Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Ten minutes until midnight.
Az stared up at the tombs as they rose over the heavy, brick wall that surrounded the cemetery. The scent of flowers teased his nose, but he knew that scent wasn’t coming from some floral tokens left on the graves by mourners.
You can always catch the scent when death is close.
A tell-tale sign that an angel was nearby. Death angels were at their strongest when they were about to take a soul. In those few moments, humans could catch the sweet scent of flowers.
A death scent.
Death didn’t really smell like decay and rot. That smell just came to the bodies after the souls were gone.
Tonight, death was close. Following him.
His eyes narrowed as he scanned the darkness. Who’d be dying tonight?
“Okay, this is as far as you go.” Jade crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. Her eyes seemed to shine under the light of the moon and stars. “Now you take the motorcycle and go someplace safe.”
His lips twitched. How charming. She thought to protect him once more. She kept doing that, despite what she knew of him. “Trying to get rid of me again?”
She shook her head. “Look, I don’t even understand—why do you want to help me? I’m nothing to you!”
Anger stirred within him as the mild amusement vanished. She was hardly nothing.
“I appreciate the white knight routine, believe me, I do, but why? ” A faint line appeared between her brows. She stood just a few feet away, on the cracked sidewalk, and asked, “Why do you want to help me? Why are you risking your life for me?”
And the truth came from him. “Because I think you can give my life back to me.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He shoved down the kickstand and climbed from the motorcycle so he could close in on her. His gaze tracked to the line of stark tombs that rose over the steep walls. “I’ve been here before.”
“Yeah, well, you, me, and every tourist who wants an up-close look at the cities of the dead?—”
“I fell here.”
She didn’t say anything in response to that statement. Odd. He’d found that Jade often had plenty to say. Not this time.
Her mouth actually hung open.
He passed by her and headed for the heavy gates that led into the cemetery. Dark shadows stretched from the entrance. And he remembered…
Crashing. Agony. Pain.
“I didn’t know who I was.” Not at first. The descent had been so intense, the fire so hot, that his memories had been wiped from him.
Az crossed the threshold into the cemetery. His gaze swept around, and then he was snaking through the old graves. Left. Right. Moving more by instinct than anything else.
She followed closely behind him. “Az?”
“After the fall, no one ever remembers, not at first.” It had been good, too, not knowing. Living in ignorance of the lives he’d taken. The sins he’d committed.
Another turn. Another.
He heard her gasp behind him. Before them, an old crypt had been smashed, and wide cracks spread out from the broken tomb’s middle like spiderwebs. Beside the remains, a broken stone angel looked mournfully at the wreckage.
It only seemed fitting that she’d lost a wing, too.
He stared at the crypt. “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in hell?”
“Yes.”
Frowning, Az glanced back at her.
Her gaze was on him, not the crypt. “We all have our own hell.” Her hand touched his shoulder. “I-I’m not sure what you’re exactly expecting. I can’t give you back heaven.”
Maybe not.
But maybe…
“A witch found me.” He turned to better face her, and Jade’s brows lifted at his admission. “She cleaned me up and gave me food. Then, just when I was growing stronger, she turned around and sold me out to a bunch of bastards who got off on torturing the Other .”
Jade swallowed. “What happened to them?”
She needed to see him for what he was. “I killed them all.” Well, those Sam hadn’t gotten to first, anyway.
She held his stare. “And the witch?”
“Her time will come.” She wouldn’t escape him unscathed. Az planned to make certain of that.
Jade stared up at him in confusion. “You’re standing here telling me that you’re some heartless badass, but you’re helping me so I just can’t figure you out!”
“I’m helping myself.” The words fell heavily. “You’re a human. Favored. Weak.” Deceptively so. Humans were gifted with the rush of emotions. With pleasures. Pains.
He could seek vengeance on those who’d wronged him. Vengeance was his by right. But to give her protection, to aid one weaker—now that just might be enough to earn some redemption.
“So I’m just the lucky human you saw about to get an ass kicking? Who I am doesn’t matter? You would risk your life to save any of us?”
He nodded. “Yes.” He would do what was necessary. Protect the weak. Fight and claw his way back to heaven.
Her sigh held a sad edge. “Not all humans need protecting.” A pause. “Not all humans want protecting.” Then she turned away from him. “We also don’t all enjoy being called a ‘temptation’ by some lost Fallen with some intimacy issues.”
