Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
For as long as Tanner could remember, Cody had been able to steal faces.
Stealing faces. That was what they’d called it when they were kids. Cody had learned the trick by accident. He’d been trying to shift into a panther. How many times had he tried? Over and over, only the shift had never worked. He’d been so angry. So tired.
Their father had been yelling at him. Getting ready to swipe out with his claws because Cody was such a “fucking failure” to him.
Then the change happened.
Cody had taken their father’s face. Become him in an instant.
Cody couldn’t shift into an animal. Couldn’t become the panther. But he could borrow the face and body of any person he saw.
Their father had been pissed when he’d seen the change. Pissed—and far from impressed. Turning into another person didn’t amp up Cody’s powers.
Animals were what mattered to him. Panthers had the power.
Cody’s little trick had been useless to the old bastard.
Tanner had taken the attack that his father launched. He’d been the one to scream when his father’s claws had sunk into his back while Cody shifted back to his own form.
Tanner took a breath and stared at Cody. His brother was an exact copy of him. Even had his voice. “Enough.”
With a shrug, Cody’s own face and form slowly appeared again.
Most demons could manage basic glamour. Cloaking their eye color was second nature to them. Had to be because the eye trick was an adaptation necessary for their survival. But with Cody, that adaptation went up to a whole different level.
“How many other demons in New Orleans can do what you do?” Tanner wanted to know.
Cody’s lips tightened, and Tanner realized he wasn’t going to like the answer even before his brother replied, “None. You’re looking at a one-hit wonder, bro. No way can the others manage what I do.”
“There has to be another!” Marna denied at once. “There has to be.”
Damn right, there did. Tanner kept his stare on Cody. “It’s rare, I get that. But level tens can do just about anything.” There were more demons who could transform. “You find out who the other demon is in this town.”
“I’m telling you, there is no other demon?—”
“Because he took my form,” Tanner snapped. “He took my face, my body, and he tried to kill a cop.”
Cody’s mouth hung open in surprise.
“And he took my form,” Marna added, voice tight. “He went into an alley, and he killed two shifters, all while he was using my face.”
But Cody was shaking his head. “Th-there’s no other! Just me!” His hands trembled at his sides. “Don’t you think I’ve looked for others? Do you think I want to be the only freak out there? It’s not just about demon power. It’s about the shifter blood in me. I can shift, but only into other people. No one else can do that!”
“Someone else has to be doing it.” Tanner was adamant. Because if there wasn’t someone else. Fuck, no…it’s not him.
Cody couldn’t be setting him up.
But...
But he could be after Marna’s blood, a sly voice whispered in his mind.
Now that Cody knew just how powerful it was, just how much people would be willing to pay for it, had he been tempted? Money had driven plenty of people to murder.
Not him. Tanner wouldn’t believe it. Not yet.
“You’re shifting.” Tanner got the difference. “But another demon could just be using level ten glamour. Not actually becoming someone else the way you do. Just making an illusion. Find the demon who is doing that. Find him ,” Tanner said again, and he knew by the tense expression on Cody’s face that his brother understood what he was saying—and what he wasn’t.
“It’s not me,” Cody whispered.
Tanner nodded, but he saw the flash of fear on Marna’s face. He might be willing to trust his brother, but why would she? Why should she?
He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Trust me.” She didn’t have to trust Cody.
She nodded, and for just a second, time seemed to slow for him. Did she realize what she was doing?
“But what’s gonna happen with you?” Cody wanted to know then as he rocked forward nervously on the balls of his feet. “Your police captain is dead. You can’t just go waltzing back to the station now.”
No, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be heading back, not until he was sure the other cops weren’t about to turn on him, too. “We’re staying low.” He hunted better in the darkness, anyway.
“I hope you make that damn low,” Cody advised him. “Because as long as you keep staying with her…” An incline of his head toward Marna. “You’re at the top of the supernatural hit list.”
Bring it.
“I’m getting off that list,” Marna said as her fingers tightened around Tanner’s. “I’m going to see Sammael right now, and I’m getting off that list. ”
Easier said than done.
And the truth was…he didn’t want her to get that deadly power back. If she killed when she touched, would she pull away from him? Be afraid to touch him?
