Az didn’t move. “You’re not getting to her.”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed. Interesting. The angel had never shown any emotion before. Or . . . perhaps Az just hadn’t noticed the signs when he’d been in heaven. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to see them.
Because that would have meant that we were all weak.
“Your human should have left this world already,” Bastion said flatly. “Her name is in the book.”
The damn book. It had once belonged only to Azrael. Immense, magical, it contained the names of all the dying. Once a name appeared in the precious book, the soul would be collected within forty days.
There’d only been one soul to ever escape the collection. Only one. A vampiress.
But if one could escape, then the rules could be broken. “Jade is not going with you.”
Bastion shook his head. “You don’t want to fight with me.”
“Yes, I do.” And he tossed a ball of fire right at Bastion’s chest. Unprepared, the angel took the blast and flew back through the air.
Fire couldn’t kill an angel. The angels could control that element too well, but it could take them by surprise.
Bastion rose to his feet in an instant. “You would war with me?”
That wasn’t the option he’d prefer, but, yes. “It’s one soul.” There were thousands more to take. Millions. “You can stand to lose her, just this once.”
“You know that’s not how it works.” The flames lingering on Bastion’s skin vanished with a wave of his hand. “And you can’t stop me. You’re not an angel any longer. You’re not the one in charge upstairs. You can’t—”
“I’m Fallen.” Az jumped off the porch and reached in his back pocket for the bullet that he’d dug out of his own skin. He’d taken Jade’s gun earlier and tucked it into the back of his jeans. As he strode toward Bastion, Az loaded that single bullet into the weapon. “Being Fallen means I don’t have to play by the good rules any longer.”
Bastion smirked at the weapon. Smirked? The angel was playing with all kinds of emotions. Did he realize how dangerous that was? Did he even care?
“Bullets won’t hurt me. Have you lived with the humans too long? No weapon of man can kill an angel.” Bastion shook his head. “And your death touch won’t work on your own kind.”
Footsteps thudded behind him. “Az!” Tanner’s shout. “We need that blood, now! She’s—she’s—”
Bastion inhaled a deep breath. “Her heart is stopping. The doctor can’t help her.”
“Now!” Tanner yelled.
Tanner wouldn’t see the angel. Only those with angel’s blood in them could ever see the angels. Those with the blood . . . or those near death. When it came time for Death to take you, the dying could always see the angels at their sides.
“I can help her.” Az lifted the gun. His finger curled around the trigger. “Get out of here, Bastion. You’re not taking her tonight.”
“Uh . . . Az?” Tanner’s confused voice. Bastion didn’t move. “And you’re not in charge anymore.”
“No, but I’m the man holding the bullet made of brimstone—and I’m the one who’ll shoot you with it if you don’t fly your ass out of here.”
Bastion blinked. “B-brimstone?”
Az knew fear when he heard it.
“It’s not a weapon of man. More a weapon of the devil.” The gun didn’t waver. “I can personally attest, these bullets burn. And when they’re fired into an angel’s heart, I’m laying odds that they will kill.” He lifted a brow. “Shall we find out?”
Bastion backed up a step. “I want Marna.”
“Then go and find her. Just stay away from Jade. She’s not dying for me.”
Bastion’s wings unfurled. He stared hard at Az, then glanced up at the sky. One moment passed, two . . .
“Az . . .” Tanner grabbed his shoulder. “Stop talking to your damn self and—”
“She’s not the innocent you think.” Bastion took another step back. Retreating. “You think you’re saving a weak human, but she’s not what you believe her to be.”
“She’s exactly what I believe her to be.”
“A killer?”
Az didn’t let his surprise show.
“Because she has killed, and not just once.” Bastion raised his arms before him. “Would you really battle with your own kind in order to protect the soul of a killer?”
She took the blow meant for me. “You don’t want to test me right now, Bastion.”
But the angel wasn’t backing down. “You’ve already failed every test. That’s why your wings burned to ash.”
Bastard. “And it’s why you’re about to have a heart full of brimstone.”
“I hope to God you’re really talking to someone,” Tanner snapped. “Because I just can’t deal with another crazy ass**le right now.”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed. “She dies now!”
No, she didn’t.
Az shot him. Not the heart. He didn’t want to kill Bastion. But the bullet thudded deep into the angel’s stomach.
Bastion doubled over and howled in agony.
“That’s pain,” Az told him. “It’s what it feels like when angels hurt.”
Bastion glanced up at him, eyes stunned.
“Get out of here,” Az told him. “And stay away from Jade.”
The angel’s fingers were stained with blood. “You . . . you’ll regret this . . .”
Az stared back at him. “You’ll need to dig the bullet out. The longer it stays in you, the more it will hurt and burn.”
Bastion’s wings began to flap as the angel rose. “I’ll . . . be back for her.”
But not right away. The angel would need to heal. That would buy them some time.
“You . . . you’ve just asked for a war.”
He’d asked for a life.
A muscle flexed along Bastion’s jaw. “The punishment angels will come for you.”
Like he was supposed to be afraid of them? Not likely. “Are you forgetting?” He asked. “I’ve already fought one punishment angel. And Rogziel was the one who wound up in hell, not me.” Enough of this. Jade needed him. “Want to join the bastard?”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed as he fought the pain. “Death always finds a way,” Bastion snapped. “You know that.” Air rushed against Az’s skin as Bastion took to the sky. Despite his injury, the Death Angel soared quickly, hurtling upward and vanishing almost instantly.