He blinked and stared after her. Intimacy issues? He’d never been intimate with another. Angels weren’t allowed the luxury of intimacy. “You don’t understand what the world is like for me.” So much noise. The feelings. The emotions. They were all ripping him apart.
Except it hadn’t been so bad in the last few days. Not since he’d been with her.
Jade didn’t look back at him. “Was it really that much better up there?”
He didn’t answer.
At his silence, Jade glanced over her shoulder at him. “I mean, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows down here, but we’re alive. That has to count for something, right?”
Something.
“Instead of trying so hard to get back upstairs,” she told him, “maybe you should consider that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
With her.
But then she shook her head and glanced away from him. “I think that cop stood us up. And being in a cemetery, at midnight, is not my idea of a good time.”
But even as she spoke, Az heard the rustle of footsteps. Sliding away or coming closer? Either way, he took a step toward Jade.
“Muggers hide out here,” she informed him, voice quieter now as she scanned the shadows around them. “But they’re not even the start of what we need to fear.”
He knew all about the vampires who liked to stalk the cities of the dead. They’d hide in the dark, waiting for victims who were curious—and even willing—and then they’d strike.
Those victims would die.
But it wasn’t a vampire who stepped from the shadows. It was the shifter. Az didn’t relax his guard, and he could tell by the stiffness of Jade’s shoulders that she wasn’t relaxing hers, either.
“You pack one hell of a punch,” Tanner charged as he studied Az. The full moon fell onto them and sent their shadows chasing across the crypts.
Az shrugged. He’d actually gone easy on the shifter. If he’d wanted, he could have broken the cop’s jaw with that punch.
Tanner whistled softly. “There’s a very high price on your head, man. You gonna be up for the hunters coming your way?”
He couldn’t wait to face them. A battle would drain some of the growing tension from his body. Tension that increased every time Jade touched his skin.
Want her. He’d stroked her body. Tasted her.
And learned why mortals killed for pleasure.
Az shoved those memories aside. “I’m ready.” Fear was the only emotion he’d yet to feel on earth. What was there to fear? What was there left to lose? Nothing.
“He doesn’t have to be ready.” Jade’s voice. Flat. Calm. “This isn’t his fight. I’m the one going after Brandt.” She turned to Az and put her hand on his chest, right over his heart. Her voice lowered as she said, “I’m not your salvation. Helping me isn’t gonna give you some free pass into heaven.”
Her scent slipped around him. His body hungered for hers. Needed.
“And I’m not going to be your temptation, either.” Now a thread of anger slipped into her voice. Anger. Hurt? “I’ve already been there and done that for another. Dammit, I’m more. ”
Pain was reflected in her eyes.
She tried to turn away. He grabbed her hand and held tight. Won’t let go. “You need me.” He didn’t bother lowering his voice. He wanted the shifter to hear this. If they were going into a fight, they’d need his strength to win.
Jade would need him. He didn’t know why it was so important for her to admit that. It simply was.
“Look,” Tanner muttered, “you two can have your lovers’ spat later, but right now, we need to go figure out our plan of attack.”
Az felt the shifter’s eyes on him. Seeing too much. His hold on Jade tightened as he regarded the shifter with deeper suspicion. Just because you were a cop, it didn’t mean you should be trusted.
He sure didn’t trust the jerk.
Just because you were an angel, it didn’t mean you were good.
He knew that better than most.
“You didn’t come alone,” Az said, certain.
“Because I’m not so trusting, either.” Tanner rolled his shoulders. “And because I know you’re no guardian .”
No, but he was guarding Jade. While angels couldn’t lie outright, they knew how to twist the truth to conceal their secrets.
“So who’s watching us?” Jade wanted to know. With her free hand, she pointed to the shadows.
“My backup plan.” Tanner didn’t look away from them. “Now are we going to stand out here all night, wasting time, or are we ready to get down to business?”
“Business?” Az repeated.
“Brandt’s death. It’s what we both want.”
It was what Jade seemed to need.
“He’s not exactly an easy guy to destroy,” Jade said softly. “In case you haven’t noticed.”
Tanner laughed, but the grating sound held no humor. “I noticed alright. I also know that everything can die. You just have to get close enough to make the kill.” Tanner stalked toward them. “Getting close isn’t exactly a problem for you, is it, Jade?”
She didn’t answer. Az narrowed his eyes on the shifter.