But if she wanted to see Sammael, he’d take her to the Fallen. Hell, there probably wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for her.
“Twenty-four hours,” he told Cody with a hard stare. Because it was time to move. “We each do our hunting, then we meet back here.” Plenty of time to kill.
And killing was exactly what he had planned.
Cody nodded.
Twenty-four hours.
His brother turned away. Tanner kept his gaze on him and knew that while they were apart, he’d be doing more of his own digging. And if he found out that Cody was stealing his face again…
Could he put his brother in the ground?
Tanner glanced back at Marna.
He just might have to.
He’d lost their scent. Dammit. The angel had disappeared, running too fast with her shifter.
After all of his plans, his careful schemes, they’d vanished into the swamp. Why couldn’t he find them? He could always find anyone, at any time. That was part of his power.
But...
He couldn’t find her.
Was something happening? He stared down at his hands. He’d washed the blood away in the water. His new trinkets were stowed in the bag near his hip. New weapons—courtesy of his last victim—that would come in handy soon.
Over the years, he’d learned to be creative with his kills. Sometimes, simple bullets did the trick. Other times, more exotic methods were needed. Especially when he wanted to make his prey scream and beg for mercy.
Not that he was the merciful sort. No, he was far more into retribution and pain.
He glanced up, and his gaze swept the thick vegetation once more.
Where was she?
And why the hell wasn’t she appreciating all that he was doing for her? He’d taken care of the two shifters in that shit-forsaken alley. Gotten rid of the cop who could ID her. He knew the kid must have seen her in that SUV.
Well, he’d almost gotten rid of the young cop. A quick trip to the hospital would finish the job. He’d be making that trip, after he disposed of Cody and Tanner.
He’d even taken out that asshole tonight, for her . He hadn’t wanted the panther to decide to try for Marna again. So he’d eliminated Russell. Made the bastard suffer for his crimes.
He was doing everything for her, but she?—
She just kept running from him.
Didn’t she realize what was happening? She was getting weaker, but he kept getting stronger. He could show her the way. He’d teach her everything she needed to know.
If she would just stop hiding from him.
He slipped back through the swamp and headed for his car. The fire trucks had finally cleared out. The firefighters and uniforms on scene had been so clueless. They hadn’t even found the bodies in the swamp. Not that there had been much to find, not after he’d taken care of things.
Captain Jillian Pope had already disappeared. Unless Tanner talked, no one would ever know what had happened to her.
She wasn’t the first he’d let disappear into this swamp. It was such a good dumping ground. The gators that liked to come out at night were always so hungry.
Not the first. Jillian wouldn’t be the last, either. With his power growing, why stop? There were so many in this world who deserved what he would give them.
But not his angel.
She deserved to be at his side. Fighting with him.
Soon, she’d see that. He’d make her see it. Once Tanner Chance was dead at her feet, she’d finally understand, and she’d be grateful for all that he was giving her.
Normally, Marna knew, it wasn’t easy to get an audience with Sammael. Though he was a Fallen, he kept an army-load of demons at his beck and call. Those demons spent most of their time guarding the big boss.
Hoping to cut through that demon line, Tanner took her to the back door of Sammael’s newly rebuilt club, Sunrise, and he flashed his badge.
She thought the badge bit might work, but the demons just laughed.
When Tanner pulled out his claws, they stopped laughing.
“Sammael,” Tanner snarled. “We want to see him, now. ”
His body was partially blocking hers, but Marna felt the eyes of the demons as they raked her.
“You don’t demand to see anyone?—”
Tanner grabbed the demon by the throat and lifted him a good foot off the floor. “Yeah, I do. Sammael. Now. ”
Marna’s breath rushed out. The demon he was lifting had to weigh about three hundred pounds—and it looked like that weight was all muscle.
Tanner held him with one hand. With his other, he pointed to the demon still blocking the back door. “You.” A smaller demon—though not by much—with tattoos that circled his arms and neck. “Let your boss know we’re here.”
The heavy metal door behind the smaller demon slid open. “He already knows.” Sammael sauntered out. He raised a brow when he saw the demon squirming in Tanner’s grasp. “Want to let Tommy go?”
Tanner dropped him. Tommy surged right back up with a wild yell, coming at Tanner with his hands fisted.
