Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“Hello, brother,” Az called, raising his brows. “Figured I’d find you here.”
Sam shoved back the rage and slowly climbed down the stairs. He was too aware of Seline behind him.
“My memory grows stronger every day,” Az announced, and Sam saw the hardness in his stare. “I remembered how much you liked to hide here. Hide, and hunt.”
Sam reached the foot of the stairs. Attack. His control was razor thin. “Enjoying your new life? I certainly hope you have been because it will be over soon.”
Seline didn’t speak, but Sam heard the soft whisper of her steps as she crept down the staircase.
Az’s gaze drifted to her. “I came for you.”
The guy wanted to die. Slowly. Painfully.
Then Az lifted his hand and said to Seline, “I can offer you safety.”
Sam attacked. In an instant, he was across the room. His fist plowed into Az’s perfect face. “And I can offer you an ass-kicking.”
Az stumbled back, but he didn’t fall. His chin lifted. “You can’t kill me. I remember that part. The touch doesn’t work on angels, even Fallen.”
“That’s right,” Sam snarled, fists ready to attack. “That’s why you had to work so hard to try and kill me a few months back.”
Az’s brows lowered.
“Oh, what? Don’t remember that part?” Another drive of his fist. Damn but it felt good when Az backed up. Weakness. “You teamed up with a coyote shifter so that he could kill me and Keenan. Guess being Fallen was too much of a sin for us.”
Az shook his head. Blood dripped from his lip. “Rogziel…he said…Fallen should burn.”
Of course. Fucking Rogziel. “And you were ready and willing to serve your own brother up to him?”
Sam didn’t see the blow coming, not until it was too late. And Az didn’t pull his punch. Sam tasted blood in his mouth, and he was pretty sure that his brother had broken his nose.
Good thing he was a fast healer.
“You’ve killed! ” Az yelled, his face darkening with fury. Ah, yes, fury. Now that he’d fallen, Az would be feeling. If he wasn’t careful, those feelings could break him apart.
Sam would make sure his brother wasn’t careful. Break.
“You had your orders. You were only supposed to take the souls slated for death.” Once again, Az’s gaze darted to Seline. “Do you even know how many he slaughtered?” The question was fired at her.
Sam didn’t look at Seline. “They deserved to die.”
“Who were you to judge? It was war. They were fighting. We don’t get the luxury of picking sides. We follow?—”
He grabbed Az and lifted him high into the air. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see them raping the women and killing the children. You didn’t see them just wipe the blood away, as if that took the stain off their hands. Over and fucking over again, I had to watch. ”
Az didn’t fight. “You think you’re the only one who ever saw innocents suffer? We do not punish?—”
“No, twisted pricks like Rogziel are supposed to do that, right?” Screw that shit. “Those men deserved to die.”
“You didn’t make the deaths easy.” More censure. What else was new?
“Why should I? They made their victims suffer, so I made them suffer.” Fair enough.
Seline’s footsteps tapped across the floor.
“And after you fell, you didn’t learn to control yourself, did you?” Az was pushing, obviously determined that Seline would learn all of Sam’s sins.
His brother didn’t understand. There were too many sins for her to ever learn them all. “No, I didn’t stop. I hunted those who needed punishment, and I made sure they got it.”
Not always with death. Sometimes he’d let his prey live, but with the scars to remember him by.
“You see…” Az shoved against him and landed agilely on his feet. “He’s really no different from Rogziel. Power mad. Determined to deliver his brand of justice.” His gaze raked Seline. She stood just a foot away now, her body tense. “He’s using you. He saw what you can do with the hound, and he wants to use you.”
The building trembled around them. “ Az .” Sam couldn’t use his magic to kill his brother. The death touch wouldn’t work—that only worked on humans and most Other. And no mortal weapon could kill an angel. Those weapons just weren’t strong enough.
He could kick Az’s ass easily, but Az would heal from just about anything.
Just about.