“But there’s close,” Tanner murmured, “and then there’s killing close. ”
Jade sucked in a deep breath. “Do you have a plan?” she fired. “Or are you just out here to spout bullshit?”
Az smiled. He liked Jade’s fire. She seemed to have more fury in her than most humans. So hot, you could almost feel the burn.
Tanner smiled at her, too, and the grin flashed his sharp canines. “I thought a human would be more afraid.”
“I am scared. Scared every single moment.” That wasn’t sarcasm coming from her, either.
Her confession gave Az pause. He hadn’t realized she feared so much.
“I just want the nightmare over,” she continued quickly, “and I want to be able to live like everyone else. So if you’ve got some great plan, then share it, and let’s cut the crap.”
Az listened carefully, not to Jade and the shifter, but to the whisper of sounds that surrounded them. Another rustle. A brush of fabric against stone. The softest of breaths.
There.
Az moved in an instant, rushing toward the watcher, and moving so quickly that he knew he’d appear to be a blur. He caught the watcher in his grasp even as he heard Tanner call out a warning.
Too late.
He stared at the person in his hands—a person very familiar to him.
Wide eyes. Close-cropped, blond hair. Small. Deceptively delicate.
Witch.
The same witch who’d sold him out months before. In that instant, Az knew they’d walked into a trap.
“You’re dying,” he told her. She’d traded his life. Now he’d take hers.
“No!” Tanner’s shout, cutting through the night. “Fuck, no, don’t hurt her !”
It wouldn’t hurt. He could be compassionate. Death could be as gentle as a whisper.
Vengeance is mine.
“Az?” Jade’s voice, drifting on the wind to him. “Uh, Az?”
The scent of flowers teased his nose again. A death angel was close.
Az looked back. Tanner had his claws at Jade’s throat. In turn, she had a gun pointed right at his heart.
“I think we all need to take a minute and calm the hell down,” the shifter called out.
Az felt amazingly calm. The witch barely seemed to breathe.
“We need each other,” Tanner growled. “Brandt and his pack are too powerful for us to face alone.”
Doubtful.
Az stared back at the witch.
A faint smile lifted her lips. “Still think you’re the strongest force on earth, do you, angel?”
“I think I’m looking at a dead woman,” he replied.
But she laughed. “Not yet, you aren’t.
Why was he hesitating? “You sold me out once already.”
“And I’ll do it again.” Sounded like a promise. “That’s why you need me.”
Footsteps raced toward them. Jade and Tanner. Not taking aim at one another any longer. Instead?—
“Don’t hurt her,” Tanner ordered. “That witch is our ticket into the pack.”
“Witch?” Jade staggered to a stop beside them. Az’s focus shifted to Jade even as he kept his grip on the witch.
Jade’s gaze flew between Az and the woman. “No one mentioned anything about a witch!”
“I told you that every Other in the city would be after your guardian.” Sweat trickled down Tanner’s temple. “Well, Heather here has a certain reputation.”
“For selling out everyone she meets?” Az guessed. He hadn’t let the witch go yet, but he hadn’t killed her, either. He thought he was showing pretty good restraint.
“Almost everyone,” the witch corrected.
“Heather.” A warning tone entered Tanner’s voice.
But Heather didn’t heed that warning. “I was trying to do the world a favor.” She held Az’s gaze. “Some Other are too dangerous to live.”
“Wait a minute!” Jade grabbed Az’s arm and hauled him away from the witch. Only because Az let her haul him. “You’re the one who found Az?” Jade asked the other woman.
Heather’s lips curved. “The world is smaller than we like to think.”
Jade nodded. “Right. Okay. I’ll take that as a yes.” Then she drove her fist right at the witch. Heather took the hit in the jaw and tumbled back. “You freaking sold out an angel, you crazy bitch!”
Heather blinked, then rubbed her jaw. “My, my, aren’t you the feisty human.”
Az rather thought she was. She’d just fought for him. Or at least punched for him. No one had ever defended him before.
“We’re out of here, Az.” Now Jade was yanking his arm. “Whatever game this shifter is working, we don’t want to be a part of it.”
Not if the witch was involved.
But he wasn’t ready to walk just yet. Vengeance. Right there, so close.
“Will you be strong enough to kill him…” The witch’s voice was different now. Heavy with power and magic. Az looked at her and saw that the bright gold of her eyes had faded as she continued, “When the time comes?”