Tanner punched him in the chest, and Tommy toppled back down. Before the demon could get back on his feet, Sammael lifted one hand. “Enough.” Lethally soft, but packed with power. “As fun as watching a beat down is, I don’t have the time for it now.”
The demon froze. Marna hurried forward and made sure to move into the thin stream of light that spilled out from a nearby window. “I need to talk with you.”
“And you brought your guard…cat with you.” Sammael smiled, a chilling sight. “How charming.”
“Listen, Sam,” Tanner began, surging forward.
“No, you listen. I’m not one of your dumb criminals that you can chase down.” He shrugged, then lifted his hands in front of him. “I’m Sammael. All-fucking-powerful Fallen. And I can kill you as soon as look at you.”
Marna’s heart stopped.
But then a woman’s hand, fingers tipped with a blood-red polish, slid over Sammael’s shoulder. “Easy. You know you wanted to visit with her again.”
And Marna’s heart started racing in a double-time beat. Sammael’s face softened as he turned to stare at the woman behind him. Marna knew who she was, of course. Every angel knew.
Seline O’Shaw.
Seline O’Shaw had been in heaven, for a very brief time. Half succubus, half angel, Seline was now a legend in heavenly circles.
It had taken a little matter of dying for Seline’s angel side to come out and take over. Only once she’d entered heaven, Sammael hadn’t been ready to let her go. He’d fought everyone in his path, been willing to sacrifice his life—just to get back to her.
After that, everyone had known that the mighty Sammael had a weakness.
Her .
Seline stared at Marna with sad eyes. “I’m sorry about your wings. ”
Marna rolled her shoulders. The scarring was actually starting to itch a bit. Weird. “And I’m sorry about…” What? The fact that Seline had chosen to come back to earth? To stay with a man who most angels thought was becoming a true devil? She cleared her throat and decided not to say anything.
Seline’s slightly wicked smile told Marna that she understood. “Let’s go inside,” Seline invited, “so we can talk in private.”
“Beats standing around with our asses out in the open,” Tanner muttered, but he tossed Marna one more glance. His expression seemed to say, You okay with this?
She nodded and then followed him inside. The door closed behind them with a bang that made her jump. She glanced up and found that Sammael had moved to look at her.
Frowning, he said, “My dear lost angel, we aren’t the ones who jump. We’re the ones who make everyone else want to shit their pants.”
If only.
They walked down a long corridor. Music beat. Pulsed. They didn’t head out into the main section of the bar, but instead followed a twisting staircase upstairs. Marna glanced down. Saw all the bodies. The couples making out. Heat and lust seemed to pour from the people on the dance floor.
No wonder a succubus had been hiding there. It would have been the perfect place for Seline, before she’d changed.
Marna’s gaze tracked up a bit as she climbed the stairs. Wait…was that a golden cage, hanging from the ceiling?
“Want to give it a try?” Seline murmured.
Tanner growled. Marna didn’t speak because… maybe. There were two women in that suspended cage right then. Dancing. Gyrating their hips.
She bumped into Tanner’s back. He caught her hand and steadied her. His gaze searched hers. “Marna?”
She realized that he’d barely glanced at the dancing women or the throng below. And…his attention always seemed to be on her. On what she was doing and feeling. She wasn’t wildly sexy like the others there, certainly not like Seline who seemed to ooze sex appeal. When it came to sexy, no one beat an ex-succubus. A succubus was made for sin.
But Tanner always looked at Marna like he could eat her alive.
It was nice. Hot.
They climbed the rest of the stairs in silence, then entered a room on the right. Tinted windows let them look down onto the dance floor, but Sammael assured them, “No one out there can see or hear anything that goes on in here.”
Good, and a little scary.
“I was wondering when you’d be coming by.” Sammael lowered his body onto a leather couch. Seline perched on the arm rest near him. He quirked an eyebrow at Tanner. “Especially since it looks like I’ll be having to kill your brother.”
Tanner lunged toward him, but Marna grabbed his arm as she fought to pull him back.
Sammael smiled.
“You won’t, ” Tanner growled.