“ He can’t kill me,” Az said, and Sam saw the shadow of his brother’s lost wings shift behind him. “He can’t kill Rogziel. But you…” He smiled at her, and the sight enraged Sam. “You can kill any angel or Fallen you want. All you have to do is summon your hound.”
The puzzle pieces clicked into place for Sam. “You knew her mother, didn’t you?” Sonofabitch. “You made the connection in New Orleans.” That was why Az had been desperate to get Seline. He’d found a weapon to use in his fight.
“She looks a lot like Erina,” Az revealed as he cocked his head to study her. “Same cheekbones, same nose, same eyes.”
To hell with his brother. Sam wrapped his fingers around Az’s throat. “You’re not using her.”
“But you are?” Az snapped. “Stop lying to her, brother. You wouldn’t have brought her along if you didn’t think you could use her. What? Did you think she’d knock out both me and Rogziel for you? Your perfect weapon—and what a nice bonus for someone who likes to sin as much as you do…she’s a succubus.”
Sam tossed his brother through the nearest window. Glass shattered, and Az hit the ground outside with a groan. Sam’s gaze flew around the room, to her.
“Sam?” Seline’s quiet voice. “He’s lying, isn’t he?”
“Angels are good at twisting the truth.” He forced his stare away from her and, once again, his gaze swept the area. There was a reason he’d chosen this safe house. Pedro had a rather interesting collection of artifacts lining the walls. Weapons. Ancient, new, deadly. Because, sometimes, those seeking a safe haven needed a way to protect themselves.
Sam grabbed the spear that rested over the mantel. A wooden spear. Simple in construction. One that had journeyed all the way from Africa.
But the tip of the spear, that sharp, deadly curve—far sharper than any knife could be—that wasn’t so simple. The curving tip was a finely honed dragon’s claw. A claw that had been taken from a dragon shifter right before the moment of his death.
No mortal weapon.
Seline grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t need you to kill my enemies.” He smiled and knew the grin would be chilling. The whole place was a perfect weapon room. Pedro had taken out more than a few “immortal” enemies over the years. “I can do the job myself.”
Then he flew through that broken window.
But Az wasn’t alone any longer. Keenan was there, facing off against his brother, as was Nicole, and despite the rising sun, she didn’t look particularly weak.
No, she looked fucking furious.
Payback will be the devil.
He lifted the spear, and they all closed in on Az.
Seline started after Sam with her heart racing. Az knew her mother. Oh, jeez, Az knew her mother.
This was Sam’s big moment. Vengeance. He’d been waiting to attack his brother, and that moment was finally at hand for him. But…
My mother. She couldn’t let Sam kill Az. At least, not yet. There was too much Az could tell her.
“Sam, stop!” she screamed and lunged forward.
She didn’t make it to the door. A man appeared before her. Tall, dark, with bright blue eyes and a face that could have been carved from stone.
She screamed and kicked out at him. But he just caught her arms and dodged her kicks.
And Sam didn’t hear her scream. He was too busy fighting Az.
“I’m sorry,” the man before her said. No, not a man. She could see the outline of his shadow wings. Fallen. No wonder he’d just appeared in front of her. Angels had that fast movement that she hated. “I don’t…my plan wasn’t to hurt you.”
She drove her knee into his groin. Didn’t dodge that! “Too bad because if you don’t let me go, you’ll be in a whole world of pain.”
His hold didn’t break.
Dammit! What kind of Fallen was she dealing with? Please, not an angel of death. She had too many of those to deal with already.
“The pain will only be for a moment.”
Forget that. She let her power out. It swelled, wrapping around them. She’d make him beg, tremble.
He shook his head sadly. “That doesn’t work on me, succubus.”
And now she was scared. “Sam!”
He clamped his hand over her mouth. “You won’t die.” Sadness flickered in his eyes. “Though he will.”
Then he started to chant. Words in Latin that she’d heard before. “No!”
Smoke swirled around them.