Her faded gaze wasn’t on him. It was on Jade.
“ Will you sacrifice? ” Heather continued, and a light breeze blew against Az’s body. “ Will you make the choice to save the others and face death? ”
The witch was pushing his self-control and seriously getting on his nerves.
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Jade didn’t sound shaken or worried. Just pissed.
“ Love has a price .” That same, weird rumble that wasn’t a human’s voice. Not quite. “ Sacrifice is the payment. The choice of life or death. You have to kill what you love .”
Jade’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s be clear, here, alright, witchy woman? I don’t love Brandt. I hate him. He has taken everything away from me. My home. My family.” Her chin lifted. “So when the time comes, oh, yes, I’ll do what I have to do. If the choice is my life or his, then he’ll be the one dying.”
Heather’s eyes brightened once more as the fog seemed to fade from her gaze. She smiled at Jade. “You’re going to be tested soon.”
“Why are we still here?” Jade muttered as she tugged on Az. “Let’s go!”
But Tanner stepped forward. “The pack won’t welcome me back. Not unless I bring them something.” His gaze fell on Az.
“You mean someone,” Jade corrected. “You want to take Az to them? Are you insane?”
“Actually, I want to take you to Brandt. If I bring back his lost mate, there’s no way he will turn me away.”
Mate. Why did that one word have Az tensing as a white-hot fury rose within him? “She’s not his mate.” Shifters and their mates. So possessive. So territorial.
Not. His.
Tanner held up his hands. “Easy there, big guy. This is just about what Brandt thinks, not about what actually is. Didn’t mean to step into any, uh, personal business there.”
“Tanner takes the human.” Heather came to stand by the shifter’s side. “And I take you in,” she told Az.
Because she was so good at selling people out.
“They’ll believe I’m there for the bounty on your head. They’ll let me in, and they’ll take us both right to Brandt,” Heather finished with a little smirk.
“No,” Jade denied immediately, and the witch’s smirk slipped a bit. “This isn’t going to work. No.”
“Seems you pissed off the pack alpha.” Tanner rubbed his jaw as he studied Az. “And he wants you brought in alive.”
“Only so he can take his time cutting Az apart.” Jade shook her head. “No way. We’re done here. Your plan is crap. If we follow it, we’ll all die.”
Not all.
“Can’t you kill him?” Heather asked Az as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean, you’re the angel of death. All you need to do is touch him, right?”
He saw Jade’s jaw drop. “Angel of death? As in the ?—”
“Not anymore.” His growl. He would have told her that part, eventually.
“But you can do it,” Tanner snapped. “You’re the only one who can. Brandt is stronger than most paranormals. He’s got magic on his side, and he’s not afraid to use it. If we want him taken out, we need your help.”
Jade’s lips trembled as she stared into Az’s eyes. “I already told you, this isn’t your fight!”
“You want to use me as bait.” Az wanted to be clear on the rules. “The witch takes me in?—”
“And collects the bounty,” Heather added quickly.
“Of course.” Figured she’d take her cut. Not like she’d do this out of the goodness of her heart. From what he’d seen, the witch didn’t have a heart. “Then I get my turn to eliminate Brandt.” And to save Jade. To start his journey back upstairs.
Jade’s body practically vibrated with fury. “This is stupid ! We are not following this plan.”
“I’ll be there for backup.” Tanner rocked forward on the balls of his feet. “Together, we’ll take out that whole pack.”
Az didn’t really need his help. But if the shifter wanted some revenge of his own, who was Az to deny him?
“You can’t do this.” Jade gripped both of Az’s hands now and shook him. “This is crazy. You don’t want to just walk right up to Brandt.”
“No?” Now Tanner’s anger had broken past his control. “What’s your big plan then? You want to keep running from him? Hiding? While others die?”
She flinched. “I’ll go to him. I’ll end this myself.”
“You don’t have that power.” Tanner was certain.
So was Az.
Her gaze held his. “Please,” she begged. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
And the choice was made. A life for a life. Sacrifice. He pointed at the witch. “Betray me again, and I’ll make certain you feel the full fury of hell.”
“Been there,” she muttered.
“And you will be again.” A promise.
She swallowed and glanced away from him, and Az knew she understood the consequences. Fair enough.
Angels never lied.
The deal had been set.
Angels were idiots. They had to be. As Jade followed Az through the winding hallway located at the back of a voodoo shop, she wondered what the hell she was doing.