“If he keeps selling angel blood, I will.” The second dark eyebrow rose. “Do you know how many vamps I’ve killed in the last few weeks, all because those fools thought that they’d get a taste of my blood?” Then his gaze hardened. His hand came up, and his fingers curved around Seline’s leg. “Or hers?” Real rage burned in his eyes, and Marna realized she and Tanner were very lucky Sammael hadn’t already attacked.
Nothing could stop him when he went on a rampage. She’d seen his handiwork before. Had to clean up the bodies and collect the souls that had been left behind.
“He’s not selling any more blood.” Tanner’s hands had fisted. Were his claws coming out? The last thing she wanted was for him to battle Sammael.
“He’d better not.” A deadly promise. “I owe you and Cody because you helped Az.”
Just the mention of Az’s name stirred so many memories for Marna. She’d once been tasked with taking the soul of Az’s human mate. Like Sammael, he hadn’t been willing to give up the woman he loved. And when he’d refused…
That was when Marna had been attacked.
“Az and I both owe you,” Sammael said, only he was looking at her now.
Marna’s chin rose. “Cody won’t sell the blood again. And you’re right, you do owe us.” Her shoulders were straight, her muscles tense. She wouldn’t show him any more fear. “So I want you to pay that debt.”
“How?”
Seline watched in silence.
Marna hesitated. Tanner’s body was still locked in battle-ready mode. “I want you to teach me to kill.” She lifted her hands and held them, palms out, toward Sammael. “With a touch.”
A faint line appeared between his brows, but it was Seline who asked, “You mean you can’t?”
Marna shook her head.
“Power comes back in different ways, for different angels.” Sammael didn’t seem particularly concerned. Since it wasn’t his life, why would he be? “Give it time,” he directed with a shrug. “You’ve only been walking the earth a few months. You’ll get stronger?—”
“Time is what I don’t have.” She pulled in a ragged breath. “If I’m going to keep living, then I need to know how to kill.”
Waves of tension seemed to roll off Tanner.
“Can you stir the fire?” Seline asked.
Marna nodded. “But fire isn’t much good against a demon.”
“And that’s what we’re facing,” Tanner said as he stood with his legs braced apart. “The vamps want her blood, yeah, we know that, but there’s a dangerous bastard out there. One who is pulling puppet strings and stealing faces.”
Seline blinked her perfect eyes. “Stealing what?”
“He changed himself,” Marna explained as her gaze darted to the window. To the mass of bodies below. Was anyone ever truly who you thought? “He took my body, my face, and he killed two shifters.”
“Interesting.” From Sammael.
“It’s not interesting, ” Tanner fired back. “It’s dangerous.”
The right side of Sammael’s mouth kicked up into a half-smile. He sure seemed to like smiling. “Let me guess…he took your form, too?”
“And nearly killed a cop. This SOB is gunning for us, and we will take him out.” Tanner’s vow.
But Marna said, “If we’re dealing with a powerful demon, fire won’t stop him. That means I can’t stop him.” She didn’t have Tanner’s certainty that they were going to win the day.
“Hmmm.” Sammael’s fingers stroked Seline’s leg in an absent caress. “But your shifter’s claws should do the trick. Unless, of course, he’s too squeamish to kill his own brother.”
He knows what Cody can do.
“Like you were too squeamish to kill yours?” Tanner threw back.
The air in the room got very, very thick.
Sammael’s fingers stopped their stroking. “You should be careful, shifter.”
“No, you should be.” Tanner lifted up his claws. “I know how to kill you, too.”
Had anyone else ever stood up to Sammael before? Marna didn’t think so. If they had, those beings hadn’t exactly lived to tell the story.
Sammael threw back his head and laughed. Wait, laughed?
Tanner wasn’t laughing with him.
“I like you, shifter,” Sammael said once he’d gained control of himself. It looked like Seline might have pinched him. “You’re not afraid to piss off Death.”
No, he wasn’t.
Marna cleared her throat. “Can we get back to the death touch?” Or did they just want to fill the room with more supernatural testosterone? From where she stood, there was already plenty of that in the place. Enough to choke her and Seline.
Sammael gave a slow nod. “So you want to be able to kill demons.”
“But what if a demon isn’t the one…ah…” Seline cleared her throat and finished, “stealing faces?”