When the world stopped spinning, Seline found herself on another deserted road. In the middle of freaking nowhere.
The get-the-fuck-away spell. “Sam!”
But he wasn’t there, and neither was the Fallen who’d just dumped her in the middle of Mexico.
Sam had the spear at his brother’s throat. “Any last words?”
Blood trickled down Az’s neck.
Sam could see the struggle in his brother’s eyes. Rage. Fear.
Regret?
“How does it feel?” Keenan pressed. He stood beside them. “Because you are feeling now, aren’t you, Az?”
Before Az could answer, Nicole stiffened. “Seline.” She glanced back. Stared at the quiet house. “I thought she screamed.”
When Sam looked over his shoulder, Az broke free and leapt away.
No, Az wouldn’t escape this time. “Check the house,” he told Nicole, never taking his eyes off Az.
“No need.” The rumbling voice came from the left.
Tomas walked from the brush, his steps slow and his face grim. “Your Seline isn’t inside.”
Az wasn’t moving. Nicole and Keenan were eyeing Tomas with suspicion, and Sam—his guts were twisting. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Because I’m the one who took her.” A shrug. “You shouldn’t have trusted Mateo, you know. Once he saw your death, he figured it was time to align with someone stronger.”
“You?” From the corner of his eye, Sam saw Nicole run into the house. Checking to see if Seline was still there. No need for that. Angels, even Fallen, couldn’t directly lie.
“No.” Tomas’s lips twisted. “I’m just the errand boy. Guess it was my turn to play messenger.”
Sam’s blood chilled. “Rogziel did catch you, didn’t he?”
A sad, regretful nod of Tomas’s head. “You didn’t arrive soon enough.”
Sam could smell the blood that still coated Tomas. He couldn’t see the wounds, but he knew they were there. “Why are you still living?” A brutal question, but one that had to be asked.
Nicole appeared again and shook her head. No Seline.
“Rogziel wanted me to trick you. To get you to come in willingly with me.”
Sam waited.
Tomas held his stare. “I agreed.”
“You traded your life for mine?” And to think, he’d once saved Tomas’s sorry ass. A pack of vampires had closed in on the Fallen just days after he’d hit earth. The angel blood was often a lure for the undead. The taste of it made them feel alive again.
I should have let him die.
But he’d been in the mood to kick vampire ass at the time.
“Something like that,” Tomas muttered. He glanced at Keenan. “You need to get out of Mexico, K. Get out .” His jaw tightened when he saw Nicole. “And make sure you take her with you.”
Tomas hadn’t been real keen on vampires since his attack. But then Tomas said, “The last thing you want to do is leave her unprotected.”
And Sam understood. What was said and what wasn’t. Some angels couldn’t even twist the truth that well.
Tomas was such an angel.
“You know Rogziel’s crossed the line,” Sam charged. Az was still there. Not moving. Just watching. Waiting. Because he understood what it was like to be Rogziel’s captive?
Because he wanted to find out where the bastard was so he could rip him apart first?
No dice. Rogziel’s mine.
“Yes, I know.” Tomas lifted his shirt, and Sam saw the deep claw marks that criss-crossed his stomach. “He let his pet play with me for a while.”
“The hound?” Keenan demanded. “The hound is back?”
“He doesn’t just have one hound.” Tomas shoved his shirt back down. “He’s got two. The second bastard is even bigger than the one I saw at the motel.”
That wasn’t good to know. Sam took a step toward Tomas. “Where’s Seline?”
“Two hounds?” Az groused. “Two?”
Kill him. The spear was still in Sam’s hand. It would be so easy.
“If you want her to live, you’ll come with me now.”
Angels could twist the truth…
“We’ll all come,” Keenan decided, and his shadow wings flared.
But Tomas shook his head. “Sorry, that’s not how it works.”
Then he lunged forward and grabbed Sam. “When it comes to angels, you were always too trusting.” Then a familiar chant filled Sam’s ears.