Trusting her life to a shifter cop and a witch? Oh, no, not a good idea. They were the two she should probably trust the least except…
Except Tanner had helped her get out of that swamp. He could have turned her in to the authorities or handed her over to Brandt then.
“Trust me.” Az’s words. Az’s hand around hers. And she did trust him. How could you not trust an angel? That was probably some kind of rule someplace. Must trust angels.
Everything she’d ever heard about them said they were the good guys, if anyone was ever really good. They protected humans, just as Az was trying to protect her.
Now the deep scars on his shoulders made sense. Wings. His wings must have burned away when he fell. But why had Az fallen?
“I’ll arrange the meeting,” Heather said as she opened another door. The thick scent of incense filled the air. This room was filled with old books, glass vials, and some stuff that Jade didn’t want to stare at for too long. A heavy mirror sat on the table to the left. And, yes, it looked like blood stained its surface.
She guessed that answered the question of good witch or bad witch.
Jade didn’t have tons of experience with witches, but she’d heard whispered stories. Some witches could scry with mirrors to see the future. But whenever they looked into that future, they had to use the darker magic.
Jade didn’t want any part of that kind of magic. As it was, she had more than enough darkness to deal with on her own.
“So here’s the deal.” Tanner pulled out a chair, flipped it around, and straddled it. “We’ll make the exchange at dawn.”
She still wasn’t loving this plan. But Jade could admit it was better than nothing. “So Az and I just stroll in as your big, fat bait? What guarantee do we have that you won’t just leave us there for them?”
Before Tanner could answer, Az spoke. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Once I get close enough to Brandt, I can take out him and his men.” He stood next to that bloody mirror. She saw his gaze drop to the glass.
Right. Big, tough, immortal badass angel. She could count on him.
Tanner cleared his throat. “And you don’t know me from Adam…”
Az snorted at that.
“But believe me, I want to stop Brandt. I want to stop them all.”
Her gaze drifted to Tanner’s chest. His shirt covered the scars, but she wouldn’t be forgetting them anytime soon. So much pain. Enough to fill a man with fury.
Her breath exhaled on a rough sigh. It looked like whether she wanted to or not, she was in as bait. But it was time for Jade to issue a warning. “If you screw us, I’ll make sure that you pay.” Tanner and the witch probably thought she was just making some tough threat without any substance. They were wrong.
Brandt had just thought she was bullshitting, too. Until he walked into his home and found the trail of blood that she’d left for him.
Don’t think about that now. Don’t.
It had taken hours to wash the blood away from her hands and body.
“Don’t worry.” Tanner grimaced. “If this plan goes to shit, Brandt will be the one who takes his pound of flesh from me.”
He’d take more than a pound of flesh. Brandt would kill him. Slowly.
She glanced back at Az. His gaze was still on the mirror. And the witch had sidled closer to him.
Jade’s back teeth clenched. That skinny chick was just pissing her off. She might have to trust Tanner, but that woman—no way, Jade wouldn’t trust her for half a minute.
“Want to know what the future holds for you?” Heather asked Az softly. “All you have to do is bleed for me.”
Oh, seriously, hell no, the woman hadn’t just said that.
Az kept staring at that glass as if he were hypnotized. Not good. “You can’t see my future,” he finally said, voice rumbling.
“Because of what you are?” Heather asked, and then she laughed.
Jade hated that grating sound. Heather laughed like a hyena.
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re the only angel I’ve met.” Her hand brushed down his arm.
He was the only angel that Jade had ever met. And the witch was standing too close to him. The witch also needed to stop that touching bit. Now.
“I told you why I turned you over to those men before.”
Being in the dark sucked. Jade wished she knew more about what had happened between Az and Heather. Hello, jealousy. She recognized the feeling for exactly what it was.
“Poor Azrael. You think your job is to save the world.” Heather’s lips twisted as she turned her focus on Jade. “When you’re really just here to destroy it. Bit by slow bit.”
Bull. Az had done nothing but help since he’d met her.
“Isn’t that what the legend says about you?” Heather taunted. “You and your brother Sammael—the two who fell from grace so they could wreck the world.”
Az lifted his brows. “That’s not exactly the way the story goes.”
“Close enough,” Heather murmured.
Eyes narrowed, Jade began to stalk toward the witch.
“The legend says that one day, a brother will be slain by another. When that day arrives, hell will come to claim the earth.”