“Demons can work glamour like no one else,” Tanner said. “It has to be one of them. No one else can?—”
But Sammael had turned to glance first at Seline, then at Marna. His brows lowered as he studied her. “Why haven’t you told him?”
She stared back at him, lost. There was nothing to tell.
“Marna…” Sammael sighed her name as if she were a naughty child. To one as ancient as he was, maybe she was. “You and I both know that demons aren’t the only ones who can change their forms.” Then his gaze turned back to Tanner. “Surely you’ve heard the legends about demons, about how they first came to be.”
Tanner’s back was to the tinted glass and the throng of dancers. “They were descended from the Fallen.”
“Um, yes, and so where do you think that handy glamour magic first came from, huh?” He waited a beat, then said, “Angels. They’re the ones who mastered glamour long before any demons walked the earth. Angels can change their appearances, too. Much, much easier than any demon can.”
Cody hurried down the darkened street. His neck had healed, but his gut twisted with every step he took. Another demon in New Orleans who could steal faces? How the hell had he missed that?
He’d always thought he was alone. A freak, even among demons. Others of his kind could stir powerful magic. Control the minds of humans. Not him.
His father had once said that he was a curse. Unable to shift into the powerful form of a panther, what good had he been? His father had laughed and mocked him for only being able to shift his physical appearance so that he looked like humans.
“ Fucking useless. Should have killed you the first day I realized the panther didn’t live inside of you. ” His father’s words rang in his ears.
And the bastard had tried to kill him. He would have succeeded, if Tanner hadn’t been there. Jumping in, taking those blows and the slices from their father’s claws.
Tanner had saved him more times than Cody could count. And Cody would not fail him now. He could do this. He could find the other freak and?—
A footstep shuffled lightly behind him. Cody spun around. He didn’t have senses as strong as a regular shifter. Another fucking failure . He’d been caught unaware too many times before.
But no one was there.
His gaze swept the alley. Left to right. In the distance, he could hear the sound of laughter. Catcalls. Drunken voices. He wasn’t headed to Bourbon Street. The crowd he looked for would be hiding in the deeper parts of the city. The darker parts that humans always stayed away from, as if sensing the danger.
Some animal instincts existed even within pureblood humans. Smart humans didn’t ignore those instincts.
He turned around, hunched his shoulders, and picked up his pace. He’d search as many demon bars as he could. Money talked in this town, and thanks to that angel blood, he had plenty of cash.
If there was another freak out there, he’d find him.
Cody rounded the corner. He had to cross through another dark, tight stretch of alley space. Then he’d be at the first bar. Maybe he’d get lucky, maybe?—
The whisper of a footstep behind him had Cody tensing. He whirled around.
Not alone this time.
A figure stepped from the shadows. A figure with hulking shoulders. Matted, dark hair, and a face that still chased Cody in his nightmares.
“Hello, son,” his father said, as he raised a claw-tipped hand. “It’s been too long.”
Tanner stared at Sammael, body tensed. The Fallen looked too confident. Far too cocky. He’d never trusted this prick—because Tanner wasn’t an idiot.
And now Sammael—Sam—was smiling at Marna.
“Her blue eyes are so pretty, aren’t they? It would seem that most angels have blue eyes.” Sam tapped his chin. “That’s a lie, of course.”
“Angels can’t lie—” Marna began.
But Sam just laughed. “When the emotions get strong enough, when you lose that last thread of control inside yourself, the glamour that’s been in place since the moment you were created will falter. Your shifter…” Sam waved toward Tanner. “He’ll look into your eyes and see the darkness that all angels try so hard to hide.”
But Tanner wasn’t looking into Marna’s eyes. He was staring at Sam, and as he stared, Sam’s eyes began to darken. Dark. Darker. Until…
They were as black as a demon’s eyes.
“The apple really doesn’t fall so far from the poisoned tree,” Sam murmured.
Seline frowned at him. “Sam, we’ve been over this. You aren’t evil.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Right. I’m just not good, either.” He entwined his fingers with hers. “Most angels are like me, a mix of the two. So much power, bottled up inside, and waiting to explode.”
The more Tanner learned about angels, the less he liked. Weren’t there already enough monsters in the world? Monsters like me.
