Angel of Darkness (The Fallen 1)

Her hands fisted.

“I’m not talking about a level two.” Keenan glanced over his shoulder and his gaze tracked to the door. That thin wooden door wouldn’t keep out anyone for long. Surely not someone like Connor McQueen.

“Then what are you talkin’?” Max demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Powerful.” Keenan looked back at him. “High-end. Strong enough to burn the city to the ground around you.”

“Wh-what?” Nicole gasped. The demon who’d come hunting for her had been that strong? No, no way, he’d turned tail and ran. The strong didn’t run. Just the weak.

Me.

The faint smile slipped from Max’s face. His eyes measured Keenan. “What are you?”

Nicole stepped closer to him. “I already told you, he’s with me.”

“He’s no pet.”

Pet—the slang for human prey that a vamp drank and f**ked. She swallowed. “Yes, he is.” Nicole felt Keenan’s gaze dip to her face.

But Max didn’t seem to be buying her story. A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I want you both out of here. I don’t care how much money you have, you get the f**k out!” He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “I don’t want no level-ten demon comin’ after my ass.”

“But if he did,” Keenan murmured, “how would you fight him?”

Max’s lips parted on a surprised breath.

A soft knock sounded at the door. Soft—such a lie. Nicole moved fast as she spun and put her back against Keenan’s. The better to fight and defend.

So two seconds later, when the lock shattered and the door burst open, she was ready to meet Connor’s black stare.

“Hello, there, love,” he told her, his voice flowing with the faintest of English accents. “Fancy meeting you in a hellhole like this.”

Hard fingers squeezed her shoulder. Keenan. No. He’d whirled around at Connor’s entrance, giving his back to Max. A fatal mistake with a vampire.

Nicole grabbed Keenan’s arm and yanked him out of the way—just as Max came at him, with claws and teeth ready. Max hit her instead, taking her down to the floor. His claws scraped down her arm, but she punched at him and slammed her fist into his jaw. Max’s head snapped back, and she twisted as she managed to roll away from him.

When she leapt back to her feet, she saw that Connor stood in the doorway, fangs glinting. Two other vamps waited behind him. Figured. Connor had always liked an audience.

“You’re bleeding.” Keenan’s too-calm voice came from her right.

She didn’t want to think about her arm. Those claws had stung like a bitch. “I’m fine.” Actually, they were screwed. Connor was blocking the only way out.

Coming there had been a serious mistake.

“You shouldn’t have brought your pet,” Max sneered as he circled her and Keenan. He wiped away the blood that trickled from his lips, then he licked his bloodstained fingers. “Only vamps dine here. Everyone else is on the menu.”

“Yeah, coming here was a great idea,” she muttered, trying to put her body in front of Keenan’s. She offered a big, fake smile to the others. “My mistake. Won’t happen again.”

“Nicole.” Connor purred her name. “Of all the vamps, you’re the last one I expected to see tonight.”

“Who is he?” Keenan growled.

Connor’s smile was too knowing. “I’m the one who taught her about the sweet mix of pleasure and pain.”

She would not go there.

“We killed together …” He said, voice dipping with the memories. “Then I drank from her, and—”

And Keenan was on him. Holy shit, she hadn’t even seen the guy move! Keenan had his hand wrapped around Connor’s throat and Connor’s minions were staring with wide eyes because—damn—he’d moved fast.

“Nicole doesn’t kill.” Keenan’s dark, rumbling voice filled the room.

Connor’s claws slashed down Keenan’s arms. “Yes, mate … she does. Not that she … had much … choice …”

Max tried to run at Keenan’s back. Again. This time, Nicole just grabbed the gun he’d been fool enough to leave out, and she shot him.

Max howled and fell to the ground. Silver might not kill their kind, but any bullet, especially one fired at close range and right into a man’s spine, would hurt like hell.

The gunshot had every eye turning to her. She readjusted her aim as she pointed at the minions. “Step toward him, and you’ll be digging out silver.”

They didn’t move.

“You’re … defending me?” Keenan’s brows rose. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah, well,” neither did I, “you saved my ass, so I figure now it’s my turn.”

He nodded. “But I didn’t need your help.”

Ungrateful much?

Keenan stared into Connor’s eyes. “Do you want to die?”

Connor jerked free. He’d always been strong. “Bastard, I am dead. And so are you. Nikki doesn’t have the balls to shoot me, not after what we went through. So I’ll cut you up, I’ll drain you and then—”

Nicole shot Connor right in the chest. He stumbled back, then fell, screaming her name.

“It’s because of what we went through,” she whispered, aware that her fingers were shaking, “that I can shoot you.” Because she knew just how vicious Connor could be. Shoot or die. She didn’t want to die.

“Bitch!” Connor shoved a hand against his chest, and his fingers were immediately stained with blood.

Shouts echoed from the bar. Of course, the other vampires had heard the gunshots. With their enhanced hearing, there had been no way for them to miss the shots. Even humans wouldn’t miss the sounds of gunfire. Getting out of that place would be a nightmare.

Keenan stepped back.

“There’s got to be another way out of here,” Nicole said, her gaze sweeping the room and her hands still trembling. Didn’t kill him. She’d just slowed Connor down. He’d recover the moment he got his fangs into one of his bimbos’ throats.

Not a human. Not dead. She tried to take a deep breath.

The minions had slipped away. They’d probably be back with reinforcements. “Maybe another door—”

“No, shit, no, leave me alone!”

Her head snapped to the left. Keenan was crouched next to Max, and the angel had a knife in his hand. Where had Keenan gotten that? And he’d just sliced the vamp.