“Oh, no,” Jade said as she pointed at him with a bloody claw. “Just stop thinking it. You aren’t going to ditch me while you chase after this Mateo guy.”
“You don’t want to be on his radar,” Az told her. “Stay here. Sam can keep you safe.”
“So I’m baby demon sitting now?” Sam murmured. “How fun for me.”
He didn’t glance at his brother. He’d burned and bled for the guy back in Mexico, so he figured Sam still owed him.
“You aren’t leaving me behind.” Jade’s eyes narrowed. “We’re in this together, remember?”
But it was Sam who told her. “If you go with him, you’ll pay a price.”
“Fine.” She barely spared Sam a glance. “Then I’m ready to pay. Az is in this mess because of me. Because he was trying to save my life.”
One side of Sam’s mouth hitched into a smile. “Isn’t he the hero.”
“Yeah, he is—to me.”
Az blinked.
“And I’m staying by your side,” Jade continued, voice and face determined. “So deal with it. If either one of you tries to toss me in that stripper cage again . . .”
“Don’t knock it,” Sam advised.
“We’ll see just how much more fire I can throw.”
Sam scratched his nose. “You sound so fierce.”
Right. Like Sam would ever be afraid of a little fire. Or even a lot of fire. The guy had been willing to walk into hell in order to save his Seline. He’d actually begged to get into hell . . .
All for love.
Even Fallen Angels could be weakened.
“Go wash the blood away,” Sam advised him. “You can use the apartment upstairs. Then you and your . . . ah . . . lady friend . . . can meet Mateo. But you’d better hurry. When the sun sets, he’ll be gone, and the only way you’ll find him then is to call him at the crossroads.”
Not an option. Crossroads deals never worked out well for the fool who did the calling. Sure, the summoned spirit was duty-bound to grant the idiot’s wish, but after that wish was granted, then the spirit started twisting. You wish for wealth, you get it—but only because your wife dies in an explosion and you get insurance money. You wish to live forever . . . you do, but only because you’re lying comatose and can’t move as machines keep you alive indefinitely.
Making a deal with a crossroads spirit was as bad as making a deal with the devil.
But it wasn’t like they had a lot of options right then.
Az inclined his head. “Thank you.”
Sam’s eyes widened a bit.
Had he ever thanked his brother before? Thrown him out of heaven, yes, tried to kill him . . . yes.
But thanked him? No.
Az cleared his throat. “I owe you.” Az wanted to make sure Sam understood this. “I will find a way to pay my debt.”
A muscle flexed in Sam’s jaw. “You fought to save my Seline. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”
No, they weren’t.
Perhaps one day they would be.
Az took Jade’s arm. They’d clean up and get back to hunting.
“Be careful.” Sam’s warning. Stilted.
Az looked over his shoulder to find that Sam’s stare wasn’t on him. It was on Jade.
“I was ready to burn to keep my mate with me.” Sam’s eyes flashed with the painful memory. “When I lost her, I lost my control.”
It was too dangerous for a Fallen like Sam to lose control.
“A witch once told me that you’d destroy the world,” Sam continued. “When she said that, I had to wonder . . . what could possibly push you so hard that you’d turn on everyone around you?”
Jade’s hand was soft and delicate in his grip.
“Be careful,” Sam warned him again. “Make sure you don’t ever have to face the same darkness that I did.”
Az nodded. Sam had been ready to destroy, to kill—but Seline had come back to him before he’d crossed the point of no return.
What would have happened if she hadn’t been there?
Az and Jade hurried up the old staircase. And as her body brushed his, an insidious whisper had him tensing. A whisper that came from within.
What would I do without her?
Bastion stood in the shadows, watching the mortals as they hurried down the New Orleans Street. No one saw him. They couldn’t—no one there was due to meet death.
His gaze locked on the building across the road. Sunrise. He knew Sammael’s bar well. The Fallen catered to humans and the Other there, flaunting their sins for all to see.
But Sammael had been sinning for centuries, ever since Az had banished him from heaven. One brother, turning on another.
An old prophecy.
But Az had been right to banish his brother. Sammael had broken the rules. He’d taken souls not his to claim. Az had been given no choice in his brother’s punishment.
He had a choice now. He had a choice—and he’d chosen to attack other angels.
Where was Marna?
To sever her wings . . . Az had known what lost wings would cost Marna. Wings didn’t just grow back. Angels could regenerate from most wounds, but not that. Never the wings.
She wouldn’t be going home again.
Horns honked. Voices lifted and fell in a soft cadence. The scent of the river drifted in the air. He ignored all of that, too conscious of the sin Az had committed.
Az had taken away the one thing that Bastion cared for in this world.
His head tilted back as he saw the shadow of forms moving on the upper floor of Sunrise. Two people. A man. A woman. Right behind the curtains.
Az had taken something from him, and now he’d take everything from the Fallen.
Everything.
The water from the shower pounded down on Az’s flesh. Jade stared at him through the thin pane of glass. She wasn’t going to let the guy’s sexiness distract her.
Az turned. Met her stare. Crooked his finger.
Sexy bastard.
Don’t distract. Don’t . . .
But a girl needed to get clean, right?
She yanked her shirt over her head. Tossed her bra. Kicked away her shoes, and had herself naked in about thirty seconds. Not as fast as Az’s instant-clothes-disappearing technique, but still pretty darn good.
But she didn’t just hop in the shower. She could do this right. Make him want as much as she did. Jade straightened her shoulders. Tossed back her hair, and let her gaze dip slowly down his body.
The water ran over those lick-me abs of his. Such sculpted flesh. His wounds were already healed. He was once more all fine-tuned muscle and golden skin. Of course, he was more than human.