Couldn’t the angels have just been the good guys, for once? He had to kick vampire ass. Demon ass. Now angel ass? There were so many jerks to get in line to meet his claws.
“Different demons have different powers,” Tanner said, trying to puzzle this mess out. “My brother…”
Sam leaned forward. “Yes, let’s hear more about him. I’ve been so curious.” A dangerous edge had entered his voice. “Three brothers. One half angel. One half demon. And then there’s…you.”
Tanner straightened his shoulders. “You stay the hell away from my brother, understand?”
Sam didn’t appear intimidated. He would be once Tanner had his claws at the bastard’s neck.
It was Seline who delicately cleared her throat. “Ah, Marna, perhaps you should stop thinking so much about demons. They’re really not all bad, you know.”
Since she was half-demon, Tanner figured the lady was speaking from experience.
“Just as angels aren’t all good,” Marna said, speaking from her experience . “I know that…now.”
“Fast learner,” Sam acknowledged with a sly half-grin.
Marna shook her head. “No. If I was, I’d be able to kill by now.” Her hands had clenched into fists. “Instead, I’m helpless when demons attack.”
Sam rose slowly and stalked toward her. Tanner tensed, ready to go at him?—
“Keep those claws away from me, panther.” Sam’s flat order. “I’m not going to hurt her.”
“You damn well aren’t.”
Sam reached for Marna’s clenched hands. He lifted them. Held them cradled within his palms.
The panther began to growl.
“We don’t lose the power of the death touch when we fall. The power is still there. It comes back to each angel of death. It just comes back at different times.”
“And I’m supposed to do what?” Marna asked. “Wait? Hide?”
He shook his head. “ Fight. It’s only when you pull forth the fury inside that you can ignite the death touch.” His fingers tightened around hers. “It’s simple, little angel. You just have to want to kill badly enough. When you want death more than you want life, the touch will be there for you again.”
Marna looked…lost.
He dropped her hands. “You just have to get angry enough. You have to want to kill.” He turned his back to her.
Marna grabbed his shoulder and jerked him around to face her. “I did. ” Her cheeks flushed. “When Tanner was on the ground, when that bitch stabbed him in the heart, I wanted to kill more than I wanted my next breath.” Shame and fury darkened her words.
Tanner watched her in surprise. So much emotion boiled from within her.
“I wanted to kill all those who were hunting us. I wanted to destroy them.” Her nails dug into Sam’s shoulder. “But I couldn’t. I can stir fire, but can’t do much else. And while I do nothing, those hunting me just keep killing, using my face. ”
Silence.
Marna pulled in a deep breath and let her hand fall away from him. “Angels of death don’t…steal faces,” she stated, hesitating only briefly. Tanner noticed that her fingers were trembling. “Neither do guardian angels. Guardians watch over their charges. They help. They guide unnoticed. They don’t change into something— someone— else and kill.” Marna turned away from Sam. Now her fingers reached for Tanner. “Coming here was a mistake.” She pulled him toward the door. “Sammael doesn’t want to help. He just wants to blame all the angels who still do their jobs. The ones who didn’t go on a murdering rampage and fall like he did.”
He had to be staring at a ghost. Shock had held Cody immobile as he faced his worst nightmare. A nightmare that couldn’t be there.
The moments ticked past as he faced the monster he’d never be able to forget. “You’re dead,” Cody muttered.
But the bastard just smiled, flashing his growing fangs. “Am I?”
Cody shoved him away and turned to run.
Then his father tackled him. Cody’s face slammed into the pavement.
“You always were a shit-poor runner.”
Cody tasted blood in his mouth. He rolled and tried to punch at the bastard.
His father laughed and easily dodged the blow, but when he dodged, he had to back up. Cody sprang to his feet and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You aren’t my father. Who the hell are you?”
Stealing faces. This prick might look like the bastard who’d tormented him, but he wasn’t. No way. His father was rotting away in the ground. Not walking the streets of New Orleans and laughing.
His father had never laughed. Not even when he tortured his prey. Cody had never heard laughter come from the bastard’s thin lips.
