Angel of Darkness (The Fallen 1)

No emotion. Ever. He was the perfect death angel.

While Keenan knew he’d been … lacking.

“I didn’t think you’d find your charge so quickly,” Az said, cocking his head slowly to the side. His voice was a strong rumble that filled the night.

Keenan tossed a fast glance over his shoulder. Nicole had started to edge out of the truck. “Stay back there!” He barked. “Don’t let him touch you!”

One touch was all that death needed. Since Nicole couldn’t see Az coming, she’d be helpless against that simple touch.

Keenan put his body between Az and Nicole. He didn’t want the guy so much as looking at her. “What are you doing here?”

Az blinked. “You know why I’m here.” He shrugged. “You know why I’m always here.”

“Death.” It’s what they were. All they knew.

“Relax. Just because I’m here, it doesn’t mean she’s dying tonight.”

“No, she’s not.”

Az gazed at him with those glittering eyes. “But a soul will pass soon.”

Nicole’s soul. Fury had him stepping closer to Az. “Why?”

“The job was never finished.” Said simply. Az wore clothes any mortal would possess—jeans, a white shirt. He could have passed for a human … if those giant black wings hadn’t been bursting right through the back of his conjured shirt. An angel could always conjure any clothing to fit over his wings.

“The job is over,” Keenan told him as he braced his body for attack.

Az didn’t move. “You know she’s marked for death.”

Keenan shook his head. “No. She lived that night. Fate changed.” He’d made it change.

“It’s not that easy, and you know it. You can’t just switch one soul for another. That’s not the way it works.”

“I didn’t fall …” Just to lose her.

Az watched him in silence. Then, after a moment, Az told him, “Her name’s in the book.”

Az’s famous book. Once a scroll, now a Who’s Who List of the To-Be-Dead. The book included the names of both those deemed blessed and those deemed damned.

Once the name was in the book, there was no going back. So the stories said.

“How long does she have?” Keenan asked, voice rough. If her name had just come up, she’d have forty days. After forty days, the soul had to be taken from the charge’s body.

Only he hadn’t taken her soul before.

And it won’t be taken now.

“Ten days.”

What?

“Maybe less.” Az shrugged. “I truly thought it would take you longer to find her.”

“You mean you wanted her to already be dead before I found her.”

“She is dead.” Az raised his hand and pointed behind Keenan. “She’s already marked. Her fate was sealed. There’s no changing it.”

“Bullshit.”

Az’s brows rose at that. No, he wouldn’t be used to one of his soldiers cursing.

Bullshit. One of Nicole’s favorite words. Nicole. She’d hear everything he said, but no word that Az spoke. “Fate changed before, it can change again.”

“Why?” Az showed the barest hint of an emotion. Curiosity. “Let her go. What does it matter if she lives or dies?”

Keenan wouldn’t take his gaze off the angel to look back at her. “It matters to me.” That was all Az needed to know.

Az sighed. “You’re wrong, you know.” His wings brushed against the pavement. “I didn’t want you to arrive and find her dead. That would have served no purpose for me.”

His gut clenched. “What is it that you want, Az?”

“She doesn’t matter to me. She’s just another charge. There are thousands, millions more just like her. They’ll die, just like her.”

Nicole’s soft gasp filled his ears.

Why would she gasp? Why would—

“Angels shouldn’t fall,” Az continued, his voice coming faster. “Angels shouldn’t burn. Angels shouldn’t suffer.” Now he was the one to step closer. “We’re better than the humans. Stronger. So much more powerful.”

But the angels weren’t the favorites. No, the humans were the ones who’d been given the gifts. Hope. Love.

“Angels shouldn’t fall,” Az said again.

“I did.” And thanks for the heads-up, Az. That whole “I’ve heard it’s the fire that makes you scream the loudest” line really hadn’t helped.

“You fell … and you can rise.”

Those words seemed to cut through him. He’d never heard of an angel going back, not after—

“It’s simple, Keenan. I know she’s your temptation. We all have our trials. Prove you are stronger. Finish your job. Do what you were meant to do …”

Kill her. No, he wouldn’t say it. Not with Nicole close enough to hear his words.

“Kill her and come home.” Az didn’t have a problem saying the words.

Keenan straightened his shoulders. “No.”

“If you don’t, someone else will.”

He knew it wasn’t an idle threat. “Who?” Keenan demanded. “Is it you? Are you the one coming after her?”

Az just stared back at him.

“I don’t want to die.” Nicole’s clear words had Keenan whirling to face her.

She stood in front of the truck, silhouetted against the headlights. Her gaze wasn’t on him, but on Az.

Could she see him?

Then Az moved, shifting slightly to the left. Nicole’s gaze didn’t follow him. Can’t see him.

“No one ever wants to die,” Az said.

Now her gaze tracked to the left—to the angel who wanted her death.

“That’s the problem,” Az continued. “But it doesn’t matter what you want, vampire. You will die within ten days. The only question is … by whose touch?”

Not mine. Keenan lunged for Az.

But with a flap of wings, the angel was gone. The headlights shone on the road, the light stabbing into the empty darkness.

“Keenan?”

He whirled to face her once more, terrified that Az had tricked him and circled in for the kill. Can’t be so unguarded. Not ever again.

But she stood, alone, in front of the truck. Nicole appeared so small and vulnerable in that moment.

Then he caught a glimpse of fang.

Perhaps not so vulnerable.

He hurried to her side. Her eyes watched him—deep and dark and big.