Wasn’t that just a lovely tale to share? “Most legends are no more than lies,” Jade announced with an I-don’t-care shrug. “Good to scare kids and fun to entertain bored bitches—I mean, witches. Witches who don’t have enough power to see what will really be coming in the days ahead.”
“I already know his future.” Now Heather was talking to Jade, not Az, and her cheeks flushed red. “I saw it when he fell. I took his blood, and I saw what could be.”
Jade noted the phrasing. “There’s a big difference between what will be and what could be.” She could yank that claw-like hand off Az. Or Jade could be a lady for a few more minutes.
The witch inclined her head. “Angels are harder to read because they take a whole lot of power, but humans, ah, humans I get right every time.” And her hand fell away from Az.
Good move, but…“I’m not bleeding for you.” They were wasting time with this talk. She’d come to the voodoo shop for one reason—weapons. Tanner had promised Jade that he could give her what she needed.
No way am I going into an ambush without power.
But Tanner wasn’t speaking, and Az—well, at least he’d managed to look away from the mirror.
“Sooner or later, you will bleed.” Heather seemed absolutely confident. The red had begun to fade from her cheeks so the woman must have been getting her control back.
The crazy witch could be as confident as she wanted to be. But Jade was getting out of there. The incense in the place was driving her crazy and making her temples pound.
“Give us the weapons,” Jade ordered, “and then we’ll get out of here.”
“You don’t need to leave.” Tanner frowned at her. “This place is safe. You can stay here until our meeting at dawn.”
Jade didn’t want to stay there, but Az was nodding. What? Since when was he game-on for trusting these two?
“There’s a room you can use upstairs,” Heather said with an airy wave of her hand. “Get some rest, and we’ll make sure that you stay safe.”
She’d make sure, huh? “Why doesn’t that reassure me?” Jade fumed.
“Because you expect everyone to betray you.” Heather’s instant answer. “Most of the time, you’re right. This time, you’re wrong.”
Doubtful. “You already betrayed Az.”
“To save others.”
So she said. Because he was the evil angel.
“This is personal.” The witch’s voice had softened. “Brandt took away something very precious to me.” Her hands fisted. “Now I want to take everything away from him.”
Join the club. “I’m not here to trade sob stories with you, lady.”
Heather stiffened.
“I want weapons.” That had been the deal. Az might be able to kill with a touch— still scary— but she didn’t have that super skill, and regular bullets just weren’t going to cut it for her.
“Of course.” Heather strolled toward a heavy, wooden cabinet. She swung open the doors.
Wow.
Dozens of weapons gleamed back at Jade. Knives. Guns. Bullets. Even what looked like an old broadsword.
“Will you feel better if you’re armed with silver?” Heather’s voice held only mild curiosity.
“Yes, I will.” Lots better.
“But we’d feel even better,” Az said, finally speaking, “if we have more of these.” Then Az pulled out a bullet from his pocket. Because of its color, she recognized it instantly. It was the same bullet that Jade had dug out of his back.
She hadn’t even realized he’d retrieved it from the nightstand back at the cabin. Tricky angel.
The witch glanced at the bullet, and Jade saw the slight widening of her eyes. Such a faint movement, and Heather recovered quickly.
The witch reached for the bullet. She lifted it toward the light. Tested its weight. “This isn’t like any bullet I’ve seen before.” She brought it close to her nose and inhaled. “Brimstone.”
Now Jade was the one to stare in surprise. “As in hell and brimstone?”
A nod. Heather’s fingers curled around the bullet. “Let me keep it. I’ll see what I can find and?—”
In an instant, Az had the bullet back in his own hand. Sometimes, Jade loved that super speed of his.
“Or not,” Heather finished softly. She smiled. “I’d imagine a bullet like that would be very handy. It could probably take down just about anything.”
Even an angel? If the bullet had hit Az in the heart, would it have killed him?
Enough of this. Jade pushed by the witch and reached for the silver bullets that were calling to her. She loaded them into her gun. Then decided to grab an extra weapon, just in case.
A woman could never be too careful.
“Now go rest,” Tanner encouraged them. “Take the room at the top of the stairs. We’ll set up the meeting.”
Her gaze met Az’s.
Trust.
Hell, no, she didn’t have it to give. But Jade nodded and followed Az from the room.
Someone would be dying come dawn. That someone just wouldn’t be her.