Mateo.
Sam didn’t fight. He could have broken free. But if he had, then Seline might suffer. In the instant of time that he had, Sam broke the head off the spear and curled his fingers around the claw. The wood fell to the ground.
Az’s tense face vanished. Keenan shouted Sam’s name.
And the world became a swirling vortex of dark gray smoke.
“Something you should know,” Sam grated as wind howled in his ear like demons screaming.
Tomas grunted.
“Mateo knows better than to sell my ass out.” He drove his fist into Tomas’s chest. “He’s too smart for that.”
The wind stopped howling. The smoke vanished. Sam and Tomas dropped onto the ground. But in an instant, Sam was back on his feet. On his feet, and with his weapon pressed against Tomas’s throat. “Obviously,” Sam told the dumbass, “you’re not.”
Tomas glared up at him. “How the hell did you do that?”
He used his left hand to yank at the charm around his neck—a charm Mateo had given him ages ago. “Let’s just call it my little get-out-of-jail free card. It’s real handy for breaking spells.” He let the dragon claw slice Tomas’s throat. “You take me to Seline, now, or you die.”
Seline glared down the long, winding road. The sun was rising slowly in the sky, and she was already baking. No one was on the road. That freaking Fallen had dumped her in the middle of nowhere. No phone. No people. No help.
No Sam.
And, oh, damn, she was worried about him. What if Az killed him? What would she do then?
Her shoulders hunched even as her head tilted back, and she stared helplessly up at that stretching expanse of blue sky.
“Please,” she begged, aware that her voice was thick with emotion that nearly choked her. Az had known her mother. Sam could be dying. “Help me.”
Because she knew Rogziel had gone after Sam. Despite his strength, Sam couldn’t defeat both Az and Rogziel, and if Rogziel brought a hound with him, there wouldn’t even be a chance for Sam to survive.
Her eyes squeezed closed. She was lost, had no clue, and Sam?—
“Sam is stronger than you think.” A soft laugh floated in the air. “He’s stronger than pretty much any angel on earth or above it.”
Slowly, Seline opened her eyes. A woman stood before her. Small, delicate, with close-cropped dark hair and a delicate, almost elfin face.
The woman wore all white, a bright contrast to her light brown skin, and strong, powerful black wings spread behind her.
Seline’s knees trembled. Rogziel usually kept his wings hidden, an old angel trick. This woman—she wasn’t bothering with tricks.
And she also wasn’t standing in front of Seline. The woman hovered about a foot in the air.
Black wings. Rogziel had black wings, too. All punishment angels did. And, because of Sam, she knew that all angels of death did, as well. Seline swallowed back her fear. “Are you here to kill me?”
The angel glanced around. “Um, no.”
The scent of flowers was strong. Roses. The angel smelled like roses.
“Then you’re a punishment angel.”
“Um…”
That really wasn’t an answer.
The woman flew closer. Those wings fluttered behind her. “You look a lot like Erina.”
Seline licked her lips. “So I’ve been told.”
The angel’s bright stare raked her. “It’s a pity you never knew her.”
Her throat hurt when she cleared it. “Yes, it is.”
The angel’s gaze saw too much. “Why didn’t you call sooner?” the woman asked softly. “All these years. It sure took you long enough, Seline.”
She was missing something. “What?”
The angel pointed toward the blue sky. “If you’d wanted help, you should have asked sooner.” A soft sigh slipped from her lips. “As it is, you’ve almost waited too late now.”
“You’re kidding me!” A hot spike of anger burned in her gut. “You’re telling me that to make this nightmare stop, all I had to do was ask? ” In-freaking-sane.
“Ask and you shall receive,” the angel told her with a slight nod. “You asked and now help is here.”
“Here to do what?”
The angel’s feet touched the ground. Her wings curled in behind her, and a hard, fierce expression crossed her face. “To punish.”
“Yeah? Who exactly are you here to punish? Me? Sam? Azrael? Or what about that power-mad Rogziel? Do you know what he’s been doing?”