“It’s your fault I’m dead,” the prick said, raising his claws. Familiar claws. Tanner had claws just like them now. Not me. Cody would never belong with the other shifters. He couldn’t so much as flash a fang when he got pissed. “If you’d been better, stronger, I never would have died.”
No. Cody’s chin lifted. Sure, he’d once thought…
If I’d been better, stronger…then my father wouldn’t be such a twisted freak. He wouldn’t be so angry all the time. He wouldn’t hurt us so much.
“It’s your fault,” the bastard said. “I can feel your guilt. I’ve always felt it.”
“You don’t feel anything.” It’s not my fault the bastard was screwed up. He’d been that way before Cody was born. He’d been a sadistic freak until he took his last, blood-filled breath. “And I don’t know what the fuck you are, but you should stay away from me.”
The guy wearing his father’s face smiled. “I’m not going to stay away.” He lunged forward and drove his claws into Cody’s stomach before he had the chance to scream. “I’m here to kill you.”
Oh, damn, his Marna was showing some bite. And if she wanted to get away from the jerk Fallen, he was happy to oblige her. Tanner made sure to cover her back as they headed for the door. Ladies first.
“Angels of death and guardians aren’t the only angels out there,” Seline called out. “I’m sure not one of them.”
Marna hesitated.
“If someone is killing, hurting others, then you need to look toward the darker angels.” Seline’s voice held no emotion.
“Angels aren’t goodness and light,” Sam muttered. No, that guy sure as shit wasn’t.
Marna glanced back over her shoulder. “P-punishment angels.”
“Now you’re understanding.” Sam seemed satisfied.
Fine. So she was understanding. Tanner wasn’t. He whirled to face Sam. “For the angel-fucking-impaired here, just tell me what the hell is going on.”
But it was Marna who spoke. Marna who’d known this all along? “Punishment angels can take different…guises…when they deliver their justice.”
Dammit. He wasn’t liking the sound of this.
“They can take the appearance of any person that you’ve wronged. When you see them coming for you…guilt…” Marna swallowed. “Guilt can freeze you.”
“And while you freeze, while you are too freaked out to fight,” Seline continued quietly as she walked slowly toward the bar and poured herself a drink, “that’s when a punishment angel strikes.” Her smile was sad. “It was one of the first lessons they taught me.” She pointed to the ceiling. “You know, before I decided the view down here was so much better than the one up there.”
“I do make for an awesome view,” Sam announced with a flash of his teeth.
Seriously—what the hell did that woman see in him?
But at least they’d given him some ideas. And at least now his brother wasn’t the only guy in town who could be listed as a suspect.
Except…a punishment angel?
“They’re one of the few types of angels who can walk right among the humans,” Sam added, eyes hardening.
“They walk with them,” Marna said. “The better to punish.” Her voice had lowered.
“Know your enemy.” Sam’s advice. “From the sound of things, you need to get to know him pretty fucking fast.”
Tanner cast a searching glance at Marna. The bastard out there killing hadn’t come at either one of them directly. Not yet, anyway. He’d gone after the shifters. That cop, and?—
“An angel couldn’t kill so freely. Only death angels are supposed to take lives. This hunter isn’t a death angel.” Marna was definite. “So you’re wrong, Sammael. This isn’t one of ours.”
Ours.
“It’s someone else,” she insisted. “A demon, a?—”
“Punishment angels can become corrupted, too, you know. All angels can be tempted.”
Marna’s gaze found Tanner’s.
“And we can all fall,” Sam finished softly. “I think that’s a truth you’re beginning to understand.”
Too late, though. They’d sent Cody out to hunt for the killer, but how was he supposed to fight an angel? Tanner yanked open the door. He spared one final glare for Sam. “Spread the word. Make sure the twisted freaks in this town who fear you know that she’s off-limits. They’re not getting her blood.”
Marna slipped through the doorway.
Sam inclined his head. “I’m already spreading that word. I think the dead demons and vamps I’ve left will make the fools think twice before any other attacks.”
Sam’s emotionless voice as he talked about killing reminded Tanner of the Fallen’s words from just moments before.
Not evil. Not good.
Clenching his teeth, Tanner hurried after Marna. He didn’t like talking to Sam. Didn’t like it at all because?—
He’s too much like me.
Not good.
And with more evil growing inside each day.