close. Held her as tight as he could. He’d been given something special tonight. A second chance he would have gladly traded his soul for.
Over her shoulder, he saw Sam walk out from behind a crypt. His brother stared down at Brandt’s unmoving body, then he waved his hand. Flames engulfed Brandt, a white-hot fire that would destroy all traces of the shifter.
Brandt wouldn’t be able to withstand the fire now—he was already gone. Only the empty shell of his body remained. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Not ever again.
Az pressed a kiss to Jade’s temple.
“I told him you could handle things,” Sam said with a nod. “I knew Mateo was just being a paranoid ass**le.” His brother sauntered past the fire.
His brother.
“Ouch,” Jade said as she pulled back a bit. His fingers had accidentally brushed her wounded shoulder. “You need to ease up a bit there, Fallen.” She offered him a half-smile that made his heart ache. The smile lit her eyes and made her dimple wink. “I’m wounded.”
He brushed back a lock of her dark hair. “I’m sorry.”
She pushed her hand over the wound. “Hey, I’m the one who told you to shoot. We had to take him out. Who knows what would have happened if—”
Az kissed her. Not a hot, wild kiss, though he knew that would come later. It had to. No, this kiss was soft. As gentle as he could be. He kissed her with tenderness and with love.
Because he knew exactly what would have happened.
He’d be seeing those images for years to come. Every time he closed his eyes, he’d see her die in his nightmares.
And he’d see his own destruction.
We can change.
Slowly, his lips left hers. She tasted sweet. Fresh. Like life.
Paradise.
Her lashes slowly lifted. “You saved me.”
Az shook his head. That hadn’t happened. Not at all. “Wrong, sweetheart. You were the one who saved me.” She’d stopped him from losing everything.
She was the bravest woman he knew. The one who’d reached right into his dark soul and made him need, made him want.
More than just death.
More than heaven.
Jade was everything.
The fire had died away. Faint ashes drifted up toward the sky.
Carefully, he inspected her shoulder. The brimstone bullet had gone right through her. “I want to get you to a doctor.”
Bones began to crunch behind him. He turned, keeping his hold on Jade—Az didn’t think he’d be able to let her go anytime soon—and saw Tanner fighting to shift on the ground. Fur rippled across his skin. His face elongated. His eyes widened. His legs shortened, reshaped, and the hands that grabbed at the earth became claws.
It was a slow shift, and one of the most savage that Az had ever seen. But shifts were meant to be savage, and powerful. After a time, Tanner’s human body was gone. In its place stood a trembling, black panther. The panther parted its jaws to roar, but fell to the ground. The beast’s form melted away until only the man remained.
Tanner hadn’t held the shift long, but it appeared the brief shift had done the trick for him. His wounds were closing.
They’d all survive. All live to face another day.
“I’ll take care of the cat,” Sam said as he stalked toward Tanner. “You hold tight to your lady.”
He already was. Az lifted Jade into his arms. Her head fell against his shoulder and her light scent drifted around him.
He swallowed.
“We need to get out of here”—Sam continued as he bent over Tanner—“before the humans come to find out why fire has been lighting this place up.”
With Brandt’s body gone, only the ash and scorched earth remained to mark his passing. The nearby tombs had been smashed, and rubble littered the area.
When the humans arrived, Az knew they’d invent some explanation for what had happened this night. They always did. Leave it to the humans to be the ones who actually covered their tracks.
This cemetery already had a reputation. When the mortals discovered the wreckage, they’d blame it on the ghosts that were said to slip from these graves. Or perhaps the scorched earth had come from a voodoo ritual gone wrong. Either way, no one would ever think of angels.