“I’m not the one who will give Rogziel his punishment,” the angel stated in a serene, clear voice.
“So you’re not going to do anything?” Seline’s voice was closer to a screech. “You’re just gonna stand there and watch him kill angels?”
No emotion flickered over the angel’s face. “Rogziel is not the same angel he once was.”
“No shit! I figured that out the first time I saw him slice open a vampire and smile. ” But how did you get away from someone who had the power of heaven on his side? “I thought you said you’d help me.”
“I will.” The angel’s gaze raked her. “You’re a very fortunate woman, Seline.”
Not so much from where she was standing. Both parents dead. Raised by a psycho angel. Destined to live off the energy of others, like a psychic vamp. Nope, not so great there.
“You can control a hellhound.” Was that a trace of admiration in the angel’s voice? Yes, a bare whisper. “That means you can be…more.”
Seline wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “More what?”
Those black wings stretched out. “All your life, you’ve never felt as if you truly belonged, did you?”
“Try being a demon half-breed in a world of humans. You won’t belong, either.” A trickle of sweat slid down her back.
“You don’t have to dwell with them.”
Seline rocked back on her heels. “What are you saying?” Couldn’t the angel just spit it out? “I just want to get back to Sam. I want?—”
“He can’t kill Azrael.” Flat, but whispering with the underlying timbre of power.
Seline blinked. “Um, well, then I suggest you use those wings and fly me to them because when I left, it sure looked like it was close to killing time.”
“Brother against brother.” The angel’s brows furrowed. “That way leads to destruction. Azrael cannot die by Sam’s hand.”
“If he does…” Seline had to ask, “What happens?”
“Their blood is bound. They were linked from the beginning of time.” The angel’s head cocked and she seemed to be looking far away. Into the past? “One cannot live without the other.”
The fear in Seline’s belly twisted harder. “You’re telling me this now?”
“They were twins. One light, one dark. Now both are becoming dark. There has to be balance.” Those bright eyes seemed to drill into Seline. “You have to give them balance.”
The wind began to whip behind Seline. She glanced back, expecting to see a car barreling toward her. No one was there.
“ You seek justice,” the angel told her. “You are the instrument.”
No, no, no. Seline’s head snapped back around. “I thought you said you’d help me!”
“I will.” The angel rose into the air. “I’m going to help you come home.”
But she didn’t have a home. Never had.
“Seline!”
She jumped at Sam’s shout. She whirled and found him behind her. Him and the jerk who’d dropped her in the middle of nowhere.
But Sam’s eyes weren’t on her. They were above her. On the angel. “Delia! Get away from her!”
His rage blasted through Seline.
Afraid now, she glanced over her shoulder. Delia had a sword in her hands. The long blade gleamed. “Stop him,” Delia warned Seline. “Or I will be sent after him. Balance will be maintained, one way or another.” Then she rose higher into the sky. Her wings stretched, and the angel vanished.
Seline finally took a deep breath.
“You summoned a punishment angel?” It was the bastard Fallen who spoke. Sam had a tight grip on him, and some kind of small blade—looked more like a wickedly sharp claw—was at the jerk’s throat. “You must have one serious death wish.”
Seline ignored him. She stared at Sam. “I was—” Worried. Afraid.
Sam nodded, and she knew he understood. Then his gaze turned to the Fallen. “Time for you to die, Tomas.” He shifted his hand and placed the weapon right against Tomas’s jugular. “See you in hell.”
“No!” Tomas’s face flushed. “He’ll kill her!”
“No one will kill Seline,” Sam roared.
Seline hurried closer to them. I’m going to help you come home. Her fingers pressed against Sam’s back, right over his shoulder blades, and she felt the instant tenseness of his body.
“Not her!” Tomas’s throat dripped blood. “Sierra. My Sierra. The bastard has her. If I don’t bring you back—just you—then she’s dead.”